Carmilla wobbled around her room with a smile, taking in the beautiful little decor that was all her's. Bruce watched from the door way and smiled, the little six year old happy to just have something. She looked through her little drawers and played in her dressers, giggling all the way from one side of the room to the other. "Dadda!" She cooed in delight, pointing at the picture that sit on top of one of her little dressers. Bruce smiled even bigger and walked into the room. "Yeah, that's me... And that's you." He said, pointing to the small bundle in the picture that Bruce was holding. That was when he first adopted Carmilla; otherwise known as one of the happiest days of his life.
"Ma!" Carmilla screamed happily, pointing to a different picture. It was really small though it was sweet looking. It was Clint holding little Carmilla on their first Christmas together. Her face lit up really bright. "I miss Mamma... Why did he have to go away again?" The toddler asked, Bruce giving her a sad smile. "He has some business to do with some really important people... We'll seem him soon though.. How about later today, how's that sound?"
Bruce watched the six year old's face bloom once again and she scrambled around the room, going under her bed. "Can we listen to Ma?" She asked, tugging out a cardboard box from under the princess-print bed and digging her chubby hands into the dozens of tapes left it held. Bruce gave her another smile though there was a tinge of pain in his heart. Carmilla really missed Clint and so did Bruce.
"Yeah, come on up here and we can listen to Ma. Pick out your favorite two and then we can go visit, okay?" Bruce asked and soon Carmilla was climbing up the pink bed once again with two tapes in her hand. Bruce ran his hand through her green hair and planted a kiss on her forehead. "Those are my favorite too..." He said, grabbing the tape player from the bedside table and popping in the first tape.
"Bruce... Carmilla... I miss you two very much.." Clint said over the tape recorder. "You've gotten so big Princess, I hardly recognize you..." Carmilla snuggled deeper into Bruce's chest wearing a big smile and Clint went on. " And you, Bruce... I really do miss being able to be there right beside you..." Bruce smiled and held Carmilla closer.
"Are you having trouble sleeping...? Or maybe it's just you want to hear my voice.." "I just want to hear your voice, Ma..." Carmilla piped up and you could almost hear Clint's smile through the tape. "Yeah, I thought so... Want me to sing you a song, darling?" "Yes please, Ma..." "Okay, since you asked so nicely..."
"You are my sunshine; my only sunshine. You make me happy when skies are grey... You'll never know, dear, how much I love you. Oh, please don't take my sunshine away..." Clint's voice was smooth like honey and Bruce remembered what it sounded like in real life, he craved that sound so badly. "Last night, while I lay sleeping, I dreamt I held you in my arms... But when I awoke, dear, I was mistaken so I hung my head and cried..." Carmilla and Bruce both licked their lips and started with Clint the last time.
"You are my sunshine; my only sunshine. You make me happy when skies are grey... You'll never know, dear, how much I love you. Oh, please don't take my sunshine away..." Clint's sweet voice faded out and you could hear the tiny whistling the bird-like man was known for around the towers. Bruce closed his eyes and pictured his love standing right in front of him, hitting those very same notes but the image dulled out.
"How about we listen to the other tape on the way to see Mommy, okay? You go get dressed and we'll head out.." Bruce asked and Carmilla nodded, rubbing her eyes a bit. "Okay, Daddy.." Bruce kissed her on the head and she returned the small peck before she ran off to get dressed.
A couple minutes later Bruce was driving with Carmilla in the back seat on the streets that lead to the center of the held the recorder tightly in her hands, eyes closed just as her father did and tried to remember the words coming out of her mother's mouth.
"Goodnight, my Angel time to close your eyes...And save these questions for another day. I think I know what you've been asking me; I think I know what you've been trying to say.." Bruce couldn't close his eyes while he drove but he pictured Clint picture perfectly beside him in the passenger seat, singing the very same song to lull Carmilla to sleep when she was a baby but that was long ago and whenever he'd sing it, Angel would be directed right at him. It was the perfect nic name for Bruce in Clint's eyes.
"I promised I would never leave you, and you should always know, no matter where you go, that I am part of you..." Bruce tried to hard not to cried but for some reason his eyes started to leak. "Goodnight my Angel, now it's time to dream, and dream of how wonderful you life will be... Someday your child may cry and if you sing this lullaby; Then you will always be a part of me..." The car drove up gravely streets and Bruce checked on Carmilla in the back seat, tears dripping down her cheeks as well as she held both the daisies close and the recorder.
"Someday we'll all be gone, but the lullabies go on and on; They never die and that's how you and I will be..." Clint's voice sounded a bit hoarse in the last part, like he too was crying and both Carmilla and Bruce felt their hearts begin to ache in their chests.
"I love you, Princess..." Clint said softly, a shuffling sound against the recorder, most likely him wiping away tears. Carmilla sniffled. "I love you too, Mama..." She said into her dress-sleeve. "I love you too, Angel..." He said kindly and Bruce felt ready to start sobbing. He got out of the car and Carmilla soon followed.
"Daddy, you didn't say I love you to Ma!" She said with tears dripping down her cheeks and a distressed look on her face. Bruce took her by the hand and lead her through the most gallant looking buildings in New York, weaving through statues and stones in commemoration of. He didn't say anything and Carmilla cried abit harder. "You gotta say you love him!" She cried, full-out balling now as she was brought closer and closer to the dreaded place.
"It's a tape, Carmilla..." Bruce defended, heart just breaking at the seams. "You gotta say it!" Their walking came to a halt and Bruce got down to her level, both crying. "That tape isn't your Mother, Carmilla... Your mother is-" "No! You gotta say it, Daddy! You gotta say it or Ma's not gonna know. Mamma will never be gone if you just.." "Carmilla!" Bruce yelled, quieting the child for a moment. Bruce never yelled but now was the time to. "You are six years old, sweetheart. You're not a baby... You know what's going on but you just don't want to admit it. Your mother is dead... and he's not coming back as much as you may like him too..."
Before them was Clint's memorial, put up for all of New York to see and to mourn over the lost Avenger. He had a statue of him in his glory with tons of cards, candles, roses, and so many small tokens placed at his feet. Carmilla fell into Bruce's chest, beating on it with tiny fists. "He can't be-""Mamma can't be!" She sobbed but Bruce just let her get it out, holding her tight as tears feel down his cheeks as well. Clint wasn't coming back and it was something they both had to deal with.
A small headstone was in front of the statues and a carving was etched into the stone. "In Memory of Clinton Francis Barton. The protector of our city and our world. Died August 15th, 2012; of brain cancer."
Clint knew he had it the entire time, he was well aware and searched for treatment on his own but by the time he had asked for help, it was too late and it had reached the untreatable stage. Being one of the only human superheroes he was bound to die sometimes but that did not comfort the holes in the hearts of any of those who knew him.