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Chapter Text

Rain pelted against Gem’s windshield in sheets, whipping this way and that as she pushed the gas pedal as far as she could. Sticks and stones pelted the sides of the truck, leaving new dents and scratches. Gem would buff those out later. Right now, she was focused on trying to stay on the road. Next to her, Grian whooped, ducking down to get a look at the swirling clouds. “She’s angry,” he yelled, grinning wildly.

Gem shook her head fondly, unclipping the radio from the dashboard. “Tango, whatcha got?”

Tango’s voice crackled over the radio. “ Pretty clear hook echo on the radar, southwest side of the cell. Wind is fluctuating, so I can’t really get a pinpoint on that, but the moisture levels are looking good. ”

“Think we’re gonna get a good one?” Grian asked, glancing back at their equipment. “Maybe twins!”

Gem laughed, jerking the wheel to avoid a careening tree limb. “I doubt it. The supercell isn’t big enough to support two. Keep dreaming, buddy.”

“ How much further you gonna go, Gem? ” The crackling of the radio didn’t hide the anxious twinge in Pearl’s voice. Gem had to give her credit though–her best friend and her brother were driving straight into a tornado and she was doing a very good job of not distracting them.

Gem grinned, elbowing Grian. “Hopefully right into it!”

Tango cackled. “ You two are adrenaline junkies! ”

Gem and Grian grinned at each other. “Hell yeah!” Over their heads, lightning flashed briefly in the sky. Straight ahead of them, lit up by the stark white glow of electricity, was a thin funnel reaching like a giant finger towards the ground. 

“ TVS !” Tango yelled over the radio, confirming the thin column. Grian whooped again, grabbing the handle bar on the roof – the one Gem lovingly called the oh shit handle – as Gem slammed the pedal into the floorboard. The truck tires spun loosely against the dirt road for a second before gaining traction, sending the truck off like a bullet towards the thin tornado. It was moving northeast, away from them, and Gem wanted to get in front of it as soon as possible.

“Give me some directions, G,” she said urgently. Their little funnel of air was gaining a little bit of power, but Gem didn’t have full faith it would last. This was probably the last tornado of the season. If they didn’t get in front of it, they’d have to wait till next year to launch their bird. “Watcher’s getting antsy.”

“Watcher is a machine. It doesn’t get antsy,” Grian snarked, but obediently pulled up Google maps and his own, smaller, version of the Doppler radar. “Alright uh…it looks like there’s a road up ahead that connects us to the interstate, which should put us right in its path–”

Gem cut him off sharply. “A name, G! I need a name!”

“I got it, Gem, just give me a second!” He snapped back, curling forward and squinting at the screen. “Right! Hang right!”

Gem let out a string of colorful curses that would’ve had her parents cuffing her upside the head and jerked the wheel. The truck drifted against the dirt and for a split second Gem was sure they were going to end up sideways, but the tires stayed firmly on the ground as it went from dirt to asphalt. “More of a warning would be nice, G!” Gem said, mashing the pedal again.

The truck ate up distance like a beast, getting them to the interstate in a matter of minutes. The roads were thankfully empty, most people smart enough to stay off the roads in the face of a dangerous storm. As Gem turned left onto the interstate and gunned it again, she glanced out her window. What was once a small funnel was now a raging tornado, eating up ground quickly. They still had a good few miles to go before they would be in its path. They’d be cutting this close. 

“G, you up for a little bit of daredevilry?” Grian grinned sharply, already jamming his finger into the buckle to release his seatbelt. “I’m gonna open up the rear window. I need you to get Watcher set up. The tornado’s gotta pick it up before we can do any remote work with it.”

Grian gave her a two finger salute and started clambering over the back seat. Gem opened the back window for him and then focused back on the road just in time to swerve around a tree limb in the road. There was a dull thump from the backseat and Grian cursed. “Sorry. Limb!”

Grian got to work, one foot braced on the back of the center console. Through the music blaring from the radio, Gem could hear him mumbling to himself. She mashed the pedal again, checking and rechecking the tornado’s location as they barreled down the interstate. 

“Watcher’s set!” Grian yelled, pulling his head back into the truck. “We just need the tornado to pick it up.”

“Speaking of tornadoes, you better hold on!” Gem yelled, slamming the brake and turning the wheel. The truck drifted down the interstate and came to a stop, pointed right into the face of the tornado. It was an EF2, if Gem had to guess, but the way it was looming over them made it seem far bigger than it was. “Tango, what’s the scale rating?”

Static.

“That’s not good.” Grian said, clambering back into the front seat. Gem gestured to Grian’s seatbelt, gaze pinned on the approaching tornado. Grian fastened his seatbelt without argument, giving Gem a wavering grin. Gem could sympathize – they were storm chasers, sure, but they’d be insane not to be a little afraid of this beastly force of nature. “Is it time to hunker down and pray?” 

Gem glanced out her rearview mirror. Watcher was rocking with the wind, wings tipping back and forth. The silver titanium-tungsten metal was dark in the light of the storm, the purple accents almost black. “I think so,” Gem said. “That tornado is gonna hit us head on. Hopefully it’ll pick up Watcher and not us.” Grian laughed weakly, ducking his head under the dash. Gem hesitated, watching the approaching tornado. It was bearing down on them now, dark and ominous. 

Grian grabbed her arm and yanked it. Gem yelped as she nearly bashed her head on the dash.

 Gem hunkered down below the dash with Grian. The wind picked up, turning into a roaring cacophony of noise. It was a sound Gem was used to – it reminded her of when she was little, when her brother would take her down to the tracks and they would listen to the trains go barreling past. It was a comforting sound, but it was a warning too. Things moving that fast were dangerous just as much as they were beautiful.

“The truck!” Grian screamed over the wind, and Gem’s stomach dropped. The truck was rocking so hard that the wheels were coming off of the asphalt. With dread twisting in her stomach, she glanced out the back window.

Watcher was gone.

Gem grabbed Grian and shook him, pointing frantically to the back. He looked over his shoulder and – despite the danger they were in – his face broke out in a blinding smile. Their bird was in the air and if all went well, they’d be getting data from it really soon. 

The world went deafeningly quiet. The truck stilled and the rain slowed to a drizzle as the tornado disappeared into the air. The two of them sat staring through the windshield in a daze.

And then Watcher crashed onto the roof of their truck, cracked straight down the middle and missing a wing. 

“SHIT!”

Gem groaned softly, letting her head fall on her desk. Watcher laid in pieces next to her, wiring burnt beyond repair. “Is it irreparable?” Tango asked softly, setting a mug down next to her and pulling up a stool. 

“Pretty much. The barometer was completely torn out and the wires for the anemometer are fried.” Gem poked idly at the anemometer attached to the top of the drone, spinning it gently. “Not to mention the fucking wing. It’s gonna take years to get the material to fix this.”

“That’s not even mentioning the money,” Grian said from the other side of the office where he was looking at the data from the national weather service. Gem sighed sadly, dropping her head back on the desk. 

Tango pointed a finger sternly in his direction. “You aren’t helping, G.”

“Look, I’m just happy you two are alive,” Pearl said, kicking her legs up on the arm of Grian’s chair. He wrinkled his nose at her, but didn’t comment. “That was an EF3. A 3, guys. It’s a miracle it didn’t pick the truck up.” 

“It was definitely not a 3 when it hit us,” Gem grumbled, glaring at her drone. That was three months of work, ruined. Titanium-tungsten was hard to come by, a barometer was near impossible to find for cheap and she wasn’t an engineer. She’d have to outsource to get Watcher fixed, and that’s money they didn’t have. “What do we do, guys? This was a three month project down the drain and we have nothing to show for it.”

The small office fell silent. Gem knew what they were all thinking. If they couldn’t find something to keep them afloat until next tornado season, they’d have to stop chasing entirely. This was her dream just as much as it was theirs. She wasn’t ready to give up on it just yet, but Gem wasn’t sure they had much of a choice. 

Watcher sat on her desk, a crude reminder of their failure. 

“Well,” Grian started, closing out tabs and shutting his computer down. “It’s not totally lost. I’m sure Mumbo won’t mind fixing up the wires for relatively cheap. I can even try roping him in to chase with us.”

“You’ve been trying to get him to join us since we started, G.”

Grian shrugged, scratching idly at his chin. “I think I’m getting close to convincing him.”

“I doubt it,” Gem teased, perking up a little. “How much do you think he’d do it for?”

Tango looked over the wires, poking the fried rubber. “I’d say a couple hundred, because he loves us. This is gonna take a lot of work.” Gem’s face must drop, because he’s quick to continue. “But look, I can ask around, see about the alloy and the barometer. Let’s pick journalism back up to make some money. Pearl, are you still running that mail business?”

Pearl nodded. “And the cleaning one.”

“Then that’s some extra income too,” Tango paused, cocking his head. “That is, if you can spare it. Point is, Gem, none of us are giving up on Watcher, so you don’t get to either. Besides, it’s not like Watcher failed entirely. It got in the air, didn’t it? You just didn’t have the time to take control of it and keep it there.”

Gem nodded along, furrowing her brows at Watcher. “I think it’s still going to need some work. The alloy is good, but the shape might not be aerodynamic enough to withstand the winds….” she trailed off, rummaging for some paper and a pencil. 

“There she is,” Tango said fondly, knocking his fist against her temple and nudging the cup towards her. “You’ve got till next season to make us a new design. The good thing about failure is it leaves us room for improvements.”

“Spoken like a true dad,” Grian said solemnly. He got up from his chair, dislodging Pearl’s feet in the process, and stretched. “Well, Mumbo is probably anxiously awaiting news, so–”

Gem whipped her head up. “I have to call my brother.”

Her three friends froze, looking at her with various looks of horror. Pearl made a sound dangerously close to a squeak. “Etho is going to kill us!”

“I’m home!” Gem called, closing the door and dropping her keys in the bowl. “How’s Win–” she paused, finally looking up. Etho was leaning against the doorway of the kitchen, an eyebrow raised and his arms crossed. “Uh. Hey, Etho.”

“Hey, Gem. When were you going to tell me you drove headfirst into an EF3 tornado?” Her brother’s voice was flat and his face was carefully blank. Even his blind eye was unnervingly honed in on her. “Or were you just going to conveniently forget that part?”

Gem slowly started moving, pulling her bag off her shoulder and hanging it on one of the hook’s by the door. “Well, first of all, we were stationary.” Etho scoffed, throwing his hands up and rolling his eyes. “And second of all, it was definitely not a three when it hit us.” She ducked around him into the kitchen and pulled the fridge open. “Did you cook anything?”

“There’s a bowl of spaghetti for you in the microwave. It not being a three doesn’t change the fact that you let a tornado move right over you.” Etho closed the fridge as Gem danced away and to the microwave. “Bread’s in the oven.”

“Etho, I know what I’m doing. I’ve been chasing for years now.”

They sat at the table and Gem started eating. Etho glared at the table, running his fingers over the grainy wood. “I know,” he huffed. “Doesn’t mean I don’t worry.”

Gem laughed around a mouth full of noodles. “You’re the one who got me into this,” she said, pointing her fork at him. “Don’t you remember watching shelf clouds and pointing out supercells to me when we were younger?”

Etho wrinkled his nose. “Don’t talk with your mouth full.”

Gem rolled her eyes and went back to her food. Etho kept running his fingers over the grain, staring at the wall. Eventually, she finished eating and got up to put her bowl in the sink. “How’s Watcher?” Etho asked softly, head tilted to track her footsteps as she went past his blind spot.

Gem paused mid step and had to catch herself. “Wrecked. But we’ve got hope we can get it up and running by next season.”

“You’re not giving up?” Gem turned and gave him a look. Etho laughed, raising his hands in surrender. “Stupid question, sorry. Hey,” Etho stood up and grabbed her by the shoulders, turning her so they were facing each other. “I’m really proud of you, Gem. Mom and Dad would be, too.” Warmth flooded Gem’s chest and she squirmed a little, looking away as her face started burning. Etho smiled at her and let her go. “I’m going to bed,” he said, turning and waving over his shoulder. “You better wash that bowl!”

“Way to ruin the moment!”

Etho’s laugh echoed down the hall. Gem smiled softly, picking up a rag. 

Next season means bigger and better. She was looking forward to it.

Chapter Text

“Watcher’s looking pretty good, Gem!” Tango said, poking idly at the wing of Watcher. He ran his finger along the sharp edge of the wing, grinning. “I don’t know what we were so worried about. We got our little bird fixed up just in time for tornado season! What differences did you make to the design?”

Gem picked up Watcher and tilted a little. “Wider tail and straighter wings. Sharper, too. It’s more like a hawk now, instead of the sparrow design it was before. Hopefully that will help with keeping it in the air.”

“Prioritizing soaring.” Grian nodded eagerly. “The winds might keep it in the air.”

“That’s the hope, at least.”

Their small office was quiet this morning. Pearl was out working her mail job, and wouldn’t be in until later. Grian looked like the walking dead, slouched over in his seat and staring at his desktop. Tango was the only one who seemed to be in a chipper mood. 

“How much did Mumbo end up asking for, for fixing the wires?” Gem asked, a bit of morbid curiosity taking over. 

“Four hundred,” Grian said, blinking sluggishly. “Said it wasn’t actually that hard, but he wanted payment for the labor and the materials.”

Tango rapped his knuckles against Gem’s desk, startling the both of them. “Why are you guys so out of it this morning? Especially you, Mr. Early Bird.”

“Late night.”

Gem rolled her eyes. Grian was probably hyping himself up for the amount of human interaction he was going to have in a few hours. Hundreds of storm chasers, big companies or otherwise, were meeting up for the start of the tornado season. It’s one of the biggest events in the storm chaser community, and apparently this season it was supposed to be even bigger than usual. There were some new up-and-coming chasers on the scene.

“Well, be glad you're not the one driving for three hours, buddy,” Tango huffed, downing the rest of his coffee and abandoning the cup. 

“It’s the perks of being the dad!” Gem grinned cheerfully, carefully returning Watcher to its perch. “You’re the designated driver.”

Tango groaned dramatically, ducking out of the office. Gem looked Grian over. The poor guy looked about ready to take a nap on his desk. “You having nightmares again?” She asked softly, drawing random shapes on her desk.

Grian shrugged one shoulder noncommittally. “Are you?”

“Always.” Gem got up, being careful not to hit Watcher off its stand. “Try and get some sleep before Pearl gets here. I don’t think you’ll get much on the road.”

Grian waved a hand dismissively. Gem sighed, powering off her desktop and heading for the kitchen. Tea sounded good right about now. 

“They were not joking about there being more chasers this year.” Pearl glanced around and Gem had a feeling she was only seconds away from dropping her jaw in astonishment. It would’ve been warranted, too. 

The field that the community had agreed upon was filled with thousands of vehicles, some carrying super fancy gear, others dusty and scratched up. Some had names etched into the sides – X-Life, Dominator, Weather Wizards – and others had no names at all. “Maybe we should come up with our own name,” Tango said.

Gem rolled her eyes. They’d been together for chasers for years, but a name hadn’t ever crossed her mind. They were just friends, chasing tornadoes. They weren’t technically professionals and as far as Gem was concerned, only professionals or idiots have team names. 

The thought was just crossing her mind when a red RAM pickup came swerving into the midst of the other chasers. It was suped up, lifted, and rigged with what looked like drills . A rack was attached to the bed, but all it had on it was a spare tire. “Who’s this maniac?” She demanded, pointing at the truck. “They’re going to run someone over.”

“Holy shit!” Grian squeaked, grabbing Gem by the arm. “That’s the Wranglers!”

Gem looked at Pearl and Tango, who shrugged helplessly. “What is that?”

“They’re chasers, but they aren’t like some big company. They livestream and do videos. Drive straight into tornadoes, severe storms, hurricanes, you name it. They do crazy stuff, too, sometimes. Like shooting fireworks into a tornado.” Oh god , Gem thought, they’re idiots. “They’re awesome!”

“Wha–” Gem’s mouth went slack as she turned on Grian. “No. No! They aren’t cool , they’re stupid. Fireworks into a tornado?”

“You drove into a tornado last season,” Pearl pointed out. When Gem turned her glare on her, Pearl shrugged. “Just saying.”

“Why do people keep saying we drove into it? We weren’t even moving.” Tango opened his mouth to argue but Gem bulldozed ahead in her complaining. “Besides, we didn’t shoot fireworks into it!” Gem turned around to tear into Grian again, but he was gone. In the space of those few minutes arguing, he had crossed the distance between them and the truck and was now rubbing elbows with the crowd to get a glance at some internet celebrities.

The driver’s door swung open, nearly clocking a random guy in the face, and a man swung himself up to see over the crowd. He had a cowboy hat tilted dangerously on his head, a charming grin on his face accentuated by a jagged scar over the bridge of his nose. He held onto the truck with one hand and swept the other out into an ostentatious wave. Clutched in his hand was a smooth, dark cane. “Ladies and gentlemen,” he called, and his voice carried easily over the field. “The Wranglers have arrived!”

Cheers erupted through the field. Gem scoffed. “You’ve gotta admit, he’s kind of cool,” Pearl said, clapping her hands. Gem glared at her.

“He’s going to get someone killed,” Gem huffed, trying not to look like she was sulking. It was actually kind of annoying, seeing Grian over there trying to get a look. “And he’s stealing my partner.”

“I didn’t take you for the jealous type.”

Gem rolled her eyes. She wanted to go back to her truck, but there were storms to track and other chasers to talk to. She was looking a little forward to finding Cleo and Bdubs – Etho sent his helloes for them. Her eyes wandered back over to the Wranglers again, just in time to see two more men coming around the front of the truck. One was huge, at least six foot and ripped with muscle. He had on a muscle shirt that showed off scarred arms and a pair of jeans. Next to him was a smaller man, with khaki shorts and a black shirt emblazoned with the letter “i”. God, there’s more of them , she thought, scoffing again.

The shorter man cringed at the crowd, taking a step behind the taller one. The taller one did not share the same sentiment. He had on a smile very similar to the first guy, bright and charming. “What’s up, folks!” He yelled. His voice didn’t carry the same way, but it still traveled pretty far. “Are we all ready to tangle with some tornadoes?”

The crowd erupted into cheers again. Gem decided she’d had enough of watching these fools. “I’m going to find the Clockers.” She snapped, turning on her heel and marching away.

Hours, that’s how long the Wranglers spent milking the crowd of cheers and applause. It didn’t take very long to find Cleo and Bdubs, who were posted up on the very outskirts of the field. From a lounge chair next to their RV, she watched sullenly as the Wranglers started handing out autographs. Autographs!

“ You don’t seem very fond of our new chasers.” The RV door slammed as Cleo joined her. Gem huffed, waving a hand. “Don’t forget, that was you at one point.”

“I wasn’t stupid enough to do daredevilish things like shooting fireworks into a tornado.” Gem tried to keep the venom out of her voice, she really did, but it wasn’t working. 

Cleo laughed. “No, just stupid enough to drive into an EF3.” Gem threw up her hands, unwilling to have this conversation again . “Look, I know they’re a bit flashy, but they’re actually doing good work on the side. They’ve got some good data from hurricanes and tornadoes alike that have helped with chasing.”

Gem hummed, slouching down in her seat. She wasn’t even entirely sure why she was so upset. Maybe because Grian, Pearl, and Tango were all over there instead of with her. Maybe because the Wranglers all seemed so sure of themselves. She didn’t want to think too hard about it. 

Cleo patted her softly on the shoulder. “C’mon. I think Dominators are gonna say some things and the chasing’ll start.”

“Hey, welcome back everyone! Glad to see some new faces,” Xisuma, lead chaser of the Dominator team, tilted a head in the direction of the Wranglers. There were a few whoops and cheers. “Old faces, too.” This was directed towards Chef, commonly called TFC around the chasers community. He was the oldest chaser in the state, and the only one that ran solo. “This season is looking to be pretty good. NWS is predicting more storms, which means there’ll probably be a higher rate of tornadoes. So get out there, do good work, and let’s not die.” There was a moment of silence in which X swept his gaze across the collected chasers. “I expect to see you all back here at the end of the week for a check-in, yeah?”

X gave them all a blinding grin and then strapped his respirator on. The gathered chasers all cheered and clapped, whooped or hoorahed, and then split up. For a brief second, Gem thought her team was going to go back to the Wranglers, but they joined her at their truck. “Nice to see you guys again,” she said, trying to keep the whine out of her tone.

“Oh, don’t be like that,” Grian snapped, cutting his eyes over to her.

Gem shrunk back, curling her shoulders. Tango and Pearl were both looking at her with varying degrees of exasperation. Grian was full-on glaring. “Sorry,” she said softly. “Tired.” Tango smiled gently at her, bumping her shoulder. Grian’s glare didn’t relax, but she didn’t expect it to. She was being mean for no reason. “You guys ready to chase some tornadoes?”

“Hey!” A voice yelled across the field. Gem half turned to look over her shoulder and found the shorter man, with the big yellow i shirt, jogging towards them. “Hey, you guys are Watcher right?”

Gem tried not to stiffen up. “Well, that’s Watcher,” she snapped, trying to cover the anxiety eating at her nerves.The man was close enough that she saw his expression shift. For a moment, uncertainty flashed across his face, but it was quickly covered by bravado. She jerked a thumb towards their bird resting in the back of their truck, shrugging a shoulder. “We just run it.”

“That thing is awesome. Do you mind if I take a look at it?” The man finally reached them and came to a stumbling stop, tilting forward and flailing his hands to correct himself. “It’s some of the coolest tech I’ve seen in storm chasing in a while.”

Gem froze, dumbfounded. She’d expected condescension or arrogance. Not……admiration. “Uh… well…” She trailed off, glancing at her friends for help. Tango grinned, making a shooing motion. “We were just about to head off to chase. Maybe when we meet back up?” 

The man gave her a blinding grin. “Sure! And hey, I can show you some of our stuff too. Although it’s not nearly as sophisticated as Watcher.” The man leaned around her to get a look at the bird and, for a moment, irritation sparked. Cool it, Gem , she told herself. He’s just being friendly. “Scar got us started, but some of our stuff is my design. It works well enough, but there’s nothing as cool as a drone.”

“Yo, Impulse!” The man – Impulse apparently – looked over his shoulder. The taller guy was waving at him from the truck. “Time to load up, we’re heading out.” Impulse waved an acknowledgement and turned to give her another grin. 

“Duty calls. See ya!” Impulse waved at her friends and jogged back to his group.

“So you can make friends,” Tango teased, clapping his hands at Gem like she’d just finished putting on a play. “When he first mentioned Watcher, I thought you were going to bite his head off.”

“I think Impulse thought the same thing,” Pearl said, laughing. “Did you see the face he made when you snapped that first time?” Gem glared weakly at them, rubbing at her chest. People were hard, sometimes. New ones always made her anxious. She glanced over to gauge Grian’s reaction. Her partner was grinning at her, glare wiped off his face. 

“Yeah, yeah,” Gem muttered, yanking the driver's door open. “Can we go chase tornadoes now?”

Gem and her team loaded up to the sound of Tango’s sing-songy, “Gem is making friends~” She couldn’t help the grin slowly stretching across her face. If that was how they reacted when she held one conversation with a new person, maybe it was a little worth it, nerves be damned. Besides, it wouldn’t hurt to have some connections besides the Clockers in the vast chasers community.

Even if they were idiots.

Chapter Text

“Not a single tornado,” Gem hissed. Her movements as she settled Watcher in the back of the truck and tied it down were calm and gentle – a vast difference to the stormy look on her face. “It’s been a week and we didn’t get a single tornado.”

“Were there any this week, period?” Tango asked, closing his laptop with a click. “I was only checking our vicinity, so if anything showed up on the national Doppler, I never would’ve seen it.”

Grian waved his phone. Gem squinted at it, and could just make out movement on the screen. “There were some out in Oklahoma. The Wranglers drove straight into…three, I think? Shot off some fireworks again, and something else that I couldn’t make out. It looked almost like Watcher, but a little bigger and less refined.”

Probably their own drone, Gem thought. She remembered Impulse mentioning their gear. Now that she thought about it though, he implied they didn’t have a drone, so it probably wasn’t that. Maybe an airborne data reader? She shook the thought away, tightening the last strap to keep Watcher secure in the bed of the truck. “I just don’t get it. Kansas had an insanely elevated number of tornadoes last year. How did we not get a single one?” 

No one responded, probably picking up on her sour mood. Gem wasn’t really sure why she’d been so prickly recently. Could be any number of things, but if she had to guess, it was probably because of the day coming up. Grian had been giving her looks all week, looks she’d been resolutely ignoring. Etho would be calling soon to check in, which definitely wasn’t going to help her mood. He was always so….overbearing, this time of the year. “The meet starts in twenty,” Tango said quietly, letting Gem’s question linger in the air. “We need to head out if we want to make it.”

That was all he said. That was all any of them said for the drive back to the field where the other chasers were meeting. Tango and Pearl knew what anniversary was coming up, too. They were always careful around Gem when it came up.

The moment they came to a stop at the meeting spot, Grian was out of the truck and gone. Pearl, too. Tango hesitated for a moment, but decided to settle next to Gem. “How ya feeling, Gem?” He asked quietly, giving her a sideways look. 

“Feeling frustrated that my friends are treating me like glass,” she muttered. Tango nodded slowly, looking out across the field. “It’s been two years. I’m fine .”

“No one said you weren’t.”

Gem scoffed. They didn’t have to say it. Their actions were proof enough. “I’m pissed we didn’t get any tornadoes. I’m tired of sleeping in a tent. I want to take a shower. Are those answers good enough for you?”

Tango sighed. Across the field, the Wranglers RAM came screeching into the clearing, kicking up dirt. “Look, Gem. No one is asking you to…feel better or act like you feel better,” Tango said, pushing off of the truck and turning to face her. His eyes were sickeningly sincere. “We just want you to realize that you don’t have to do this. Push yourself to try and find something to fill a void. Chasing tornadoes because you feel guilty isn’t going to help you.”

Tango winced as soon as the words left his mouth. Gem reined in her emotions as quickly as she could, drawing shutters down over her face. “I chase tornadoes to help people. Not because I feel guilty.”

The lie fell like ash between them. 

“Gem–”

Gem shook her head. “I’ll see you guys at the hotel. Tell X I’m sorry I missed the meeting.”

The river this time of year was beautiful. She didn’t see many anymore, since her and Etho moved to the city. Now, with time to spare while the meeting happened, Gem found herself sitting on the bank, kicking her feet idly in the water. It was a gorgeous blue that she never really saw in the city. Every once in a while, she’d see a flicker of orange as a fish disappeared behind a rock. 

A breeze drifted across the river, rustling her hair and the grass. It almost, almost covered up the approaching footsteps. Gem half-turned, looking over her shoulder. It was the taller man from the Wranglers group. He had on a hoodie with a tornado on it, but it still did nothing to hide how jacked her was. Gem was starting to think he might be taking steroids.

“Oh, damn,” he muttered, stopping short when he saw her. “I was hoping no one would be here.” Gem hummed sharply, turning back to the water. The man hesitated for just a second longer, then came and sat down. He was close enough to touch if Gem reached out, but far enough as to not crowd her. 

They sat quietly for a good few minutes, listening to the water as it rushed downstream. Eventually, the man shuffled a little, leaning over his knees. “You’ve got Impulse hooked on that drone of yours,” he said softly, staring down into the water. “It’s been a while since I’ve seen him that excited about something.”

“It’s not anything special,” Gem muttered. “Some metal and wires hooked together by a fresh out of college student thinking she could make a difference.”

The man shrugged. “Sometimes that’s all it takes. A want to make a difference, do some good–” His voice cut off, like it got caught in his throat. Gem felt some of the ire of being bothered drift away a little. She glanced at him from the corner of her eye just in time to see him swipe fiercely at his face. 

“Is that what got you started?”

The man jolted, like he’d forgotten she was there. “Sort of. My dad was a chaser,” the man paused, looked up at the sky and tilted his head. “He died a few years back. Cancer. He’s the one that put the interest in me. I picked up the mantle for him.”

Huh . “I’m sorry.”

The man shrugged again, a little jerkier than the first time. “Sometimes it just gets to be a little much, ya know? Grief.” The man waved a hand. “That’s besides the point. I’m not gonna weigh down a young whippersnapper like you with that kinda talk.”

Gem laughed, caught off guard by the term. “Whippersnapper? How old are you?” The man grinned at her, but didn’t respond. Gem didn’t bring up his shimmering eyes. 

They fell back into silence. Behind her, Gem could faintly hear X talking. That man always had a knack for getting his voice to carry. “Heard you guys had a good week,” Gem said, trying not to sound bitter. “Oklahoma had a lot of action, apparently.”

“Kansas had none, huh?” 

“Not a single damn thing.” Gem shook her head, the anger rushing back. “I don’t get it.”

“It’s the troughs,” the man said, like that explained anything. When Gem gave him a look, he started explaining. “Okay, so there’s these troughs, right? They’re usually signs of a low-pressure system, which is where storms come from. Well, there was a bigger, more closed off trough that passed right over Oklahoma, which caused more severe weather.”

“Which meant a higher chance of tornadoes.” Gem face palmed. “I didn’t even think of that.”

The man grinned at her. “To be fair, I’ve been chasing for a while, probably longer than you have. I’ve picked some things up. Hey, I can show you the radar we have that shows us the troughs, if you want. You’ll get a better idea of where more severe weather would be.”

“That– that would be awesome!” Gem could feel it in real time as her mood flipped. She was still a little upset – and will be, until this upcoming week passes – but she was excited now. “Impulse was talking about some of y’alls stuff. I still have to show him Watcher.”

“Well, what are we doing over here?” The man got to his feet, reaching a hand down to help Gem up. She took it without even thinking. “I’m Skizz, by the way.”

Gem grinned. Look at me, making friends. “Gem.”

“Grian?” Gem’s eyebrows furrowed as she caught sight of her partner sitting on the tailgate of the Wranglers truck. The main Wrangler – Scar, by process of elimination – was leaning on the side, talking with Grian. “Is this where you ran off too?”

Grian tensed, glancing at Scar. “Well, no. I went to talk to TFC. I came over here after the meet. Which you missed, by the way.”

Scar nodded at her and Gem noticed a toothpick stuck in his teeth. “Nice to meet you, Gem. Grian talked a little about you. Watcher was your design?”

Gem stumbled half a step, caught off guard. “Oh…..uh, yeah.” Skizz caught her by the elbow when she stumbled, casually, and then released her when she had her footing. “Pretty much. It was a college final assignment.”

Scar nodded easily. “College, mhm. I totally went to that.”

“Don’t let him fool you,” Impulse said, rounding the other side of the truck. “He really did go. He’s got a major in meteorology and a masters in atmospheric research.”

Scar threw up his hands, making an exaggerated expression of exasperation. “Why you gotta go around telling my secrets, huh? I’m supposed to be mysterious and charming.”

Gem grinned sharply. “I think you need to work a little on the charming part.”

There was a moment of silence that lasted long enough for Gem to reconsider every decision she’s made leading up to this failure. Then, Skizz and Impulse both burst into cackling laughter. Scar puffed out his lower lip in a pout. “That’s hurtful, Gem,” he said, shaking his head and pulling his cowboy hat a little lower over his face. “You’ve hurt my feelings.”

Grian rolled his eyes, smiling softly at Gem. She tried to shake off the warmth in her chest, but found she couldn’t. It felt like being home with Etho, ribbing and joking with each other. It was something she always missed when she was out chasing – Etho never felt the need to come with her, and he was all the family she had left. “Hey,” Skizz said between chuckles. “Come look at the radar.”

Skizz led her over to five computer set-up on a table beside the RAM. Three of the computers showed different types of radars, one showed a live feed of one of the local weather stations, and one was the idle screen of what Gem assumed was their Youtube page. Skizz pointed her to the screen with a white map of the United States, with lines and various swells of purple and blue. “These are the troughs,” Skizz said, tracking his finger along the lines. “And these little spots of color are storm systems. See this one?” Skizz moved his finger to the bottom left, where there was a small semi-circle of purple and blue. “This is a closed off system. If it hits up in Oklahoma or Kansas, where the cold and hot mix, it’ll create more dangerous thunderstorms, which means higher chances of tornados.”

“God, this is so helpful,” Gem muttered, watching the radar as it ran through the projected weather patterns. “I would kill to have this.”

Skizz hummed, scratching at his neck. “I can set you up with the radar. It’s real easy to find.”

Gem jolted up, looking at Skizz a little wildly. He jerked his head back to avoid getting bashed in the nose. “Seriously?” She asked, more than a little confused. “I thought chasers were a little… protective of their gear.”

Skizz shrugged, grinning easily. “Well, you’re showing Watcher to us, aren’t you? Doesn’t hurt to return the favor.”

Hours later, after the glee and excitement of new gear wore off and Gem was freshly showered and in a real bed, her phone rang. She groaned, because she already knew exactly who was calling. Gem stood as slowly as she could to keep the bed from creaking, grabbed her phone, and stepped out onto the patio so she didn’t wake Pearl. “Hey, Etho.”

“How was the first week?” There was faint rustling over the phone and a very faint bark. 

“Are you just getting home?” Gem asked incredulously. “It’s nearly one in the morning.” Over the phone, Etho laughed softly, but didn’t answer. “Uh– well, we didn’t see much, but some… uh, friends of mine got some action down in Oklahoma.”

“Friends?”

Gem scoffed sharply, bristling at his tone. “I can make friends, Etho.”

“Sure, Gem, sure.” There was another bark, louder, as Etho finally got in the apartment and Winnie came to greet him. “Winnie misses you.”

Gem snorted. Leave it to Etho to talk in code cause he was too embarrassed to say what he really felt. But, Gem was nothing if not kind, so she indulged him. “Yeah, I miss her too. Especially around this time of year.”

Etho hummed quietly over the phone. It was quiet for a few minutes, except for Winnie’s whines and whimpers. “Hey, you’re doing good work, Gem,” Etho said softly. “Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.” Gem breathed out like someone punched her in the chest, leaning against the balcony. One hand kept the phone pressed to her ear. The other held tightly to the railing like a lifeline. “I know you struggle around this upcoming week. I know sometimes the panic is a bit too much and you can’t chase like you usually do. But that doesn’t make you any less of a chaser, okay?”

All of the sorrow, frustration, and grief swept out of her like a tsunami. A tear slipped out the corner of her eye – that’s all she let herself have. “I love you, Etho,” Gem said, and it was too close to a whimper for her liking. She cleared her throat. “Your support means a lot to me.”

Etho laughed again, a little louder. “Don’t get yourself killed out there, Gem. I’m expecting you home at the end of the season.”

After brief, quiet goodbyes, Etho hung up and Gem slipped back into the hotel room. Pearl was still fast asleep.  Gem got comfortable in her bed. Sleep probably wouldn’t come, not for a while, but she still felt lighter than she has all week.

Chapter Text

Gem was startled awake by wailing sirens. 

Immediately, ice flooded her veins. “Shit,” she yelped, scrambling out of bed and rushing over to Pearl. She shook Pearl as hard as she could until Pearl was blinking blearily, and then scrambled over to the dresser and slipped on her shoes. “Pearl, we gotta go,” Gem said urgently. 

Pearl matched Gem’s frantic movements immediately. “Does the hotel have a storm shelter?”

“No shelter, but there’s a basement. Put your shoes on.” While Pearl laced up her sneakers, Gem grabbed the keycard to their room and rushed out into the hall. Tango and Grian were coming out of their room, too. Tango had a computer in his arms and Grian had the truck keys. “You two get to the basement,” Gem said. “Call me as soon as you get there. We left the walkies in the truck and I need to know what we’re looking at.”

Tango saluted her and then he and Pearl sprinted down the hall and disappeared around the corner. “What are we doing?” Grian asked anxiously. “If there’s sirens, that means there’s already a tornado.”

“We don’t know how far,” Gem said, but she was feeling the anxiety too. “I want to find it. This might be our only chance to get Watcher in the air.”

Grian froze for a second and Gem was worried she’d lost him to panic. She knew, without a doubt, that if Grian started panicking, then she would, and then they would get nowhere. She didn’t want that. But he was only frozen for a second before he jumped into action. “Let’s go then,” he said. 

Together, they ran for the stairs. Gem took them two at a time, scrambling down to the floor level as quickly as she could. Once she got to the lobby, dread washed cold down her throat. Outside the windows, it was dark as night. Checking her phone, she realized that it was only two a.m. “Shit,” she whispered, because that meant they had a nocturnal tornado. Nocturnal tornadoes, as Gem was intimately familiar with, were more deadly than the average tornado because of decreased visibility. 

Gem’s hands were shaking. 

“This way,” Grian yelled, careening down the stairs and out the side door. Gem hesitated, but went after him. 

Outside, it was way more ominous. Lightning flashed in staggered patterns, lighting up the sky and giving Gem brief views of the raging mesocyclone on the horizon. It hadn’t hit the city yet, but it couldn’t be more than five or ten miles away. Rain was slanting across the ground, pushed by winds that – if Gem had to guess – were maybe at 45 or 50 miles per hour. The closer the storm got, the harder the winds would get, and the more dangerous things would be. 

As she climbed into the truck and slammed the door, it started to hail. 

Grian grinned shakily at her. “Brings back memories, huh?”

Gem didn’t get the chance to answer. Her phone started vibrating against the center console; Tango was calling her. “Finally,” she muttered, swiping the answer button. “Whatcha got for me, Tango?”

“ No hook echo, ” Tango said. In the background of the call, there were echoing slams and thuds. “ I’ve got no clue what the sirens could be going off for. ”

“Maybe it’s a forewarning?” Grian suggested, grabbing his seatbelt as Gem took off into the city. “Maybe the city just wanted to be safe.” 

“ Doubt it, ” Tango said. “ No high velocity couplets, no rotation on the radar. Is it a siren malfunction ?”

Grian and Gem stared out the windshield at the ominous shelf-cloud on the horizon, darker than the sky and blotting out the stars. “Nope,” they said, at the same time. Lightning flashed against the dark cloud, splitting the sky and clashing against the ground. 

Tango hummed. There was a clacking noise over the phone – his keyboard, most likely. “ I’ll keep an eye on the radars, ” he said doubtfully. “ But it’s looking like nothing more than a few thunderstorms.”

Gem chewed on her lip as she drove, trying to parse out what the itch in her brain was. There was something going on here, but for the life of her, she couldn’t name it. As they got closer to the dark cloud, the rain got harder, until it was pelting the truck in sheets that made it hard to see. “If there’s anything, it’s going to be hella rainwrapped,” Gem muttered, gripping the steering wheel harder to hide the shake in her fingers. 

Grian clocked it anyway. “Maybe we should turn back and hide out with the team,” he said slowly, eyes flickering between her hands and her face. “If you panic, we’ll be stuck.”

“I’m not going to panic,” Gem snapped. Grian’s jaw clicked shut and he held his hands up in surrender. Gem took a harsh breath, mashing the gas. The rain lashed harder as the truck accelerated. Large chunks of hail pelted against the windshield, leaving spidering cracks in the glass. 

They were within five miles of the storm when a tennis ball sized chunk of hail crashed against the windshield, shattering it and clattering against the center console. “Shit!” Gem slammed on the brakes and the truck skidded against the mud and asphalt until it creaked to a stop. “Fuck!” Gem screamed through her teeth in frustration, slamming a fist against the steering wheel. 

Grian reached forward to grab her hands before she could do more damage. “We can’t chase this with a shattered windshield, Gem,” he said urgently, trying to be the voice of reason amidst panic. “Let’s just turn back and–”

A horn blared through the wind and sirens. The Wranglers RAM pulled up beside them, window to window. Impulse leaned out the window. He had to yell to be heard over the wind. “Y’all good?”

“Hail shattered our windshield,” Gem yelled back, pointing at the ruined glass.

Impulse furrowed his eyebrows, searching Gem’s face for a minute. He seemed to find what he was looking for, because he turned away and started talking to Scar. Grian kept a firm hold on Gem’s hands, glancing at the approaching storm. Eventually, Impulse turned back to them. “We’ve got a derecho incoming,” he yelled, pointing to the approaching storm. “We were doing a last check to see if anyone was on the road.”

Gem hesitated. It sounded like the Wranglers weren’t planning on chasing this storm, but Gem didn’t want to turn her back now. “But–” she cut herself off, glancing back at the storm. Tango’s words returned to her unbidden.

Chasing tornadoes because you feel guilty isn’t going to help you.

She knew it, too. She knew that chasing was dangerous, but it was different this week. Chasing on a week like this, so close to the anniversary, was going to kill her. If the storm didn’t do it, then the panic would – or the grief. “Gem.” Gem jumped. She’d forgotten that Tango was on the phone. “The NWS just clocked a gust at 115 mph. That storm is a derecho and it's moving towards you guys fast.”

“Fuck,” she whispered, pulling her hands from Grian’s and shifting to drive. “Follow us to our hotel,” she yelled to Impulse. “They’ve got a basement.”

She didn’t wait for an acknowledgement. Gem made the tightest U-turn she’d ever done in her life and drove like hell back into town.

If the asphalt of the parking lot was dry, Gem knew for sure that her tires would be squealing with how hard she hit the brakes. The Wranglers swerved into the parking spot next to them. “We need to get Watcher out and into the building, at least,” Gem told Grian, taking the keys from the car and opening the door. The wind was so harsh it nearly blew the door back into her, but she forced it back open. “See if they need anything.”

Grian saluted, clambering out of the truck and over to talk to Scar. Gem pulled herself to the bed and started unhooking the ratchet straps. 

A particularly harsh gust of wind blew the metal piece of the loose ratchet strap back towards her. Gem twisted to avoid getting a hit to the face, and the harsh metal dug into her shoulder instead. She nearly screamed as it tore in and out of her shoulder, taking a chunk of flesh with it. “Fuck!” 

“Goddamn, Gemstone.” Skizz appeared at her side, catching the flailing ratchet and tucking it between the tool box and the bed so the wind couldn’t catch it. “You’re gonna have a nice scar after this.”

Gem didn’t dignify that with a response. Between the two of them, they got the ratchet straps off in record time. Gem bundled Watcher to her chest, ignoring the burning in her shoulder. Skizz pushed her ahead of him, falling into step at her back so that his body blocked most of the wind. They pushed towards the hotel until they were in the lobby and the wind wasn’t pushing against them anymore. 

Scar, Impulse, and Grian were waiting for them by the stairs. Grian lurched forward to grab Gem and look her over. “Shit, Gem!” He hissed, pulling up Gem’s shirt sleeve to look at her shoulder. There was a pretty good divot in her arm, bleeding sluggishly. “Shit!”

Scar appeared beside them, looking at her shoulder with calculating eyes. “It’s going to have to wait, for now,” he said, ushering them towards the stairs. “Let’s get down to the basement and then we can worry about it.”

Scar and Impulse led the way, taking the stairs two at a time until they were in the basement. Tango and Pearl met them at the door. “Gemini,” Tango said, eyebrows furrowed as he caught sight of her shoulder. “Watcher isn’t worth your pain and you know it.”

“Fuck that!” Gem snapped, shoving Watcher into Tango’s arms. Her rage, the fire that had been kindling in her chest since she turned around instead of chasing that storm, burst out of her. “Watcher is worth more than my life, Tango. Way more! If I die and Watcher survives, it would have been a death well worth it!”

The basement, which had been filled with the murmur of soft conversation, went dead quiet. Scar and Impulse whirled around, looking at her like she’d killed a dog. “Gem,” Grian started, reaching forward. She stumbled backwards into Skizz, and then staggered left to get away from him, too. “Gem, please–”

“Stop!” She held out a shaking hand and Grian paused. “That drone has been my entire life since I graduated. Four years. Four years , Grian! I put all of my time into that thing. Did you know I was working on that stupid piece of wiring when my parents died, huh? Did you know that they had to come and save me because I didn’t hear the sirens?”

“I was there, Gem,” Grian whispered. Agony sparked in his eyes, like her pain was his. 

Gem sobbed, once, and then grit her teeth. “It wasn’t the same. You were already in the shelter. They didn’t die trying to save you.”

Pearl choked on a sob, lifting a hand to her mouth. The Wranglers had matching looks of horror on their faces. 

The basement was so silent they could hear the wind wailing outside the building. Thunder cracked so loud that the building shook and sent dust fluttering to the ground. “I don’t know why I thought chasing was a good idea,” Gem whimpered, shaking her head. “It goes good anytime other than now. But every year without fail, this week breaks me down. I’m so stupid.”

“Gem–”

Gem shook her head. “Just.. I need space. Please.” She ducked around Grian’s outstretched arms and brushed past Scar and Impulse. People parted to let her pass, looking after her with varying looks of horror. 

She found the furthest corner she could and curled up against the cold walls and floor. She closed her eyes, but sleep never found her. 

Chapter Text

Gem’s grief had always been with her. Four years of her life had been accompanied by a grief she hadn’t quite figured out how to sit with. She thought she’d be better by now – she was better. Ask her any other day, any other week, any other place, and Gem would tell you she was fine. She missed her parents, sure, but she wasn’t grieving them. 

But this week always came as a violent reminder. A sharp jab to her ribs to tell her, no, she wasn’t better, and yes, she was still grieving. She never really stopped. 

Tango was right. Gem wasn’t sure who she was trying to fool by saying otherwise. Maybe she was trying to fool the other chasers. Maybe she was trying to fool her friends. 

Maybe she was trying to fool herself.

Time passed in a haze, the kind that she hadn’t lost herself to in a long time. Her consciousness became a blur of distant pain and that vague achy feeling behind her heart that she knew well. She sat, unseeing, unfeeling, unthinking, against cold walls and a cold floor. Gem wasn’t sure how long she was curled in the corner. At least, she wasn’t sure, until a body slotted itself in next to her. A body she knew well.

“Etho?” 

Her brother hummed softly at her raw voice, curling an arm around her shoulders. “Tango called me,” he explained quietly, and then he didn’t speak again for a long while. They just sat there, curled in a corner they didn’t really fit in, two siblings lost in the orbit of grief. Etho was a comforting presence next to her. She hadn’t realized how much she missed him until he was sitting next to her. 

The only bad thing about having him here was that Gem was being anchored back into her body. Which meant her memories were coming back to her. 

 If I die and Watcher survives, it would have been a death well worth it!

I was there, Gem

They didn’t die trying to save you.

What was she thinking? She knew she wasn’t the only one struck by her parents' death. Grian had been there, had seen it. And she had the gall to throw it back in his face when all he was doing was trying to help? Gem curled her fingers into the flannel of Etho’s sleeve. She bit her lip hard as tears welled again. 

“I think I need to apologize.” 

Etho hummed again, the sound rumbling through his chest. “No,” he said, simple and unwavering. “You don’t need to apologize. Not about this. Never about this.”

“But– Grian, he–” Gem shook her head. “I threw it in his face, Etho, I….”

Etho sighed softly. His arm tightened around her. “Then you apologize for that. But you don’t get to apologize for grieving, Gem. And he wouldn’t want you too.”

“I just–” Gem choked on a breath. “It hurts , Etho. I’m so tired.”

Etho pulled her away from the corner, tugging her into his lap and wrapping both arms fully around her. “I know, Gem. I know.”

Gem hadn’t felt this kind of support since they left home for the season. Her friends were great, but they only knew so much. And Grian–

They didn’t die trying to save you.

Well. The guilt was for more than just her parents.

But Etho was her brother. Flesh and blood. And he’d been there for her for as long as she could remember. He was there when she was insistent on learning swordfighting, through years of bullying, heartbreak, and loneliness. He was there when she decided to go to KU and when she switched her major from engineering to meteorology. He was there when she graduated and started working on Watcher. 

He was there when Gem’s entire world burned to ash at her feet. 

When their parents died, Gem….went catatonic, was the best way to describe it. Doing or feeling anything felt like too much work so she…just didn’t. Her brain shut off. Etho was there to take control when she couldn’t. He made sure she ate, drank, slept. He even helped her with hygiene. She had vague memories of sitting on the toilet while he brushed her teeth for her. 

It embarrassed her to talk or even think about, now, but thankful didn’t quite describe how she felt about what he did for her. Etho was her pillar of support. An unwavering, immovable, resolute buoy in her sea of grief. 

Now that he was here, she let herself fall apart. 

Etho held her tight as she broke. 

Grian paced – back and forth, back and forth – his eyes trained unblinkingly on the corner where Etho and Gem were curled up. It hurt, a lot more than he felt it should, to leave Gem by herself in the four hours it took for the storm to clear and Etho to make the drive to their hotel. Gem was hurting, more than he’d originally thought, and it took a lot of willpower to leave her over there. 

Gem’s parents were everything to her. They were all she had, besides Etho. Grian knew how much their death had ruined her, and he knew how much the anniversary affected her. Grief was a killer, he knew that. But he’d been so excited about meeting the Wranglers that he’d forgotten what day was coming up. 

Yes, he felt the grief. Yes, he felt the guilt. But it wasn’t his parents that died. 

It was Gem’s. He wasn’t sure how he’d let himself forget her when she needed his support the most.

He had to remind himself, again and again, that Etho was the only one that could help her. Grian hadn’t managed to catch the grief before it hit. Only Etho could pull her out now. 

Besides, he wasn’t sure Gem would want him too help, anyway. 

“Is she going to be okay?”

Grian jumped nearly a foot in the air, whipping around. Scar was there, hands held up in surrender. “Sorry,” he whispered, moving up next to Grian. He looked Grian over and then glanced towards Gem and Etho. “Gem, is she going to be okay?”

“Uh– yeah. Or, well–” Grian shrugged, pressing his mouth into a thin line. “You heard what she said. It’s the four year anniversary, today. It hits her hard, this time of year.”

“Rightfully so.”

Grian nodded. It’s all he could do. 

He can’t stop thinking about her words. If I die and Watcher survives, it would have been a death well worth it, she’d said. Grian hadn’t realized. Or maybe he had and he didn’t want to think about it. Gem was strong, far stronger than he was, so surely –

Nauseous was building in his stomach, burbling uncomfortably. He was tired and achy and his eyes were burning and he couldn’t breathe– 

“Grian. Hey.” A gentle hand grabbed his shoulder, turning him away from Gem and Etho. “Hey bud, why don’t we go sit down. C’mon.”

“No,” he said, and his voice came out far weaker than he meant for it too. “‘M fine, just–” Grian tried to pull away, but Scar was insistent and Grian– “Don’t feel good,” he mumbled, letting Scar tug him away. “Scar–” Scar hummed, tugging a little harder. Grian furrowed his eyebrows, trying to figure out what the warning bells going off in his head were about. 

His ears started ringing, and his vision whited out. Grian stumbled to his knees. He had enough time to think– Oh . 

Then he tilted sideways and was gone.

Chapter Text

“Oh, shit.” Gem felt more than heard Etho’s words as he spoke. She hummed in question, trying to force her eyes open. “Hold on, Gem, don’t–”

He wasn’t fast enough. She picked her head up and forced her eyes open just in time to see Grian slump sideways into Scar’s side. “Grian?” she tried to call, but her voice came out raspy and quiet. Gem turned panicked eyes to Etho, her brother, because he would fix it. He always did. “Etho. Etho–”

Etho put a hand to the back of her head and drew her close. “Tango?” he called, his voice rumbling through his chest and into her forehead. 

“Stress,” Tango called back. “No injuries. It happens sometimes.”

Etho sighed, soft and relieved. “He’s alright, Gem. Stress just got to him, s’all.”

Gem sniffed, blinking away the film over her vision. Grian was pale as a ghost, slouched into Scar’s side. There were no injuries on him that she could see, which relieved her a little. “He hasn’t done that in forever,” she croaked, tugging on Etho’s jacket. “He needs juice.”

Etho chuckled. “Tango’s handling it, Gem.” 

Gem nodded slowly. It felt a little weird, not to be over there with Grian. Usually she was the one bringing him back. Not– not Scar. 

Because it was Scar bringing him back. Scar, bracing Grian against his chest. Scar, fanning Grian’s face. Scar, whispering comfortingly to him. It was Scar who took the juice from Tango and held it for Grian to drink from, because Grian was too weak and shaky to hold it himself. 

“Let it go, Gem,” Etho said softly, because of course he knew exactly what she was thinking. “Grian’s not going to fault you because you weren’t there to help him one time.”

Gem took a second to take stock of herself. She didn’t feel…good, not really, but she did feel a little better. The grief was still there, of course it was. But with Etho there to anchor her, it felt less all-consuming and final. More like nostalgia and less like doom. “I can’t, Etho.” 

Etho hummed softly, but didn’t interrupt. “He….. he didn’t have anyone,” Gem said. She knew it, one some level, but it was the first time she’d really admitted it to herself. “I had you, when it happened. Grian…” Gem’s voice cracked and died. 

“Was alone,” Etho finished quietly. 

“But he’s got people now,” Gem whispered, watching Scar gently prop Grin so he was sitting a little straighter. “People to rely on.”

“You’re still one of them,” Etho said, nudging her shoulder. “You had a fight. It happens.”

“Yeah.”

They were silent for a long time, watching Scar and Grian. The people in the basement had cleared out at some point, Gem noted distantly, but her friends and the Wranglers remained. Keeping her company, even when she was too gone to realize it. Love, warm and gooey, swelled in her chest. “I think you two need to talk,” Etho said eventually, squeezing her shoulders. “That might help.”

“I think I would rather die.”

Gem turned just in time to catch the unamused look in Etho’s eye. “Yeah, we’re going to address that later.” Gem winced. So they’d told Etho what she said. “That’s not something we’re going to let linger. But first–” Etho rose to his feet, pulling Gem with him. “You’re talking to Grian.”

Etho walked slowly, which Gem was grateful for. She felt shaky, like she’d drank four cups of coffee and had nothing to eat. Spent, too. But Etho stayed with her, close enough to catch her if she fell but far enough that she didn’t feel like he was babying her. As they got closer, Scar glanced up and smiled gently at them. “Hey, Gem. Feeling better?”

Grian looked up too, slow and hazy. His eyes drifted from Etho to Gem. “Gem.”

Gem smiled weakly at Scar, giving him a faint nod. “Hey, Grian,” she said faintly, holding Etho’s arm as she crouched down. “How are you feeling?”

Grian’s face went funny. Wrinkled at the edges, like he was confused. “Me?”

“You passed out, dude.”

“I know.” Grian leaned back a little and Scar reached forward to brace a hand against his back. “That’s not anything new. I should be asking how you are.”

Gem couldn’t help it. She snorted, kicking gently at his knee. “I’m fine.” Etho cleared his throat and Gem winced. “Um. Well, not fine… I guess.”

Grian didn’t reply. He met her eyes and held them. Gem felt torn open and exposed, a butterfly pinned to a board. “I know, Gem,” he said. He said it in a monotone, matter-of-fact voice and Gem felt anger bristling in her throat. But Grian’s eyes flickered for a moment, darting away from her face, and his eyebrows scrunched. “You didn’t get that looked at?”

Gem furrowed her eyebrows. “Get what–”

Pain flared as she glanced down at the jagged wound on her shoulder. Her shirt sleeve was torn and stained with blood. She’d forgotten entirely about the chunk of flesh that got torn from her arm. “Gemini Tay!” Etho said sharply. He reached forward and pushed down on her cut. “Really?”

“Oh, he pulled out the middle name,” Grian said, wincing. “Etho means business.”

“I forgot!” Gem whined. “I had a breakdown, remember?”

Scar turned away from them and waved a hand. “Hey Impy, can you grab us a medkit?” 

Now that Grian pointed it out, her wound decided it wanted to be angry and spiteful. Pain lanced through her shoulder and into her fingers. Gem whined, frowning down at Etho’s hand pushing into her shoulder. “Do you have to do that? It’s not even bleeding anymore.”

“It makes me feel better.”

Gem didn’t argue but she didn’t stop frowning at his hand either. In seconds, Impulse darted over with a vivid red medkit in his hands. “I wanted to look at that hours ago,” he said, crouching at Gem’s side. “But you were…..” He paused, glancing over his shoulder. “Grieving,” is what he settled on.

Gem whined again as Etho pulled his hand away and pulled up her sleeve. Impulse started dabbing at the cut with an alcohol wipe and Gem jerked as her shoulder started to burn. “Sorry,” Impulse muttered, giving her a second to adjust.

“Stitches?”

Impulse shook his head. “Not too deep, thankfully.” He grabbed some gauze and an ace bandage and made quick work of wrapping up her shoulder. “I’d check it for infection later, though. That ratchet was gross, and it’s been covered in blood and who knows what else for four hours.”

Gem jolted forward as Grian started to struggle to his feet. “I’m sorry!”

The world paused on an inhale. Impulse and Etho froze, hands on her arm and shoulder. Scar leaned back, cutting his eyes to Grian. 

Grian stayed, half-risen to his feet, Scar’s hand on his back for support, for a long moment. He stared at the ground, his lip between his teeth, for a long moment. So long that anxiety began to curl tight around Gem’s throat. “For… for taking it out on you,” she said, quick and breathless. “For throwing it back in your face when you’re grieving just as much as I am.”

Grian looked down at her and the look in his eyes made something in Gem’s chest wail. She’d made him look like that. “You were there.” Gem hunched her shoulders, grief and guilt and exhaustion weighing her down. “You were there, you saw it, and I can’t believe I threw it in your face.”

Grian fell to his knees and scrambled over to her. He threw his arms around her shoulders and pulled her close and Gem broke. Broke down in a way different and yet all the same to how she did with Etho. “It’s okay, Gem. It’s okay .”

And it was, Gem was realizing. Here, in this moment with Grian and Etho – and, yes, even the Wranglers – her grief felt less like a knife and more like an ache. Gem let herself be held and cried herself dry for the second time in an hour. 

Grian held her tight. His arms felt like forgiveness.

Chapter Text

Dark, turbulent clouds were gathered on the horizon. Lightning spidered across the darkness, but it was far enough away that Gem couldn’t hear the thunder. Behind her, the sky was clear and blue, the grass sparkling in the sun. “What do we got?” she called over her shoulder.

“Definitely got some rotation,” Tango yelled back. “Golf ball sized hail, 100 mph winds. It’s lookin’ like a monster.”

A shoulder nudged hers. Gem cast Grian a sideways look as he shot her a cocky grin. “I’m thinking we’re getting twins,” he whispered conspiratorially. “It’s big enough to support them.”

Gem laughed. “Yeah, maybe we’ll get a dead man walking, too. Keep dreaming, buddy.” Grian flapped his hand mockingly, making a face at her. Gem shoved him away, rolling her eyes fondly. “Where’s Etho?”

Grian jerked a thumb over his shoulder. Etho leaned against their truck, his good eye trained on the storm in the far distance. He was chewing on his lip and Gem knew – Etho was nervous. Which, granted, she wasn’t surprised. He was never actually present to see her and Grian drive into these storms – he always heard about it after, when she was safe. 

Knowing she did this type of stuff and actually seeing her do it were two very different things. 

“Etho!” Gem called, jogging over to him. “Hey. I’m going to be careful.”

Etho smiled, tilting his head towards her. “Don’t try to assure me. I’m always going to be worried.” He reached out and smoothed a thumb over the year old scar on her shoulder. “Let’s just not get anymore of these, yeah?”

Gem gave him a blinding smile. She danced away from him and towards the Wranglers truck, where her bird was strapped down in the bed. “No promises!” 

She didn’t let Etho call her back. Gem darted the last few feet to the Wranglers, peeking at the monitors over Skizz’s shoulder. There was a massive hook-echo on the Doppler, which Skizz was tracing with his finger. “This thing is definitely a monster. No twins, sorry G.” Skizz shot Grian an apologetic smile as Grian threw his hands up. “I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s an EF4, at least. We’re lucky it’s going away from civilization.”

“How are we going to get our bird into it?”

“Well, look here.” Skizz pointed to another monitor that was showing a satellite view. Gem could see the swirling clouds of the tornado. And there – right in the center – was an eye. “It’s got an eye. If Watcher can survive the outer winds long enough to get to the center, we should be set.”

Gem nodded determinedly. “With the modifications, it should.”

“You heard her!” Scar called, twirling a finger. “Let’s load up!”

They all scrambled into the truck. Grian joined Scar in the front, punching him excitedly in the shoulder. Gem squeezed in the back with Impulse and Skizz, bouncing in her seat. If things went well, then Watcher would finally be airborne. 

“Wait!” 

Scar yelped, slamming his foot on the brake. Impulse and Skizz instinctively swung their arms in front of Gem as they lurched forward. “Sorry,” Etho said breathlessly, appearing at Skizz’s window. He paused, meeting Gem’s eyes. For a moment, it was just them. Everything else melted away. Gem breathed in time with her brother. “Tell them hi for me,” he said, quietly. Softly. 

Gem grinned. “I will.”

This close to the storm, Gem could hear the roaring sound of wind, like a train whistling down its tracks. Lightning flashed, lighting up the sky as their truck screeched to a halt. “How do we want to do this?” Scar yelled over the noise, turning in his seat to look at Gem. “Drills?” 

Gem hesitated. It looked like it was way too powerful. That tornado would rip them out of the dirt like a flower. “No, the drills won’t hold,” she yelled back, unlatching her seat belt. “Let’s just set Watcher up and get out of range. G, can you fire up the program?”

Grian gave Gem a thumbs up as her, Impulse, and Skizz climbed out of the back seat. The wind wasn’t as strong as it was during that derecho last year, but her shoulder twinged as she looked at the ratchet straps holding Watcher in place. She glanced over her shoulder, towards the darkening storm. 

For a second, panic gripped her. 

Then, Tango’s voice came over the truck radio, so loud she could hear it. “There are two different spots of rotation,” he yelled. 

Gem gaped. Grian poked his head out the window, grinning at her. “You know what that means?”

Scar and Grian’s voices mingled together as they both cheered, “Twins!”

Gem whirled around to look at the storm. Sure enough, there were two thin tornadoes. They were spinning around each other like they were dancing, twirling as the storm moved. Panic bled away, overcome by an ache of love. It reminded Gem of her parents – the way they danced together in the kitchen after cleaning. The way they moved as one cohesive unit whenever they worked. 

Her parents were there, still helping her. Reminding her of the beauty of the thing that killed them. 

“Gem!”

Gem jolted, turning away from the twins. Skizz and Impulse were holding Watcher between them. “Where do you want it?” 

“Change of plans,” she said quickly, waving for them to follow her. “There’s no more eye, so we got to ditch that. Let’s try and get it between the two tornadoes and we’ll circle them as the storm moves.” Skizz and Impulse set Watcher down where she pointed, its nose pointed towards the storm. Then they scrambled back to the truck. Scar peeled away as they buckled in. 

Grian reached back and handed her the drone’s controller. Scar did a sharp u-turn and parked the truck where they could see Watcher in the distance, a speck of white against the incoming storm. “Powering up the engines.”

Through the video feed, she could hear the roar of Watcher’s engines. It tilted as it lifted off the ground. She mashed the analog stick and Watcher shot off towards the twins. “Airborne!”

Her friends cheered as she steered Watcher around the dancing twins. They cheered and cheered, but it all melted away as the twins took up her focus. The thought of her parents crossed her mind again. Her parents, dancing in the kitchen. “Hi mom,” she whispered, grinning at the screen. Her vision was watery. “Hi dad.”

Data started filtering in. Wind speed, the dew point, the quickly changing wind direction. The numbers were a bit overwhelming. “I know we aren’t getting any unprecedented data,” Impulse said, looking over her shoulder at the screen. “But this is still pretty cool.”

Gem grinned. “Hell yeah it is.”

With her friends at her side, with Scar and Grian yelling excitedly at each other in the front seat, Gem steered Watcher around the twins. They watched the two tornados dance around each other, grinning and laughing together. The ache of grief held fast to Gem’s chest, but love made it warm. 

She was so excited to tell Etho their parents said hi back.