Whumptober Day 29

All Work and No Play

Prompts: "You're still not dead?"/too weak to move/overworked

Another one started one way but then veered in a completely different direction, albeit much lighter than what I'd initially planned. Two more Whumptober days, then back to the main story! Thanks for sticking with me!

"Babe?" Clint called Mikayla on his way back from the restaurant. "I should be home in five, ten minutes, tops."

"Did you get my favorite?" Mikayla asked.

"Of course. Chicken shawarma, Greek salad, hummus, and pita bread."

"Yummy. I just got back from the final fitting, so I should be good. Two weeks, then I can finally answer to Mikayla Barton."

"And two weeks until the honeymoon," Clint smiled as he thought about it.

"You're still not going to tell me where we're going, are you?"

"Nope, you'll have to wait."

Mikayla sighed. "Fine, it better be somewhere good."

"Believe me. It will be. OK, traffic's picking up, so I'll see you in a few. Love you."

"Love you, too, Clint." Mikayla put the phone back down after disconnecting the call. Going into her bedroom, she changed into a SHIELD t-shirt (one of Clint's, of course) and a pair of sweatpants, then tidied up while waiting for Clint to get home with their lunch. Fifteen minutes went by, and Clint still hadn't appeared. Mikayla picked up her phone and called, but it went straight to voice mail. After another fifteen, she knew she needed help. "Friday? Can you try and locate Agent Barton for me? He walked over to Shawarma and Company."

"Of course, Agent Fitzgerald." After a moment, Friday gave an update. "I'm sorry, but he's no longer on any camera feeds, and his phone has been disabled. I've alerted Boss."

"Tell him I'm on my way down, please." Without waiting for a response, Mikayla rushed down to Tony's workshop.

The doors whooshed open, and Mikayla flew into Tony's refuge. "I'm already on it, Maid Marian." Mikayla collapsed onto a bench. "Talk to me, Fitzgerald." Tony turned around and focused his attention on her.

"Clint went to pick up lunch. On his way back, he called me, said he'd be home in ten minutes. That was over thirty minutes ago."

Tony ran a hand through his hair, making it stick up more than usual after one of his work binges. "Clench up, Katniss. We'll fly over and see what we can find." One of his suits flew out of the wall toward him. Once it enveloped him. Mikayla followed him out to the ledge. Tony grabbed her, reminding her to hold on tight, then they flew to Clint's last known location. When they arrived, Tony set Mikayla down, and she headed toward where they last saw Clint on camera. "I don't need to tell you. Keep an eye out."

Mikayla nodded, waving him off as she searched the area. She saw a sack holding to-go boxes down an alleyway. "Tony? Found something. Mikayla walked over and peeked inside. "That's ours." She pointed to Clint's name written on one of the lids.

"I found something, too." Mikayla turned toward Tony's voice, finding him kneeling at the curb, pointing to a tire track and what appeared to be a fresh oil puddle.

"What can you tell from that?"

"Oh, ye of little faith, my dear. Looking at the tire pattern and testing the oil, he shared his findings with Mikayla, describing the size of the vehicle based on the tire tracks and the type of motor based on the oil.

"Crap! Can't these people stay dead?"

"Who?" Tony looked up at Mikayla.

Mikayla sighed. "Clint calls them the Tracksuit Mafia. They owned the apartment building in Bed-Stuy before he did. They show up every so often, trying to take it back. Clint thought he'd gotten rid of them all the last go-round, but apparently, he hasn't."

"How do you know it's them?"

"From the description of the wheelbase, it could be Clint's Dodge Charger."

"See, this is why everyone needs to live at the tower full time. It's easier to keep an eye on you."

"Not now, Stark." Mikayla tried steering him back on track. "Can you tell where they went from here?"

"Yep. Answer me one question, though. What color is the car?"

"Deep purple. Going to search camera views?"

"You know me too well. Friday?"

"On it, Boss. Looking for a deep purple Dodge Charger." After a few moments, Friday responded with an address. "Think we'll need Steve and Barnes's help with this one. It sounds like they took Barton to Brooklyn." He flipped his faceplate back down. "Ready?" Mikayla nodded. Tony picked her up, and they flew back to the tower. "Friday? Have Rogers and Barnes meet me in the common area, please."

"On it, boss."

A few minutes later, Steve and Bucky showed up, their sparring interrupted. "What's up, Tony?"

"We need to rescue a bird." Tony and Mikayla filled the super soldiers in, letting them know what they thought happened. Tony gave them the address provided to him by Friday. "Sound familiar?"

They both nodded. "It's an old pizza joint," Steve answered. "Mrs. Stinson lived above it."

"Be right back," Mikayla left, returning about ten minutes, carrying her bow and quiver. "Let's go get my fiancé." She marched out of the common area, leaving to go to the garage. "Friday? Send the coordinates to the GPS on Clint's bike, please."

"You got it, Agent Fitzgerald." Tony flew ahead to the location, followed by the trio. Mikayla and Bucky rode motorcycles, and Steve drove a SHIELD vehicle.

When the group arrived, they turned their attention to Steve. "Friday sent over the blueprints. It should be simple. Bucky will investigate the former restaurant. I'll head upstairs to see what I can find. Tony, do a perimeter sweep. Mikayla, station yourself on the roof across the alley and keep an eye out."

Everyone nodded and went to their assigned places. Mikayla sat on the opposite roof, pulling out a pair of binoculars to see inside the open space. "I've got eyes on him. He's tied to a chair, northern side of the room, opposite side of the doors. It looks to be about ten, maybe fifteen guys, so I'd count on at least twice that."

"Noted," Cap replied. "What's his condition?"

"He's got a bag over his head, and his head's slumped down. It doesn't look like he's faking it, so I'm guessing they either beat him or drugged him." Mikayla's comms went silent.

"Mikayla?" Cap asked. "Mikayla?"

"Nothing down here, Cap," Bucky said. "It looks like they're only here to pass through to upstairs."

"OK. Wait for my cue, and then we'll hit them together. Mikayla!"

"Cap? Might want to look up. Bird's eye view, so to speak," Tony said.

Cap and Bucky looked up to see an arrow flying across the alley, then Mikayla zip lining across, crashing through the window. "Damn it, Fitzgerald. You people ever heard of following plans?" Bucky murmured.

"She's learning bad habits from Barton," Tony said, landing on the roof. "New plan, then. Rescuing birds of a feather."

When Mikayla crashed through the window, she performed a tuck and roll. Once she stood up, she started kicking at the legs of the gang, knocking them down. "Leave – him – alone!" Mikayla punched a couple of them in the stomach but was quickly overpowered and tossed to the side.

"Get back to Barton, bro," the leader barked orders to a few of the men, who went over to Clint and began kicking and beating him.

"OK, that's enough," Tony said, flying through a window, shooting repulsors at the gang. Cap and Bucky followed, coming through the doorways and taking out other gang members. Tony located the leader and grabbed the collar of his tracksuit. "Get this through your head. The building is no longer yours. You will no longer mess with Barton. If you do, you can expect to meet either yours truly, Wonder Arm Man over there, or someone resembling the Jolly Green Giant but much meaner. Got it, bro?"

The man, heavily sweating, nodded. "Got it, bro."

Tony, without giving the man a second thought, dropped him to the ground. "Friday?"

"Local authorities are on their way, boss."

While Tony was handling the ringleader, Steve had untied Clint and removed the bag from his head, finding Clint awake, but barely. "Don't wanna move, so tired," Clint mumbled.

"I got you, Barton." While Steve was tending to Clint, Bucky was kneeling over Mikayla, who was knocked unconscious when she was tossed to the ground. "Let's take them to the car. We can come back for the bikes."

"Go ahead and drive the bikes back," Tony said. "I'll drive the car back after we get the lovebirds loaded up." Steve and Bucky carried their two injured teammates downstairs and loaded them into the sedan. Once Tony had driven away from the curb, Steve and Bucky grabbed the bikes and rode back to the tower.

"Friday? Have Wilson and Thor meet me in the garage, please?"

"On it, boss."

Once Tony parked the car, he looked up to see the other two Avengers waiting for him. "How may we help, friend Stark?"

Tony motioned to the two unconscious teammates. "Take them up to medical. I called ahead to let Banner know."

"At once, Stark," Thor said, picking up Mikayla, leaving Clint for Sam. The two archers were brought up to the medical wing, and then their carriers went out to the waiting room. Bruce examined them, then came out to share his findings.

"They'll both be fine. Mikayla's got a concussion from the beatings, so I'd like her to stay overnight. Clint was drugged to knock him out, probably making it easier to transport him. Most of the drug has made it through his system, so he'll be awake shortly."

The group thanked Bruce, and he walked back into the medical rooms. "OK," Tony announced, "show of hands who thinks this won't be the last time our archers won't have a plan." Everyone in the waiting room raised their hands. "Good to know we agree." Tony stood up. "On that note, I'm off to work on nanobots to inject in them so we can keep track of them. A tinker's work is never done." The rest of the team stayed in the waiting room, thankful to have the whole team back, with the knowledge that this definitely wouldn't be the last time Clint and Mikayla would do things their way.