We all have a weakness
But some of ours are easy to identify.
Look me in the eye
And ask for forgiveness;
-Dig by Incubus
"Target spotted. Will you depart from air or would you like me to land?" The pilot called over his shoulder to the four passengers in the back. Pre-emptively, the hatch towards the back of the quinjet lowered and cold air rushed into the craft. Natasha peered out the door to see they couldn't be more than ten to twenty feet from the ground with Clint's car hurrying down the road. She would survive if she jumped.
That was really all she had to know. She poked the button on her seat belt and the belt shot away and back into the holder. "Natasha! What are you doing? It's too high up!" Steve shouted over the roaring of the engine. He unbuckled his own belt and leaped across the other side of the jet to try and grab Natasha. Keyword being: try.
Natasha noticed Steve coming and while she appreciated his worry, it wasn't needed. She let herself be pulled out of the jet by the vacuum and tumbled through the air. 10 seconds. She slipped a smoke grenade out of her waist pouch. 8 seconds. She flicked her fingers to activate the bomb. 5 seconds. With a twist of her arm she flung the smoke bomb directly in front of the car. 3 seconds. The grenade hit the dirt and a loud hissing filled the air as the fog surged out of its capsule and enveloped the road in a gray mist.
1 second. The car swerved to a stop as the explosion kicked up a wave of dry dirt. Natasha rolled on the ground to break her fall and looked up to see the truck stop directly in front of her. She grunted as her back ached from the fall. There was no time to stop now though, not with what she had to do.
She bolted up from the ground and jumped onto the front of the car. She slipped over the bumped and jumped right in front of the broken windshield. Clint's eyes widened in surprise as he saw Natasha appear out of the gray mist. However, he was even more surprised when Natasha slipped into the car beside him and ordered. "Drive."
It took him a few moments to understand what she was saying, but then he slammed his foot on the pedal. The engine roared as it was suddenly thrust into action. Natasha took the brief seconds before they sped off to drop a small ball out of the car window. It was small enough for Clint not to see, but large enough not to be missed when the smoke cleared. At least, she hoped it was large enough.
The car cut through the heavy smoke and Natasha prayed that there wouldn't be anyone in front of them. The cat ran without any blocks and burst out of the gray mist with trails of gray streaming behind them.
Clint's heart was beating quickly as he clutched the wheel. He had expected to be intercepted, but something that he didn't expect was to have Natasha in his car. Even more so, he didn't expect her to be in the car without trying to kill him. His once stilted mind whirled around as the adrenaline pumped through him.
-Just One Moment-
As the smoke cleared behind them, it dawned on the rest of the Avengers what was going on. Tony hovered in there air with an incredulous look on her face. A few seconds ticked by before he yelled, "Bird boy just took black bug! Fury will freaking kill me if I let that happen!"
Tony's face shield clicked into place and JARVIS began recalibrating the system to follow the vehicle. A few moments later, the thrusters activated and Tony soared after the escapees.
Below him, Steve was picking up a small circular disc on the ground. He unscrewed the lid and a scrap of paper drifted onto the ground. He shared a look with Bruce who picked up the note.
Dear Rogers and Banner,
I assume you two will be the ones to read this since you're not likely to act hastily like Stark is. When I leave with Clint, don't follow me. Call Stark off and let me go. This has to end and it won't end until Loki is dead. I will return upon his death with Clint. Please don't act hastily. –Natasha
Steve looked at Bruce for a moment then at the faint glow in the distance that was Iron Man. "Well shoot."
-Just One Moment-
An image of a phone ringing glowed red on his monitor as he soared through the air. Tony twitched his lips before saying, "JARVIS, tell whoever it is that I'm currently busy saving the world, unlike them because they obviously have time to call."
"Sir, I do think it is a good idea to pick up this call. It's from Mr. Rogers, sir." JARVIS replied calmly. Tony could swear that the AI sounded as if he were explaining something to a child. He'd have to reprogram Jarvis when he got home.
"Well then tell 'Mr. Rogers'", Tony sarcastically repeated the formal name for Steve, "that he had better pick up the pace and I'm too busy to talk to him at the moment. No arguments." JARVIS made a sound that unnaturally sounded like a sigh and clicked the phone off the screen. Tony would have to reprogram that sigh too.
He may have seemed calm at the moment, but he was inwardly fuming. Why were all of the Avengers deciding it was the perfect time to shop ship and go off to dominate the world? Was it that fun of an occupation? He highly doubted it. So what on earth did they think they were doing?
He and Natasha had never got along particularly well, but he did enjoy arguing with her over the littlest of things. Bruce normally gave in to his prodding and Steve was incredibly hard to irritate. Natasha on the other hand was full of snarky comebacks and sharp arguments. Tony honestly couldn't imagine her running off to join the Asgardean reject no matter how much she liked Clint. She was too hardheaded for that.
"Mr. Rogers informs me that the matter is quite urgent and that I am to connect him to you even if you request otherwise. Here he is, sir." JARVIS said. The AI subsequently patched Steve though before Tony could protest.
"Stark! Come back here, now! Call off the chase. Make it seem convincing, but get yourself back here now!" Steve demanded through the intercom.
"Someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed. What? Did you not get your chance to listen to the Star Spangled Banner this morning? Wait, I know! You missed out on the fifteenth repeat of the presidential speech! Aww, poor Captain. Now really, just let me do my business while you go try and hijack a bicycle or something." Tony quipped as he angled his way past a warning shot. It obviously wasn't fired to kill so was she trying to get him off her tail or something?
"Stark! I don't know anyone who is more airheaded than you at times." Steve's aggravated voice came through the comm. "Black Widow is infiltrating to see if she can shut Loki's organization down from the inside."
Tony stalled at that part. "Spangly pants say what?" A bullet struck his armor on the shoulder and Tony let himself tumbled back through the air.
"Romanoff is going with Barton on purpose so she can sabotage them! You're going to get them in trouble!" Steve annunciated through the communicator.
"When did you all decide not to tell me? I know we aren't best friends forever, but this is kind of important! And aren't we supposed to be bringing back someone instead of dropping someone off? Does Fury know about this? Last question: Do I really have to fake that the genius will get taken out by a bullet? You've got to be joking me." Tony grumbled the last part out. There was no way he'd normally be taken out by a bullet. This would kill his renown.
"We only found out about it a few minutes ago, Stark. That was why we kept on trying to call you. Sometimes I wonder if JARVIS got all the brains and you took the short straw." Steve grumbled irritably. "No, Fury doesn't know about this, but just let her go, Stark. And I'm sure you'll find a way to get yourself damaged."
Stark twitched an eyebrow. Recently Steve was becoming easier to irritate. Perhaps it was because he was getting used to how Americans acted? It was almost endearing. "I'll take it into serious consideration. I guess I'll be back. You're taking the head for this one though."
"JARVIS, cut him off will you?" The AI responded inaudibly as Steve's picture disappeared from Tony's monitor. "Ugh. Now to act like an idiot." He angled his left hand ever so slightly to drift closer to the ground. One of Natasha's bullets flew through the air and Tony's computer quickly calculated the trajectory.
His thruster moved him up a bit higher and then it happened. The bullet landed exactly where he planned it, in the middle of his left hand engine. The engine immediately broke and Tony spun out of control as his right hand thruster was still activated. "Woah!" Everything began spinning as he began spiraling towards the ground.
A jumble of trees and leaves met his vision as he crash landed into a nearby oak. Iron Man shook his head to try and clear away the incoming headache and groaned. "That better have been worth it. Spider woman better not screw up or she's paying for my migraine medication."
Sorry it's late! D: I knew where I wanted the story to go, but I wasn't quite sure how to do it. It's really annoying when that happens, y'know? Luckily, OwlMay helped me out on that one. Thank you so much, May! I live to write another day! :D Or suffer another day... But I enjoy it... Writing is weird.
In any case, please send me a review! It helps me get my motivational juices flowing so I can keep my updates on time and ready to go! (;