It's October, so you know what that means - WHUMPTOBER! We once again visit my characters from Finders Keepers. As a reminder, these stories may not appear in the main story, or they might!

October 1st prompts: "You have to let go"/barbed wire/bound"

"Let me get this straight, Steve." Mikayla was trying and failing to tamp down her temper as she walked around the common area in the tower, fists clenching to the point of drawing blood. "Patrols have been sent out, searched the area you THINK he might be in, and you still can't locate Clint? What the hell?"

Steve put his determined but compassionate face on and stepped in front of her. "Mikayla, we're doing everything we can. We found his last transmission, determined how far he could've traveled, and started there."

"And look where that's gotten us – absolutely nowhere!" Her voice grew louder with each word. "This was a simple grab intel and go mission. So simple, everyone insisted he didn't need any backup. That was three freaking months ago, and there's no trace of him! Damn it, Steve! You do realize we're supposed to be meeting with were supposed to meet with the agency last month to finalize adopting Phillip and Katherine. Their rooms are already decorated. Hell, Tony's already built them little suits and upgraded Phillip's hearing aids." Mikayla went to punch the closest object, which happened to be the vibranium shield. Thankfully, Steve caught her arm in time. "No, Steve, I need to get this out."

"You're right, Mikayla. You are going to have to let go."

"Steven Grant Rogers, I'll be damned if I'm going to let go of this dream." Tears began streaming down her reddened face. "Cancer took away my ability to have children naturally. This is our only shot." Still feeling like she needed to hit something, she broke free from Steve's hold and punched him in the jaw. "Now, get the hell away from me." She stormed off down the hall, leaving Steve rubbing his jaw, knowing any damage would be healed by the end of the day.

"Guessing that didn't go well," Bucky appeared, having just left the gym after his morning workout.

"I knew it wouldn't," Steve said, rubbing his chin and jaw. "I don't know what else to do. Nat's on assignment, Thor's back on Asgard, Sam's on his honeymoon, Tony and Bruce can't find anything, and you and I have searched everywhere."

"Captain," Friday broke in, "Mikayla is on her way to the Quinjet."

"Oh, hell, no," Bucky groaned as he and Steve ran toward the hangar. "Why do birdbrains have to come up with harebrained ideas?"

As the ramp to the jet was lifting, the two super soldiers leaped onto it, joining Mikayla. "Mikayla, what the hell are you doing?"

"What you couldn't, finding my husband! I couldn't search before, thanks to the stupid leg injury after our last mission, so now that I've been medically cleared, I'm going." As the jet lifted in the air, Mikayla plugged in the coordinates. "Friday? Take over."

"As you wish, Mikayla."

Mikayla exited the cockpit and joined Steve and Bucky in the back of the plane. "Do you have a plan? You don't have a plan, do you?" Bucky asked. "Of course, you don't. When does a Barton ever have a plan?"

"Shut up, Barnes. I plan to look where you two bozos couldn't. I'm going to use my womanly wiles to get into places. , understand this – I will do whatever it takes to get my husband back. Got it?" They nodded. "Now," she pulled out several maps, "here is where his last contact was made from, and here's where the traffickers' base of operations was located. Friday's been monitoring the area, and there's not been any activity in or out of the area, so I think it's safe to assume he's still here." The two men nodded.

"We're about to land. I've initiated the cloaking procedure."

"Thanks, Friday," Mikayla said. "Now, I know the first clue was a note left at the museum."

"Why would anyone choose a barbed wire museum to leave a note at?" Steve asked.

"First off, do we know why the stupid evil people do the stupid evil things they do? My guess, it's in the middle of nowhere, so no witnesses. Our intel said that they would bring the women here, transform them into Barbie doll wannabes, and then traffic them to Eastern Europe. Fury had gotten a report from a former SHIELD agent who'd been taken and had managed to escape." Mikayla failed to mention the agent was Clint's ex-girlfriend, Bobbi Morse. "I figured I'd snoop around, see what I could find. I'm not sure what you two are going to do since I hadn't planned on having any stowaways." The plane landed and released the ramp. "Now, I'm going to go change and then do some reconnaissance." She grabbed some clothes out of her locker and stormed to the changing area.

"So, Cap, what's your plan?" Bucky asked, going over his weapons and making sure he had enough ammo to take down a small country.

"Well, guess we can discreetly follow Mikayla, jump in when she needs us."

"That's if I need you, Cap," Mikayla smarted off.

"Whoa, don't think I've ever seen that outfit before," Steve exclaimed as Bucky held back a wolf whistle. Mikayla was wearing a button-down checkered blouse with the first few buttons undone, showing most of her cleavage and a pair of what could best be described as Daisy Duke shorts. "You have weapons, right?"

"Please," Mikayla scoffed. "Nat trained me, what do you think? It's an old Halloween costume. Misty and I one year went as Daisy Duke twins. I hate the outfit, but this is the type of girl they're looking for. Much less to have to operate on, you know. As I said, I will do whatever I need to do to find Clint."

Bucky thought her determined face could match Steve's any day. "We'll tail you and be there when you find him." Mikayla didn't say anything as she went to another area of the jet and brought the motorcycle out. She tapped on her ear, letting them know she was wearing her comms, then sped off toward the town. "Guess we'd better get going, then." Steve nodded, decided to leave his shield behind, and the two headed off.

While driving into town, Mikayla focused on what she would do if this had been her assignment. She, of course, would've handled it differently being a female. Clint would've been easy to spot sniffing around, no matter how good of a spy he was. The bad guys were less likely to suspect a woman, especially one that was their type. Mikayla had memorized the map so knew the coordinates; that's where she started her search. She parked the bike in a group of bushes and walked around looking for clues. Seeing something out of the corner of her eye, she knelt and picked up a small piece of material, recognizing it as part of a fletching from their arrows. Mikayla scanned the area, spotting another one a few steps away. "He's leaving a trail," she muttered under her breath. Finding one after another, after another, she followed the trail to a cave, hidden in a bluff. "Found a cave," she whispered where only Steve and Bucky could hear. She reached for her compact bow and quiver she kept on the cycle and entered the cave. 'It's like the TARDIS. Much, much bigger on the inside,' she thought to herself. While waiting for the two guys to appear, she looked around, noticing the cave split off into several small paths, heading deeper into the bluff.

"Anything?" Steve whispered as he and Bucky entered the cave. Mikayla showed them the fletchings she'd found. "What's the plan?" Mikayla pointed to each of them, then pointed to a path. They each nodded and followed her lead, traveling down the paths she'd assigned to them. Going further into her portion of the cave, she began hearing murmuring ahead of her, so she stayed close to the cave walls.

"What are we supposed to do with him? The clients didn't ask for guys."

"I'll bet there's still a market for him somewhere."

"Dude, we've had him here for two months now, waiting for instructions. I say we kill him and leave him here." The henchman pulled out a gun. Mikayla heard the hammer cock, and that was her cue. She drew the bow back, took a quick breath, then let the arrow fly. It struck the gun, knocking it out of the guy's hand.

"What the hell?" The other guy said.

"Mikayla," Clint mumbled, trying to smile, but it took too much effort.

Another arrow flew through the shooter's hand. He swore and grabbed it with his other hand. "Shit!" Before the other man could draw a weapon, he was struck by an arrow in the shoulder, knocking him to the ground.

"Got 'em," Mikayla said in her comms. "Clint's here. He'll need medical." She quickly collapsed her bow and ran over to him. "Clint? RH? Can you hear me?" Clint was lying on the ground, hands, and feet tightly bound. He looked gaunt, almost to the point of malnourishment. His face was bruised; Mikayla ventured to guess his body was peppered with old and new bruises.

"Sharky?" He weakly mumbled.

"I'm here. I've got you." Mikayla untied the bottom of her shirt, using it to wipe dried blood off his face. "Steve and Bucky are on their way."

"Almost there, Mikayla," Steve announced over the comms.

"Injuries? And don't lie to me, Clinton Hawkeye Barton."

"Aw, all three names." Clint sighed, gathering strength and air to reply. "Broken kneecap, broken wrist, burns, ribs probably." He gasped in pain between each word.

Mikayla's worry increased. She was afraid he had a punctured lung by the sound of his sketchy breathing. "I've got you. We'll get you back to the tower. Dr. Cho will take care of you."

Clint lifted a hand and placed it on her cheek. "Rather…you."

Mikayla leaned into the touch. She'd been so worried she'd never see him again, so she was going to enjoy every moment possible with Clint. "Sorry, no medical degree. I'll let the experts handle it." Mikayla tried to will her teammates to get there faster.

"Hey," Steve knelt next to her. "It's good to see you."

"Mission…completed, Cap." Clint pointed to a pocket on his vest and pulled out a thumb drive. "Never…miss." He passed out, hand still on Mikayla's cheek. Steve picked him up bridal style, carrying his teammate back to the Quinjet. Bucky followed, with Mikayla staying behind until the local authorities showed up to collect the bad guys. Once they were picked up, she called Fury to let him know how to reach them, then told him she'd get the data to him when she got back to the tower. Hopping on the bike, she sped back to the Quinjet, and then they took off back to the tower.

Once arriving at the tower, Clint was rushed into the medical wing. Mikayla had learned to compartmentalize by that point, so she kept busy compiling Fury's report and sending it to Hill and him. She knew they'd update her as soon as Clint was out of surgery, so she went up to their suite and grabbed a quick shower. While in the shower, she sank to the ground and sobbed, releasing pent-up stress, thankful to have her partner back. Other than her kidnapping, this had been the longest they'd been apart. After the shower, she quickly dried off and put on a shirt and sweats. "Mikayla?" Friday spoke. "Agent Barton is out of surgery."

She breathed a sigh of relief. "Thanks, Friday. I'll be right there." Mikayla put her hair in a ponytail and took the waiting elevator down to the medical wing. Exiting the elevator, she saw Steve and Bucky next to Clint's bed. "How is he?"

"Nowhere near as bad as they thought," Steve answered. "The breaks were clean, so he'll be OK after recovery and physical therapy. Thankfully, the ribs were just bruised, so no punctured lung." Mikayla sat in a chair next to Clint's bed and picked up his uninjured hand, cradling it in hers. Steve leaned down. "We're going to get cleaned up and give the team an update." She nodded as Steve kissed the top of her head. Before Bucky left, he silently squeezed her shoulder. Mikayla nodded as he followed Steve out the door.

A few hours later, Clint stirred. "Hey." Mikayla stroked his cheek. "You're back home. They gave you the good drugs."

"Home?" Mikayla nodded. "Really?"

"Really. It's not a dream."

Clint blinked several times, focusing his eyes. "Aw, crying no."

Mikayla smiled. "Tears of joy, birdbrain. Glad you're back."

"Me, too." Clint fell back asleep as Mikayla stayed by his side.

Several days later, Clint was sitting up and eating, itching, of course, to get out of bed. Mikayla had threatened him the only way she knew how. "If you try to escape, I won't wear the Daisy Duke outfit again."

"Aw, Daisy Dukes, no."