3 – Sticks and Stones May Break My Bones But… (taunting/insults/"Who Did This to You?")

"The broken bones will heal before the broken soul and spirit." Clint lost track of how many times he'd heard that from counselors growing up. Each time he was taken to the hospital with another injury inflicted by his bastard of a father, the staff would refer him (translation – force him) to attend counseling sessions. Unfortunately, they never forced the abuser to participate; if they did, Clint never knew it. He'd gotten used to having the crap beat out of him at home and school. It wasn't his fault his brain didn't work right; not learning until much later, he should have been diagnosed with dyslexia. He was often labeled "stupid" and thrown into the remedial classes, leading to more taunting and insults. Once he hit junior high, he found a respite in math. He found he could quickly calculate complex formulas, so he threw himself into math classes. Unfortunately, life kicked him in the ass again when he and Barney escaped their home life and joined the circus. Looking back, he'd just traded one hell for another.

What caused him to be in this maudlin state? The team had just returned from breaking up an international child trafficking ring. No one on the team was unaffected. Tony and Bruce had retreated to their workshop, with Tony carrying several bottles of expensive alcohol. Thor had taken off to Jane and Darcy's apartment. Steve had left to go to a local hospital to visit the sick kids. Natasha and Bucky were sparring in the gym. The only one missing was Mikayla. In the flurry of everyone loading back onto the Quinjet, he didn't remember seeing Mikayla. He'd been thrown into piloting duty, so he wasn't in his usual spot in the back of the jet. Clint assumed she'd been injured with Natasha and was in medical. "Some husband I am, not even bothering to check. Damn it! I need to get out of my head." Clint hurried up to the medical wing. "Dr. Cho?"

"Agent Barton? How can I help?"

"Anyone report in after the mission?"

"No. It's been quiet up here."

"OK, thanks."

"Sorry I couldn't be of more help." She turned back around to face a medical cabinet.

Clint pulled out his phone and called Mikayla. "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."

"Have you been able to track where the other Agent Barton is?"

"No, sir. Shall I send you what the hangar camera shows?"

"Please." His phone pinged; he leaned on the kitchen counter. He witnessed Mikayla coming down the ramp after everyone else had already gone inside. She looked around, started talking to herself, then walked away from the tower. "Any sound, Friday?"

"No, sir. Boss has elected not to record sound due to sensitive information possibly being talked about."

"Damn," Clint groaned. "Do me a favor. Run facial recognition in the area, please?"

"Of course." After several moments, he heard Friday again. "Sending what I could find to your phone."

"I owe you, Friday."

"I think we're even, Agent Barton."

"Friday?" Clint nodded, then returned to staring at his phone, watching the cameras. He spotted Mikayla walking down the sidewalk among the crowds of people. She walked through the doors of a candy store. Clint watched for an hour and never saw her come back out.

"I've checked the shop, Agent Barton. There are no inside cameras."

Clint knew what he had to do. "Patch me into the gym, please?"

"Of course."

"Guys, I need your help now."

"What's up, Barton?" Natasha asked, out of breath from the sparring session.

"Mikayla's missing. Meet me out front,, and I'll fill you in." Shortly, the three of them met at the front door of the tower. "I realized she wasn't with us, couldn't get a response from her phone, so he had Friday check cameras. Found this." Clint pulled out his phone and showed them the footage. "Thought I'd bring along reinforcements to find out what the hell is going on."

"Let's go," Bucky said sharply.

The murder trio hurriedly but with purpose went to the candy store. Clint let the other two go inside while he went around back. As soon as he reached the alley behind the store, he noticed a heavy, bright red trail of blood along the ground. Suddenly, the metal back door flew open, and Natasha and Bucky ran out. "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. Someone put up a fight."

"Guessing Mikayla." Clint pointed to the blood on the ground. The trio kept following the blood trail until they came to a dumpster. Bucky ripped the lid off,, and they peered inside, finding Mikayla and who they guessed was the store employee, limbs tightly bound to their bodies and plastic bags fastened tightly over their heads. The trio leaped in and ripped the bags from their heads. Clint immediately put his fingers to Mikayla's neck, then released a sigh. "It's faint, but there's a pulse."

"Same here," Natasha said after checking the worker's pulse.

Bucky jumped out of the dumpster, waiting to be handed one of the injured people. Clint climbed out, refusing to let go of Mikayla, so Bucky helped Clint lift Mikayla out of the dumpster, then helped Natasha with the employee's body. As his teammates checked out the employee, Clint examined Mikayla. Before leaving the Quinjet, she'd changed from her suit to a simple t-shirt and pants, both of which had been shredded from her. Her undergarments had also been slashed. 'Not again, babe. It took you so long to recover from the last assault. Who did this to you? Whoever it was, I'll personally find them and make them regret every breath they ever took.' He found several deep knife wounds that were still bleeding, so he ripped off his shirt, using it for makeshift bandages. "No, not your hands, babe." Bucky and Natasha looked over and saw 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 lots of deep knife wounds and bruises. Friday? Can you get an ambulance here, please? And let Tony know?"

"At once, Agent Barton."

Shortly, ambulance sirens could be heard 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 Thor, who flew her back to the tower.

"What the hell?" Tony asked, flipping up his faceguard. Clint filled him in with what he knew. "Any idea why she came here?"

Clint and Natasha exchanged glances. She knew how much he hated talking about his past or exposing any weaknesses, even to his teammates. "Lemon drops."

The ambulance arrived, loaded the man onto a stretcher, then took him away. "Lemon drops?" Tony asked.

Clint sighed. "Cases with kids are tough. She knows lemon drops help calm me down afterward. One of the few good memories of my childhood."

"Vicks Vapor Rub for me," Tony said. "That's my favorite childhood memory. Whenever I'd get a bad cold, my mom would rub it on my chest." He put a comforting hand on Clint's shoulder. "Whatever it takes, buddy." 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 track the bastards down," Natasha said. Bucky nodded, careful not to show any emotion. Even though he felt like he wanted to punch a hole in something but chose to focus on finding evidence that could help track down the bastards.

Back at the tower, Tony forced Clint to his room. "At least put on a damn shirt, Barton."

Grumbling, Clint grabbed a grey t-shirt with a circular target on the front and hurried to the medical wing, where the entire team, except for Sam and Misty,, who were on their honeymoon, had materialized. "What'd I miss?"

"She's been stitched up,, and her fingers reset and splinted," Steve answered, putting his hand on Clint's shoulder. "She's still sleeping."

"Is that all?" Other than her broken fingers, all Clint could remember was the blood that seemed to gush from Mikayla's frail,, broken body.

"Bruised ribs, dislocated knees, and a probable concussion," Natasha added.

"Who?"

Bucky shook his head. "Don't know yet. Didn't find anything at the scene. Sorry."

Dr. Cho looked up, saw the group, then motioned for Clint, who stepped through the sliding door. "Agent Barton, we've sewed up the gashes and splinted her fingers. The ribs will be sore, and she'll need to take it easy until her knees heal. She's sleeping right now, so we won't know the extent of the concussion until then."

"Thanks, Dr. Cho."

She nodded. "Dr. Banner helped, of course. He'll be back shortly. He had to, uh, escape for a moment."

Clint nodded, understanding what she meant. Bruce had retreated to the Hulk room to let out his rage. Clint sat in the chair next to Mikayla's bed and put his hand on her arm. He avoided her hands so as not to disturb her fingers. "You've got this, Mikayla. We've been through so much. This is nothing. I swear to you, we will find out who did this to you, and they will pay."

Clint 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, trying to keep his mind occupied until Mikayla woke up. Sometime early the following day, as Clint was drifting off, he heard mumbling. He shook his head to wake himself up and focused. "Mikayla?"

"Hey."

"You're back." Clint pushed her bangs off her forehead and kissed it.

"I'm so tired, Clint."

"It's the good drugs."

Mikayla grimaced. "Damage."

"Knife wounds, bruised ribs, injured kneecaps."

"And?" Clint didn't want to mention the most serious of the injuries. "Clint?" Mikayla whined to the point of pleading.

"Broken fingers."

"How many? A couple?"

Clint took a deep breath, then slowly released it, and 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."

"Don't lie. It's all of them." Clint looked,, and tears were running down Mikayla's face. "How?"

Clint wiped the tears away with his thumbs. "Above my pay grade, babe. All I know is Tony will move hell and earth to get you healed." Clint stared at her until she nodded. "Feel like talking?"

"Not really, just hold me."

"Don't have to ask." Mikayla slowly moved over in the bed to make room for Clint. "Is this OK?"

"Yeah," Mikayla sniffed. They were both quiet for several moments. Clint thought Mikayla was asleep until she spoke. "Clint?"

"Yeah, babe?"

"I know who it is."

"Who did this to you?" She nodded. "Who?"

"Swordsman and Trick Shot."

(TO BE CONTINUED)