Maya Stark

Chapter 89: Eight Days

We got to work the next day. Waking up early and planning what we needed to get done and what we needed to work on. How to use the shield and manage my powers were the main points. We basically made a workout routine. A part of me felt like we were wasting time just waiting for news about Karli. I felt like we should've been doing more but I knew it was no use. There wasn't anything else we could do except get prepared and stay prepared.

The first day was rough. I didn't sleep enough, and it had been a couple months since I did anything involving training. And the shield is not as easy as it looks. The day went by fast and by the end I was sweating, sore, and had a couple more bruises and scrapes. But it was funny watching the shield almost smack Sam in the face. Win some, lose some.

The second day was as bad as the first. Sam was having a hard time with the shield, and I still slightly refused to use it. I didn't need to and that would be counterproductive. My body, still sore from yesterday, was numb by dark. We spent the day outside working on Sam and the shield. I told him that should be our top priority seeing as that's the most important. He needed to know how to use it. We could get a call anytime on Karli.

The third day was the worst. Sam said we had to do something with my powers. It was important. It would be the hardest to control and it would give both our muscles a break. I tried to get out of it, but he shot me down easily. I knew in order to get in control with my powers I would have to get in control of my emotions. In order to do that I would have to tell Sam why I have to do any of this in the first place. They were too powerful. That was all I knew. Well, that... and why.

It was an hour or two in when I started getting frustrated. I hesitated every time I did something. I didn't want to use too much power. If I would just get out of my head everything would go so much smoother. Sam ran into it headfirst too. He was all like, "I'm gonna throw the shield at you, and your gonna either block it, stop it, or push it back towards me. Using your powers." Yeah, he thinks way too highly of me.

About three hours of hesitation, bruising, and Sam laughing at me, we took a break. Inside the kitchen I was hot, frustrated, and dying of thirst. I avoided looking at Sam, who I knew was trying to understand why I was suddenly scared of these powers I've had forever.

'You seriously gonna make me ask?' Sam asked after I hopped up onto the counter. I looked at him with a blank expression. 'Oh, don't give me that look, Maya. Come on. What happened five years ago? What happened before you got snapped that made you scared to use your powers?'

I held eye contact for a second. He seemed sincere. Like he really wanted to know. He probably thought it would help me. I sighed.

'I wasn't even supposed to be there, you know?' I said quietly. 'Parker and I were supposed to be on Earth. We would have ended up in Wakanda with you if we had just listened. But then he wouldn't have been able to say goodbye.' Once Sam got over the initial shock of me actually talking, he listened intently.

My voice wavered slightly. 'I always thought, there isn't much that could be done to really get to me or dad. We've been through it all. That's what I thought. But Thanos... Thanos was different. It's like he knew everything about us. He beat all of us so easily. It's just... sometimes I feel like it was my fault.'

'Maya, how could it have been—'

'Strange gave over the power stone to save me. I know that he probably planned it. He saw the ending. He said so himself. 14,000,605 chances.' My voice sounded far away, even to me. The memories flooded my head just like they did in my dreams. 'He saw it. We won once out of 14,000,605. So really, I'm being unrealistic. It had to happen.'

'Maya, why did he need to save you?' Sam's voice was calm and slow. He didn't want to overstep.

'It was just us left. Dad and me. I didn't know where everyone else was and Strange looked like he was down. I got clipped by the Power stone and flew back because I knew dad was alone. I flew back just in time to see him get stabbed in the stomach. One minute I was kneeling next to my dad and the next... all I could see was purple.' Tears burned my eyes, and I tried to blink them back but I was in too far.