Daddy's Blunt Little Instrument (Rewritten)

Chapter 12 *Rewritten*

*Russia 1995*

It was a top secret mission just like all the others, only this time Clint and Piper were instructed to break into the Kremlin and retrieve information about nuclear weapons.

Everything went according to plan until they were caught.

"Run!" Clint told his wife.

"No! I'm not leaving without you".

"I'll be right behind you. Run Pip". He pecked her on the lips before Piper took off running. Clint shot arrows at the guards following them. He fired an arrow that suctioned to the wall and pressed a button on his bow.

The hallway filled with smoke and Clint took off looking for Piper.

"Piper!" he yelled. He heard coughing.

"Clint", Piper gasped.

He helped her up and carried her out of the palace. When they got outside, he set her down.

"Thanks for that", she said.

They took shelter in an alleyway. "

So all we have to do is wait for evac", Clint told her.

"I can't wait to see Madison again". Madison was her pride and joy.

Clint smiled and pressed his lips to hers.

They heard a gunshot and Piper pulled away from Clint. "Clint..."

"What?"

They looked down and saw red staining her shirt.

He dropped his bow and caught Piper before she could hit the ground. "I'll call the team. We'll get you out of here", he told her. He pressed the button on his com and said, "We need air evac immediately. Piper's down. Gunshot wound to the abdomen".

"A team is on its way to you", Coulson said.

Clint pressed down on the wound, trying to stop the bleeding.

"Clint. Clint, it doesn't hurt", Piper told him.

Clint shook his head. "No. You are not dying on me".

Piper took Clint's hands off the wound and held them in hers.

"What about Madison?" he asked her, "She needs you".

"You'll do a wonderful job raising her", she told him, her eyes filling with tears. This wasn't how she saw herself dying, but she knew it was always a risk. "Promise me one thing".

"Anything", he said, brushing some hair from her face.

"Don't let her join SHIELD. I don't want this life for her. Please tell her about me".

Tears were filling Clint's eyes. "I promise. I promise".

"I love you", Piper said, her eyes filling with tears too.

"I love you too Piper. So much". He leaned down and pressed his lips to hers.

"Will you hold me? Until..."

Clint nodded and scooped her up in his arms. He held her close to his chest, ignoring the blood that was pooling beneath them.

"When I'm..." she breathed, her breaths becoming shallower, "I want you to find happiness again. Whether it be in Madison or someone else".

"I'll try". He kissed her temple and took her hand in his. He felt her fighting for breath.

"Clint", she whimpered.

"I've got you. I've got you".

Piper's body shivered and then stopped moving altogether. Her hand went limp in Clint's.

Clint buried his face in her hair and cried.

This was how Fury and Coulson found him later, still holding Piper in his arms.

Following Piper's death, she was cremated and Clint sent her remains back to her family.

He took down all the pictures of Piper and stowed them away in a box, breaking his first promise to her. He focused on work and neglected Madison. To this day, he wasn't proud of doing this, but Madison reminded him too much of Piper.

Clint knew that he should have been there for her, but the pain was just too much for him to handle. Many times while he was on missions, he left her in the care of Coulson who treated her like the daughter he never had.

Finally, Fury forced him to take a leave of absence and focus on himself and his daughter.Clint took Madison to the park and out for ice cream and normal things fathers did with their daughters.

Before Piper's death, Clint had loved Madison, but now, she was his everything. The reason he got up in the morning, the reason he was careful on missions. He didn't want her to grow up without someone to always be there for her.

His biggest regret was breaking his second promise to Piper. He broke it the day he showed Madison how to shoot.