Try and Catch the Wind

A/N: This story was written for a young person whom had the original plot bunny and wanted to see how the story played out. I hope I've done a good job. Thanks to the folks at Project Team Beta for editing this for me.

Part One

And Thus a Plan Was Formed

The movie credits on the super big screen TV scrolled by in a blur only readable to a vampire's eye. The on screen guide blinked by at the same pace. It was a typical Saturday where there was nothing on that hadn't already been seen a million times, or wasn't worth watching, and the sports seasons had either wound down or were just starting. Video games were out since they burned out one system and the other one was awaiting a few new controllers.

"So what now?" Emmett passed a quick glance to his couch companion, Jasper. It was just them today. Everyone else was out shopping or hunting.

"Keep looking. There's got to be something on somewhere."

They went through the on screen guide more slowly, culling out the would-be gems from the goose eggs.

"That was a horrible movie."

"So that's a nope." Emmett arrowed down and highlighted a Syfy channel creature feature. They both took a split second to read the movie synopsis. They looked at each other and laughed.

"Seriously, how do they come up with this stuff?" Jasper shook his head.

"Is that a maybe?"

"Maybe it's a maybe. I'm not sold on a -what's it called- Sharktopus." A strange grimace crossed Jasper's face. Such a creature wasn't even biologically possible. It actually hurt his mind to think about it. The things humans did with biology in science fiction was really scary, although sometimes they came frighteningly close to the truth.

"It might be fun." But one look at Jasper's scowl had Emmett backtracking. "Okay, moving on."

Another fifty channels went by when the highlight bar hit something neither of them had seen before, a reality show called Storm Racers.

"Well, what do you think?" Emmett asked hesitantly, feeling the puzzling waves of dislike and curiosity coming from Jasper.

Jasper, as a rule, avoided reality shows. He never found them as interesting as Emmett did. He thought them a little silly and very far from reality, but he was a vampire and probably wasn't the best judge on what was real or not in the human world.

As far as reality TV went, this one seemed rather hard to fake. He shrugged. "Looks better than the shark-thingy-that-ate-Spring Break."

For three hours, they sat witnessing the power of Nature at her cruelest. What was most puzzling to them was the fact that people ran into the storms rather than away from them, defying what they knew of human nature.

Then it happened. Jasper felt the tendrils of Emmett's emotions stretching invisibly across the couch, signifying a complex thought process. It hit him as the show gave an upcoming teaser before a commercial break. At first, he ignored it, but when the actual scene played out on the huge TV screen in front of them, the feelings were much more pronounced.

"What are you thinking over there, Emmett?"

"Nothing. Just wondering how good Alice was at predicting weather."

Jasper narrowed his eyes suspiciously. "Why?"

Emmett stretched his arms across the back of the couch. "Oh, I dunno, looks like these guys could use some help. Annnd, it looks like something we could do better."

"Really?"

"Well, these people claim they're in it for the research. I think they do it for the thrills and, they really shouldn't. I mean they're fragile and easily broken and stuff. Not to mention they're really making some insurance agent out there get one mother of a stomach ulcer. We could totally do it better."

"I doubt Rose is going to let you drive the Jeep into a tornado."

"I didn't say anything about driving."

Jasper shot Emmett an incredulous look. "That's crazy, man. You want to ride a tornado?"

"We're vampires and virtually indestructible. Some wild wind wouldn't do any damage to the old bod." He slapped at his chest for emphasis. "We're perfect for this. We could get the research those guys are looking for and maybe keep them off the road and safe for a bit. Not to mention, we'll keep a few less insurance agents and claims adjusters out of the ER for stomach ulcers and anxiety attacks. Sure beats the heck out of couch surfing."

Jasper had to admit it did sound like a good idea, giving the humans the information they needed to stay safe. Emmett was right. They had the perfect physiology for this. "Okay, you're on, Pecos Bill."

"Want to make a wager?" Emmett waggled his eyebrows.

"Why not? Just remember whose wife can see the future."

"Ppfftt. I've worked around that issue many times."

"Yeah right, Emmett. Lay the deal down, brother."

Emmett thought for a minute before wagering the bet. "First, we see who has the longest hang time and then we'll go with who collected the most research. Loser has to donate the entire contents of their closets, spouses' closet included."

"Alice won't let me lose, you know."

Emmett laughed. "You want to bet on that too?"

"Sure. Why not?"

"Pretty sure of yourself aren't you, bud?"

"Of course. Let's shake on it."

They shook hands vigorously, which turned into a near wrestling match.

"Hey now," Jasper said as he slipped from Emmett's hearty grasp. "You know how Esme feels about wrestling indoors."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Spoil sport. Come on, we've got a lot of leg work to do."

Turning the TV off, they went their separate ways to plan out how best not to end up being the loser for this round of bets. They hadn't had a bet this involved in at least a decade.

A few hours later, Emmett heard a car turning into the driveway. The girls were back from shopping. Giving a quick glance at the clock, he saw they were back sooner than expected. Alice must have seen something. He returned to his research until Rosalie found him in the dining room.

"Hey, babe. Didn't expect you home so soon."

Rose leaned down and kissed him on the cheek, her arms full of shopping bags. "Same here. It was weird. All of a sudden, Alice just stopped where she was and start putting things back on the racks. She never puts things back. And if that wasn't strange enough, she was happy. Really happy. She never said a word as to why." She gave Emmett a suspicious look. "You wouldn't know anything about it, would you?"

"Maybe, maybe not." He couldn't help the faint grin pulling at the corners of his lips.

"Deny all you want but the truth will be revealed. Eventually."

The grin overtook his face. "You and what army?"

Rose grinned back. "Wouldn't you like to know? I have my ways."

Part Two

The Plan Takes Shape

It was not a typical Saturday afternoon at the Cullens'. Bella was fairly certain of that after she hobbled into the living room in her walking cast. At least, she thought it was still a living room. It looked like the studio of a news room. Actually, it looked more like the weather center in a news room with maps and a TV screen showing a satellite loop. Alice was pacing back and forth across the room and, every so often, she turned back to the large paper map of the United Stated and stuck a pin on it, somewhere in Texas. It was the last thing Bella ever expected from Alice, especially when prom was only four weeks away. She should have been sticking pins into some designer prom gown, not a map. Or having Bella play mannequin while Alice fitted a dress for her, one that matched her cast.

"Edward, what's going on?"

"It's part of a bet between Jasper and Emmett. They need Alice's expertise for this particular one."

"Okay," Bella said slowly, trying to figure out what sort of bet would transform the Cullen living room into a mini weather station. "Are they going to take over The Weather Channel?"

Edward laughed lightly. "It really is a shame I can't read your mind. You have the most interesting theories. No, they aren't going to take over The Weather Channel, as far as I know anyway. Alice is focusing her skills on locating tornadoes."

"That's really helpful of her." Bella could see that being useful, getting people out of the path of destruction. A panicked expression furrowed her brows. "You aren't moving, are you?"

"No, we aren't going anywhere. Although, I think most of my family will be making a trip to somewhere in Kansas or maybe..." He glanced at the map where Alice had just placed the yellow pin. "...Texas. You see, Jasper and Emmett made a bet involving a tornado and they're not all that common in Washington State, especially not Forks. There was one in January, though. Alice was kind enough to point that out to them."

"What? Are they going to try to get sucked up in one?"

Edward regarded Bella for a long second. "That's exactly what they intend to do."

"Holy crow! Are they crazy? What if someone sees them?"

"Well, their sanity has always been questionable."

"I heard that, Eddie boy." Emmett's voice sounded loudly from another room.

Edward ignored him. "That's what Alice is working on. She can get them to a fairly remote location and make sure no one sees, especially when Emmett's whirling around in the tornado and lands unharmed. That would be pretty hard to miss."

Bella's brown eyes were wide with amazement. "Why?"

Edward shrugged. "Fact finding, research, whatever you might want to call it. They'll send the information from their trip on to other scientists and hopefully there will be better warnings issued for storms and save lives."

"It still sounds kind of crazy."

Alice stood motionless with the blank stare that still sent chills down Bella's spine whenever she saw it. After a minute, it faded into a more animated expression as she went to examine the pinned map more closely. "Jazz, do you have any recent confirmations?"

"I'll be down with them in a second." The words had barely left his mouth as he ran down the stairs with the information. He handed her a sheet of paper and she scanned down over it. Picking up different colored push pins, she stuck them into the map. Most locations had a red and a green pin nestled side by side, nearly sharing the same hole, but there were a few where the corresponding pins were not as close.

Sighing, Alice handed the paper back to Jasper. "I'm as good as I'm going to get. What I can't predict most of the time is how intense the storm will be. The conditions will be right very soon. It's not going to be a very active year after this month, so if we're doing this we have to do it now. You two should have come up with the bet a bit sooner."

Jasper looked a bit panicked. "Are we going to have enough time to finish the equipment?"

"You'll have plenty of time. Emmett's just about finished and Rose will have the Jeep fitted with all the instruments we need. You'll be fine."

Without another word, Jasper sped out of the room and up the steps, a door slamming shut seconds later.

"That door had best be on its hinges, Jasper," Esme called out from another room in a Mom-tone that was never quite a yell, but very authoritative anyway.

"Sorry. I'll fix it later," Jasper called back.

Part Three

Ride the Wind

The last week of April found four members of the Cullen family absent from Forks and driving some thirty hours into the nation's center. It was early afternoon when the massive Jeep pulled into a lonely gas station somewhere in Kansas.

"You're sure this is the place?" Jasper leaned over the front seat to where Alice was riding shotgun.

"Yep."

"There's still a two percent chance you're not right."

"Trust me. Now that I'm here, I know it's the right place."

"How long do we wait?"

"Just before sundown. I see a little bit of sun back-lighting the whole scene, so it's good you'll both be covered in those wing suits."

"What do we do until then?" Emmett had heard part of their conversation before he got back into the Jeep, bearing a handful of Slim Jims.

Alice shrugged. "We wait."

"But that's hours from now. Can't we do something until then?"

"No. You'll be too far away if you leave."

"But we'll get bored."

"Relax. You'll be just fine. You can't exactly die of boredom." Alice rolled her eyes and shifted in her seat, looking back out the windshield. She hoped Rose would soon be finished filling the Jeep's massive gas tank. It had been quite a while since the four of them had such a road trip.

Jasper glanced at the items in Emmett's hand. He was used to playing human by now, but this seemed to be taking the role just a bit far. "What's up with the Slim Jims? Please tell me you don't plan on eating them."

"Eat them? No way. You remember the Great Steak Bet of '99?"

Jasper grimaced. The very memory made his stomach churn. "Don't remind me. Memory's still too fresh for a rematch."

Emmett nodded sagely. "Thought so. They're souvenirs for Bella. Think she'll like them? I thought I should get her something since she couldn't come along."

"Whatever happened to T-shirts or key chains?"

"I thought Slim Jims were more useful to her. She's human, humans eat food, Slim Jims are food."

Jasper just shook his head.

After Rose returned from filling up the Jeep's tank, they made a short trip down the road and turned off onto a dirt road. In the distance, there were spots of civilization haphazardly dotting the landscape, a few barns and other buildings, but not many. The sky on the horizon wasn't particularly threatening just yet. It had gone from a clear blue to speckled with clusters of thick, white clouds.

"Tell me when to stop, Alice."

"Do you see that abandoned barn ahead, Rose?"

"Yeah."

"That's the spot. Well, the spot where we're going to set up, that is. The boys will have to hike it out into the field."

Rose stopped, as instructed by the barn. Calling it a barn was being kind— given it's size, it was most likely a tool shed for the abandoned farm. The rest of the buildings had long since been torn down and removed, but evidence of their existence peeked out of the tall grass here and there: a weathered piece of lumber and a bit of rusted roof. In time, the shed would follow suit and it was a marvel it was still standing. An old tree stood halfway between the shed and where the house once stood, providing a nice patch of shade from the afternoon sun.

"This thing isn't going to collapse, is it?" Rose's nose wrinkled up in disdain, speculating the chances it had of harming the Jeep should the shed crumble.

"I guarantee it will be standing when we leave." Alice replied, opening a sleek laptop and booting it up.

Rose got out of the Jeep and went to the back, deftly ordering Emmett and Jasper on how and where to set up the satellite and sensors. Once all systems were online, the two males put on their wing suits.

"You sure this is going to work?" Jasper questioned as he zipped his suit up.

Emmett mocked indignation. "I didn't spend the '60s and '70s studying aerodynamics for nothing, you know."

"That was forty years ago."

"I keep up with the latest developments. Besides, it's about time you break out of your comfort zone when you go back to college. Take more sciences, not just computer programming, and cut out some of that artsy-fartsy stuff you normally study. Hey, if we study enough air and space sciences, we can be the first vampires on the moon."

Jasper chuckled. "I don't think Carlisle would get on board with that idea. Also, I'm pretty sure they keep close tabs on the rocket fuel."

They stretched out under the tree, leaving the girls in the Jeep, and waiting for the signal. Jasper imagined he had done this when he was young. On days like this, he wished he remembered more of his childhood.

After a while, Emmett sat up. He scanned the horizon, looking hard at the clouds among the patches of blue sky. "I think Alice is wrong." He pointed toward a thick ,white cloud forming far in the southwestern horizon. "That has to be the least threatening cloud I've ever seen."

Jasper frowned. There was a different feeling in the air now. What it was, he couldn't say, but it felt familiar. That feeling probably came from those faded memories from when he had a different type of family. Perhaps this wasn't his first tangle with a tornado. "Give it time, Emmett."

The cloud never seemed to get much closer, almost like it was locked in place. Jasper figured it was an illusion of distance, making it seem so far away. Even if it wasn't moving toward them very fast, it sure was getting taller and the white at the cloud's base was darkening into gray. It was stretching higher into the atmosphere, and he knew it would eventually flatten out when it got too high.

Soon enough, the cloud did exactly what Jasper had anticipated and it picked up speed. The base of the cloud hung low in the horizon now, dark gray and menacing. He could smell the rain and the ozone from the still distant lightning.

"Heads up, Emmett. Storm's coming."

Emmett looked at the developing storm. "That's one mean-looking storm. All that from one innocent-looking cloud." As Emmett spoke, the storm obscured the sun, casting them in the shade of twilight.

"Hang tight, boys. It's going to pour in a minute. Rose will honk the horn when it's time to get in position by the fence row," Alice shouted from the Jeep before she rolled up the windows.

They didn't need her advanced warning. They could hear the rain pummeling the earth a mile or so away, along with a more pronounced thud.

"Think that's hail?" Emmett asked.

"I think so."

"Man, that's gonna sting."

Meanwhile in the Jeep, Alice put in a call to the National Weather Service to report hail. When she hung up, Rose questioned her.

"You didn't say anything about hail. Why didn't you warn me?"

"There's always a good chance of hail with these storms. It'll be fine. You missed me saying it was pea-sized hail. The Jeep will be okay, trust me."

Rose glared at Alice as the telltale pings of hail smacked the exterior of the Jeep. She winced with each blow, imagining all the tiny dents and dings marring the surface. "Alice, I hate to tell you, but that's not pea-sized. Try quarter or marble-sized."

Alice shrugged. "It's been awhile since I saw a pea. Quit worrying about the Jeep and keep watching the radar for the hook."

As quickly as it came, the rain let up enough to see a bit more clearly. The storm had moved on rapidly, but it wasn't done yet. Not by a long shot. The sky above Jasper and Emmett was a sickly mix of deep lavender, green and black, with clouds so low they nearly touched the ground. The air, despite the rain and hail, was still oppressive, pressing down against their bodies. Through the eerie semi-silence, the Jeep's horn sounded.

Together, Jasper and Emmett raced away from the abandoned farm, heading for the open fields as Alice had instructed them earlier. They stopped along a battered fence row and faced the tail end of the storm. Rain still fell, but not with the intensity it had at first. The Jeep was out of their sight, but the lowering clouds were not.

Slowly at first, the funnel cloud made its descent from the smooth-looking wall cloud. They stood very still, watching the tornado sweep toward them. It was moving slightly slower than the rest of the storm, a difference only they could see. The steady drone of the rotating funnel was nearly deafening to them.

When the storm was two hundred yards from them, Emmett turned to Jasper and with a quick nod, he sprinted toward the tornado. As he drew near the storm, he flung his arms wide open, almost as if he were giving the storm a big bear hug. And then. he was gone.

Jasper was shocked at Emmett's strategy. It was daring to say the least. He jumped up and balanced on the fence post behind him, knowing wind speeds were higher the further off the ground an object was. He couldn't see Emmett inside the storm and wondered if they should have had phones or walkie-talkies with them to keep in contact. The storm was in front of him now and he stretched out his arms like Emmett had moments ago.

It was the oddest sensation he had ever felt in all his existence. Flying and falling, all at the same time. Twisting his arms just so, the narrow flaps of fabric serving as his temporary wings caught the whirling air and drew him higher into the funnel. Scrub brush, branches, leaves and grass flew along with him. The ground was far beneath him and there was still no sign of Emmett. Figuring now was a good time to launch the sensors, he pressed the button on the chest of his suit to record the information. Rather than launching a device independent of himself, he decided to keep them on the suit.

It was very difficult to see since the air was thick with dust and dirt. It made his eyes burn as the particles came in contact with the venom lubricating them. He blinked rapidly to clear the irritants, while trying to steer himself a little higher in the storm. A rusty piece of roof side swiped him and knocked him off course. The twisted metal couldn't hurt him but it tore a nice gash in his suit.

Meanwhile, Emmett had managed to get sucked up near the center of the vortex and swiftly ascended up into the storm, almost beyond the funnel. He was whirling around with pieces of paper and other small bits of debris. He reckoned this was as close to being weightless as a vampire could get, without going into outer space. Which would be totally awesome if he could get to the moon, but Jasper had to be a buzz kill about it.

Suddenly, the low but ever present roar of the storm started to get quieter, and Emmett began to worry. He figured he had been up in the air for about fifteen minutes and he guessed time was soon up for this particular storm. The odd thing was he had expected to drop out of the sky gradually or maybe even like a lead balloon. Yet there he was, floating along like flotsam and jetsam on a current of air rather than water. He tried to use his wing suit to angle himself downward. He moved a little closer to the ground, or what he hoped was the ground. He really wasn't sure which way was up or down, and that was sort of terrifying.

Jasper felt the ground approaching at the same time the wind stopped. There wasn't enough air to make the wing suit work and the ground, he noticed, was far too close. He braced himself for impact and skidded face first along the rich, Kansas dirt. Spitting out some bitter tasting soil that lingered in his mouth, Jasper searched for an area of cover, finding a narrow gully on the side of a muddy road. Ducking into the gully, he turned his face back to the sky. The tornado was roping out, skinny and twisting back and forth like a lasso dangling from the sky.

The orange glow of sunset made a stark contrast to the turbulent grays still marking the eastern part of the sky. The tornado had all but dissipated and Jasper still hadn't seen Emmett. The sound of tires approaching through the thick mud on the nearby road caught his attention. The Jeep slowed down enough for him to open the door and slip inside. Rose looked absolutely furious behind the wheel.

"Everything all right, Rose?"

She shot him an ugly look before returning her concentration to the sloppy road. "All right? How could you not see all the dings on my Jeep. Pea- sized, really. Also your wife seems to have misplaced my husband."

Jasper peered into the front passenger's seat and saw Alice's eyes were closed. She was searching for Emmett.

For a while, the only noise inside the Jeep was the sound of mud that kicked up against the outside and Rose's occasional growls and grunts as she navigated through the difficult sludge.

"Drive five miles to the north east. We'll find him in somebody's shed."

"Really explicit directions there, Alice," Rose spat sourly.

"Just drive until you hit a crossroads and turn right. He'll be on the left in two miles. Better?"

Rose grunted an agitated affirmation. "You still make a lousy GPS."

"Why, thank you. I love you too, Rose." Alice reached for her phone and tapped out a quick message.

"Who'd you text?" Jasper asked over her shoulder.

"Esme, so she can ship off our donations."

"You knew all along I was going to lose the bet, didn't you?"

"Sorry. I can't help it and Emmett would have cried foul if I helped you too much."

Jasper leaned back into his seat. "Just don't give away my cowboy boots, okay?" Alice had always tried to part him from his beloved cowboy boots. There wasn't a thing wrong with them other than they were thirty years old and had been re-soled and re-heeled just about as many times.

Alice smiled back at him with wicked delight gleaming from her eyes.

Just as Alice had proclaimed, two miles after they turned at the crossroad, a shed close by the road came into view. Rose honked the horn until Emmett dashed from the barn.

He was pretty quiet when he slid into the backseat beside Jasper. They all let him sit in his reflective solitude, until Alice couldn't stand it anymore.

"So how was it? "

"It was the strangest thing I've ever done." Emmett said with a wondrous smile.

"That's saying a lot, since you've done a ton of strange things." Alice said from the front seat.

"You don't have any idea. He ran at the tornado and gave it a bear hug."

"You did what?" Rose sounded even unhappier than she was about the hail.

"Just what Jasper said. Ran at it as fast as I could and wrapped my arms around it. Well, tried to anyway. It was a bit wide."

"The things you come up with, man. I'd hate to read your mind." Jasper shook his head in disbelief.

Emmett waggled his eyebrows. "Just ask Edward."

"Which way do we go now, Alice?" Rose asked, sounding a little less upset.

"Take a left on the next road and keep heading west for ten miles."

Emmett leaned back into the seat and stretched his arms out behind his head. "We did it. I can't wait to go through all that research and slip it into somebody's study. Hopefully we got enough to help with better predictions."

Jasper nodded. "I think we did. So, what next?"

"We're going home," Rose stated firmly.

"As long as we stop at a mall first." Alice chimed in.

"Hurricane skydiving." Emmett stated.

"You're kidding, right?" Jasper didn't need an answer to the girls' question. Emmett wasn't kidding.