#i. wildfire ›› you'd think that i've learned by now. ( answers ) | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

just-another-blog-of-fluff · 2 years ago

Text

In a Past Life

Word count: 3,400

Pairing: Wanda and Clint x female reader (platonic)

Warnings: None that I can think of - some mild swearing maybe

This was based on a recently changed Prompt by a lovely anon requesting a fic where Wanda and the reader learn Clint was in a band. I had no idea Jeremy Renner actually sings songs - I've learned something new!

This was cute and fun to write, I hope you enjoy!

Nostalgia was spreading through the team like wildfire nowadays.

It seemed as the years went on, the crime rates only escalated. People were frustrated. Angry. Hateful. Days off from 'avenging' seemed to be few and far between lately. There was always a new crime ring, or a new wave of political unrest to attend to.

Naturally, it had you all longing for the good old days.

You happened across Clint seated in the common room one afternoon during one of those moments where the nostalgia flame was burning inside him. He was seated on the end of the sofa, a photo album spread open in his lap. There was a wistful smile on his face as his eyes roamed across the glossy pages, his hand occasionally lifting to run a finger along the edge of a photograph as though longing to touch the people pictured in the image.

"Whatcha got there?" you queried, wandering into the room and catching the archer's attention. He grinned up at you as his eyes lifted from the pages to meet yours.

"Just some old pictures of the family. Look - this was from when Cooper was just a baby." He beckoned you closer, shifting the photo album so you could get a better look at the photograph he was referring to. You took a seat on the sofa beside him, leaning over the page.

"Aww, look how young you looked!" With a chuckle, you pointed to the younger version of Clint standing beside his wife holding his first born.

"I was pretty damn good looking, wasn't I? Still am, of course," he boasted jestingly.

"Eh... you still gave off dad vibes even back then." You nudged him with your elbow teasingly. "Where was this one taken?" you asked, pointing at a photo on the next page with just Clint and his wife.

"That was our white water rafting trip in Maine. Without the kids, of course."

"You went rafting? Now that I can't picture."

"Hey!" he exclaimed indignantly. "I am an Avenger, thank you very much. I'm more than capable of handling a few rapids."

"Don't let him fool you," Wanda's voice echoed suddenly from the doorway. "Natasha told me he nearly landed himself in the hospital after falling out of the raft on that trip."

Clint scoffed. "I told her not to go around telling that story!" he muttered under his breath. You patted him hard on the shoulder with a sympathetic smile.

"Aww, don't worry, Clint... I wouldn't have believed you anyway."

"Ha, ha." He shoved your hand off his shoulder, rolling his eyes. "Remind me, again, why I hang out with you two?"

"Obviously you just use us to fill the void when your own kids aren't around."

"Uh-uh. If you two were my surrogate kids, you'd be much better behaved."

"What fun would we be if we were well-behaved?" Wanda joked with a wink. Before Clint could respond, his phone began ringing in his pocket.

"It's Laura - I'd better take this. Try not to make too many jokes at my expense while I'm gone, alright?" He slid the photo album off his lap onto the sofa cushion beside him, exiting the room as he brought the phone up to his ear and answered it.

Wanda took Clint's vacated spot on the couch beside you, scooping the photo album into her lap and flipping forward a few pages. "Aww, look! Laura must have been pregnant with Lila in this one," she cooed, pointing to a picture of the growing young family at the park where Laura's belly had the telltale roundness of pregnancy.

"Yup - look, there's baby Lila right here," you confirmed, pointing to another photo of a newborn on the following page. You pinched a few of the glossy pages in your fingers and flipped them, making a noise of surprise when a loose photo fluttered out of the page you'd just turned to. "Wait... what's this?"

"Oh, now this is interesting..." Wanda snatched up the photo and brought it closer to her face, an incredulous grin spreading across her lips. "Take a look!"

You took the photo from her, squinting a bit to see the grainy faces better. It was a photo of a rock band on a stage, complete with an electric guitar player, a bassist, and a drummer. And there, standing in the center of the stage with a microphone pressed to his lips...

"No. Way." You glanced up wide-eyed at Wanda, grinning with elated surprise. "Clint was the lead singer in a band??"

"He's never mentioned it before." She leaned over your shoulder to view the photo once again. "But that's definitely him."

"How old does he look in this? Like... late twenties?" Scanning down to the bottom of the photo, you could see the edge of a shadowy sea of heads of the audience in front of the stage. "It's hard to tell, but it looks like there's a lot of people watching. You think they were famous?"

"Maybe not famous... we'd have heard by now if a fellow Avenger was also a world famous lead singer," Wanda pondered aloud.

"Well maybe they were a local sensation?"

"Must have been, with that many people. Didn't he grow up in a small town?"

"I think so." You glanced up as you heard heavy footsteps approaching the doorway to the common room, grinning as Clint reappeared. "Hey Clint!" You waved the photo for him to see. "Why have you never told us you were in a rock band??"

"What??" His face tinged red as he came closer to view the photo, snatching it from your outstretched hand. When he registered what was pictured in the image, he grimaced. "Damnit. You weren't supposed to see this... how did it get in there??"

"Why don't you want people to know?" Wanda probed, an equally sly grin on her face.

"Because I was young and stupid back then-"

"Hey! You couldn't have been that far from our age in that photo," you protested indignantly.

"-and anyway... it's embarrassing." He folded the photo and slipped it into his pocket.

"I don't know, you looked a lot cooler then than you do now," Wanda teased. "Can you still sing?"

"Ooh, yeah, sing something for us!" you urged.

"No. Absolutely not." He leaned over and seized the photo album from Wanda's lap, snapping it shut. "You two just forget that you saw that photo, you hear me?"

"Mm... nope, sorry, it's already burned in my brain."

"Yep. Not going away anytime soon." You glanced at Wanda with a smirk, chuckling as Clint groaned in frustration.

"Why did I leave that photo in there..." he muttered under his breath as he turned on his heel and left the room.

This sort of banter wasn't uncommon for the three of you. While you enjoyed teasing Clint that you and Wanda were like his surrogate kids in the compound, he truly had become a mentor for the both of you. Maybe it was that fatherly instinct in him that made him gravitate towards the role. Even though you loved to push his buttons, you appreciated his advice and guidance, and he secretly enjoyed taking the two of you under his wing.

He had naturally adopted Wanda as his mentee when she and her brother defected from Ultron to assist the Avengers. There was no way he could have known at the time, but having Clint to turn to as Wanda navigated the confusing and tumultuous changes in her life was incredibly important to her. Without Pietro, she had no familiar faces, no comforting shoulder to lean on. Clint was able to provide her with a sense of stability while she grew accustomed to her new life.

When you joined the team years later, you became fast friends with the young witch. Consequently, you'd spent a lot of time with the archer during your early training sessions. He certainly wasn't someone you'd go to for more personal matters, like dating advice, but Clint was incredibly helpful when it came to post-mission debriefings and arguments with other team members. And, truthfully, you both enjoyed each other's company.

With all the teasing he did of you and Wanda, there was absolutely no way the two of you were going to let this go. So, naturally, you did what any self-respecting surrogate kids would do, and irritated the hell out of him for the next few days.

"Hey Clint - I thought I heard you humming while you were cooking breakfast this morning, was it one of your old songs?"

"Did you have a cool singer name when you were in the band? I mean, 'Clint Barton' is hardly rock star material..."

"How are we supposed to know if your voice was any good if you won't sing for us?"

Usually, your snide, teasing comments were quickly followed by Clint chasing you out of the room or swatting at you with a spatula while he cooked. Still, you and Wanda were bound and determined to get him to sing something for you. The curiosity only continued to build every time he refused.

One evening, you were finally able to corner him.

Neither of you had planned it. The two of you had headed to the common room to watch a movie, and just so happened to come across Clint where he sat watching the six-o-clock news. It was far too perfect an opportunity not to jump on it.

With a knowing glance at one another, you and Wanda simultaneously rounded the sofa and took a seat on either side of the startled arrow wielder. Once he realized who it was that had suddenly accosted him, he let out a heaving sigh and leaned back against the backrest.

"What do you two want?"

You gasped, feigning insult. "Wow. My feelings are hurt."

"Yeah, don't you love us anymore, Barton?" Wanda added with a fake pout. Clint rolled his eyes, but the suppressed grin was visibly tugging at the corner of his mouth.

"Depends on what you're here for. You gonna watch the news with me?"

"Pshh. Ew, no. There's nothing but depressing stuff going on nowadays."

"Yeah, well... I like to keep up on it anyway." He held the remote out toward the television, turning the screen off so he could give you his full attention. "Now, what do you want?"

"You know exactly what we want," Wanda responded with a smirk.

"When are you gonna sing for us?" you added. Clint folded his arms across his chest.

"You two are annoyingly persistent, you know that?"

"Yeah... it's one of my best qualities," Wanda jested.

"You could make it stop if you'd just sing something..." you hummed, prodding his side with your finger.

"Ack- hehey! Don't do that!" he scolded, swatting at your hand. Your gaze met Wanda's across the sofa, a knowing grin spreading across your faces.

"What, this?" Wanda poked his other side, snickering when he jolted away from her hand.

"N-now, cut that out."

"Clint - I never knew you were ticklish!" you exclaimed, pinching his side a few times in rapid succession. He barked out a laugh, folding away from you until Wanda began prodding at his other side.

"Okahay! Yes, I'm ticklish!" he confirmed reluctantly, suddenly standing up and stumbling a couple steps away from the two of you. "That does not mean I'm going to sing anything for you."

"Clint, you know I'm much stronger than you are," Wanda warned as he spun around to face you both, wriggling her fingers teasingly in the air in his direction.

"Yeah, plus she's got magic. You don't stand a chance," you added with a devious smirk. His eyes darted between the two of you as you gazed pleadingly up at him, finally groaning defeatedly.

"Alright, alright... come with me. I'll do you one better." He beckoned you both to follow him with a wave.

Clint led you up to his own room, stepping inside and crossing over to his closet where he began rummaging through a dusty-appearing storage bin. You glanced at Wanda with your eyebrows raised in confusion, to which she merely shrugged in response.

"I know you're in here... aha!" Clint pulled out a CD case from the bin, turning back to give you both a firm look. "Now - this is not to leave the three people standing in this room, you hear me? You are privileged to be borrowing this."

"Your secret is safe with us," you assured, holding your hand out expectantly for the CD. Hesitantly, he placed the case in your hand. You observed the title on the cover of the case, nearly snorting out loud. "Your band was called the Screaming Sharks??"

"Yeah, yeah, I know... make fun all you want." He rolled his eyes. "You've got one hour to listen to that and then I'm taking it back. Hope you still have a CD player somewhere."

"Don't worry, Vision has one." Clint scowled as Wanda grinned cheekily at him. "Come on, we'd better get going so we can listen to the whole thing."

And so, you found yourself sitting on Wanda's bedroom floor as she popped the CD into Vision's old CD player, completely shocked at the music that began to play. Judging by Wanda's slackened jaw, she, too, was quite surprised.

"Wow - they were... really good!" you exclaimed, bobbing your head to the 90s-style rock music. "I would have never known Clint could sing."

"Me either!" Wanda leaned her back against her bedpost, shutting her eyes as she listened. You fell silent, trying to wrap your head around the fact that this incredible music was created in part by Clint Barton.

It took nearly the full hour Clint had offered you to listen to the whole CD. Rather than waiting for him to come hunt you both down, you and Wanda headed back to the common room where Clint had thankfully found a sitcom to watch instead of the news.

"Why do you hide this from everyone? You were amazing!" you praised, handing the CD case back to your mentor. He couldn't hide the grin that spread across his face.

"That was me in a past life. I just don't dwell on the past too much."

"But you were so much cooler back then!" Wanda teased.

"Hey - I like to think I'm still cool! I am an Avenger, you know."

"Just being an Avenger doesn't automatically make you cool. You've gotta look and act cool too," you argued.

"Oh, and I don't?"

"Eh..." You shrugged, laughing as he scowled and rolled his eyes. He wrapped an arm around each of you, squeezing you affectionately.

"You two are lucky I like you," he grumbled. "Anyway - now that you've finally gotten your wish and heard me singing, there's something I have to ask you both."

"Oh?"

"And what might that be?"

His eyes darted between the two of you for a moment, ducking his head as if to tell you a secret. Instinctively, you both leaned in a bit closer to listen to what he had to ask. His voice was a low, gruff rumble when he spoke.

"Are you... ticklish?"

Before either of you could react, he'd dug his fingers into your side where they rested, presumably doing the same to Wanda as she burst into laughter along with you. You shoved helplessly at his hand, trying to pry his fingers off your side. Clint tightened his grip with a ridiculous, evil-sounding laugh.

"CLIHINT!!" Wanda protested.

"Don't 'Clint' me! You two have been royal pains in the ass for the last few days! It's time I get some well-deserved payback!"

With a sudden burst of red light, Wanda freed herself from Clint's grip with ease using her magic. Taking advantage of his moment of surprise, you twisted harshly to try to break free as well, but his arm tightened around your waist just before you could stand.

"You know very well that I'm stronger than you," Wanda touted with a smirk.

"Yeah, yeah... only because you've got those magic powers of yours," he grumbled. His gaze turned to you with an impish smirk. "But you aren't stronger than me."

"I- but- Wanda will protect me, though!" You shot her a pleading look. "Right?"

"Well... you have been teasing him for days, you know," she hummed, a smirk pulling at her lips.

"What?? So have you!"

"I don't know what you're talking about." She took a seat on a separate chair, crossing her legs and leaning back as though preparing to watch the show.

"Oh-hoho! She betrayed you!" Clint laughed, digging his fingers into both your sides now that his other arm was free. You screeched and curled your knees up to your chest instinctively.

"WANDA! Yohou TRAHAITOR!"

"Bet you regret it now, huh?" Clint teased, slotting a hand between your legs and your torso to claw at your belly and bypass your defenses.

"N-ahah-nohope!"

"Oh yeah? Guess I'm not trying hard enough." He swiftly shifted to dig his hands into the middle of your ribcage, earning himself an explosion of laughter as you thrashed in his grasp. "Wow, you're worse than my kids, aren't you?"

"Oh, she's ridiculously ticklish," Wanda declared.

"SHUHUT UP- NO, NOHO, NO!" You squeezed your arms tight to your sides in protest as Clint tried shoving his fingers up under your arms.

"You can't hide from me - I have years of tickle monster experience. You should never have messed with me." Clint succeeded in his efforts, wriggling his fingertips into the narrow space you'd left under your arms. You attempted to let yourself topple over sideways to escape his tickling fingers. He held fast, shifting his grip to pin your back to his chest while continuing his torment.

"OK, OKAHAY! I GIHIVE!" you pleaded, muscles growing weak with laughter.

"Oh, she just doesn't want you to find your weak spot," Wanda interjected.

"Oh yeah? Where's that?"

"WANDA! DOHON'T YOU DAHAHARE!"

"Try the front of her ribs," she suggested, ignoring your protests. Without giving you time to react, he tugged his hands free from under your arms and began pinching rapidly at your lower front ribs. One final shrieky protest was all you had left before you fell silent with breathy laughter, tapping desperately at his hand to tap out. After another moment, he ceased his torment and released you from his hold. You leaned against the back of the couch in complete exhaustion.

"Let that be a lesson for you - don't mess with Hawkeye." Clint poked your side, chuckling as you squeaked.

"Noho! No mohore!" you whined. Shooting a glare at Wanda, you added, "And you are a traitor!"

"What? One of us had to bear the brunt of his payback, and it sure as hell wasn't going to be me."

"You're lucky you have magic on your side..." you grumbled. "Damn, I feel bad for your kids - you're ruthless."

"It's a required skill in the 'dad' job description," he jested. "Now - you two are going to keep this little band thing to yourselves, right?"

"Oh, of course."

"Absolutely."

"Good." He stood up, moving toward the door. "I've gotta go call the family, say goodnight to the kids. See you tomorrow."

"G'night, Clint!"

You listened as his footsteps faded down the hallway out of earshot, turning to Wanda.

"So... are we really gonna keep this secret?" you asked.

"Oh, absolutely not." She tilted her head toward the door. "Let's go tell Tony. Then everyone will know about it."

"Wait, hang on a minute." You reached around behind the throw pillow on the end of the couch, pulling out a blank CD case with Clint's band's CD inside. Wanda's jaw fell open in surprise, her eyes flashing with pride.

"You sneaky little witch!"

"Not that sneaky," you shrugged humbly, "He's just really easy to pull tricks on."

You were certain, as the two of you hurried to Tony's lab to share Clint's secret band music, that you'd be in trouble the moment Clint discovered the CD was missing. But honestly, Clint wasn't going to brag about his own accomplishments to the team, so somebody had to. And, after all -

You couldn't call yourselves his surrogate kids if you didn't push his buttons from time to time.

#ticklish!reader #tickle fluff #tickle fic #marvel tickle #clint barton x reader #wanda x reader

117 notes · View notes