[2] An Executioner's Requiem | Leo Fitz

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Laughter could be heard by the birds that flew above the family of three, camped out in the heart of the mountains. The bodies of Jairo and Monica were no longer tinted blue, due to the physical contact they had with Nina during their hug, and if anyone decided to walk by they'd be able to see the ghosts that brought her so much joy.

The family sat close together as they reminisced. Nina's head rested on Monica's thigh, her hand playing with the fingers of her dad's hand while Monica redid the messy braid in Nina's hair.

"Do you remember when Nina melted a hole through her teacher's desk?" Jairo asked his daughters, the question eliciting a second of silence before the trio succumbed to laughter, "I had to find you a new elementary school by the end of the week, do you know how hard that was?"

"Sorry," Nina chuckled as she pulled at his index and ring finger, which still seemed to have the tan line from the wedding ring he used to wear, "but in my defence, Mister Caddel was a prick and totally deserved it."

"I can't believe you still haven't learnt your lesson," he said with an unserious smile, "I should've done more than just ground you."

"You only grounded her!?" Monica exclaimed, "you made me go on your morning run with you for a week and you run 7 miles at 4 am. Everyday!"

"You were the one to teach her how to melt wood with a mixture of cleaning supplies," Jairo stated, "you needed to be punished too."

Monica pouted at his words, all defence leaving her body as she recalled that she was in fact the one to encourage Nina to do the deed. But could you blame her, she was a 12-year-old who wanted to be a scientist and needed to prove to everyone that she could do.

"I didn't realise we were such menaces as kids," Nina smiled up at her older sister, "and yet the neighbours still loved us."

"That's because despite how dangerous your intelligence and curiosity were, you two were the politest children to ever exist," Jairo said causing Monica and Nina to both awe loudly in a teasing manner. The father of the two just shook his head while wearing a parental smile, "I'm serious. The way other adults looked at you two in admiration and asked me for advice made it feel like I was doing something right, like I wasn't a complete failure of a father."

"Hey Papá!" Monica scolded him, "you could never be a failure. You did the best you could with the circumstances we were in and although I may be dead, Nina and I turned out perfectly fine."

"El que tiene boca, se equivoca (he who has a mouth will make a mistake)," Nina said, "but Papá you made none."

"You flatter me, mija," Jairo smiled down at her, moving the hand in her grip to hold hers comfortably, "either way, I am thankful Mister Stark was there for you when I couldn't be."

"Tony?" Nina asked, a little confused as to why he was calling someone younger than him so formally, "yeah, unlike you, he made a lot of mistakes. But it didn't matter that he didn't know what he was doing, just that he was trying to do something. He was great, is great. He is the best father I could have been blessed with after you and I am forever thankful for everything he did and gave up for me. I owe him a lot and once I find the best way, I'm going to pay him back for all the good he did for me."

"I'd love to thank him one day," Jairo said and Nina nodded, promising that the next time she went home, she'd summon him.

"It's about time we go now, right?" Monica said and Nina sat up startled, looking at her sister in fear as she shook her head.

"What! Why?" Nina was terrified that they would leave and never come back, it was a feeling that Monica immediately noticed.

"Manita," Monica said softly, reaching up to caress her cheek. Nina grabbed her wrist and leaned into the touch, "you may not be able to see us, but we'll still be here."