Chapter 4
"Wait a minute," Mikayla said as she looked around, "someone's missing." She whipped her head to look over at Tony. "Where's Pepper? Is she okay?"
"About that," Tony turned around and held out his arm. "May I present to you Miss Morgan Elizabeth Stark, the most perfect baby ever born, and Mrs. Tony Stark, the most perfect mother ever created."
Clint and Mikayla looked to where Tony's attention was focused and saw Pepper emerging from the hallway, carrying a baby girl with a head full of hair and sparkling eyes. "Pepper, she's beautiful," Mikayla said. "How are you doing?"
Pepper smiled, radiating a glow. "I'm happy, especially now that you two are back."
"When was she born?" Clint asked.
"My water broke about thirty minutes after you left for your honeymoon. See, I told you she'd wait until after your wedding." The group chuckled. "Morgan, these are your godparents, the ones I've been telling you about. Say hello to Clint and Mikayla Barton."
Morgan smiled at the couple. "That's not because she just burped, is it?" Mikayla jokingly asked.
"Not at all. She seems to be a genuinely happy baby girl."
"Despite having to put up with Tony," Sam added.
Tony led Pepper over to a living room chair. "Because I'm in a forgiving mood, I'm going to ignore the comment from the other birdbrain in the room." After making sure Pepper was comfortable and didn't need anything, he took Morgan from her. "Come here, my little Morgana." Tony turned and brought his daughter over to the newlyweds, who had followed Tony and Pepper into the living room and were sitting on the love seat. He leaned over and handed the baby to Mikayla. "It's time you met each other."
Mikayla took a deep breath and took the little bundle from Tony. "Look, she's still smiling."
Clint leaned in and stared at Morgan. "You have that effect on people, babe." Morgan reached up and grabbed Clint's index finger. "Some grip your girl's got, Stark."
"Chip off the old block." Tony had propped himself on the arm of Pepper's chair.
Misty approached the couple. "Barton, if you'll excuse me," she linked arms with Mikayla, "I'm going to steal the better Barton for a while for some girlfriend bonding time." Without waiting for an answer, Misty dragged Mikayla down the hall. Clint stayed in the living room, talking with the rest of the group, getting caught up on events.
About a month later, the team was gathered in the living room about to start watching movies when Friday announced the group was needed in the conference room for a briefing. Once everyone was seated, Fury appeared via satellite. "Welcome back, Bartons."
"Glad to know the bad guys missed us, too," Mikayla said. "I feel so loved."
Fury rolled his eye, then glanced around to take stock of who was present. "Where's Wilson?"
"Back home attending a nephew's birthday party."
"Shouldn't need him, but good to know his location." Fury pointed to a map on the wall behind him. "Group dealing in child trafficking. There's a huge transaction about to go down in Stockholm 48 hours from now. It needs to be stopped. You need to be there in 24 hours. Hill is sending you the details." The transmission ended.
The computer beeped, signaling receipt of the mission from Maria. Tony pulled the data up on the screen. "What's the plan, Cap?"
Steve quickly scanned the information. "They don't know we're on to them, so we'll use the element of surprise. Stark, Thor, you'll be the air support. Bartons, the two of you will be our eyes in the skies. Plant yourselves on these two buildings." Steve pointed to two warehouses on either side of the main building. Nat, Bucky, and I will go in, find the victims, take out anyone who stops us, download information from the computer, see where it leads." He stood. "Get some rest. We'll meet at the Quinjet at six tomorrow morning." The group followed Steve out of the conference room, then split up, going their separate ways.
Mikayla texted Misty, giving her an update. "Misty said Sam can be here in no time, or he can meet us in Stockholm."
"Fury thinks we'll be okay without him," Clint said.
"That's what I told her." Mikayla curled up next to Clint.
"Everything okay?"
Mikayla nodded. "Trying not to think about what happened on the last mission."
"Don't torture yourself that way. Trust me. I've learned the hard way. You can't compare missions. Each scenario is different, making each outcome different. Can you learn from each op? Of course, but do your best to avoid bringing any baggage from the prior op to the next one. However, the most important thing to remember is that you're my kick-ass woman. Now," Clint stood and held out his hand, "let's go do newlywed activities."
At six the following day, the jet took off for Stockholm. Clint set it to autopilot once the plane was in the air, and he and Natasha joined the team for a final meeting before arriving in Stockholm. Cap pulled out the schematics of the buildings, and everyone went over their assignments, Friday helpfully providing last-minute alterations that had been made to the complex. Before the plane started its descent, Tony and Thor flew off to begin surveillance. Once the plane landed and the ramp was lowered, Clint cloaked the aircraft then joined the rest outside. "The complex is about half a mile from here," Steve explained. "Everyone knows their assignments. Let's go."
Cap, Nat, and Bucky walked straight through the trees toward the main building. Clint and Mikayla took a more circuitous route to get to their targets. When they got close enough, they each climbed a tree, shot a grappling arrow, then used the wire to get to their respective rooftops. "In position," Clint said over the comms.
"Same," Mikayla said. "Haven't seen any activity yet."
"Got you in my sights," Clint said. "Hold on. On your left, a couple of hundred feet ahead." Before anyone could speak, the trio heard a thud and walked over to see three guards on the ground, each with an arrow through the throat. Nat picked up the arrows and hid them in surrounding bushes so no one would see them and be alerted to their presence. "Thanks, Nat," Clint said.
"Any others?" Steve asked.
"Hold, please," Mikayla let her arrows fly, taking out two guards and striking them each in the throat.
"Copycat," Clint joked.
"We're in," Cap said. The comms went quiet as the group on the ground made their way through the building. Making their way through the corridors, they mainly found the conference and break rooms, none of which had any usable intel.
"Hold on a sec. Up ahead, on the left," Bucky said. He motioned toward a door with a sliver of light shining underneath it. They got to the door and listened for any voices. Not detecting any, Bucky opened the door, and Cap entered, with Natasha bringing up the rear; what they saw horrified them. The room was full of dog cages, each holding 2-3 children, who shrank back when anyone tried to reach out and touch them.
Cap handed his shield to Natasha, then knelt next to one of the cages. "We're here to help you. Will you let us help you?"
A girl who appeared to be around seven looked up at him, staring him in the face. "You don't have dead eyes. I trust you. Can you help me find my brother?"
"Of course." Cap continued talking to her as Nat and Bucky helped gather the other children together. Nat was softly speaking to them, and Bucky kept their minds occupied by talking about his arm.
"Friday?" Nat asked. "Contact Fury to have someone meet us at the extraction point. We're bringing the children."
"How are things up top?" Cap asked.
"Stragglers are taken care of," Clint answered.
"Good. We'll need some help here. Stark? Thor? Are you available, too?"
"On our way, Captain Spangles."
Steve shook his head while the rest of the team chuckled. "Mikayla? Can you or Clint come down and help us with the children?"
"You got it," Mikayla answered. "Keep an eye out for the bad guys, Hawkeye, and don't do anything stupid."
"Yes, ma'am."
Mikayla blew him a kiss and then made her way off the roof to meet up with the others. "I'm inside." Cap gave her directions to their location. Upon arriving, Mikayla jumped in, helping to release other children from their cages. When she got to the last cage, two little girls came out and ran to meet up with the other children, leaving behind a little boy around five. "Hey," she said softly, reaching out her hand toward him. The dark-haired little boy frantically shook his head as he curled in on himself. Mikayla laid her bow on the ground, took off her quiver, then crawled into the cage with him. After several moments of staring at her, the child slowly inched his way across the cage until he was curled up next to her. "Hi," Mikayla tried to engage him, but he wouldn't respond. She finally noticed he was pointing to his ears. 'Can you hear me?' She signed.
'No. They took my aids,' the little boy signed back.
'My name is Mikayla,' she spelled out. 'What's your name?'
'Philip. Where's Katie?'
'Who's that?'
'My sister.'
'Let me check.' Mikayla attempted to get out of the cage, but Philip wouldn't let go of her arm, so she stuck her head out to see who was around. Cap seemed to be the closest, so she asked him. "Do you have anyone named Katie looking for their brother?"
I'm Katie," the girl Cap had spoken to broke away from the others and came running toward Mikayla. "Did you find him?" Mikayla nodded, scooting aside so Katie could see the little boy. Mikayla grinned as the siblings hugged and began furiously signing to each other. "Thank you, thank you," Katie said as Philip signed it. As Mikayla went to stand, she felt two small sets of arms wrapping around her.
"You're welcome," Mikayla replied with her voice and in sign language. She made sure the two children made it back to the rest of the group, then went back, picked up her bow, and quiver.
"Activity coming from the east," Stark said. "Gonna need all hands on deck."
"Boss? Director Fury advised there is a team at the Quinjet ready to accept the children."
"I'll take them," Mikayla volunteered. "When they're on the transport, Thor can bring me back to help take care of the bastards behind all this." She walked over to where the children were gathered, then knelt to their level. "I'm getting you out of here. Someone will take you away from all of this." As she spoke, she also signed so Philip would understand. They'd learned only orphaned children were taken during the investigation since no one would miss them, so Mikayla knew there would be no one to contact on their behalf. Tony shared that the Stark Foundation would work on getting their immediate needs taken care of to get adopted into good, stable homes. "Follow me. Let's hurry." Mikayla glanced, made sure the children were following her, then led them back to the Quinjet, where another plane was waiting for them. "Thanks, Doyle. Can you let the foundation know we need a set of hearing aids?"
"Happy to help, Fitzgerald," the SHIELD agent said. "Come on, everyone, we're going for a ride in the big plane."
Mikayla stepped back as the children followed Doyle onto the plane. She was about to turn around and leave when Katie broke away from the group and dashed over to her. "Do you have to go?" Katie looked up at her, brown eyes pleading with her to stay.
"I do. I have to go and help catch the bad guys, but I'll come and see you when I can. I told them about your brother, so he'll get a new pair of hearing aids." Mikayla bent down. "I promise I'll come to check on you two. Pinky swear?"
Katie nodded. "Pinky swear." The two linked pinkies and hugged. Mikayla kept her eye on Katie until she disappeared into the plane, then called Thor. "Ready for the return trip," she said into her comm.
After the transport plane left, Thor appeared. "Hold on, Lady Hawk." Mikayla wrapped her arms around Thor until he dropped her back onto the roof of the bunker.
"All good?" Clint asked, keeping an eye on the surroundings.
"Yep, Stark Foundation will look after them now."
"Here come the bad guys," Tony's voice came through the comms. As soon as he spoke, shooting could be heard; the battle had begun. Bucky was returning fire, taking out several enemies. Cap was throwing his shield around, knocking others out. Nat was in the thick of things tossing smoke bombs and using her widow bites when people got too close. Tony was firing his repulsors at stragglers. Thor was using electricity and Mjolnir to take enemies out of the fight. Clint and Mikayla also attacked from on high, using the entire arsenal of normal and trick arrows. After about 45 minutes, the traffickers were either dead or unconscious. The SHIELD team was called in for cleanup and recovery. The Avengers team boarded the Quinjet with Clint and Natasha at the controls, then headed back to home base.
Even though the result of this fight was the successful rescue of the victims and the effective dismantling of a child trafficking ring, the team still took it hard because it involved children. After the plane landed, Tony immediately disappeared into his penthouse suite to reconnect with Pepper and Morgan. Bruce retreated into his room to meditate and re-center himself. Thor took off to call Jane. Steve left to visit a children's hospital. Natasha and Bucky left for the gym for a round of sparring. The only one missing this time was Mikayla. In the flurry of everyone loading back onto the Quinjet, Clint didn't remember seeing Mikayla. He'd been up in the cockpit co-piloting the plane with Natasha, then got lost in his thoughts, so he didn't think to go back and check in with Mikayla. "Some husband I am, not even bothering to check. Damn, I need to get out of my head." He hoped she hadn't been injured and decided to head to the medical wing. "Doctor Cho?"
"Agent Barton, how can I help? Are you injured?"
"No, for once, I'm fine. Did anyone else check in to medical?"
"No, it's been quiet."
"Okay, thanks."
"Sorry I couldn't be more help." The doctor turned her back, refocusing her attention on a computer.
Clint pulled out his phone and called Mikayla. "Hmm, no answer, straight to voice mail." He thought for a minute, trying to keep his panic to a minimum. "Friday?"
"At your service, Agent Barton."
"Is Agent Mikayla in the tower?"
"No, she is not. Would you like me to pull up the cameras in the hangar?"
"Please." His phone pinged. Clint had gone into the kitchen for coffee, so he leaned over the kitchen island while the coffee brewed. Pulling up the video, he watched Mikayla come down the ramp after everyone else had already gone inside. Clint saw her look around, talk to herself, then leave the tower. "Any sound on the video, Friday?"
"No, sir. Boss has elected not to record sound due to sensitive mission information possibly being shared."
"Damn," Clint groaned. "Do me a favor. Run facial recognition, please."
"Of course." Several moments later, Friday spoke. "Sending what I found to your phone."
"I owe you, Friday."
"I think we're more than even, Agent Barton."
Clint nodded, returning to his phone to see the camera views. He spotted Mikayla walking down the sidewalk among the crowds. She turned into a candy store and disappeared. He sped through the next hour of footage, never seeing her exit.
"I've checked the shop, Agent Barton. The cameras were disabled."
"Shit." Clint knew what to do next. "Patch me into the gym."
"Of course."
"Guys, I need your help…now."
"What's up, Barton?" Natasha asked, out of breath from sparring.
"Mikayla's disappeared. Meet me out front, and I'll fill you in." When Natasha and Bucky arrived, they found Clint waiting, holding out his phone. "I realized she wasn't with us. She didn't answer her phone, so had Friday check the surrounding cameras and found this." The trio gathered around Clint's phone to watch the footage. "Thought I'd bring along reinforcements to find out what the hell is going on."
The murder trio purposely hurried to the candy store. Natasha and Bucky went in the front door while Clint went around back. As soon as he reached the alley, he noticed a bright red blood trail on the ground. Suddenly, the metal back door flew open. Natasha and Bucky flew out into the alley. "There's no one in the store," Bucky said, the gears on his metal arm whirring as he made a fist. "Merchandise is all over the place. Some sort of fight happened."
"Guessing Mikayla was involved." Clint pointed to the blood on the ground. The trio followed the trail until they came to a dumpster farther down the alley. Bucky ripped the lid off, and they peered inside, immediately spotting Mikayla and who they assumed to be was the store employee, limbs tightly bound to their bodies and bags hastily thrown over their heads. Clint and Natasha leaped into the dumpster and ripped the bags off. Clint immediately put his fingers to Mikayla's neck and released a sigh. "It's faint, but she's got a pulse."
"Same here," Natasha said after checking the employee's pulse.
Bucky stood, waiting to help the duo lift the bodies out of the dumpster. Clint didn't want to let go of Mikayla but accepted Bucky's help to get her out. Once she had cleared the dumpster, Bucky laid her on the ground, and Clint jumped out to examine her as Bucky got in to grab the employee. Natasha followed Bucky to the dumpster, and they inspected the unconscious employee. Clint remembered noticing on the video Mikayla had changed from her suit to a simple t-shirt and jeans, both of which were now shredded. Her undergarments had also been slashed. 'Not again, babe. It took you long enough to recover from the first assault. Who did this to you? Whoever it was, I'll personally find them and make them regret every breath they've ever taken.' Clint saw several knife wounds still bleeding, so he ripped off his shirt, tearing it for makeshift bandages. "No, not your hands, babe." His teammates looked over to see Clint holding up her hands. "Bastards broke all her fingers and both thumbs." Clint bit his lip so hard he drew blood. "She also has knife wounds and multiple bruises. Friday? Get an ambulance here and let Stark know, please."
"At once, Agent Barton."
Shortly, ambulance sirens could be heard approaching the area, along with the buzzing of Iron Man's suit landing, followed by a brief wind as Thor appeared. "I understand my help may be required," Thor announced. Wordlessly, Clint handed Mikayla's unconscious body to him. Thor then immediately flew back to the tower.
"What the hell happened?" Tony asked, flipping up his faceguard. Clint filled him in with what he knew. "Any idea why she was here?"
Clint and Natasha exchanged glances. Nat knew how much Clint hated talking about his past or exposing any weaknesses, even to his teammates. "Lemon drops."
At that point, an ambulance arrived, and after assessing the employee, the EMTs loaded him onto a stretcher and into the ambulance, then drove away. "Lemon drops?"
Clint sighed. "Cases with kids are tough. Mikayla knows lemon drops help calm me down afterward. One of the few good childhood memories I have. We haven't had a chance to restock since we got back from the honeymoon."
"Vicks Vapor Rub for me," Tony said. "My favorite childhood memory. Whenever I'd get a bad cold, my mom would rub it on my chest and stay with me until I could breathe better and fell asleep." Tony put a comforting hand on Clint's shoulder. "Whatever it takes, buddy, we'll get 'em." Clint nodded. "Clench up. I'll get you back to her." Tony grabbed Clint and flew them back.
"Let's see what we can find around here that'll help to take the bastards down," Natasha said to Bucky. He nodded, careful not to show any emotion. Even though he wanted to punch a hole in something, he focused on finding evidence of Mikayla's attackers.
Back at the tower, Tony forced Clint to go to his room. "At least put on a damn shirt, Barton."
"What'd I miss?" grumbling, Clint went up to his suite, grabbed a t-shirt, and decided to change into jeans. By the time he returned to the medical wing, the rest of the team had gathered.
"She's been stitched up, and her fingers have been reset and splinted." Steve put a hand on Clint's shoulder. "She's sleeping."
"Is that all?" Other than her broken fingers, all Clint could focus on was the blood that seemed to gush from his wife's frail, broken body. He didn't want to think about what other injuries had been found.
Natasha said, "Bruised ribs, dislocated knee, and a probable concussion."
"Who were they?"
"Don't know yet," Bucky answered. "Didn't find any clues. Sorry, man."
Upon hearing the voices, Dr. Cho stuck her head out of Mikayla's room and motioned to Clint, who stepped through the sliding glass door. "Agent Barton, we've stitched up the gashes and splint her fingers. Her ribs will be sore, and she'll need to take it easy until her knee heals. She's sleeping right now, so we won't know the extent of the concussion immediately, but we'll wake her every hour or so."
"Thanks, Dr. Cho."
"Dr. Banner helped. He'll return shortly. He had to, uh, escape for a moment."
Clint nodded, understanding the underlying meaning. Bruce had retreated to the Hulk room to let out his rage. Clint went over to Mikayla's bed and sat in the chair beside it, putting his hand on her arm. He avoided her hands so he wouldn't disturb her fingers. "You've got this, Mikayla. We've been through so much. This is nothing. I swear I will find out who did this to you, and they will pay." He kept watch the rest of the evening and into the early morning hours. The rest of the team filtered in and out, bringing him food and coffee, sitting with him, and trying to keep his mind occupied until Mikayla woke up. Sometime earlier the following day, as Clint was drifting off, he heard mumbling. He shook his head to clear the cobwebs so he could focus. "Mikayla?"
"Hey."
"You're back." Clint pushed his bangs off her forehead and kissed her temple.
"I'm so tired."
"You're on the good drugs. It's to be expected."
Mikayla grimaced. "Damage?"
"Knife wounds, bruised ribs, injured knee."
"And?" "Clint?" Mikayla knew he was leaving something out. She whined to the point of pleading.
"Broken fingers."
"How many A couple?"
Clint took a deep breath, slowly releasing it, then held up her hands so she could see them. "I'm sorry, but remember, Tony has access to the best medical doctors and therapists. You'll be back to yourself in no time."
"It's all of them." Clint looked, and tears were running down Mikayla's face. "How?"
Clint gently laid her hands back down, then wiped away the tears with his thumbs. "Above my pay grade, babe All I know is we'll move heaven and earth to get you healed and find out who did this." Clint stared at her, waiting for her to acknowledge him. Once she nodded, Clint asked, "Feel like talking about it?"
"Not really. Just hold me."
"Don't have to ask, babe." Mikayla gingerly moved over to make room for Clint. "Is this okay?"
"Yeah," Mikayla sniffed.d They were both quiet for some time, lost in their thought.s Clint thought Mikayla had fallen asleep until she spoke,e "Clint?"
"Yeah, babe?"
"I know who it is."
"You know who did this to you?" Mikayla nodded. "Who?"
"Swordsman and Trick Shot."