Like A Bullet [P.M.]

Chapter 61

"Or the grandmother he hated but faked loving her did not give him her million dollar fortune and now he has to continue serving Tony and live a life of solitude due to his work."

"Woah. Calm down there, Pietro." She snickered, causing me to laugh with her.

"So, I was wondering, I have never seen what is left of Novi Grad, the capital city of Sokovia. The one that was destroyed. All I have seen are pictures and videos. I was dead when it came crashing down. So I was wondering if we could take a day and go there? I know I would be opening a wound I should not open, but... I want to see. I need to see."

"Pietro, are you sure?" Laurel's voice quieted. She was worried. I could hear it in her tone.

"Yes, Laurel. I need to see it with my own eyes. Novi Grad was my home, and now there is nothing left of it. I am sure."

"Novi Grad? I thought it was just Sokovia."

"Sokovia is the country. Sokovia is still there. Novi Grad was the destroyed, capital city of Sokovia."

"I didn't know that."

"Many people do not know that."

"I remember seeing it happen. I was at the bakery, working. It was a very normal day, really. The least any of us expected was that a city in Europe could be flying in the air. But suddenly the television cuts to the news. I, as a New Yorker, find that very scary. So, when I saw the headline: "City in Sokovia under attack, Avengers at the scene", I could not believe it. A city was flying, the Avengers were there. I immediately thought it had to be something horrible that was attacking. Everyone in the bakery froze for a solid half hour, all eyes locked on the TV screen." She paused.

"What happened next?" I asked.

"Well. Then, it started plummeting. Everyone in the bakery started gasping. Some were crying, even. I thought to myself, these people would've never known that city existed if this had never happened. But, they cared. Because something similar had happened here, with the aliens. I couldn't take my eyes off the screen. Everyone was in shock and we were terrified. It was a sad sight to see. And then, the thing we least expected happened. It blew up. The whole rock just blew up into small pieces. It didn't even touch the ground. I remember my coworker asking me if the Avengers were still on the rock. I stared at her, not knowing what to answer. I didn't know what had happened. I didn't know if the Avengers were okay. I didn't know anything. Later that day, it was reported that there were no people on the rock when it was destroyed. But there were casualties. For a small moment, just a small moment, I was pissed. I was angry at the Avengers. I don't know why. Maybe it was because of what happened to my mother. But I was angry. Angry at them."

I stayed silent, not knowing what to say next. Laurel stared out into the night. I waited. Waited for her to say her next word. Waited for Aaron to come into the room. I just waited.

"Thank you for telling me that, Laurel."

She locked her eyes on mine and removed a strand of hair from her face. "Are you being sarcastic?"

"No. I would have never known what it was like to witness the horrific scene that was the Battle for Sokovia from the perspective of an outsider. My mind was just set on one thing that day. Well, two things really. Destroying all the robots that were on that rock, and protecting Wanda."

"Well, you're welcome. You're a good listener."

"Not really. I just like to hear you talk."

"Here we go!" Aaron barged in, pushing a cart carrying our food. "Sorry for the lateness, our chef is a bit too enthusiastic to have another Avenger on board."

"That is alright." I chuckled, sitting myself up to eat.

"Anything else I can bring you two?" Aaron politely asked.

"Um, no thank you." Laurel gave him an appreciative smile and began to dig into her food. We were both hungry. The food was delicious. The steak was soft, and it had an amazing flavor. I tried one of Laurel's ribs and the sauce was divine. She also took a piece of my steak. After we finished our plates, Aaron proceeded to ask us if we wanted dessert.

"Well, what do you have?" Laurel asked, wiping her mouth with a napkin.

"Well, we have this amazing chocolate fudge cake with vanilla ice cream. Would you like to try it?"

Laurel glanced at me, and I shook my head in agreement.

"Yes, and do you happen to have hot chocolate?"

"We might. I'll go check. If we don't have, can I replace it with coffee?"

"Uh, sure." I said, brushing my hair back.

When he walked out with our plates, a burp escaped my mouth. I immediately brought my hands up to my mouth, but Laurel burped too, sending us both into a laughing fit.

"God, I love you." I grinned, very sheepishly.

"I know." Laurel replied, bashing those eyelashes of hers. She could make me go crazy if she wanted to.

After a few minutes of laughing our butts off, Aaron entered the room with the delicious looking plate of cake.

"Turns out we had hot chocolate." He smiled, setting the plate and the two cups on the table. "Bon appetite." He said, walking out of the room.

We immediately dug in and savored the amazing flavors that tingled inside our mouths.

"Oh my god. This is amazing." Laurel spoke, taking another piece of cake into her mouth.

"The cake is so moist and the vanilla goes amazingly with it." I said, licking my vanilla filled lips.

We ate the cake in about ten minutes and we drank our hot chocolate in another ten minutes. The drink was average. Just your typical hot chocolate.

After that, Aaron walked in and cleaned the table. He prepared a bed for us to sleep in while the jet made its way to Rome.

"If you need anything, I will be in the staff room. Just knock." He told us goodnight and left us.

We both took off our shoes and layed down on the silk sheets and the comfortable pillows.

"I'm so full." Laurel whispered.

"Me too. That cake really hit the spot."

"Think we'll be able to eat another cake like it?"

"I do not know. Maybe if we steal the chef. Do you think they will notice?" I turned my body to face Laurel's, who was looking at the jet's ceiling.

"Stark can hire another." She then rolled herself into my arms, facing my chest. "Can you take your shirt off?"

"Why?"

"I'm so used to it now, it's weird not feeling your skin when I sleep."

"Alright."

I sat up and removed my long sleeved, navy blue shirt. I then layed down, and pulled Laurel close. We fell asleep to the sound of a jet engine soaring through the night.