Blackout | Matt Murdock

epilogue | they're fugitives now, whoops

Michaela rolls over, groaning into the mattress even as she's dragging one of the flimsy pillows over her ears. It doesn't little to stifle the sound of Peter's obnoxiously loud snoring but it's the thought that counts more than anything. God, she loves this kid, she does, but if she'd known that he sounded like a goddamn foghorn in his sleep she might've insisted on separate rooms, regardless of the security risk.

This is the tenth night in a row she's suffered through this, and it hasn't gotten any more tolerable. She's tried waking him up, but he just falls back asleep almost instantly and the snoring starts back up within seconds. She's tried ear plugs but she can't sleep with them, and anyway they didn't block out the ambient noises, let alone Peter.

Settling on her back, Michaela flings the pillow away dramatically, because who's gonna see it besides her, no one can judge her anymore than she's judging herself. She reluctantly opens her eyes, letting them adjust a moment before she glances at the clock on the bedside table. 3:54 AM. Ugh. She's not a stranger to sleepless nights but it doesn't mean she enjoys them, and that's even less true when she's got Peter's chainsaw snoring going on three feet away from her. Being awake in the middle of the night leaves her with entirely too much to time to think, and these days there's not an ounce of optimism left in her to block out all the nasty worst case scenarios that run on a loop through her consciousness every waking hour.

Fuck, she misses Matt.

She misses Matt and his warmth and the way he holds onto her whether she's sleeping or not, because he knows it gives her something to focus on, something to ground herself when her thoughts spiral out of control. She misses his laugh and his smile and, god help her, she misses his sass. What she wouldn't give to have him hear, teasing her about bad she is at being a fugitive and then gently correcting her so she doesn't get any of them caught or, you know, killed. Or something.

Natasha kept her word and got them out of the precinct. Got them of New York, out of the country. She had help but she wouldn't say who it was from, though she did let it slip to Michaela that she'd right about SHIELD getting involved – they've got their own problems, and while there are people sympathetic to her and Peter (Skye, she figures, since she doubts Coulson really cares about her so long as she's not trying to take over the world; maybe Lincoln if she's feeling generous towards herself) they can't risk getting tangled with anyone actively breaking the law, no matter how stupid they all consider said law.

Anyway, Natasha got them set up with more than passable fake IDs and let them keep the holo-tech masks, though also told them that they can't use them much longer. They've got a specific energy signature that the government will eventually key into, and then they'll basically be beacons that'll lead the government right to their doorstep. Which, currently, is a run-down hotel (motel? Michaela doesn't actually know the difference, but either way she feels unclean just from laying on the bed) that Natasha paid for upfront. They've got two weeks here, and then – well. Then Natasha supposedly comes back and escorts them to the next "safe house."

Supposedly because Natasha only said that someone would be there to escort them. She didn't even imply she'd be the one doing it. Which is. Terrifying, really. Natasha's at least a friendly face, someone Michaela does genuinely trust, and if it's not her—

Michaela will just have to cope. She doesn't have much of a choice if she wants to stay out of the Raft. And fuck, does she want to steer clear of that place. Natasha's done some digging and from what she's told Michaela, the place is one step above a torture chamber for powered people. That's where they want to send Peter, who's never done a damn thing wrong in his life. Except lie to her aunt about being Spider-Man – which, fuck, Michaela tries not to think about what May is going through right now, with Peter in the wind and the entire country painting him as a some vicious criminal.