Battlefield ｡ Tony Stark

13 - BARCELONA

1997
Barcelona, Spain

The Summer air was warm and dusted with sweet flowers; the pink and purple colours beautiful to glance upon. It was like a dream sequence wandering down the cobbled streets, laughter of locals like church bells in my ears and the taste of fresh bread making my mouth water. I had never imagined spending a holiday aboard, dancing through Europe with Lucy Hammer who was currently behind me, buying a generous tub of gelato. We had been backpacking through Europe for about three weeks already, tonight being our first night in the city of Barcelona. We were supposed to go to Madrid first but Lucy had been very persistent about staying in the city of colours and music tonight, something which I didn't mind too much.

"Isn't this place breathtaking?" Lu was suddenly beside me, a spoonful of chocolate gelato stuck in her mouth. My blonde beauty of a friend was still very pretty, her hair cut short right now and dusted with pink tips. She thought she looked very fresh with coloured hair. We had graduated a few months ago, deciding to travel through Europe before we settled down into actual jobs and falling into that simple life of work and creating families and whatnot. We thought we were free spirits, nothing holding us back right now.

I helped myself to her gelato, the taste exploding on my tongue. We were working our way around the city; seeing the amazing architecture and culture. We had already dropped our bags off to the small hostel we were staying at, which meant the whole afternoon and night was free for exploring. "Really breathtaking, Lu. We're in Spain. Isn't this crazy?"

Lucy smiled wide, the spoon hanging from her teeth. Over the years we had grown up a bit, that life of partying done with. I had finished up at rehab, spending six months realising life had more to offer and easing away from my addictions. Lucy had settled down too, actually still dating Aaron, the boy who was boring but safe. They were a cute pair, honestly. He was actually back at the hostel, feeling a little sick from the long train ride. It wasn't my ideal dream to travel with a couple but the three of us got along extremely well. "Positively crazy."

We stepped inside a random hotel lobby as the sprinkle of a rainstorm came through the city. The hotel was a fancy place with a doorman dressed in black. Everything shined with money and pristine. With a glance over at Lucy, we laughed into our hands as guests shot us looks. We were riddled with sweaty clothing, our shoulders tanned from the sun. Standing inside the hotel lobby, we screamed of poorness but that only made us laugh harder. The rain was nearly coming to an end when my eyes spotted a sign propped up by the far wall where two double doors leading to what must have been a function room. My hand was pulling Lucy close, my gaze stuck upon the sign still.

"Did you know about this?" I questioned, pointing over to the sign.

Lucy read the sign, a little gasp falling from her painted pink lips. She lifted her sunglasses upwards but just grinned. "Uh, I knew about the conference but I didn't think we would stumble into him, what are those odds? It was just a whim, but fate works in mysterious ways, Tilly."

I should have known she had changed our itinerary for some reason and this reason being that there was a Stark Industries conference being held in this very hotel, at this very moment. My stomach suddenly sunk and I was gapping across at her. I hadn't seen Tony in years, not since he had left Los Angeles and paid for my recovery in rehab. For a few months I held onto a tiny bit of hope that I would see him again but that faded with the turn of years. But now, after all these years, I didn't have the courage to see him.

"We have to go." I gushed out, tugging quickly on Lucy's arm and trying to drag her out the lobby, despite the rain still wetting the streets. "Before he randomly pops up and sees us."