AN: Thank you for the lovely comment TheAmberShadow! I appreciate it.

Clint didn't even feel it as he was dropped back on his cell floor. Nausea and dizziness were fighting for supremacy, while the tremors, stronger than last time, shook him. Intellectually he might know it would pass, but there was a certain terror inherent in not being to control your own body. He closed his eyes and tried to take comfort in the fact that he'd continued to remain silent, but Strucker was also growing more impatient, which boded ill for the future.

"What do you know about Hydra?"

He opened his eyes and sought, through the tilting, dizzy world, who had spoken. He realized that once again the siblings had held back. Wanda was standing at the bars. What her expression was, in his present condition, he couldn't tell.

Clint tried to form an answer but found coherent thought nearly impossible.

"Give me...minute..." It took all he had to force even that out, his teeth chattering, his body still reacting violently to the abuse inflicted on it, and the words came out shaky and weak.

He heard footsteps and for a moment he thought she had left, and he desperately tried to find the strength to call her back so as not to lose this chance that might never come again.

But she hadn't left. She was simply pacing.

He closed his eyes and listened to the sound of her footsteps. It was a distraction, something for his mind to focus on instead of the shaking of his own body, which in turn allowed him to calm the fear triggered by the tremors and calm his breath. With more even breathing, the shaking stilled a little

When he opened his eyes ten minutes later, the world, while still inclined to tilt, did not feel as if it were dancing round him any longer and while there was still the occasional jerk of a limb, he had a little control. Enough to pull himself into a sitting position against the back wall. This movement caused a fresh wave of vertigo, but another minute of closed eyes and it passed.

"What did you ask me?" His voice was strained but clearer than before. There was no shaking of the voice now.

Wanda stopped pacing and came back to the bars. Her brother was, as before, leaning against the wall, his arms crossed, looking more as if he were guarding his sister then actually interested in the conversation.

"You said that we don't know what Hydra is. Very well. Tell us."

Clint sighed and tried to martial his thoughts. This was an opportunity, a chance, but he felt too exhausted to make the most of it. For one weak moment he thought of brushing her off, rolling over and sleeping until they came for him again the next day. It would mean giving up, but what did that really matter?

And yet...

It did matter. He had promised himself he would make a push for these too. And it mattered for Laura. And it mattered for of Cooper and Lila. He couldn't give up. It would be so easy. But he couldn't allow himself to take the easy path. Not again.

It felt like a colossus effort to concentrate, to focus enough to reply. But he pushed himself, and once he started talking it grew a little easier.

"Hydra has been bent on world domination since World War II. They thought the Nazis were too lenient, that should give an idea of what their values are. They want to control. Everything and everyone, and when something gets in their way...they destroy it."

He had to stop, to catch his breath.

"They believe in order, their order, imposed at any cost. Those are their values. If they gave you your powers...then you can be certain they mean to abuse them. They prey on the lost and the weak. Whatever they told about their vision and their ends, they left out the rottenness at their heart."

He stared, unseeingly before him. He saw himself, making that first kill. And many kills after. His stomach twisted. "They lied to me. Again and again. I killed people for them, based on their lies. I betrayed everyone I ever cared about. At first because of a world of lies that Hydra sold me. And then because I couldn't see my way out again. You cannot trust Hydra. They will use you. They will use you and destroy you…in one way or another. Whatever they've told you, the truth is simple. Hydra are the villains."

"So what if they are?" Pietro snapped. "There isn't a great deal too choose from is there? One villain or the other. And at least Hydra took us in and gave us something. Maybe everything you say is true. But as I see it, all there are in this damn world are the bad guys."

"There are heroes."

"Who? Your precious Avengers?" he sneered.

Clint focused his gaze on Pietro with an effort. He looked younger in Clint's eyes at this moment than he ever had before. The anger such an obvious, desperate wall of defense.

"Yes," he said gently. "Sometimes. And anyone who tries to do the right thing. It might not be easy. But there's always a right thing. And sometimes you have to sacrifice for it. Sacrifice power or wealth, opportunities, time, even your life. And sometimes you have to sacrifice your anger. And you fail. But you take responsibility for those failures, you don't run from them. And you stand back up and try again. And again and again if that's what it takes. Life throws a lot of crap at you. But being the hero means you don't use that as an excuse or a way to hide.

"The good guy doesn't need a metal suit, an alien hammer, or even super speed. And it's not about legacies or attention. It's not even about redemption. The good guy just needs to choose to do the right thing because it is the right thing and because it helps people and because someone has to do it. Tony would be the first to agree with that. You know his story as well as everyone else in the world. You know why he became Iron Man. You think he became Iron Man and felt that made the balance right? If he did he wouldn't have a reason to keep fighting. You think flying a nuke into outer space, stopping an alien invasion and saving New York from being blown up, cleared his conscience? You think that's really why he did that?

"Killing Tony isn't going to bring you two peace. That's not how that works. I know. I've killed Hydra agents, trying to clean up the mess I helped to make. But that's not going to make me right with myself."

"You still do it," said Wanda.

"Yes. I do. They're a threat, a real threat, and a threat I'm in a good position to deal with. But it doesn't make me right with the people I hurt or right with myself. I wish I had easy answers for you both…but I don't….I'm sorry for what you've been put through. But it doesn't make what you're doing now right. But you have a choice to make. And despite everything that's been done to you, at the end of the day, it's your choice. And you have to answer for it, right or wrong, somewhere down the line."

He leaned back, exhausted and drained from the effort.

"I…" Wanda began and then closed her mouth. She looked over at her brother.

Clint thought if he could read their expressions right now, he might know if his words had had any effect, if at least there was hope for these two somewhere down a long line, even if not for himself. But he was too tired. The world had started to spin again. He closed his eyes. He didn't know when the pair left, for sleep overwhelmed him.