A Different World

an arsenal of kitchen weaponry

Summary: Michelle is exhausted, okay? All she wants to do is go home and sleep until Peter gets back from patrol. When she arrives home, though, there's already someone in their bedroom and the living room window is open.

aka, Michelle Jones and Her Arsenal of Kitchen Supply Weaponry vs the Robber in Her Bedroom

Michelle was exhausted. She'd worked late the past few evenings and although she loved Pepper and her job at Stark Industries, it was exhausting. This week had been particularly so. On both Tuesday and Wednesday, she ended up falling asleep in her office with Pepper, only to wake up and find herself in the Stark's penthouse guest room, Peter sleeping soundly beside her and his Spider-Man suit thrown haphazardly on the floor. Thursday, she managed to make it home before midnight and without falling asleep on the bus.

As Friday finally drew to an end, Pepper had promised not to contact her for anything work related and sent her out the Tower doors just after eight o'clock. It was still later than she usually worked, but it was better than staying past midnight or sleeping in the Stark's penthouse, so Michelle counted it as a win.

Unfortunately, leaving Midtown Manhattan at 8PM meant that she didn't arrive at her and Peter's apartment in Queens until nearly an hour later.

They'd toyed with the idea of moving closer―even considered Stark's offer of an entire floor in the Tower. In the end, though, Peter hadn't wanted to leave Queens and it was too far for Spider-Man to travel to and from the Tower every night.

As she stepped through the door to their apartment, she bit back a curse. Peter had left the window open and although it was April, Michelle was cold.

She dropped her bag by the door, kicked off her shoes, and crossed the apartment to close the window. Knowing Peter would be climbing back inside within a couple of hours, she left it unlocked before going into the kitchen to make herself some tea.

As she crossed into the kitchen, however, a sound from their bedroom made her pause.

It was only 9PM. Peter should still have been out on patrol, but she was certain that she'd heard someone in their bedroom.

She reached for her phone.

If Peter was home early, then he probably needed medical attention. On the off chance that it was not Peter in their room, though, she didn't want to have her phone out of reach.

She pressed on Peter's contact as she took a step towards their bedroom, letting it ring as she cautiously made her way through the small apartment.

Peter picked up on the second ring, just as she reached for the bedroom door handle.

"MJ! Hi!" he exclaimed. When his voice didn't echo on the other side of the door, Michelle froze. "What's up?"

"There's someone here," she whispered. Her hand dropped away from the bedroom door and she took a silent step backward. "Someone's―Peter, there's someone in our bedroom."

Her voice was barely more than a whisper, but the bedroom door was cracked and she didn't dare speak any louder. As silently as she could, she backed away from the door until she was in the bathroom. She closed the door and left the light off.

"Fu―Shi―The apartment?" Peter stumbled through another curse. "I'm―Shit, MJ, I'm five minutes away."

"That's―That's fine." She hoped it was, anyway. "I'm in the bathroom. I don't think they heard me."

"Good." Peter's breathing was heavy over the line as he said, "I'm coming, okay? Just stay there. I'm coming."

Outside the bathroom, Michelle heard their bedroom door pull open and heavy footsteps pass outside the bathroom. She held her breath and prayed they wouldn't notice the door had been closed. In her ear, Peter began to panic.