The title for chapter thirteen is from "First" by Cold War Kids

Chapter 13: you play the game though it's unfair

They decided to just spend the next morning in bed. Clint disappeared to the kitchen for several minutes and returned with an impressively large stack of toast. Then they just lay in bed, listening to the radio and working their way through what Pietro now suspected was an entire loaf of bread. Once they'd finished their breakfast, they went and took a shower together. They didn't bother getting dressed afterwards, instead choosing to just lay naked on the bed. The radio still played softly in the background and Pietro closed his eyes, utterly relaxed, as Clint traced his fingers over the scars that peppered Pietro's arms and torso. He hadn't felt so much like himself in so long, and he wanted to savor it while it lasted because he knew it was only a matter of time before the nightmares returned, regardless of whether he was asleep or awake.

So of course they were interrupted. They had been lying there for about an hour when someone knocked on the door. Clint got up and pulled on some sweatpants, tossed a blanket over Pietro, who hadn't made any sign of trying to cover himself, then answered the door. It was Tony.

"Hey lazy bones," he greeted. "You've got mail."

He handed an envelope to Clint.

"There's no return address and it's marked urgent," he continued. "So I'm guessing it's some top secret SHIELD agent business."

"Naw, I don't think so," said Clint, frowning at the envelope. "I haven't really done much for them since SHIELD fell, just Avengers stuff. And they have never contacted me by mail."

"Well, I'll leave you to your secret admirer or whatever it is," said Tony.

He left and Clint closed the door. He walked over and sat back down on the bed next to Pietro.

"Who do you think it's from?" Pietro asked.

"Well, we're about to find out," said Clint.

Then he tore open the envelope. Inside was a single sheet of paper. Clint took it out and read it silently, a grim look coming over his face as he did.

"What is it? What's wrong?" said Pietro.

"Consider this your warning, Hawkeye," Clint read. "You're not the only one who can play this game. Cut off one head, two more shall take its place."

"Hydra," Pietro breathed, his heart sinking.

"Yup."

Clint set the letter in Pietro's lap. Pietro looked down at it. Beneath the text was the symbol of Hydra, stamped as a signature in red ink.

"They're going to come after you. They're going to kill you for what you did," said Pietro.

All the serenity of that morning was shattered, replaced by a fearful panic.

"No, I don't think they will. Not yet, anyway," said Clint.

"What do you mean?"

"You saw the letter. 'You're not the only one who can play this game.'. If they're coming after me, it won't be right away," said Clint. "They'll come after the team first. They're gonna kill everyone I love. To punish me for killing their agents. Then they'll kill me."

"After they make you watch your friends all die," Pietro finished.

His panic was escalating now. Hydra had just added every single one of the Avengers to a hit list, and as someone who had suffered their violence first hand on two separate occasions, he knew they weren't going to let any of them off easy with a quick bullet to the head.

"I'm a fucking idiot," Clint said, crumpling the envelope in his fist. "I put you and all the others in danger. And all because I couldn't control my fucking temper."

"You couldn't have known this would happen," said Pietro.

"Maybe not, but this is Hydra we're talking about. If I'd just stopped to think for a god damn second, I would've realized it was a dumbass idea, that I'd get at least myself killed, if not everybody I fucking know."

"You were upset, Clint. You wanted revenge. I know a little of what it's like to do stupid things for revenge. It's easy to convince yourself you're doing the right thing."

"Pietro, they're gonna try and hurt you again because of me. You don't have to comfort me. You should be mad at me."

"I'm more scared than anything," Pietro said. "But I'm definitely not mad."

"You should be."

"Well, I'm not. Though quite honestly, part of that is because I'm a little too busy being terrified out of my mind."

Clint took Pietro's hand and kissed his forehead.

"I'm so sorry I've put you in danger like this," he said.

"I forgive you," said Pietro.

"Oh Christ, we've gotta tell the others," Clint groaned.

"They, on the other hand, might be a bit more pissed off at you."

"Well, Barton, this is absolutely fantastic," Bruce said sarcastically.

Clint had just finished telling the rest of the Avengers about Hydra's letter and, just as Pietro had predicted, they were all considerably less than thrilled. Not that he blamed them. He'd put a death sentence on all of their heads with his rash actions, they were more than entitled to be mad at him.

"I'm sorry about this, guys. I really am," he said. "I didn't think they'd come after all of you because of what I did... I mean, I figured they'd want my head on a platter, but this..."

"Clint, it's not your fault, you couldn't have expected this," said Natasha.

"Dammit, Nat, you and Pietro are both the same," said Clint. "This is my fault, and there's no making excuses for it. I'm the one who went postal and murdered all those Hydra agents, which means I'm the reason the rest of Hydra is gonna try and kill all of you. That's on my head, Nat."

Pietro slipped his hand into Clint's and gave it a comforting squeeze, which Clint reciprocated gratefully.

"So, what are we gonna do about this?" Sam said, cutting straight to business; Clint was grateful for that too. "We should make a plan. 'Cause I don't know about the rest of you, but I really don't feel like getting brutally murdered any time soon."

"Well for starters, I'm gonna amp up security on the tower," said Tony. "Not sure if I should put it on international crisis mode or just extreme danger..."

"International crisis might be a slight overreaction," said Steve. "But definitely put the building on high security. And I don't think anyone should go out by themselves."

"Not a problem for me," said Pietro.

"That might be all we can do for now," Steve continued. "We can try to keep tabs on all known Hydra agents, but there's only so much good that will do. Really, we've just got to be smart and be prepared. With any luck, we all make it out of this."