Maya Stark

Chapter 142: Why is he so familiar?

'Why do I have to come with you?' I ask Happy as we walk into the cemetery.

'Moral support,' Happy says. 'And because you can't be alone with that head injury.'

I roll my eyes. 'You know I can.'

'Stop complaining,' Happy says.

My head started to throb again, and I felt like I was missing something. I had been getting migraines for... well as long as I can remember really. There was this lingering sense of unknown. When we get to the grave there's a guy, around my age, standing there. Happy asked me to go to May Parker's grave with him. Apparently they were an item or something. I personally never really met her. We stand there awkwardly, and my finger taps at my leg.

'How do you know her?' Happy asks the boy.

'Through Spider-Man,' he said. 'You?'

'Same,' Happy said. 'I lost a good friend a while back.' My heart lurches slightly. 'It felt like this. Hurts cause they're gone, and then it hurts all over again because you remember what they stood for, and you wonder... is all that gone too?'

'No, it's not gone,' the boy said. 'Everybody she helped...' he turned to Happy, smiling. 'They'll keep it going.'

'You really think so?' Happy asks.

'I know it,' said the mystery boy. That's when he noticed me, and I swear it looked like he saw a ghost, his face turning pale. But it was cold out, I must have been imagining it.

'Come on, Maya,' Happy said. 'I promised Pepper you'd be home by two.'

I nod. 'I'll be right there.'

Happy walks away, looking miserable.

I look at the boy and try to place him. Something about him was just so familiar to me, but I knew I had never met him before. My head starts pounding, forcing me to look down. His personality, his voice... God, everything was just so familiar about this kid?

'Losing someone is hard,' I say, to fill in the heavy silence. 'I'm, uh, really sorry.'

'Thanks,' he said, his voice a little high. 'Uhm, I'm Peter by the way.'

I look at him. 'I'm Maya S—Stark.'

'Stark?' he said, though it sounded like fake surprise. Like he already knew, I guess that wasn't farfetched. 'So, he was talking about—'

'Yeah,' I say nodding. 'It's been... hard.'

'Are you okay?' he says, pointing at my forehead.

My fingers brush over the band aid. 'Oh, uh, yeah. I've had worse, trust me. It barely hurts anymore.' My eyes move to a necklace he was wearing, a spider with a green pendant on the end of it. 'That's an interesting necklace.'

'Oh, thanks,' he said, looking nervous. 'A friend got it for me.'

I stare at it for a second and then back at him. He looks like he wants to say something but doesn't.

'I should go,' he said, instead, his voice cracking. 'Take care of yourself, okay?'

I nod. 'Yeah, it was nice to meet you.'

He nods slightly before turning and leaving, my eyes following his figure. I knew him. I had to know him. I thought back to everything, but that only made my headache worse. My mind was weird like that. It was like I had memory gaps. Like most of the memories were wrong, or they were missing something. Something wasn't right. I could feel it. I needed answers, and there was only one person I could think to go to who could help me.

Stephen Strange.

Maya Stark will return one final time