Whumptober Day 9

Rumors of My Death Have Been Greatly Exaggerated

Prompts: presumed dead/(blind) rage/tears

The conclusion (hopefully) to the HYDRA arc (which, truthfully, wasn't planned in the first place!) Thanks for your patience, and I hope you enjoy it!

September 28th, which should've been a day of celebration, was otherwise marked by grim faces and an eerie, unsettled quiet throughout the tower. Mikayla holed up in her room and refused to come out, ordering Friday to keep everyone away. It had been six months since Clint and Bucky had taken out Jacques Duquesne and Buck Chisholm, also known as Trick Shot and Swordsman. After weeks of searching, one of Natasha's old contacts came through, having discovered activity deep in the countryside of Uzbekistan. It appeared the duo that tortured Mikayla as payback for killing Clint's brother Barney had fully ingratiated themselves with a group of former SHIELD, now HYDRA, associates.

"If you're lost, you can look," Clint whispered in Mikayla's ear.

"You will find me," Mikayla whispered in response. "Come back to me."

"Will do." Clint leaned over and kissed her. "I love you, Mikayla O'Hara Coulson Fitzgerald Barton. Now, get some rest."

"I love you, too, Clinton Hawkeye Barton." They kissed again, then Mikayla turned and watched Clint walk out the door, sending up a prayer that he'd safely return.

Tasha?" Clint stopped her in the hall, grabbing a chance to talk to her. "If anything happens, take care of her for me."

"Clint – "

"Please," he begged. "I know she'll be in good hands. Between you and Misty, make sure she keeps up with her therapy." Clint looked at Natasha with pleading eyes.

Natasha put a hand on his cheek. "I will." She kissed his cheek. "You'll be back before you know it." He nodded, squeezed her hand, then ran to meet Bucky at the Quinjet. "Hey!" The two men turned around. "Keep an eye on each other." They waved, then boarded the jet. Once the plane disappeared, Natasha turned around to see Steve standing in the doorway. She walked over and, in a moment of vulnerability, wrapped her arms around his waist. "I've got a bad feeling, Steve. I don't see this ending well."

"We'll be here for her and them, whatever happens." Steve kissed the top of her head. "Come on, let's get dinner started."

After the first month, no one was too worried. Natasha knew Clint had been deep undercover for longer than that before. The team had confidence in the two men. They had proven to work well together, their skills complementing each other. Bucky had told Steve it reminded him of working with the Howling Commandos back in the day. That's how much trust he'd placed in his 'brainwashed bro,' as Clint affectionately nicknamed him. Clint had told Mikayla there's no one else he'd trust to watch his six if Natasha wasn't around.

Each month that went by, however, the teams' hopes diminished a little. Mikayla was putting all her attention on her therapy, usually overdoing it so much she had to be dragged away. Friday was constantly alerting someone when she'd worked herself in the gym to the point of collapse. At one point, Tony had Friday lock the doors so Mikayla couldn't get in the gym, but she began going to Central Park and jogging until she was exhausted, so Tony caved and agreed to keep the gym unlocked.

Everyone knew why Mikayla was taking September 28th so hard. It was the first anniversary of her marriage to Clint, and he wasn't there to celebrate. No one had heard from the duo in six months. After four months, Mikayla had started crying herself to sleep, then got to the point she couldn't – or wouldn't – sleep. She could usually be found in the common area or the hangar, staring up at the sky, almost willing the Quinjet to appear, but it never worked.

On September 28th, Mikayla woke up and refused to leave her room, no matter how hard people begged her to make an appearance. She wouldn't even respond to Misty. "I've never seen her this bad off, not even after she broke up with Tim," Misty said to Sam. "I don't know how to help her. I'm afraid she's lost all hope that he's still alive." Sam didn't want to mention that Fury had told the team the duo was at this point presumed to be dead.

"Friday? Can you turn on the cameras in Barton's room, please?" Tony asked.

"Sorry, boss," the AI sounded genuinely remorseful, "Agent Mikayla has asked that no one disturb her. I can tell you her vitals are stable, and she appears to be sleeping."

"I can't believe my own AI won't take orders from me," Tony muttered, then had an idea. "Friday? Would you tell her Morgan wants to see her Aunt Micki?"

"I'm not sure Morgan is old enough to speak complete sentences yet, boss." Natasha snickered at the sassy AI.

Tony huffed. "Fine, tell her Pepper wants her to visit her Aunt Micki."

"One moment, please."

Soon, the ding of the elevator door opened, and Mikayla appeared. "Fine, Tony, I get it." The team looked up when hearing Mikayla's voice. She looked as sad as anyone had seen her. Her eyes were red and puffy from crying, and her skin seemed to hang off her as if she hadn't eaten the entire time Clint had been gone. "I'll be up in the nursery."

"No need," Pepper spoke up, carrying a sleeping Morgan with her. "I figured she'd be a calming influence since she's not a whirling dervish at the moment." Pepper handed her daughter over to Mikayla. "She's always happy to see her Aunt Micki."

Mikayla sniffed, forcing a grin. "How's my goddaughter today?" She took Morgan and sat down in a large recliner, avoiding the loveseat she always shared with Clint.

"Sleeping through the night, finally," Pepper replied, sitting on the end of the couch closest to Mikayla. Tony came and leaned over the back of the recliner, the best vantage point to keep an eye on Mikayla and fawn over his daughter at the same time.

'That makes one of us,' Mikayla thought to herself. Morgan woke up, stretching out her little body. When she saw Mikayla, she grinned and started babbling, causing Mikayla to smile a little more. "Hey, little sprout." Morgan's grabby hands reached up, wrapping her fingers around Mikayla's index fingers. "I'm proud of you for letting Mommy and Daddy sleep. Lord knows Tony needs all the help he can get."

"Hey, now," Tony said, ruffling Mikayla's hair, causing his daughter to giggle. The rest of the team was happy to see Mikayla at least attempting to socialize.

Mikayla's phone buzzed. Handing Morgan to Pepper, she pulled her phone out. "Tony!" She screamed, giving the phone to him. "Trace the call, now!"

Tony looked down at the display. "Sauerkraut?"

"It's our safe word. I was supposed to text Misty the night I met Clint in case I needed a way out. It's the word I sent him when Barney's guys took me over Thanksgiving."

"On it." Tony spun around and went to his lab, returning a few moments later. "It was sent from Berlin."

"Where it all started," Steve said.

Mikayla leaped out of the chair. "What are we waiting for? Let's go!"

"Whoa, wait a minute, Mikayla. Tony, do we have a specific location?" Steve asked.

"Text came from an area around an abandoned airport." Tony looked over at Steve. "How do you want to handle it?"

"Reach out to Sam. The two of you can do air reconnaissance. See if you can reach Thor. He can help with that, too. The rest of us will wait until we hear from you, then we'll split up, grab Clint and Bucky, then take the bastards out. Grab anything you need, wheels up in ten."

Eight minutes later, the team loaded onto the plane and buckled in for the flight over, leaving Steve and Natasha to fly the jet. Tony had contacted Thor, who said he would meet them there, scouting out the area in advance. Upon landing, Thor solemnly greeted them as the group exited down the ramp, approaching Mikayla and wrapping his arms around her. "I vow that we will get your hawk and the sergeant and bring them home." Mikayla nodded, afraid to say anything that might give away how terrified she was that she might not ever see Clint again. Thor squeezed her tighter, hearing her quiet sobs. "Let it out, my friend. It will all be over soon. Once we return from viewing the site from on high, I will not leave your side."

"Thanks," Mikayla's voice squeaked, the only word she could make herself say. Thor kissed the top of her head, then joined Tony and Sam in the air. Mikayla met Steve, Natasha, and Bruce, who were standing off to the side. Cap's shield was fastened on his back, Natasha was checking her various knives, and Bruce was standing to the side, glancing over at Mikayla, who was gripping her bow so tightly with any more force she'd snap it in half.

"Breathe and focus, Mikayla," Bruce told her in his soft yet firm voice.

"Working on it." Mikayla closed her eyes, thinking about the last time she'd seen Clint and about how they'd planned to celebrate their anniversary. If she were to guess, it would've been something low-key, probably at the Bed-Stuy apartment, away from the tower, or at least somewhere that it was only the two of them. At this point, she didn't care how they spent it; she just wanted her Hawkeye back.

Before she worked herself into a blind rage, thinking about what HYDRA and their enemies had taken from them, the trio returned and was sharing their birds' eye view of the area. "There's an anomaly on the other side of the parking garage," Tony was saying. "Appears to be the entrance to an underground facility. Wilson and I caught two heat signatures northwest of here. What's our play, Cap?"

"We'll split into teams. Tony and Sam, stay in the air, be our eyes. Thor and Mikayla go in first. Let us know what you find. Nat and I will come in behind you." He looked around at the group as he laid out the plan. "Be prepared for anything, but let's hope we're pleasantly surprised, and it's only Clint and Bucky."

Tony and Sam nodded, then went back into the air. Thor led Mikayla in the direction of what was believed to be the bunker entrance. They found only one way to go upon entering, so they followed the hallway and all its twists and turns. "It's not like any HYDRA site I've seen," Steve said into the comms, "usually, there are several entrances and dead ends."

"It's a downgrade, which is good for us," Nat replied.

After about twenty minutes underground, Mikayla spotted a sliver of light coming from somewhere on their right. She pulled an arrow out of her quiver and nocked it, nodding to Thor, who nodded back. When the pair got closer to the light, Mikayla let out a sharp whistle. "A bobwhite," she whispered to Thor in response to the questioning look he gave her. After a few moments, a similar whistle came from the room. Thor opened the door. Mikayla forced her way by him to enter the room first. "Got 'em!" She jammed the arrow back into the quiver and looped the bow around her. They couldn't believe the figures in front of them. Clint was curled up next to Bucky, who had wrapped his right arm around Clint's shoulders. Unfortunately, the metal arm was in his lap, no longer attached. Mikayla knelt next to Clint. "Hey," she said, lifting his head. He started gesturing with his hands. It took her a minute to realize he was signing. 'What happened?'

'Sonic arrow.'

'Injuries?'

'Body hurts like hell. Bucky sewed up all the cuts.'

While Clint and Mikayla were talking, the other three were getting the story from Bucky. Shortly after arriving in Uzbekistan, the two men located the HYDRA base and Duquesne and Chisholm. A fight broke out between the four. Unfortunately, HYDRA goons captured Clint, and when Bucky was fighting back, they used some electrical device to short out his arm. Clint was beaten and thrown into a cell. Some men tried to trigger the Winter Soldier, but upon discovering they couldn't, they used a machine to tear his arm from his shoulder. Thankfully, the serum stopped any additional damage to his body, but he was forced to sit back and watch His former circus buddies torture clint. Once he had passed out from his injuries, the two were taken to another base in case the Avengers had traced them to the base. They were moved every few weeks when the group would get paranoid. Eventually, Trickshot and Swordsman decided to torture Clint wasn't fun anymore, so they left him alone, thinking he would die on them. Once Clint had healed enough to fight, the two of them broke free from their captors. Clint then used a sonic arrow to blow up the bunker, killing his tormentors. Unfortunately, when he released a second arrow, it went off sooner than expected, damaging his eardrums and causing his hearing loss. The two trekked their way across Europe, dismantling suspected HYDRA bases along the way, ending up in Berlin, as Bucky vaguely remembered being at the bunker at some point. Once they were safe, Bucky acquired a phone and had Clint send the text.

Bucky was finishing the story as Tony and Sam entered the room. Everyone looked over to see Clint and Mikayla holding on to each other, refusing to let go. "How is he?" Tony asked.

Mikayla looked up. "The best damn anniversary present I could get." Her eyes were glistening, and she blinked, trying to hold back the tears. "Not what you're asking, I know." She sighed, then gestured to Clint, who nodded. She bit her lip before speaking, taking a breath to gather up her courage. "He's deaf, Tony. When he shot a sonic arrow to blow up the bunker and the bad guys, it went off sooner than expected, exploding next to his ear. He had a concussion but recovered from it. The rest of his injuries have healed, though. Tony?"

Tony knew what she was going to say. "I'll get the best doctors on it, guaranteed." Clint was able to read Tony's lips, so he responded by signing 'thank you.' "Let's go home."