Chaptr 15- danger zone

Earlier- over the sea near the Hawaiian islands

Tony Stark did not have the same orders as his colleagues. He was definitely using his special ability, the Iron Man suit. His mission though was simply checking on the status of the search and rescue helicarrier. He was to offer it protection if it became necessary to do so.

"Sir I have a visual on the helicarrier, however it appears to be engaged in defensive maneuvers . The cause for its distress is a missile that is approximately 2 minutes away from impact with the carrier", Jarvis reported. Ah so he'd got to the protection part a lot quicker than he'd anticipated. "On further analysis the missile is equipped with heat seeking technology. It also has an unidentifiable substance coating its tip". "The helicarrier is unable to evade ", Jarvis warned. "There is now only one minute remaining until the missile hits its target". It was time for action. Putting on a burst of speed Tony blasted straight for the missile and grabbed it firmly around the middle. This brought back memories of doing the same to the nuke during the battle of New York . That was not a pleasant memory. Hopefully this time it was going to be a lot easier.

He could clearly see a man looking out of the bridge windows as he grabbed the missile. Perhaps though all the man would see was the flames of his jets firing and that might be a little frightening. Pulling rapidly on the missile he managed to draw it away from the helicarrier. His suited hands were touching the top of the missile and this enabled Jarvis to do an analysis of the weapon. "Sir,that substance coating the tip has hardened its surface astronomically. If it had impacted with the helicarrier the destruction would have been absolute. I would advise caution ,as I cannot determine the result should this missile detonate within close proximity to your presence", JARVIS could sound so calm when he was announcing bad news. Tony suddenly found he had something very dangerous in his grasp. The missile had not detonated yet but could obviously detect the heat within his suit. If he could not find another target then he might be in trouble. "Any heat sources other than the helicarrier", he asked Jarvis. "Negative sir", came the response. Typical thought Tony. He could not let the missile go if it was only going to rehome on the helicarrier. So he would just have to become the target himself. "Alright I am going to let it go, then bank back toward the Island." He thought rapidly ,"if I used my lasers to heat some of the rock on the island would that be enough to draw the missile off target", he asked Jarvis. "It may be enough, but the rock would instantly begin to cool, which would cause the missile to seek another hotter target. You would have to do it at the last second so that too much cooling did not occur", Jarvis told him. Typical ,here he was leaving things for the last second again. "Tell the heicarrier to move out of range, around the far side of the Island and go to stealth mode. That way it will not be detected by the boat", Tony informed Jarvis.

Now it was time to carry out the plan. Tony let go of the missile and blasted away fast, "missile has locked onto the suit", Jarvis told him. Great he thought. "It Is adapting it's speed sir I recommend full power", came the next great news. Boosting up the power Tony zoomed across the sky with a missile close behind. "Find me the largest piece of rock you can", he asked Jarvis. Tony keep his sight focused forward trying hard to ignore the fact a very dangerous projectile was looming even closer. Why did he do these crazy things he wondered idly. "There is a large rock surface roughly two miles away along the shore line. I will charge the lasers to project heat without using their destructive charges", Jarvis reported. Tony changed course and headed for the rock. "Missile increasing speed again", Jarvis warned.

"Come on", Tony told his suit, "you can't let a flying pile of junk outrun you". Of course his suit did not listen but muttering at it always helped settle his mind. "One minute until rock face reached, one minute until missile reaches you", Jarvis reported calmly. "Oh great, just great", Tony muttered again.

He banked sharply just to see what happened. The missile just kept coming. Up ahead he could see the rock face, holding out his arms he fired at it while still flying at full power. "How long until it reaches the correct temperature", he asked Jarvis. "30 seconds", Jarvis reported . Somehow Tony already knew the answer to his next question but he asked it anyway. "How long until the missile reaches my location". "30 seconds", Jarvis announced. "You will not have time to depart the area, I will boost shields at the last minute to protect you from the explosion."

Oh boy this was going to be another one of those moments. He kept on blasting the rock watching as it transformed from grey into a red glowing mass. "Temperature reached, move now", Jarvis warned . Shifting sideways rapidly Tony saw the missile come charging in and plow directly into the rock face. He was moving away rapidly when the blast caught him. It was like getting caught in a strong wind, his suit shook fiercely causing red lights to flash all around him. That he figured, he could handle, it had happened many times before and was only temporary. However when he felt a fiery burning sensation in his lower leg, he decided that not everything was going his way. "The enhanced fragments of that missiles nose cone are penetrating the suit", Jarvis warned him. Tony had thought that nothing could do that, but obviously he was wrong.

Whoever their enemy was had some previously unknown enhanced tech. "Shit", he swore as his arm stung from yet another impact. He could feel the warm sensation of blood upon his arm. It felt like being stung by 100 bees. "Twenty seconds until you are out of the danger zone", Jarvis told him. Tony just hoped the fragments did not hit anything vital in that time. He kept flying as fast as possible his head pounding as the alarms screamed with increasing intensity. "10 seconds", Jarvis stated. He was nearly safe and began to count down in his head, 9,8,7, 6, 5..," oh shit", another projectile whammed through the suit and hit into his collar bone. The pain was intense making him loose altitude and bank around toward the island. "Missile fragments are almost dissipated "Jarvis told him. ""Almost", Tony repeated groggily as he felt 2 more hit him. He could now had a fair amount of blood trailing down his body. He was going to need medical attention but could not risk flying back toward the helicarrier. If the boat detected him or the helicarrier it would fire another missile and that would be a disaster. Hopefully the enemy would have heard the explosion of the missile and thought it had destroyed its target. "I am going to have to land on the island", he told Jarvis, "find me a safe spot quickly". Jarvis's systems were also being affected by the missile fragments with the coating eroding all his software. He just had time to tell Tony Stark a safe landing spot before everything shut down. Tony found himself plowing into the ground and slding along for 3 feet before finally stopping. He lay there encased in a now useless suit with no way of contacting the others. Releasing himself from the suit Tony looked at the bleeding wounds caused by the mini projectiles piercing his suit. All of them looked painful but none were immediately life threatening. They were though testimony to the fact that his suit was not invulnerable. He just hoped that missile was the only thing that was enhanced or else the others might find themselves in a whole lot of trouble. With communications down he had no way of warning them or of getting rescue. He would just have to hide himself somewhere and hope someone came to find him. The right type of someone.

Xxxxxx

On the far side of the Island Mr Fields held a knife in one hand and a gun in the other. He was waiting for Clint Barton to come out of the undergrowth and join him. It had just been a stroke of luck to find William Brandt. He had split his landing party into small groups containing two well armed men each to search through the undergrowth.

Many of the mercenaries had tracking skills which was greatly advantageous when you are searching for 1 man in a jungle. Now he had definitely found out that there was more than one. It was not really a problem because Clint Barton was well outnumbered. He wondered how the archer had come to be here though and warned himself to be on his guard.

Clint kept his hands above his head as he stepped out of the undergrowth. He could see a man pointing a gun steadily at him directly in front of him. That same man had a very large knife under the throat of his brother. He noticed immediately that Will was not moving, most likely he was unconscious. So he could not expect help from his brother. He felt a little thrill as he stared down at Will. After all these years they were finally together. But it was a bitter sweet moment as Will was not able to acknowledge his presence. Keeping himself calm Clint came closer to the man with the gun. He was well aware that if he fired he'd have mere milliseconds to jump out of the way. "Stop", the man in front of him ordered. Clint stood still and focused his gaze firmly on the other man. He was older, most likely in his late fifties with a well muscled upper body that spoke of power. There was a look in his eye that warned Clint to be very cautious.

"So Barton, come for a little family reunion have you", Field's taunted. He nicked the knife blade into Will's neck again just to see what Clint would do. Clint felt like jumping the guy or smacking him one, but he knew that would an excuse to fire upon him. So he had to stand still and look unconcerned. Field's made sure Barton could see the smirk upon his face. Inwardly though he was feeling unsure, with Smith dead he now had no one to help him move Will Brandt to the ship. As much as he really wanted to make Barton suffer shooting him now would not be a good strategic move. He had originally ordered his men to capture Barton so that he could watch what he did to Brandt. After he'd gotten the information he'd wanted from one brother, he'd then have slowly and painfully killed the other. He'd have filmed the whole thing and sent the tape to SHIELD.

That would still be his plan if he could get them both back to the ship. He could call one of the others on his walkie talkie but was conscious of the fact that even that small movement might give Clint Barton the opportunity he needed to attack. Perhaps though he would not be as keen if he had a bullet hole in some non vital place. He moved his arm slightly to target the gun upon Clint Barton's arm.

Clint could tell that being shot was now only seconds away, he had been an assassin long enough to be able to read body language effectively. He prepared himself to act. The man in front of him has at least relaxed the grip on the knife under Will's throat and was no longer in contact with the skin. He was finding it difficult to concentrate on both of them and Clint could use that.

Fields squeezed the trigger on his gun softly at first ,taunting Clint , the other man though was highly trained enough not to show fear. Alright then, he'd see how he felt when he shot him. He was about to fire when his leg was pulled and he found himself losing his balance. With all his concentration focused on Clint Barton he had forgotten about William Brandt. His gun fired harmlessly into the air and at the same time Clint Barton propelled himself toward him. Even though Fields was caught momentarily unawares he reacted quickly. Things had changed again and he needed to make another strategic move.

Rolling quickly out of the way Field's decided it might be time to regroup. He took off running into the tree line knowing that Clint would not leave his injured brother to pursue him.

Breathing heavily Clint lay on the ground for a moment before standing up and turning to face Will.

This was it, the moment he had waited for , the reunion with his twin. Moving over Clint looked down at his injured brother. What was left of his clothing was coated in both dried and flesh blood. His skin tone was extremely pale and he looked like he may be in shock. Clint had no idea how long he had until Will's attacker came back with others. It was probably not long. He would not be able to move Will far on his own. Of course he should not move him at all but he could not afford for the enemy to find Will again.

"Shit", he said loudly and emphatically, where was Ethan Hunt when he needed him. The unmistakable sound of gun fire answered his internal question. Maybe Hunt had problems of his own. "Sorry Will, this is going to hurt", he apologized to his brother as he moved around to his head.

Will was only vaguely aware that there was someone with him. This person had just saved him from death at the hands of the other man, so must be a friend. He tried to move to help the guy out only to find his body had at last given up. "Take it easy, I am going to have to pull you now", came the voice of his rescuer. He must be hallucinating as the voice sounded kind of like his own. A gasp of pain escaped his lips as he was jerked forward as the guy dragged him along the ground. He felt blackness encompass him again.

Clint noticed Will had gone limp again. It did at least make it easier to drag him along. Finding a particularly dense outcropping of bushes Clint slid Will into its depths. Now he would have to take measures to conceal the tracks he had made from anyone who may be searching for him.

While Clint was doing that Ethan Hunt was only a short distance away. He was pinned down behind a tree by four armed men. It was hard to fire the spears at them through the bushes but he had given it a go.

That had at least man the men more wary. Two of them had now changed position and were most likely going to come up behind him . Where was Clint Barton and his arrows when he needed him most. Splitting up had not been the best plan, but it did let them cover more ground. Barton was also the type that expected him to be able to solve his own problems. Ethan dared a look around the solid tree he was hiding behind. A bang answered his appearance, quickly ducking back Ethan had to move again when the bullet screamed right through the tree and thudded into the one behind it. Oh heck they were using armour piercing rounds Ethan determined. Once those other two gun man had encircled him his odds of survival would shrink considerably. Ethan had to think of a plan before that happened. He still had a few spears and threw one towards the nearest gunman just to warn him that he was not an easy target. The man though was probably laughing.

Wham, another bullet shot through the tree. He was lucky it was a fairly solid specimen that was not going to be felled easily. Dammit Ethan swore to himself. He looked for another solid tree in the mass of undergrowth, hoping to move out of the line of fire. There was one about 400 metres away. Should he risk moving though, as being hit even by one armour piercing round would most likely be fatal. He did not have long to decide. Ethan stretched himself a little, deciding that staying put was most likely a definite death sentence and moving gave him a chance. He counted to five in his head, threw another spear out from behind the tree, then ran. He could hear the bullets firing around him, zipping loudly as they hit bark . Pieces of bark threw up to hit him with stinging intensity. Only 100 metres to go, he weaved so that he was not an easy target. Still he knew that the gunmen had shifted their aim and were now shooting in his direction. That other tree still seemed like a long way to go. He heard the whizzing sound of bullets close by his ear and prepared himself for impact. Instead of pain in his body he felt pain in his ear as a loud ringing sound like metal hitting metal came from behind him. "Keep running", a voice said in his ear. With like heavy hail in a thunder storm all around him Ethan made it to the large tree. Now he could finally stop and see who had come to his rescue. "Ethan Hunt, I am Steve Rogers",the man beside him told him , "I was sent as part of a rescue party by the combined efforts Of IMF and SHIELD. Your colleagues Benji, Luther and Jane are with us." A grin came over Ethans face upon hearing that. He had not doubted that the others would try and locate him.

Steve drew a shield up near his body and looked at it critically. "That has never happened before " he remarked when he saw that the bullets had actually made small craters in his shield. "They are using armour piercing rounds", Ethan told him. "Yes but the metal in this shield is the strongest in the world and has so far not been penetrated by anything. Whoever this is, has anticipated the fact may face the Avengers and thought up a means of countering us. That puts him in a whole new class."

Steve had heard the word cake walk mentioned and laughed at Thor's puzzled expression. He had initially agreed with the term but now was not sure this rescue was going to be that easy. Firstly they had to locate all those who needed rescuing and then they had to get off this island. "Is Clint nearby", Steve asked, thinking about part one of the plan first.

Ethan did not like it when super heroes looked fazed, though Rogers had quickly altered his expression. Think of this as a normal mission he told himself. Most of those certainly had their difficult moments and you survived them despite not having powers in the league of Captain America. Though the legendary man looked rather normal right now. Noticing that legend staring at him Ethan focused on answering his question. "Clint and I split up to follow two trails through the undergrowth. He can't be more than few miles away," he told Steve. "How about Clint's twin, did you find him", Steve asked. Ethan felt relieved they had up to date knowledge, because he did not have to go into explanations that would waste time. "We found some of Will's clothing at a nearby beach so assume he is here somewhere. There were also signs that he is being tracked by one of the hostiles IMF were targeting. I personally have seen no sign of Will , but perhaps by now Clint has found him."

Steve took all of that in quickly adding it to the plan developing in his mind. "What about Jane, Benji and Luther where are they", Ethan's question interrupted his thoughts. "Not too far away, we to split up, Jane is with Thor, Benji with Natasha and Bruce Banner and Luther is with me. He is laying a few traps while I draw the enemy fire. You were a lucky bonus to that plan." Ethan just smiled in response.

Steve noticed something significant had happened while he was talking to Ethan, the gunfire had stopped. It was both a relief and a concern. The men could be focusing in on other targets. He had chosen to send Natasha, Benji Dunn and Bruce to the area deemed safest. While he respected Bruce's decision to try to be like a normal agent he was not going to test his resolve by deliberately putting him into the line of fire. Perhaps though trouble might actually go to them. "We need to shift our position a few miles that way", he told Ethan indicating a different direction to the one where Ethan had left Clint.

"Clint is the other way, by himself", Ethan told Steve. Steve now had to make a decision, move toward Natasha's location because he was worried about a Hulk incident or go and rescue the man that had sparked this search. That should be an easy decision but it wasn't. Steve knew which decision to make though. "Alright we'll meet up with Luther then go get Clint and then take them all to the others position". He just hoped that nothing caused Bruce Banner to get very angry in the mean time.

Natasha had known exactly why they had the easiest area to search, though she chose to say nothing to the two men behind her. Benji Dunn and Bruce had hit it off and had spouted some more language she did not understand. He had told her that originally he worked on the technical side of IMF before becoming a regular agent. Not another one, was the thought that crossed her mind, she now had two 'baby' agents under her care.

She stopped worrying about one of them when gunfire sounded nearby and he immediately went into defensive mode. Benji Dunn was a well trained agent. Bruce though looked a little worried. He gripped the gun tightly, holding it in the manner she had suggested, she could see it shaking from here though. A quick evaluating look determined that although afraid Bruce was controlling his anger. She was not going to take stupid risks that might change that, while the Hulk was definitely on their side he was still a dangerous force. "Take cover", Natasha ordered.

Bruce immediately sought shelter behind tree with Natasha and Benji on his left and right flank. He looked over at Natasha and found himself mirroring her actions, weave out fire, then back into the safety of the tree. They should be able to hit some targets this way he thought. But then this bullet came screaming through the tree and grazed passed his arm. Looking over he saw a thin line of red blood trickling down. It was not a serious injury but it did make him feel very angry. He tried to push the feeling down. Nastaha was looking at him in a concerned way. "Are you alright", she called out. Bruce knew that a lie would not serve any purpose, "no, Natasha doing this was a mistake, I don't think I can contain the hulk. I just want to go out there and rip those guys heads off". Natasha sighed inwardly, the enemy had armour piercing rounds which gave them the upper hand. They needed something to shift the balance and unfortunately it looked like a raging hulk was going to be their weapon.