Chapter Text
Jake’s cousin was a lot of things: crazy, reckless, intelligent, and quick on his feet. That didn’t stop Jake from worrying after him, not that he’d ever tell Tyler. He would rather eat New England’s botched up idea of a barbecued chicken than admit to caring for his little cousin (they were the same height now, but…semantics). Tyler knew how to take care of himself and so did the rest of his Wrangler crew. Jake had no reason to worry.
So, color him a huge hypocrite when he watches the news about Oklahoma’s “unprecedented” increase in storms, and spends most of it chewing his nails and lips over his cousin. Tyler Owens, just like Jake, had the Harding blood of seeking danger and wishing to experience it to its fruition, and Oklahoma county was ripe for seeing it to its potential. It was something their Uncle Bill always bemoaned about till his dying day.
“Your mothers and Jo,” he would begin, shaking his head, “not even the wind could shake them enough to turn away from the storm.”
It was a fitting thing to say given their aunt was a storm chaser herself. However, Tyler and Jake’s mothers were Jo’s cousins, daughters of Grammy Meg, each following their own wind that carried them to their respective states. Didn’t exempt them from taking their own risks and walking into the eye of their personal storms. Jo was lucky enough that hers was more literal. Neither of her cousins found it as close but boy did they chase it.
Maybe that was why Laney Seresin stayed with Capt. Daniel Seresin all those years. But it never did Jake good when he strayed to that kind of thinking. What was his original worry about again?
“You good there, Bagman?”
Jake blinked, eyes focusing back to the national news, which had moved on from documenting the unprecedented storms on the south and documented something more light-hearted and east coast focused. He tried not to let his muddled mind warp the story, but, God, couldn’t the national news station actually branch out and give positive news that doesn’t just focus on shit in the east coast or new england? Like, sure the station is headquartered there, but it’s national news. What more could Jake care about in the east when he’s all the way over in the west?
“Fine,” he lied. Phoenix didn’t need to know how much the weather segment shook him. “Just tired.”
Trace hummed, her disbelief clear in her tone, but gave Jake the grace in not calling him out on it. One of today’s mini mercies he guessed. They were all hanging out at Maverick's hanger for the day, one of their traditional ways of celebrating the end of a mission, but things had been dying down from when their mini party started, everyone lulled into soft whispers, using the sound of the TV as nothing more than white noise. White noise that was supposed to help Jake nap, but here he was. Jake shook the anxiety away for the moment, ignoring how Javy watched him closely from a couple seats over. Jake wouldn’t be surprised if that started the second Jake's head snapped to the TV screen.
“Well,” she stood up, stretching as she did so. Jake couldn’t help but envy how nonchalant she could be on the daily. No effort or cracks while she moved without even needing a smile to placate the world. “Looks like the brass love us enough to give us a break.”
The whole world seemed to freeze.
“Seriously?”
“Yeah, we gave them a lot to be proud of.” Jake ignored the way Trace observed his body language. “Dagger Squad is officially their ex machina, and so we’ve been given a month of leave.”
“No shit…”
“NO SHIT!”
Jake chuckled while Mickey tackled him from behind.
“We’re free from orders baby! My mom is gonna spoil me and Reuben so bad.” He paused. “She might just ignore her own son for Rueben.”
“It’s because,” Reuben sang, making himself known, “I say thank you and call her ma’am.”
“Fuck off, man! You’re a suck-up. Admit it.”
“Or maybe”— Reuben cradled Mickey’s face close— “I remembered my manners.”
“Fucker.”
“Not here, cariño.”
Jake and Trace both gagged at the romantic display. There was a buzz from his phone, a nice distraction from Mickey and Rueben’s PDA.
@TornadoWranglers said: “AIN’T NO HOME IN OKLAHOMA!!!! New stream in OK county tom. @10 CT, send us your challenges there ;)”
If it weren’t for the fact that Jake was not alone, he would have made the loudest groan of annoyance. Enough To summon Javy from wherever he was. God, there was something seriously wrong with his cousin and ragtag daredevil friend. Who in their right mind adds drills to their own truck because they want to sit inside a tornado? His cousin that’s who.
“What’s he up to now?”
Jake grunts and shuts off his phone to find Javy. “Who?”
“Please, who else? You look incredibly pissed off.”
“Do not.”
“Yeah, you do!”
Jake hoped all of Mickey’s pre-ordered PC parts got lost in delivery. Who was he to chime in at Javy’s defense? When Javy was so incredibly wrong?
“You look like someone told you your flying was subpar.” Mickey’s giggling merely sealed the deal on Jake’s wishes.
“As if anyone would have the guts to say that.”
“Rooster might.”
“I might what?”
Jesus fucking Christ, Jake cannot be here anymore. It’s not like the plan for their hangout was to stay overnight, and with how things were going, Jake had half a mind to fly into Oklahoma now just to drag his stupid cousin away from the murder tornadoes. The fact that Bradley was now staring at him with his stupid brown, cow eyes had nothing to do with it either. Jake just needed to get out and away. Nothing good came when Bradley sauntered in.
Well, maybe some good things, but not anymore.
Javy coughed, the smile on his face was Jake's only warning. “Nothing really, just that you and Tyler have the unique ability at pissing off Jake.”
Forget everything Jake ever said about his ex best friend Javy. Javy was a demon and laughed at Jake’s distress, finding Jake's turmoil nothing but amusement for him.
Javy nudged Jake’s head as if reading his thoughts (proof #2 of demonhood) and raised a brow at his grumblings. Jake grumbled some more in response.
“Tyler?”
“Who’s Tyler?”
“Yeah, we’ve never heard of a Tyler before?”
More grumbles followed as every head in the hanger turned to Jake, their eyes shining in delight at hearing new dirt info they could learn about Jake. Also referred to as “Hangman Lore” by Mickey, who drew a whole family tree when Jake finally talked about his siblings with them. It was sweet, in a definitely not creepy or unnerving way. Reuben didn’t seem even a little fazed when it started, claiming that it was how Mickey was. A fanboy for anything he could learn about. Taking in every detail shared or given. (Jake would privately admit that Rueben’s words helped eased back Jake from being too weirded out.)
“Because,” he drawled, quickly standing up from the couch, “there’s nothing y’all need to know.”
“But we just finished Rooster’s lore!”
There was a sigh from Bradshaw. “Please stop calling it lore.”
“No.”
Jake made his quick escape while Bradshaw and Mickey argued over whether lore was the correct term, drawing the rest of the Daggers into a new conversation sans Jake’s family business. It wasn’t, but Jake wasn’t going to tell Mickey that or allow Bradshaw to act smug over Jake agreeing with him. He preferred to keep any attention off himself.
“So, we heading to Oklahoma?”
(Proof #3 of demonhood.)
“We?”
Javy knocked his shoulder into Jake's. “As if I’d let you go by yourself. You would spend all of it insulting Ty instead of expressing your worry.”
“He’s got enough people to insult him all they want.” Jake sniffed. “Why would I add myself?”
Javy coughed something that sounded like “emotional constipation” but Jake ignored it, rolling his eyes. The both of them said their quick goodbyes to Maverick, who clapped them on the back, reminding them to not be strangers. The two of them nodded and headed out. Jake ignored the burn he felt at the back of his neck while he started his truck. He didn’t even look back when he pulled out and drove off with Javy next to him. He spent enough time looking back to find nothing, so Jake chose to not be disappointed this time.
“Never thought I’d see the day where you willingly visit when it wasn’t Thanksgiving or Christmas!”
Jake coughed to hide the flush that ran from cheek to cheek. Grammy always was one who never beat around the bush. “You’re already in my house and eating my steak, so why shouldn’t I get straight to business,” was a common argument made from her whenever Jake or Tyler’s mother complained. Jake found it admirable, how his grammy took no shit from anyone whether they were an old neighbor or a snazzy realtor, southern hospitality be damned (or rather, southern hospitality be exploited to her heart’s content).
“Well, you were on the way, so we thought we’d stop by. See how the farm’s been doing.”
Grammy tutted and grabbed Jake’s cheek. “Enough with all that, boy. It’s okay to miss lil’ old me.”
“I missed your cooking, that's for sure.”
She laughed and shook Jake’s shoulders with a feigned sigh. The what am I to do with you evident in her eyes. Jake hid his pleased grin while he ate her infamous steak and eggs. As always, they were cooked to perfection, the meat nice and hot coming off from her cast-iron pan and the eggs fried the second the steaks touched their plates.
“I missed you, Mrs. Harding!”
“Kiss ass.”
Javy kicked Jake under the table.
“Now, none of that, boys. Save the roughhousing when the table is cleared off.”
Jake and Javy paused in their under-the-table skirmish with a yes ma’am and to her word, resumed their playfighting and shoving when the dishes were washed and dried. Grammy chuckled and shook her head, saying something about how neither man had grown from when they were little babes.
“Mrs. Harding!” Javy gasped, he had Jake’s head hooked around his arms. “If anyone hasn’t grown it’s Jakey right here! His competitive streak has gotten worse.”
“Has not!” Jake struggled and fought but his friend held a vice grip. Damn Javy and his religious working habits when it came to arm day. “Not my fault everyone else can’t keep up.”
“See? No change at all from his youth!”
“Javy, if you don’t let me go, I will bite you.”
Javy looked down at Jake with a nervous look. “You wouldn’t dare.”
It took Grammy swatting at both boys with a rolled up newspaper for them to finally stop. Javy rubbed his arm where Jake’s very prominent bite marks lay and pouted.
“That has to be cheating.”
Jake stuck out his tongue.
“Grammy, it’s 90 degrees outside—”
“None of that.” she pinched Jake’s nose. “You’ll be on the road for awhile before you make it to El Reno, and who knows when you’ll be having good food like this again!”
Jake stammered while his grandmother handed three plastic tupperware to Javy, who’s glee at more of Grammy Meg’s food was barely subtle. He and Jake made sure to save up plenty of nonperishable food before taking off from North Island. It got bland real fast, but it was better than keeping fresh food and watching it rot in their car or motel rooms.
“This is enough for to last us a week—”
“Well, it’s not all for you,” she scoffed, exchanging a knowing glance with Javy.
Jake had to stop himself from pouting at feeling left out of whatever his best friend and Grammy were hiding. Wait a minute.
“How’d you know we were heading to El Reno?”
His grammy chuckled and squeezed his shoulders. When Jake was smaller, his grammy used to mess with his hair or pat his head while calling him a “silly boy” and Jake would huff and defend his honor from whatever silly thing he’d done. Course, when Jake grew too tall for Grammy to bend down, she changed to pinching his cheeks or squeezing his shoulders.
“Silly boy,” and patted his cheek, “you’re worse about it than his own mother was.”
Am not, but Jake clenched his mouth shut before the denial could exit. Silly he may be, but Jake wasn’t that bad of an idiot to think arguing against Grammy was useless. He chose to roll his eyes instead, ignoring the fact that his cheeks felt warmer and how badly he wished to slouch.
“Someone needs to since none of those crazies with him will.”
“Of course, sweetie.”
Choosing El Reno as their destination was made through a process of elimination. Jake and Javy knew the Wranglers would be out of Orienta by the time they finally drove into OK county even if they took no stops like Jake originally planned (“We literally just left a mission yesterday and you want to pull an all-nighter in your Tacoma?” “I’ve made worse decisions.” “Clearly.”), so the duo began to think about where they might go next. Almost all of west Oklahoma was going through the worst of the tornado outbreak, with Orienta hanging on the edge of its northern region, and given Tyler’s track record from past videos, the Wranglers would start big then small for their more educational portion (this was where Dexter shined, taking over from Tyler when it became apparent that the old man could barely contain himself not to dump everything he knew), ending the season with a bang.
El Reno during a tornado outbreak? It was the perfect destination to end the season, and Jake was ready to drag that stupid idiot out of there just to give him a piece of his mind. Subscribers and views be damned.
The fact that an EF5 decided to descend on El Reno a couple days before they arrived only solidified Jake’s resolve in his decision.
“That fucking idiot,” he grumbled. “And they say I’m the one with a death wish.”
“Well, your flying has always been on the risky side.” Javy had taken the wheel now, stealing Jake’s keys while Grammy had his attention. His friend didn’t even bother to hide his smirk either, confident that Jake would rather chew his own foot than cause Javy to almost crash the car (proof #7 of demonhood). “There’s a reason our supervisors always compared you to Maverick.”
Jake fought the temptation to pull Javy into a headlock. No matter how satisfying it would be.
“But I know what I’m doing! It’s not like I’m modifying the ship with my average engineering skills to fly into a suicidal storm.”
Javy’s grin widened.
“2012.”
It took a second for the year to sink in. “No!”
“December 25th, at 3 in the morning.”
“I was drunk!”
“And yet drew an impressive model that would be for flying into—”
“Okay! Okay!” Jake slumped in his seat, the seat belt slipping up to his face. “I hate you.”
“You’d be miserable without me!”
They found Boone first. Would be hard not to since anyone could hear him miles away. He was Lily and some other new guy apparently. And Tyler was nowhere in sight.
Bastard.
“Oh, T’s on a date!” Boone laughed. “Man, do we have a story to share with y’all!”
And did he ever, talking about their rivalry with Storm Par (the new guy) and City Girl-but-Not-Actually-from-the-City Girl. Which was all well and good (Jake was not above admitting that he would absolutely use this information against his cousin), but he could not bother to pay attention with how his mind and body was tiptoeing on the edge of snapping.
“He’s at the cafe on the exit before the airport.” Lily pulled him away while Boone kept Javy’s attention talking about their new mission to “tame” tornadoes. “Got the truck impounded, so they aren’t far from there.”
Jake could kiss Lily right now. He didn’t though. He had other priorities right now.
“What do you mean he was near the airport?”
“You’ll find out,” she said barely hiding her giggles. Lily always was bad at hiding her amusement, so whatever it was Tyler found himself in this time, it had to be good.
Jake was going to kill his cousin. Cafe near the airport exit his ass. This bitch was at some cracker barrel or something because Jake had been driving in circles for an hour with no cafe in sight. Grumbling and cursing his cousin two ways to Sunday, Jake parked his truck and decided to wander around. Blow off some steam before he wrung Tyler’s neck or something.
It was fifteen minutes into his walk that Jake, of course, found Tyler. Sitting on the patio of some mom and pop cafe that he somehow missed on his drive. Of course. With some woman or whatever but who cared about that.
Jake was going to kill him
Kate was amazing, Jake decided. She took none of Tyler’s posturing bullshit or his self-conscious need to be humble. She was also more fun to talk to, asking follow up questions to Jake’s life as a pilot, and it was only through hearing Tyler's constant rambles about meteorology that Jake found a way to answer them all with some competence. Not that she cared, Tyler spent most of it rolling his eyes, so Jake considered it a win.
“Has anyone ever mistaken you as brothers?”
They were walking back to where Boone and Jake parked their cars (Javy had convinced Boone to park near the truck, with his reason being that he didn’t want to miss any Jake and Tyler drama or whatever). Both of them arriving just before the evening began and before Jake had a chance of throwing Tyler’s cup at his face. (He was being a romantic idiot.)
Tyler sighed, “If anything, people mostly confuse us as each other.”
“I used to mistake them as each other when we were younger,” Boone giggled. “Pissed Jakey the fuck off.”
“I don’t see why it was that hard.” Jake sniffed and rolled his eyes. “Javy caught on easily.’
“Yeah, because you made sure to stay by my side anytime Tyler was near.”
“Exactly. Easy.”
“So, you know, given Tyler’s channel, have people come up to you because of—”
“Ugh, I had five dates ruined because of it.” He steadfastly ignored the way Javy snickered next to him. The fact that three of them had to do with Bradshaw was irrelevant to the story. It’s not like the dates were going anywhere special, or that Jake hoped against all hope that maybe this date would be the one where things changed. He’s not that naive anymore; ergo, irrelevant. “Absolutely no concept of boundaries, just hopping right up to your face like ‘OMG! Can I have a picture with you? Can you take me on one of your chases?’ and ‘Let me be your Boone for a day!’”
There was an offended gasp behind Jake followed by some grumblings about how there can never be another ‘Boone’ and Boone is one-of-a-kind.
“And I’d never do that to you, Boonie.”
“Again.”
“Again.”
Jake raised a brow at Tyler who’s guilty eyes wandered away from Jake and Boone. He looked back at Javy. Later, he mouthed. Well, Jake wanted to know now.
Kate reached over to squeeze Boone’s shoulder. “I’ll be sure to remind him next time.”
No fucking way.
“Stop laughing! We were conducting an experiment!”
“Oh were you?”
Tyler chased Jake all the way down to his truck.
“I will fucking kick you!”
“Sure Pop-Pop!”
Jake closed the passenger door just in time.
“I know imitation is a form of flattery, but would it kill you if you’d not?”
“Jake, I don’t even call him Javi—”
“Was one Javy ride or die not enough for you? No, you just needed another one that you have some weird fucking tension with.”
“We’re at a truce now, no longer enemies or whatever.”
“Wasn’t what I was talking about.”
“Well–!” Tyler floundered, the red on his cheeks growing increasingly red. Jake had to tread carefully now. Or, well, he should tread carefully, but he was not planning on it.
“The dude got your truck out of being impounded, doesn’t seem to mind you hitting on the girl he had the hots for, mind you, for years now. And, I’m pretty sure calling you ‘mami’ is some kind of endearment.”
“He’s been calling me ‘mami’ since I’ve met him. Trust me, it wasn’t an endearment.”
Jake merely hummed. Not an endearment, his fucking ass. Maybe it began mockingly, but Jake was not blind to the way this Javi voice went fond for both Tyler and Kate. Not to mention Tyler and his fucking Storm Par nickname.
“And what about you and the rooster fella?”
“We’re not talking about me right now.”
“Oh but there’s something, mh?”
“Bradshaw and I hav–had a different arrangement, T. We went over this.”
“Oh so he’s Bradshaw now?”
“Uh, yeah, because that’s his fucking name, asshole. What’s not clicking?”
Tyler nodded. “So, you won’t mind if I text Val about this change.”
“You wouldn’t dare.”
“I just want to say that I am flattered.” Javy wrapped an arm over Tyler. “You’re not my type. But I’m flattered nonetheless.”
“The hell are they talking about?”
With how the table was arranged (two square tables pushed together and four chairs squished to fit each side with a single chair on one end), Jake found himself sitting next to Javi with Javy across from him. It was a little weird if not a little funny (when Jake got over his grumbling), but Jake found Javi to be an okay guy. He was ex-military now, doing a short service but kept strong connections, so Jake found himself enjoying their conversation on the different brass they had to deal with over the years. The irony of Javi’s past was not lost on Jake as well, so he took no qualms in joining Javy in the teasing.
“Well.” He kept a stiff upper lip when Tyler’s eyes flashed to him. “You see, Javy here, my best friend, is a guy who’s been around our family for years, decades. And we just find it funny that Titan over here found himself someone who shares a similar nickname and was involved in the military—”
“Which is not true!”
Jake pulls his lips inward, a twitch of a smile still spills out.
“I’m sure, T.”
“Like I said”— Javy squeezed the arm still attached to Tyler— “I’m very flattered.”
His cousin’s face was bright red, and Jake really hoped someone took a photo of it because the second he would reach for his phone, Tyler would jump across the table just to stop him. He would need to ask Lily or Dani if either of them got a shot.
“I hate you.”
“I think it’s cute.” Javi leaned forward and exchanged a glance with Kate. “It explains why you can never say my name right.”
Oh, Jake loved Javi. He wasn’t Javy, not in the slightest, but Jake could see himself enjoying more of Javi’s company. Bonus points for pissing off Tyler, too!
“God, you’re worse than Grammy.”
“You take that back!”
“Absolutely not, you are horrible.”
“What is wrong with asking about the truck? It was just impounded and went through an EF 5 tornado!”
“And we put it in the shop the second it got out— which, you were there for— yet you continue to ask the same questions.”
“You put so many accommodations and modifications on that thing! I don’t see why asking about their condition is wrong!”
Tyler pinched the bridge of his nose, took a deep breath, and sighed. “I’ll be okay, Jake.”
“Yeah, I know.” He rolled his eyes. “Professional tornado wrangler and all that.”
“Jake.” Tyler shook him this time. “I. Will. Be. Fine.”
His heart felt like it was lodged to his throat. “Yeah, I know that.”
“Do you?”
I want to, but Jake kept his mouth shut. Aunt Jo and Uncle Bill did this for years and yet it still left them with scars. Kate has issues with her leg even five years later. Javi needs to hear radio chatter or else he will have a panic attack. Grammy almost died. You would have died if the solution hadn’t worked.
“You’re chasing storms, Titan. I don’t think you will ever be completely fine.”
“That’s why I got a team.” He shoved Jake lightly. “You know what those are right?”
Jake shoved him back. Harder but feeling lighter than before. “I’m in one, dumbass.”
“Could have fooled me, Mr. Hangman’s a Coming.”
“Who the fuck told you that?”
“Apparently, your infamy spread all the way to Javi’s branch.”
“That so?”
“Yeah, he said something about how it was a phrase you said a lot before swooping in to help.”
Jake took back every good thing he ever said about Javier Rivera. That man was a snake and should never be trusted. Only his Javy remained his true and loyal ally in these trying times.
“I think you should answer that.”
Jake scoffed and turned his phone over. The incessant buzzing continued.
“No, I mean it. Maybe try your hand at that Talk?”
Another scoff.
“Well, there’s always answering it to break the whole thing off if Bradshaw’s calls are annoying enough.”
“They aren’t annoying,” he muttered. “Just inconvenient.”
“Pretty sure that’s another way to say annoying.”
“I don’t know why he’s even choosing the call. He prefers texts, but even then it’s sparse.”
“Maybe that’s worth considering.”
Jake finally looked over at Tyler’s beseeching face. Ugh, why did his cousin even care? Or think this needed to be talked about? What he and Bradley had was a more fixed no-strings-attached kind of relationship, which he told Tyler a week ago. So, what was with his questioning?
“Considering for what?”
Tyler gave him a flat look. “Come on, Jake. You’re not that oblivious.”
Jake had to force his hands open and breathe in slowly. “No.”
“You became his wingman.”
“We’re a surprisingly good team.”
“You saved his life.”
“Oh, and I should have just left his ass to die when I had the ability to change that?”
“You sure liked to pretend like you hated his guts before then.”
“Javy needs to keep his fucking mouth shut.”
“And keep me and your siblings from your drama? Perish the thought!”
Jake threw a pillow at him. He ducked just in time (the fucker) before snatching it up and throwing it back.
“I mean it. Have that conversation whether good or bad because from what it looks like to me, you want more.” He nodded his head to the now quiet phone. “And I think he wants that too.”
Javy patted him on the back before opening the driver’s door. Everything was packed and secured in the bed of the trunk, including a whole bag full of Wrangler merch (“Boone! You really shouldn’t have…” “Oh, I just know that your team will be so jealous when they learn who you met, so these are to appease them.” “Right,”). All that was left was to say a couple goodbyes then Jake and Javy would be driving back to San Diego. The Daggers already had their whole return planned.
Lily and Boone pulled Jake into a bone crushing hug, rambling about keeping up with his watch on them. Maybe even bother to feature in one of their videos in the future. Dani and Dexter were next and Jake listened attentively while Dexter warned him of any possible storms he may encounter before finally exiting Tornado Alley. Javi gave him a fistbump with a pat on the shoulder and a still feels uncanny before going to Kate.
“You’re a good cousin.”
Jake’s not ashamed to admit he blushed. He was caught off guard, was all.
“You’re not too bad yourself. You’re good for him. Keeps him on his toes.”
“I think he does that to me, too.” She smiled in his direction. “Learned from the best.”
“I am but a humble mentor.”
“You are far from humble.” Tyler shoved Jake before sneaking a kiss at the top of Kate’s head. “Javi said he wanted to go over the new data with you. Just to double check the new equations you made.”
“We made.”
“We made,” He agreed.
Jake tried his best not to gag at the sickly, sweet smile he gave her. Leave it up to Tyler to feel the need to be a sap. And not just to Kate, too. No, Tyler felt that having two hands meant he could be a horrible sap to two people instead of one.
“Make sure to visit Grammy.”
Tyler rolled his eyes at his interruption. “Will do. Don’t get cocky on the road.”
“Yeah, yeah, that’s your territory.”
“Damn straight!”
Javy honked the horn a few times, reminding them all about Jake’s departure.
“Don’t be an idiot, dumbass!”
“Fuck off, dick.”
Their final goodbye was met with Tyler sticking out his tongue and Jake flipping him off. Sure, it was crude and definitely not what you would typically use for a well-meaning goodbye, but for them, it was fitting. A silent promise to see each other again, and maybe, stay more connected than they were the last decade. It was the least they could do.