Chapter 6
When Clint and the rest of the team arrived back at the Quinjet, they found Bruce tending to Mikayla, with Tony hovering, waiting for something to do. "She's still unconscious," Bruce said. "She's running a slight fever, so I've started an IV to give her some antibiotics to take care of any infections she may have. I'm also giving her some nutrients as she is obviously malnourished. Was she unconscious when you found her?"
"Barely conscious," Clint's voice cracked as he replied. "She knew her name and mine, but that's all she said. She was, uh, in the chair when we found her." Clint and the team will never forget what she looked like. It was a picture that was going to stick with them. The woman on the stretcher was a shell of the vibrant, sarcastic person they knew.
Sam approached Clint. "Hey, man, I'll be Natasha's co-pilot on the ride back. Stay here with her. She'll need a friendly face when she wakes." Clint nodded as Sam patted his back and went up to the cockpit. On her way to the front of the plane, Natasha lightly ran her fingers through Clint's hair as she passed behind him, her only outward sign that she was affected by the events.
As Steve settled down on a bench, he noticed Bucky mumbling to himself. "It's not your fault, Bucky."
"I should've remembered this place," Bucky said under his breath as he cleaned the metal plates of his arm. "If I had, she wouldn't have had to go through that."
"You can't remember every place, Buck. The blame ultimately lies at Barney's feet, not yours."
Bucky clenched his fist. "Don't, Steve. Just don't. You have no clue what that, that thing does, and you can't imagine the pain it causes."
"You're right, I don't, but I do know that she's got a family to help her walk this path, wherever the hell it leads. Our immediate focus is Mikayla, and then when we know where she's at in that journey, we turn to the bastards who kidnapped her." Bucky nodded. He knew he was the only one who could relate to what she had been through and would help her however he could. He owed that to her, as supportive as she had been when she'd discover him roaming the tower coming out of a nightmare or a panic attack. God, how she reminded him of Becca, wishing they'd had a chance to meet.
Clint looked around. "Where's Thor?"
Tony answered. "He said he had somewhere to go but would meet us at the tower."
Clint nodded, figuring Thor had some business going on at Asgard. He gently wiped Mikayla's face and brushed back the hair from her eyes. "Come on, Mikayla. Come back to me. We're just starting. I'm sorry I failed you again." He refused to leave Mikayla's side during the flight back.
The plane was met by Dr. Cho and her staff, who took off with Mikayla as soon as Bruce and Clint wheeled the stretcher down the ramp. Tony took off to be with Pepper and Morgan while Steve and Bucky changed out of their tac gear. Misty came running up to Sam, and they wrapped their arms around each other. Clint and Natasha went to the waiting room to watch Mikayla and the doctors from behind the glass partition. Thor was true to his word and met them soon after in the waiting room. "Clint? I have some people I'd like you to meet." Clint turned around. "May I present Lady Sif and the Warriors Three? These are Volstagg, Hogun, and Fandral. They are my friends and are here to protect Lady Mikayla and the tower."
Thor motioned to the quartet, who slightly bowed. "Thor's Midgardian friends are in need," Volstagg said. "We are honored to offer our assistance." Clint nodded to them, remembering them from his time in New Mexico guarding Mjolnir.
"Friends, let me show you around the tower. Clint? Please alert me when there is news about Lady Mikayla."
Clint patted him on the arm. "I will, Thor. Thanks for, well, for everything." Thor smiled and motioned for the Asgardians to follow him. The group left the waiting room.
Shortly after that, Sam, Misty, and Tony showed up. "Any word?" Tony asked.
Natasha shook her head. "Doctors are still in with her."
Misty collapsed in the chair on the other side of Clint and squeezed his hand. Clint nodded and squeezed back. At one point, Steve and Bucky came in. Sometime later, Bruce came out of the medical suite, running a hand through his hair, giving him the look of a mad scientist. Bruce looked around the waiting room before speaking. Once he made sure everyone was there, he started talking. "She's alive but still unconscious. We're continuing the antibiotics and the IV nutrients. The scans show her brain is active. Dr. Cho drew blood to see what she'd been given. What we've found so far are Midazolam and Tetrodotoxin-D." Natasha and Steve looked at each other, recognizing the Tetrodotoxin-D as the drug Fury used to fake his death after Bucky shot him. "The Midazolam was used to make her sleepy and easier to maneuver. It also has the nasty effect of causing a loss of ability to make new memories. I've consulted with Shuri, and she's hopeful the small amount of serum Mikayla was previously given somehow protected her brain. Unfortunately, we won't know until she wakes up, though we know she remembered her name and Clint's. There is a bit of good news. We didn't detect any additional serum in her bloodstream." Everyone breathed a sigh of relief, thankful Mikayla was rescued before that part of HYDRA's so-called treatment.
"What about her hands?" Clint asked; even though he didn't want to hear the answer, he knew he needed to.
Bruce sighed. "There's too much damage for the cradle to work. Dr. Cho's already consulting with several prominent hand surgeons. They've agreed to come to the tower to examine the damage for themselves, but they seem confident they can repair her hands."
"If they can't," Tony spouted off, "I can damn well guarantee I'll make her the best prosthetic hands ever made."
"We will help with that." Everyone turned around and saw Shuri enter the waiting room, T'Challa, and Okoye behind her.
"She is a friend, and we are always willing to offer our help to our friends," T'Challa said. "We have also brought a cryo chamber in case it is needed, though we, of course, hope it won't be."
Steve walked over to T'Challa. "Thank you, T'Challa. That means a lot to all of us." He patted T'Challa's shoulder, then nodded to Shuri and Okoye as he went to grab some more chairs. Bruce returned to the medical suite to check on Mikayla and let Dr. Cho know about Shuri's arrival.
Pepper had dinner delivered to the waiting room, knowing no one wanted to leave in case Mikayla woke. After everyone had eaten, Dr. Cho came out. "I don't think she's going to wake up tonight. We may be in for a long haul. Please, everyone, go back to your rooms. Friday will alert you if there are any changes. And, before you say anything," the doctor looked at Clint, "you can stay with her, but everyone else needs to go and get some rest." After much huffing, puffing, begging, and attempted bribing (by Tony), everyone scattered throughout the tower, and Clint went to stay with Mikayla. "Friday? Please monitor Mikayla and advise Dr. Banner or me of any changes."
"Of course, Dr. Cho."
Once the doctors had left, it was just Clint and Mikayla. Clint was scared to pick up her hands, both having been splinted and then wrapped to ensure she wouldn't move them, so he laid his hand on her upper arm to avoid the IV. "Hey, babe. You're back home. Bruce and Dr. Cho are taking good care of you. The Wakandans even showed up, as did Thor's friends from Asgard. You know Sif, Fandral, Hogun, and Volstagg? They heard we needed help, so they came. They will help keep you safe since I failed to do that." Clint could almost feel Nat's hand slapping the back of his head after that comment. "Nat would probably smack me for feeling that way, but I can't help thinking HYDRA wouldn't have been able to torture you if I had done a better job of protecting you. I'm sorry, Mikayla. I will spend the rest of my life making this up to you, I promise." Clint took a deep breath and realized he wasn't helping Mikayla with this line of thinking, so he switched gears and began telling her what he knew about the Asgardians.
Throughout the night, the other team members appeared to check in on the couple through the window. Clint was always at Mikayla's side, stroking her face or arm, softly talking to her. Natasha entered the waiting room and found Bucky standing in front of the window, silently watching the two. "It's going to be hell on her when she wakes up," Bucky softly said.
"And we'll be there for both of them when she does." Natasha stood next to Bucky, keeping an eye on Clint and Mikayla. "Who better to help her through than people who've been there before?"
"But she didn't deserve it."
"Neither did any of us. You happened to fall off a train, I was born into it, and Clint was in the wrong place at the wrong time. We can't blame ourselves for things that are out of our control. We just have to learn to deal with it as best as we can, keeping in mind there are people to help you on the journey."
Bucky looked down at her. "How did you get so wise?"
"Life lessons, and I had a good teacher." Natasha smiled. They stood there for a while longer, keeping watch over their friends.
"Morning, Clint." Dr. Cho and Bruce found Clint asleep, slumped in the chair, hand on Mikayla's arm. Bruce leaned over to put a stethoscope on Mikayla's chest, causing Clint to stir.
Clint sat up and stretched. "Mornin'. She slept all night."
Bruce nodded. "What about you?"
"I got some."
"Good." "Her heart and lungs sound good." Bruce stood up.
"Her brain is continuing to be active," Dr. Cho added. Clint stepped back, giving Dr. Cho room to draw blood, returning to his chair once the doctor filled several vials with Mikayla's blood and took them to a machine. Several minutes later, Dr. Cho turned to Clint and Bruce. "Her blood count's down to normal levels. The antibiotics did their work. The infection's gone. Her output's increasing, so the nutrients are helping." She came back to Mikayla's bedside and changed the IV bag.
"Now she just needs to wake up," Clint mumbled. He looked down at his wife and noticed slight movement under her eyelids, like she was dreaming. "That's a change from last night."
"That's another good sign," Bruce said, standing on the other side of the bed. "It's showing her brain's engaged." Clint nodded.
By this time, the rest of the team had filtered into the waiting room. Steve knocked on the door, opened it, and stuck his head into the medical suite. "How is she? Any change?"
Clint rubbed his eyes. "Still asleep, the infection's gone, she has brain activity, still sleeping."
"You can come to see her, a few at a time," Bruce advised. "Don't want to overwhelm her when she wakes up." The team followed Bruce's instructions and cycled through to visit, only staying a few minutes to give others a chance.
"I can't be dead," Mikayla was saying to herself. "I'm in too much pain. Why can't I move my hands? Did they strap me to the chair again? God, I will never again complain about being in pain." Mikayla felt herself trying to close her eyes and grimace as pain shot through her head. "Where did everyone go? That must mean I'm not in that damned chair anymore. Clint? He's got to be here. That's why I'm free. He's rescued me. Where is he?"
Clint looked down and saw Mikayla moving her head back and forth. "Mikayla? Mikayla? Can you hear me? Bruce! Dr. Cho!" The two doctors immediately came over to Mikayla's bed and saw what Clint saw. Mikayla was slowly shaking her head back and forth. "She's not having a seizure, is she?"
"It doesn't look like it," Dr. Cho answered. "It looks like she's trying to come around."
Mikayla continued moving her head, and then slowly, her eyes fluttered open. "Clint?" She uttered his name in a hoarse, gravelly voice.
For the first time in months, Clint smiled. "Hey, babe. Welcome home."
Mikayla blinked her eyes. "Home? Really?"
Clint nodded. "Really."
"Help…pain."
"Where does it hurt, Mikayla?" Bruce asked.
"Head, hands."
"I hate to ask you this, Mikayla, but I need to. How much do you remember?"
"Chair, halo, shots, pain, questions, cell." Mikayla struggled to speak, pausing between each word. As she talked, Dr. Cho stood on the other side of the bed, injecting pain medicine into her IV.
"Do you know where you are?"
Mikayla paused, gathering strength. "Home, tower." Bruce had turned the speaker on in the waiting room so everyone could hear what was happening. "With Clint."
"And do you know who we are?" Bruce pointed to himself and Dr. Cho.
Mikayla bit her lip, then finally answered. "Bruce, and Doctor, Doctor." Tears filled her eyes. "Sorry."
Dr. Cho put a comforting hand on her shoulder. "It's okay, Mikayla. I'm Dr. Cho. We're glad you're back." Mikayla nodded, then closed her eyes, succumbing to the latest round of pain medicine.
Her not remembering me can be attributed to the Midazolam. She hasn't known me as long as you and Clint. Let the other team members filter in a few at once. Then if they're in here when she's awake, we'll find out who she remembers and who she doesn't."
"That's a good idea," Bruce said. "She'll probably be out for a while, so we'll let the team rotate in and out. I predict her memories will return as the Midazolam wears off and exits her system."
"Doc?" Clint asked. "Why did she remember what happened to her but not Doctor Cho?"
"I can't always explain with certainty exactly how or why the brain works the way it does, but if I were to guess, I would say her captors did some type of imprinting on her or some type of reinforcement to make sure she'd remember what was being done to her, and whatever they did hadn't affected her older memories. We'll know more as she sees more of the team and grows more alert."