Chapter Text
“Missile lock detected.” JARVIS voice rang through the Quinjet. “Deploying chaff and flares.”
“Where did it come from?” Black Widow expertly piloted around the debris field. From his position in the co-pilot’s seat, Hawkeye noted that the smoke left oily black streaks down the windshield and the Quinjet seemed to shudder when it penetrated the smoke. Moments later warning lights started flashing all over the board.
“We need to make an emergency landing.” Natasha stated calmly, only her white-knuckled grip on the controls hinting at her fear.
Clint scanned the frozen mountain range as the jet gave another shudder and the engines failed completely. “Not an option.” He opened the com lines, “I’m lowering the rear hatch, everybody out. We need to eject.”
The hatch began to drop and ground to a halt. As Tony donned the suit and Steve grabbed his shield, Bruce turned to see the problem and transformed in the three steps to the door. The Hulk smashed the hatch and dropped out of the Quinjet, using part of the door to surf the air currents and sled down the mountainside. Captain America followed, “I’ll keep an eye on Hulk, stick with them.”
Ironman flew out and surveyed the damage. He watched the vehicle disintegrating before his eyes. “Come on, eject already.” He breathed a sigh of relief when the cockpit section separated moments later, shooting them up and clear of the debris. He followed their retreating shape, counting the seconds until the chutes should have opened. “JARVIS, shouldn’t their chutes have opened by now?”
“Yes sir, they are in the appropriate altitude range and sufficient time has elapsed. I believe there is a mechanical failure.”
Clint and Natasha stared at each other. The initial acceleration of ejection had blown them clear of the jet but any relief they felt quickly faded as they reached the top of the arc and began to fall, with no sign of chute deployment.
Tony was moving before JARVIS had finished speaking. He flew up to the seat assembly and tried to pull open the rear panel to release the chute. It took a swift kick to get the panel to open and several more tense seconds while he rewired connections before the parachute released and opened, yanking the cockpit away from his hands. As Tony watched their descent, his left boot repulsor and right gauntlet repulsor began to stutter. He quickly calculated where the assassin twins would land and began a hopefully controlled descent into the approximate area.
Steve looked up as he hit the ground. His eyes were drawn to the black smoke and debris left from the disintegrating Quinjet. He searched the sky for the telltale flash of red and gold and the parachute from the Quinjet cockpit. He breathed a sigh of relief as he saw the chute open tracked their descent, then he turned his attention back to the finding the Hulk.
***
“J, what made the Quinjet crash?” Tony asked as he tried to maintain altitude with the repulsors acting up. “A little smoke and goo should not have disabled it.”
JARVIS paused before answering. “Preliminary data suggests nanites, metal consuming nanobots.”
“Shit, J is the suit compromised?”
“Scanning now, Sir.”
Unfortunately, Tony got his answer when his left boot repulsor failed completely while he was still high in the air.
“Sir, I recommend immediate evacuation of the suit. If the nanites reach the arc reactor…”
“On it!” Ironman raced towards the ground. At the last minute he pulled up, arresting his forward motion as JARVIS opened the suit and he tumbled towards the ground. He rolled to a stop in the soft snow and stopped on his back. He looked up at his suit hovering above him.
“To eliminate the nanites we should blow the suit.” Tony said as he sat up.
“Sir, when I blow the suit you will lose all comms.”
“We will lose it anyway when the nanobots get to that wiring, and we need to destroy them and the suit while we still can. Give our location to SHIELD for rescue and contact the others for rendezvous near with the landing point of the cockpit. They are closest to the mountain base where we might find shelter. Then blow the suit, you know what to do.”
“You will be at the greatest danger from the cold, sir. Please take care.”
JARVIS took the armor straight up to a safe height and blew the suit. As Tony watched his own personal fireworks show, he brought his arm up to shade his eyes. The sunlight glinted off his watch, and he suddenly remembered the wiring in his undersuit which could provide a path to the ARC reactor. He stood quickly and stripped off his undersuit, watch, even the metal buckle from his jeans. He was thankful he had been working on delicate electrical systems and had his antistatic rubber boots on so his feet would stay dry and fairly warm, but jeans and two layers of t-shirts would not keep him warm when the sun went down. He pulled his long sleeves over his hands and began his chilly hike.