Whumptober Day 4 – Trust Fall ("Do you trust me?"/taken hostage/pushed)

I'm sorry in advance.

Clint kept calm on the outside, but on the inside, he was raging. 'Just when I think my past is done with me, it comes back and kicks me in the ass,' he thought to himself. He didn't want to disturb Mikayla, so he kept his thoughts to himself. "How do you know?"

"I heard them. They thought I'd passed out." Mikayla inhaled sharply due to her injured ribs. "Revenge for killing Barney."

"I'm – "

Mikayla shook her head. "Don't, Clint. Not your fault. Barney…asshole…never you." Her shoulders began shaking, and Clint knew she was sobbing.

"Shhh, babe." Clint ran his fingers through her hair. "Get some rest."

"Love you." Mikayla moved closer to him, almost to the point of moving through him.

"I'll catch you when you fall. Every time." Clint held her until she surrendered to the pain meds and fell asleep. Thankfully, Bruce had added some of his special concoction to her meds, and she slept nightmare-free.

Dr. Cho and Bruce came in the following day, finding Clint sitting in the chair, keeping watch over Mikayla. "How'd she sleep?" Bruce asked.

"Undisturbed, thankfully," Clint replied. "Before you ask, I got some rest, too."

"I can tell," Bruce said. "The circles under your eyes aren't as dark as usual."

"Thanks, Doc."

Dr. Cho interjected, "We'd like to do some more x-rays of her fingers to make sure we set them right. If we did, she shouldn't have to have surgery."

Clint thought back to the previous night, remembering the shape Mikayla was in when she was found. "Good." He took a deep breath, scared of the answer he'd get. "I have to ask."

Bruce understood what Clint was going to ask. "No, no evidence of that."

Clint let out the breath he was holding. He knew what Barney's crew was capable of and how other crew members had previously injured her. "Thank goodness she won't have to relive that." Clint leaned over and kissed her cheek. "Time to wake up, gorgeous."

"Don't wanna. Hurts."

"What hurts, babe?" Clint stroked her cheek.

"Everything." Mikayla slowly turned onto her back. "Everything."

Dr. Cho stepped closer. "Morning, Mikayla. I'll give you some mild pain medicine. Are you hungry?" Mikayla shook her head. "OK, we'll keep the IV going. I need to do some more x-rays, make sure the bones were set properly." The doctor injected medicine into the IV. "Once the medicine takes effect, I'll do the x-rays."

"Go," Mikayla said softly, "update everyone, and take a shower."

Clint leaned over and kissed her. "Yes, ma'am." He stood up.

"Before you ask, I'll keep you updated."

"Thanks, Doc." Clint clasped Bruce's shoulder and left the room. "I'm glad you trust me, babe, cause I'm going to make this right," he said to himself as he took the elevator down to the common floor."

"Master Barton!" Thor exclaimed as soon as Clint stepped out of the elevator. "How is your fair mate this morning?"

"Sore." Clint looked, and everyone except Bruce, Tony, and Pepper were gathered around the island eating breakfast. Natasha shoved a plate his way as he sat on a stool. "Guess you've gotten the update."

"We have. Was she able to have a pleasant slumber despite her injuries?"

"Yeah, she was. I've been ordered to take a break and a shower."

"You do smell like a dumpster diver, Barton," Natasha said as she crunched a piece of bacon.

"Thanks, Romanoff," Clint said, stuffing a large bite of syrup-covered pancake in his mouth. Following it up with a gulp of milk, he asked, "How's the guy from the store?"

Steve answered. "He's conscious. I spoke to the police. He said six guys were hanging around. Looked like they were waiting for Mikayla."

"How in the hell would they know she would go there?" Clint asked. "I thought it was a last-minute decision." Steve and Natasha exchanged glances. "Well? Is anyone going to answer me?"

Natasha spoke up. "The mission? The ringleaders were Buck Chisholm and Jacques Duquesne."

"Trick Shot and Swordsman," Clint growled. "Mikayla told me."

"Should we know who they are?" Bucky asked.

"Assholes from my time with the circus." Clint tapped his fork against his plate as he thought. "Explains how they knew about the candy store."

"I don't understand," Thor said.

"I tend to associate lemon drops with good childhood memories. Mikayla knew that, but of course, so did Barney. He always made sure to have some around to give me after a bad time. I know he was in contact with those guys when Mikayla was kidnapped, so I'm sure he told them everything about me they didn't already know. Bastard never could keep his mouth shut, especially if he could get something for the information." He drummed his fingers on the granite island top. "Since they knew we were taking down a child trafficking ring, their child trafficking ring, they knew I'd get some lemon drops. The sons of bitches were waiting for one of us so that they could get revenge for Barney's death." Clint steeled his face, then looked at his teammates. "This means war, and I'm going to end it." Clint tossed his napkin on his plate and stormed off down the hall.

"That went about as well as I thought it would," Natasha said after hearing the ding of the elevator.

"How do we end it?" Bucky asked.

"We don't," she replied. "He will. Clint hates bringing his past life into his present. He knows we've already helped take down his brother. He'll be too proud to ask for help revenging Mikayla's attack."

"Tough," Steve said. "We're a team, more than that. We're family. Nobody hurts one of us and gets away with it."

"Correctamundo, El Capitan," Tony came out of his lab and into the kitchen. "Here's how we avenge her." He held up a piece of paper. "Here's where we find the lowlifes."

"Boss?" The AI spoke up. "Agent Barton is headed to the parking garage."

"Damn it, Clint!" Natasha pushed away from the island. The rest of the group followed suit.

Everyone met back in the common area, weapons in hand, waiting to hear the plan. "I know we all want to go," Steve said.

"That is correct, Captain. I do not think you shall be able to stop us."

"I'm not planning to, Thor. Stark, where are they at?"

Tony read off the address, an abandoned warehouse across the river in New Jersey.

"Boss, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but Agent Barton's tracker has been disabled."

"Friday, that's not a problem. We have the address."

"I took the liberty of accessing cameras around the area. No one is there."

"Stark," Natasha growled at him.

"Hey," Tony said, his hands held up in a surrender pose and backing away from her. "We'll find him."

"Speaking of cameras, boss."

"Don't tell me."

"The cameras in the parking garage have been blacked out."

Tony put his head in his hand. "What the hell is going on around here?" Suddenly, the power went out. "Friday, start the backup power system." There was no reply. "Friday?" His phone rang. "What?"

"Say goodbye to your Hawkeyes," the voice at the other end of the phone said. "We've got her, no doubt we'll get him, and you'll never see them again."

"How in the hell?"

"We have our ways. So long, Stark. Oh, be sure to check your stairwell." The call disconnected.

Steve and Bucky went to the stairwell, threw open the door, and split up, with Bucky heading up and Steve heading in the opposite direction. Several minutes later, Steve appeared from the stairwell supporting a weakened Bruce Banner. "They tased him before he could turn," Steve said, taking Bruce to the living room and sitting him down on a couch.

Tony's phone rang. "Talk to me."

"Dr. Cho's been shot. Mikayla's gone. IV's been ripped out of her arm."

(STILL TO BE CONTINUED)