This was a prompt left on the CastleFanficPrompts tumblr and my dearest best friend, OneTurtleDove, told me about it because she knew it was certain to be right up my alley. See, I've got a bit of an addiction for meteorology with an emphasis on storm chasing (my favorite movie of all-time gets made fun of a lot in this fic). That said even though I've read a lot of text, have had the pleasure of talking to several meteorologist, and have watched too many episodes of Storm Chasers... I've never been to school for this and I've never been on a legitimate storm chase so for any inaccuracies I do sincerely apologize and please note that this is a work of fiction so some details have been fudged for the sake of the storyline. I'll try to keep it as accurate as possible.
Also please forgive any blatant errors - I'm currently suffering my way through the cold from hell.
Disclaimer: Not mine. Not yours. Definitely MilMar's.
Every storm runs, runs out of rain,
Just like every dark night turns into day,
Every heartache will fade away,
Just like every storm runs, runs out of rain...
-Gary Allan's Every Storm (Runs out of Rain)
Dust danced in the field just beyond the parking lot of the motel that sat on the outskirts of Oklahoma City while Kate Beckett perched on the hood of her pickup truck with a set of maps in one hand and a rapidly cooling cup of gas station coffee in the other. She bit her lip and furrowed her brow as she ran her eyes over the data before her; if the maps were anywhere close to right, which they were, then there was a probable chance of a record breaking storm system erupting spanning across the Midwest and up into the Great Lakes region. Placing the maps on the hood of her truck, she weighted them down with her coffee mug and leaned back against her windshield to take a deep breath and observe the sky overhead. The maps were right; she could feel it in her bones – some would say she was just sensitive to the pressure changes that preceded a large storm but Kate knew better, it was a rush of adrenaline in her veins that preceded the storms. Most people had a flight response when it came to extreme weather but Kate Beckett and her team of fellow scientists were among the rare few that ran in while everyone else ran out when the darkest side of nature reared it's ugly head.
After a long winter cooped up inside the laboratory running data for the National Weather Service, the meteorologist relished the chance to be out in the field and would be lying if she said she didn't have a craving for a good chase.
"Hey boss," Kevin Ryan greeted her as he slipped out the front door of the motel office with a set of papers in hand. "Local office just faxed these over – they're the waivers for that journalist guy who is gonna be doing the ride-along. Said to expect him out here within the hour."
"Great," she sighed and took the papers from him as he hopped onto the hood beside her, taking the maps to give them a look over. "Richard Castle," she read the name aloud with venom in each syllable. "Just what I need – babysit some reckless civilian who think he's Bill Paxton."
"Technically he would think he's Bill Harding," the navigator corrected her. "Bill Paxton's the actor. Bill Harding is the storm chaser." She narrowed her eyes at him and he shrugged. "What? I watch movies. It's called having fun, Beckett. You should try it sometime."
"Ryan," she growled his last name and arched an eyebrow.
"Yes, boss lady." Scratching the back of his head and sighing, he gave her a crooked grin. "You want to head up toward Wichita or Tulsa?"
"Tulsa for now," she told him. "That storm is gonna bank northeast and head across Missouri for sure... Gut feelings."
Ryan smiled. "Very scientific."
"Go plot a course," she ordered him and nudged him off her truck with the shove of her boot against his hip. "And wake Javier and Lanie's asses up. We need to be checked out of the rooms by eleven and I want to be on the road as soon as the journalist gets here."
"You got it," he told her. "Did you eat? There's a continental breakfast."
"I ate," she promised him with a smile.
"Probably not enough," he said decidedly. "I'll grab you a muffin after I wake Javi and Lanie up. You need more than coffee in your stomach, Beckett."
"Whatever, dad."
He shrugged and turned on his heel, slipping into the ground floor hotel room to wake up the other half of their team. Kate sighed and leaned back against the windshield once more as she flicked through Richard Castle's paperwork; it wasn't that she didn't understand the drawl but she didn't get why she had to babysit the guy, there were commercial tours for people who wanted to try out chasing from a safe distance. The head of the lab had called her the night before to go over the specifics and had made it plain that there was no give on this, she was taking the ride-along because it meant a generous donation to their lab in exchange. And their lab seriously needed the funding.
Sliding off the hood, she righted her clothing and raked her long hair up into a high ponytail before opening the door to the cab of the truck to file the waivers with the rest of her paperwork that was kept in a lock box on the passenger side floorboard – it also held documents about power of attorney and her will in case one time she got too close and didn't just walk away.
"Damn," a deep voice spoke from behind her and she turned her head to find a man checking out her ass. His chestnut hair was messed up – from the wind or worrying his hands through it, Kate wasn't sure – and aviators were slipping low on the bride of his nose as his white button down fluttered in the wind. She quirked an eyebrow as she stood up and turned to face him. He gave her a grin. "Richard Castle, Chicago Tribune. You Kate Beckett?"
"I am," she said and crossed her arms over her chest. "Your outfit is very... practical, Mister Castle."
"It was either this or a suit," he told her with a shrug. "And you can call me Rick."
"The office sent over your waiver," she told him as she kicked the driver's side door shut and rounded the vehicle with the expectation that he would follow. "You'll ride in my truck and we'll lead my team. They'll be behind us in this van." She tapped the outfitted vehicle parked next to her truck with her hand. "This is a mobile lab essentially. It's fully outfitted with all kind of gizmos and gadgets that you aren't allowed to touch, we clear?"
"Yes, ma'am," he replied and held up three fingers. "Scouts honor."
Her team filed out of the front office with the receipts for their rooms in hand. Beckett wordlessly took the muffin that Ryan offered her and turned to make introductions."This is my team; Kevin Ryan is our navigator, Javier Esposito is our spotter, and Lanie Parish is the brains of the operation and runs all those gizmos that you're not allowed to touch. Guys, this is Richard Castle – a journalist with the Chicago Tribune."
Lanie Parish extended her hand to him. "It's nice to meet you, Mister Castle. You're doing a piece of storm chasing?"
"More like an in-depth six part article on the effects of global warming," he explained. "This is just one stop on my list."
"Well we'll try not to keep you too long," Beckett told him. "Let's get a move on, guys."
"You can have all the time you need," he countered but she was already gone – making long and confident strides in the direction of her truck.
In her truck, Beckett fastened the safety belt as she turned over the engine and waited for Richard Castle to catch up and laughed quietly when he threw himself into his seat like she was about to pull away without him. She flicked on the radio and waited to make sure that her team was ready before she threw the gear shift into reverse and slammed the gas pedal, hitting the brakes with a smirk before burning rubber as she headed toward the interstate that would lead them northeast toward Tulsa. With the odometer edging toward seventy and Oklahoma City fading in the rear view mirror, Kate Beckett sat on the edge of her seat and cast glances toward the rumbling sky every few moments. She grabbed the hand held radio and pushed the button down. "Lanie, keep an eye on the developments – I want to know the second any warnings are called between here and Missouri. Ryan, let me know if you've got any shortcuts but we're heading to Tulsa. We'll stop there and see how this thing is building, which way it's banking, but we'll probably be into Missouri by evening."
"Copy that," came Javier's voice in reply.
"What do you know about storms, Mister Castle," she asked as she hung the radio back on its hook. "Anything besides a high school science class?"
"I've seen Twister," he told her. She turned her head to glare at him and he raised his hands. "I know it's Hollywood and not realistic but I'm just saying that I've seen it. Living in Chicago I've seen a few pretty bad storms – was on the scene after the storm that ripped up Joliet a couple of years ago."
"It's different in person," she replied; her voice is quiet, soft, and deeply serious. "When you're in the thick of it and all you can do is hold on while it takes you for a ride."
"How many have you been in like that," he asked as he took a small notebook and pen from the back pocket of his jeans. "How often does that happen on your job?"
"Once," she told him. "I've only been in one once. We don't have the equipment necessary for putting ourselves in the damage path and letting it blow right over us. Our job is to observe, to analyze, and to collect footage in order to help improve warning times and get more information about how these storms operate. To do that we have to stay alive."
"What was it like to be in the one you were in," he asked as he scribbled information furiously across his notebook. "Amazing? Totally moving?"
"Deadly," she told him with no room for jest in her tone. "It was deadly, Mister Castle. This isn't Hollywood like you said. And while the storms can be majestic... When you're too close, when you're in their path... All too often people die."
"Understood."
They ride in silence for a long few moments as the sky darkens and comes to life around them. Kate Beckett's spine tingled as they approached Tulsa and lightning flickered across the sky, the cacophonous rumble of thunder following quickly there after. She leaned forward in her seat and glanced up at the sky above their heads as the radio crackled. "We've got a warning," Lanie Parish's voice greeted them. "They're calling a warning for Rogers county with watches for Osage, Tulsa, and Wagoner."
"Ryan," Beckett addressed her team. "Which way am I headed?" The man rattled off a path that would lead her to Rogers county, Oklahoma. She maneuvered the truck off the highway and onto the streets that would lead her to where she needed to be.
Richard Castle had his nose pressed up to the glass window of the truck and was watching as lightning danced across the sky. He had never felt adrenaline in quite such a manner before; as a journalist he had been in some tight spots before, met with some shady people and done some shady things in shady places, but there was something electrifying about riding shotgun for Kate Beckett as they made their way across Oklahoma to chase a potentially deadly storm.
"Beckett," Javier Esposito's voice was next.
"I've got it," she told him and then turned to Castle. "Ready for your first lesson?"
"I am your willing pupil," he promised.
"That's a wall cloud," she pointed toward the developing storm that was still miles ahead of them, just beyond the lights of Tulsa. "They often precede tornadic activity; sometimes they'll burn themselves out before they do any damage and other times we'll see it develop into a tornado. This one... This one looks like it's going to drop – see the way it's rotating." Beckett flipped on the dashboard camera as they approached the storm from the southwest. She grabbed the radio once more in order to contact her team. "Guys, notify the local authorities and let them know that we've got a rotating wall cloud in the southwest corner of Rogers county and the storm appears to be moving northeast."
"That part of your job too," the journalist asked as he pulled out his cellphone to take photos of the developing storm.
"It is," Beckett told him. "It's our job to help people, Mister Castle. We let the proper authorities know so they can help people get to safety before a situation gets beyond the point of no return just like we study the storms to give people in the future more warning time."
He was about to ask her another question but she all but stood on the brake as she pulled the truck off on the side of the road and undid her seat belt, immediately letting herself out of the truck with her camera in hand. He followed with a quirked eyebrow and raised an arm to block the fierce wind that was blowing dirt everywhere. "What are you doing?"
"Hook," she told him and pointed toward the cloud that did indeed appear to have a very pronounced hook. "It's gonna turn into a rope in a minute – just you wait."
There were still miles between them and the storm but with nothing but a series of vacant fields and highways between them and the tiny town the storm was about to drop on it felt like he had a front row seat. His breath was caught in his throat when just like Beckett had predicted the rope of a tornado began to come down from the wall cloud – it was almost pure white as it lowered until the dirt and debris the strong winds stirred up came to greet it and began to produce the typical colors of the tornadoes he had seen in the movies. They were just beyond the dry line and back down the road the team was getting pelted with rain and hail but all that surrounded the duo was a fierce wind and the vision of a tornado tearing apart the small town.
It stayed on the ground for several long minutes before it slowly began to dissipate, the damage path the only assurance that it had been there at all; Beckett's hand was gripping his arm and he wasn't sure how or when it had gotten there, half-moon divots dug into his forearm where she anchored in her nails. He cleared his throat and ran a hand through his hair. "So, uh... What now? I mean... That was... That was amazing. I mean, of course-"
"Stop," she said as she took pity on him. "It's okay to be awestruck by the power of the storm, Castle."
"Okay."
She gave him a small smile as she powered down the camcorder. "And to answer your question... Now we go help those people."
"I thought you said we were heading on to Missouri?"
"We will," she promised. "After we go help those people. It's part of the job, Castle." Leading him back to the truck and climbing in herself, she fired up the engine and took off in the direction of the small town that had been destroyed. "We're all trained in first aid and sometimes, especially in rural towns like this, it can take a while for the first responders to arrive – too long for the first responders to arrive. We go in and we triage. We help people who are stuck in houses or who were injured by debris and sometimes we just sit with people who are scared until the big guns arrive. Then we'll move on to Missouri. I promise you, I started tracking this storm this morning and it's far from over. We'll see plenty more before your ride-along ends."
"Okay," he relented. "Let's go help people."