Three months after the accident, Kate was born. Two weeks after that, Barney's girlfriend left.

Clint found him curled up in the corner, sobbing.

"What's wrong?" Clint's barely understandable speech entered his ears.

Barney handed him the note.

I don't love you. Goodbye.

'She left it on the nightstand.' He signed. 'She left.'

Clint sat on the floor by his brother. "It'll be okay."

Barney shook his head. 'I can't raise a kid. Not like this.' He gestured to his unusable legs.

'Sure you can. I'll help out if you need me to.'

Kate started to cry from the makeshift nursery across the room.

Barney tried to pull himself into the chair above him, failing because of lack of upper body strength.

'What?'

'Kate's crying. Can you get her?'

Clint nodded, getting up. He walked over to the crib, lifting the baby gently. He held her in the crook of his arm, cradling her gently.

"Shh, shh." He tried to sooth her, rocking the infant softly while walking back to Barney, who was propped up against the wall.

He sat down again, handing her off to her father. Barney held her close. Clint could see his lips moving, but couldn't place what he was saying. Kate continued to cry, her little hands balling up into fists.

Clint stood, striding over to grab a bottle.

He handed it to Barney, sliding back down the wall to sit. 'Maybe she is hungry?'

Barney held the bottle for Kate to nurse off of. Her blue eyes fluttered shut as she actively sucked on the bottle. Barney knew she wasn't biologically his. He knew that his girlfriend was having an affair, and that it was only a matter of time till she left. But he didn't care. He still loved Kate, and he would raise her as his own.

Clint had no idea. He just thought Kate was the most precious thing in the entire world.

'I could take her for today, Barn. Get some rest.' Clint signed.

The redhead nodded, looking down at the floor as Clint picked him up off the floor, positioning him back in his chair.

Clint took Kate, walking out of the room. He scrawled a note that said he had gone to the roof and would be back soon. He then trekked up the stairs, sitting on the roof with Kate wrapped in a blanket. He sat on the ledge, stroking the thin black hair that tufted the baby's head.

"I love you, kid." He knew that even if she could comprehend what was going on, she wouldn't understand his speech. "I'm gonna help your dad raise you. It'll be okay. It'll all work out."

Kate looked up at him with big, curious eyes. He kissed her forehead, holding her to his chest.

"Everything'll be okay."

•••

Clint was pulled out of his trace by ten year old Kate poking him.

"Yeah?" He turned around.

'Can I have coffee?' She signed.

'Are you usually allowed to?'

'No... '

'Then no.' Clint ruffled her hair.

She stuck her tongue out, pointing at his ears. 'No hearing aides today?'

"Shit." He mumbled, pulling them out of his pocket.

Kate laughed, hopping up on the counter. Her expression quickly darkened. 'How's my dad?'

Clint shook his head, sipping his coffee. 'It's...it's hard, Katie. The realization that ten years have passed, it's hard on us both. I just have to be strong and let your dad do his thing today, because he had to put up with my shit after I went deaf.'

Kate looked down. 'Are you guys ever gonna tell me what happened?'

Clint sighed. 'It's a long story.'

'I've got time.'

Clint looked down. 'So your dad and I grew up in a circus, right? It was hard work every day, and to be honest, it was corrupt. We did a lot of not so nice things to survive. So one day, I hear that for the final act, there's gonna be a bomb. One person had it with the circus and was gonna blow the whole place up in tonight's show. I didn't believe it, of course, I figured it was a harmless rumor. So I was in the ring later that night, and our job for the night was for Barney to be on this spinning wheel while I shot arrows at him. I've only missed my target once, Katie. When the bomb went off, I didn't hear it. I didn't have time to. The explosion caused me to let go in surprise, and it shot your dad. I was on the ground, yelling for help, when I realized I couldn't hear my voice. I had shrapnel all down my legs and back and was really out of it, but all I could think about was your dad. I was sure I killed him. When I woke up in the ER, I was so scared and disoriented. "Where's Barney?" I remember saying. "Where's my brother?"' Clint was crying now, but he couldn't stop. It was the first time he'd spoke of the accident to anyone. 'I didn't find out that he'd lived till a week later when he came into my room. He was burned and scratched up, but he was alive.'

Kate was hugging him now, letting him cry. "It's okay. You're okay now."

Clint nodded, wiping his eyes. "I'm sorry."

He ran off into the guest room, laying back down next to the still-sleeping Pietro.

Kate had talked Clint into coming to a daddy-daughter dance.

Don't ask how, but it happened. So now he stood off to the side, hearing aides in his pocket due to feedback from the speakers. He couldn't hear a damn thing.

Kate was dancing, blue sundress flowing around her legs as she grinned. Barney sat beside his brother, watching.

'I wish I could dance with her.' He signed.

'I'm sorry.' Clint looked away guiltily. 'Maybe you could, y'know, improvise or something?'

'I don't know.' Barney sighed. 'I don't know what to do, Clint.'

Kate walked over when the song ended, moving on to a slow song and all the other girls' father's danced with them.

"Do you wanna dance with me?" She met him at eye level now, so there was no avoiding her gaze.

He blushed. "Sure."

He gripped the steel rims that had become familiar over the last six years, pushing out onto the dance floor.

He gripped her tiny hands gently in his, smiling slightly as they swayed more than danced. A tear traced down from Barney's cheek and he quickly wiped it away on the sleeve of his dress shirt. They moved to the beat, Barney spinning Kate around in a tight pirouette.

The song ended and Kate's friend walked over, Kate hugging her.

They spoke too quickly for Clint to understand before his brother and the little girl shook hands and Kate started walking his way.

The little girl spoke way to fast for Clint to lipread. Kate translated.

'She says: Hello, my name is Angelica. Nice to meet you.' She interpreted.

'Hey, I'm Clint.' He focused on Kate's mouth to see what she was saying.

"He says: Hey, I'm Clint."

The girl looked confused, saying something that caused Kate to have a visually offended expression.

The girl stormed away, and Kate sat down in a chair and started sobbing.

'Hey, what's wrong?' Clint signed, putting a hand on her shoulder.

'She...she said you and dad were freaks and that she didn't want to be friends anymore.' She shook her head. 'She used the R word.'

Barney came over next to her, wiping her tears. "What happened?"

"S-She said that y-you and Clint were freaks and that she didn't want to be friends with a retard." She choked out, curling up into a ball.

Clint and Barney looked at each other, clueless as to what to do.

Kate would always be tormented about her family, but she got used to it.