Live to Rise
Chapter Eight
"What do you mean the jet is crashing?" Tony asked in frustration. "What the hell happened?"
"That is unknown at this time, Sir," JARVIS responded. "Shall I deploy your armor for you?"
Tony quickly replied, "J, I need you to connect me with Fury. Nick, can you hear me?"
Director Fury came on over the coms as he answered, "What's going on, Stark? Do you have something?"
"How far out are you guys from Romanoff and Rogers?" Tony asked.
"We're close, but I'd say you'd probably get there before us if you fly as recklessly as usual," the director responded. "Why do you ask?"
Tony ran over to where he stored his suit and began to boot it up as he replied, "It looks like they're about to crash over the ocean. We're on our way. Thor, go ahead of me. I'll catch up. Doctor, I suggest you take another route up to the helicarrier, so that you won't Hulk out on us. They'll probably need your help. We'll meet you up there."
Bruce nodded as Thor flew off, followed shortly by Tony after getting suited up, then he called out, "JARVIS, is there a chance you can call for a pilot to come and fly the helicopter parked up on the roof? I'll need him as soon as possible."
"I already did for you, Sir," the A.I. answered. "S.H.I.E.L.D. said that he'll be here in less than ten minutes."
"Thanks, I think," Dr. Banner said curtly.
Just as he had said, Tony had easily caught up with the god and then flew past him as he was in a hurry to reach his friends in time, not knowing whether or not they were all still in the air, or if they had already crashed and were dead. He hoped it was the previous, but the nervous pit in his stomach told him that the Quinjet had already hit the water. It wasn't until just over twenty minutes had passed that his fear had been confirmed as he and Thor saw the jet's wreckage. Then, they found them, Agent Barton lying on top of what looked like a part of the hull and both Steve and Natasha barely hanging onto the metal, half their bodies still under water. Tony quickly called out their names, but when none one of them answered him he knew they were all at best unconscious.
As Tony finally reached their friends, he could see that Clint was by far the worst off and so he carefully pulled Natasha's hand off of his and gently lifted the archer into his arms, while Thor arrived and pulled up both Steve and Natasha into one arm and continued to swing his hammer as they all flew off toward the helicarrier, which had arrived just a couple of minutes later.
As soon as they landed at the carrier's entrance, Tony shouted out, "We need medics down here, now!"
Several men and women wearing white coats came running over to them as Iron Man called out to them, pulling along three gurneys behind them. All three patients were carefully taken care of as they took over for Tony and Thor, who stared after them as they were wheeled away toward the medical bay.
Fury and Agent Hill walked over to them as they were about to follow after them, as Tony lifted his helmet from off his head and spoke up saying, "JARVIS didn't detect any enemy ships, or jets, in the area at the time of the crash that could have shot their plane down and I've looked over the schematics of the Quinjets once or twice. Unless you know what you're doing, it's really difficult to get them to go down from the inside. Your pilot wasn't with them, Nick, which means he's now at the bottom of the ocean along with the rest of the plane that didn't break off. My gut tells me that your pilot wasn't as trustworthy as you seem to think he was."
Fury glared at Tony through his good eye as he asked, "Are you accusing my man of sabotaging their jet, Stark?"
"I think you know that I am," the billionaire responded. "What other explanation is there?"
"We'll have to wait until they wake up to know for sure, but I have a feeling Stark's right, Sir," Maria replied as she looked over at her boss. "You know I don't agree with him on much, but in case you don't remember, any one of the men and woman working for S.H.I.E.L.D. can be on the council's payroll. We can't just rule out the possibility because Stark said it."
Fury nodded his head and then looked over at Tony as he answered, "I have a feeling you're right as well. While we're waiting for them to come around, Agent Hill, I want you to overlook the search for anything useful we can salvage from the wreckage, including Rogers' shield. He's going to want that back, seeing as we've got nothing like it today.
Maria turned to walk away as she responded, "Yes, Sir."
"Excellent work out there, Tony, Thor," Fury continued. "If you hadn't have gotten to them as fast as you did, they would have all been dead for sure. Let's just hope they all recover."
"Agent Barton looked to be bad off, more so than the others," Thor replied. "And Miss. Romanoff did say he was unwell before we lost contact with them."
The director looked between the two members of his team as he asked, "What else did you find out from them?"
Tony answered, "That's it really. They said that he had been tortured by the men that had captured him before and Steve mentioned that he was exhausted and ill after pushing himself too hard. That he wasn't acting like himself, which is really the only way I know him, so I wouldn't know if that part was true."
"Miss. Romanoff had to knock our friend unconscious in order to get him back to their jet," Thor added. "Apparently, Barton was acting hog-headed."
"That's pigheaded, Thor," Tony corrected him. "The term is pigheaded, but you've got the right idea. We're going to go oversee their progress; to make sure that your medical staff are on the up and up while we wait for Dr. Banner to arrive, which should be very soon. Thanks for leaving your helicopter on my roof by the way. We figured that it was the best way for him to travel, as it would have been bad if the Hulk took over."
Fury called out to Tony as he asked, "And how do you know that the good doctor hasn't gotten angry on his way here?"
"Because we would have heard about it by now," the eccentric billionaire called back. "Besides, he's finally got flying under control."
