"What did you guys do as kids?" Clint asked in disbelief as he perched himself on the top of a tree branch, at least fifteen feet above Wanda's head. "Didn't you climb trees at all?"
Wanda answered as she struggled to reach another branch, "No, not really. It wasn't really my thing, but Pietro loved to. He'd always throw sticks and leaves down at me when I tried to read under the trees he climbed."
Clint smiled at the image of a younger version of the twins messing with each other. Pietro would totally do something like that to annoy his sister, it was like the shenanigans Lila and Cooper played on each other.
He held back a laugh as he noticed Wanda test each branch for a solid minute before climbing on them, afraid it would break under her. "Then I guess I'll have to give you a climbing lesson sometime if you're worried about each branch breaking."
"How are you so sure they won't break under your weight?"
"Are you calling me fat?" Clint pretended to be insulted with a grin still present on his face. "I can be as light as a feather if I want to be."
This time, Wanda laughed at his defense. "Then why do you always manage to break your bones on missions from 'falling out of trees,' according to Natasha?"
"No time to become that feather," He simply shrugged as Wanda slowly made her way up the tree while shaking her head at him.
After another minute where she focused on advancing up the tree, she said, "You know, I could just fly myself up this. It's way faster."
"I'm sure it is," Clint replied. "But you need to gain upper body strength anyways. Climbing a tree is a good exercise. Consider this a training exercise."
"Whatever you say, Trainer Barton," She mocked as she made it up another branch. Technically, Clint wasn't a trainer, only Steve and Natasha were because they were in constantly working with her and the team. Clint would come around occasionally to see their skills tested, join in on teaching some exercises, and throw around some punches, but since he didn't come around very often from spending most of his free time with his growing family, Natasha and Steve refused to officially name him a trainer.
Wanda was aware that they were really only refusing to acknowledge Clint as a trainer to mess with their friend, who dropped a mention of wanting to be an official trainer at least once a week, but he didn't need to know that...
Clint narrowed his eyes down at Wanda from her mocking and warned, "I can always call up your real trainer, who I'm best friends with, and get her to tell you the same thing." He knew Wanda was joking with him all in good fun after his many attempts to obtain the trainer title for this new Avengers team, but he couldn't help but mess with her back.
After a silent moment of thought, Wanda replied, "Okay, I'll climb." Him all honesty, knew he was right either way. Natasha would tell her the same thing, that climbing a tree would help replace her missing gym session, and even though she was currently on a mission Wanda had the feeling Clint could still manage to get hold of her. It was always best to avoid getting the direct order from her boss to do work.
"Good choice," Clint smirked as she finally made her way to a branch that was level to Clint's but on the opposite side of the tree trunk. She got herself comfortable and they simply waited.
Last night they debated on what they should do if the hunters came back. They could have set up traps for them within the forest to prevent them from getting too close, but then the deer had the chance of falling into them too so Clint didn't want to risk it.
They could have hunted down the hunters, but they might not even come back so it would be pointless. And what if they did come back but they weren't there to protect the deer when the hunters found them. No, they couldn't risk that either.
The best route seemed to simply guard the deer on the ground below, waiting for the call from Jim to confirm that the hunters were leaving town. But of course Clint had to take some precautions, so he currently had his bow and quiver on him. Just in case of trouble.
As they kept a watchful eye, they caught up on how each other's weeks were going. Clint asked about Wanda's training, since he hadn't gotten an update from Natasha before her sudden mission disappearance. Clint couldn't help but smile at the training exercises they did, and sometimes failed because they were all still learning. He could tell Natasha a Steve were pushing them hard, but they were all surviving and making the most of it.
It was also nice to hear that Sam's humor seemed to be rubbing off on her, and that they were getting along swimmingly. Clint also couldn't help but notice she was getting along very well with Vision. Clint was a perceptive man, and he could tell she was especially taking a liking to him, nicknaming him 'Vis' and blushing ever so slightly when discussing him… She was developing her very first crush, he could tell. He didn't even think she was aware of her crush yet, but soon she would be…
He made a mental note to keep tabs on how their relationship grew in the future.
In response to sharing her week, Clint shared his. From the kids being back at school to explaining this current hunting mess in more depth, it had been a pretty eventful one.
As they talked, Clint felt a vibration in his pocket. Taking out his phone, he answered, "Hey Jim."
"Hey Clint. I kept an eye on the troublemakers. They packed up and just left town a few minutes ago."
"Thanks for the update, Sheriff," Clint smiled. He was glad to finally have confirmation they were leaving. Hopefully now the deer can live in peace for the rest of this season.
"I'll leave you to your watch then," Jim replied back, knowing that Clint was likely watching the deer now. He didn't even have to ask if he was because he knew Clint that well.
As their brief conversation ended, Wanda asked, "So what's the story?"
Clint repositioned himself so his feet hung off his branch. "The Sheriff just let me know the hunters are leaving town. We should be in the clear, but let's stick around awhile just to make sure they aren't coming back."
"You got it, team leader," Wanda joked while leaning her back against the trunk of the tree and extending one leg comfortable on the branch, letting the other one hang off. Looking down at the deer in the distance, she had to admit that it was surprisingly comfortable to sit high above the ground in a tree. She never thought it would have been, but now she understood why Clint did it. It was calming to get a bird's-eye view, no one able to sneak up on them.
Except someone was. They were so caught up in their conversation and relaxation that they didn't even notice the man crouching in the nearby bushes.
Derek. He noticed the two in the tree and listened in a bit on their uneventful conversation, pointing his rifle in their direction.
But that was just for show, really. If he was being honest with himself, he wouldn't actually shoot Crazy Clint, no matter how much he would like to in order to get back at him.
So what if he had been on Clint's property hunting? If only this dude didn't spend his life in the forest, he wouldn't have noticed a single deer gone. He was sure there were plenty in the area, and plus, that one's antlers were phenomenal. It had so many branches, that crown upon it's head was beautiful, and he was sure to get some attention from his fellow hunters with a trophy like that.
As he aimed his rifle at the guy perched in the tree, finger nowhere near the trigger, he honestly didn't think through what type of revenge he wanted to get on this guy.
That was one of Derek's problems, he often didn't think his revenge plans through. He always seemed to make one in the heat of the moment, and those didn't always end well.
Maybe he could put a bullet through that branch he sat upon, making it snap and have him fall thirty feet. That would be satisfying enough for him, he could book it and drive off with Lewis before Clint could even recover. That was a fun idea, one that put a smile on his face, but he also knew that he wasn't the best marksman and could potentially hit him or that girl he was with on accident.
Maybe Derek would have just left. After Lewis tried desperately for hours to convince him not to do anything rash, he finally agreed he wouldn't, or at least he would try. Lewis was currently waiting in the truck just off the main road because it was clear he was avoiding another interaction with Clint. But in this moment, Derek had the power to shoot at Clint the way he had shot at him, but was sane enough to actually not do it. That was almost satisfaction enough.
Then again, when he noticed the buck after following Clint's gaze, his priorities changed.
He saw those antlers once again sticking out from the fall underbrush, and he simply couldn't resist. It was close enough, he could gain those antlers and maybe some money, but if not he could simply be proud to have brought down one of the things that got him in this mess.
But he shot before thinking of the consequences of doing it while Crazy Clint was in range. That was a huge mistake.
And Clint wasn't fast enough to realize something was wrong until it was too late. He had watched the deer carefully and noticed the Buck on edge. It all happened so fast, Clint noticing his ears perk up and bolt right before the loud gunshot rang out, the doe and fawn hiding themselves further into their den.
Immediately, Clint turned around in his spot and brought out the bow from his back while nocking an arrow. He saw Derek crouching behind bushes with his gun smoking from the shot. But as soon as he realized he made a mistake to fire at the deer with Clint around, his eyes widened and he quickly stumbled backwards and started sprinting away.
The antlers seemed significantly less important now that he was running for his life.
Furious at Derek for even daring to return but at firing again at the Buck, Clint couldn't help but let a few arrows fly, all of them scraping Derek that would cause some annoying and messy injuries to clean up later, but they were injuries that would still allow him to run back towards the main road. Of course Clint wanted the man to leave as fast as possible with avoiding more lawsuits in the back of his mind, but he would have been glad to have purposely shoot his leg too.
Right now, he just wanted to make Derek run. He wanted to make sure this hunter was scared enough to never come back.
Clint started climbing down the tree, basically dropping from it in order to reach the ground faster. He was about to chase after him, to make sure they really did leave town this time, when he heard Wanda shouting.
"Clint! Come over here!"
In his rage he hadn't even noticed Wanda was down from the tree and further into the forest. He had to assume she followed Bucky when he bolted. But there was worry clear in her voice and Clint knew that something was wrong.
Cursing under his breath, as he looked back at where the hunter disappeared, put his arrow into his quiver, and ran to Wanda.
She was staring the deer dead in the face, one of her hands held out in front of her as she and the deer both seemed to stand ready for another attack. But none came, only Clint as he kept his distance from the both of them.
"He's hurt," Wanda said evenly as she continued to stare at this deer.
Clint studied Bucky, soon finding her to be right. On the top of his back was a long cut from where the bullet grazed him. It must have bolted right on time to avoid worse damage, but it was clearly hurt and freaked out by the way his body shook and the blood ran down his side.
"Crap…" Clint mumbled under his breath.
"What should we do?" Wanda asked, unsure herself as she didn't dare move a muscle from her spot.
Clint was about to answer when he realized, he frankly had no clue on what to do. This was a deer, not a human. How would they even be able to properly patch him up? It was still a wild animal no matter how used to their presence the deer had gotten, it wouldn't be able to cooperate with their efforts in helping. They didn't know how bad the cut was, they didn't know how to properly fix it, and it's not like vets were nearby and often helped injured, grown deer during hunting season.
Wanda sensed that he was clueless and instead asked, "Do you think we should help him?"
That was a better question to ask. Honestly, maybe not. Clint knew stitching him up wasn't a option because sedation would only freak the deer out more and Clint was right, this is a deer not a human. Deer can heal on their own. They can survive many injuries in the wild, such as certain broken legs which can leave them near immobile, so it's likely Bucky can heal from this too. If it's minor enough, any animal can, but there was no way to tell the severity from this far away. Even with his hawk eyes.
"If I can get a closer look, then we may not need to help," Clint simply responded with the only answer he had.
After he said that, Wanda simply continued making eye contact with the animal, as if in thought. She'd never done anything like this before but maybe… just maybe…
Small red wisps came out of her hands, and the same soon surrounded the deer who seemed oblivious to it. Clint raised his eyebrows as she slowly started walking towards the buck, who didn't run or even back away an inch. She didn't stop until she was literally two feet away from him. She had never been so close to one before and it was absolutely surreal how she could reach out and pet it if she wanted, but she didn't dare. Instead, she simply looked at Clint a motioned him to come over.
And he did, very slowly and quietly, still not sure what she was doing but whatever it was, he was finally able to get a good look at the graze. It must have hurt like hell, there seemed to be a small chunk of fur and skin off of him causing the steady flow of blood, but the blood did seem to be slowing. It looked worse than it was, Clint had had many similar injuries in the past and honestly, this deer could probably get by with not needing any help. Time could heal this wound.
As Clint backed off again, Wanda did the same. When they were far enough away, she stopped using her powers and almost instantly the animal dashed off.
"What was that?" Clint asked, wondering what the heck she just did to get the animal to stand that still so they could near it.
Wanda was surprisingly shocked it worked and she replied, "I tested to see if my power of illusion could be used on him. I tried to make him feel as if nothing was wrong and make it content with staying where he was," She paused for a moment to gather her scrambled thoughts. "I guess it worked…"
"Well," Clint said, equally as surprised, "I guess we can add 'animal whisperer' to your list of powers…"
Clint was glad the hunters left town for good after that incident, he hadn't seen them since. He would never know if they would be back in the future, but based on how they straight up left town after another run in with him, it was safe to say they wouldn't be back any time soon. And that was for the best to make sure Clint didn't properly shoot them in the legs. Afterall, he had come close.
It had been a couple days since that incident and Clint was currently positioned in the same tree, watching the family go about their daily lives. He still wanted to keep a careful eye on them, to make sure Bucky's injury healed without issue or infection.
The first few days, Wanda joined him. She tried to hone her powers by using them on Bucky and make the first steps of the healing process easier. His injury clearly hurt, so she did her best to take away some of the pain of the injury by setting a calm mindset on him. It seemed to work, by how normal the deer acted when she was around, and it helped the worst of the storm.
All in all, Bucky seemed to be doing just fine, and that was enough to keep a smile on his face.
And if the hunters ever did return, Clint would make sure those two idiots learned never to mess with the crazy, Clint Barton.
And that's the end of our first mini story!:) I'd love to hear your thoughts and maybe there will be more in the future if you guys want to read them. Thanks for reading this continuing story!:D