Chapter 6: Gotta Make a Living

God, what a week. It felt as if the whole universe was conspiring against him. Once he had decided to propose, every good moment to do so was filled with rescues, or assignments, or...

Perching on the side of a building, he put his head in his hands. Screw it, the city can wait. He launched himself into the air, swinging toward home. He hadn't spent any quality time with Mary Jane since their lunch 'date' a week ago.

It didn't take him long to arrive at the balcony. His spider-sense tingled a little, but he deliberately ignored it. Alighting on the rail, he looked through the windows. MJ had probably only been home from her show a half-hour, so she was probably not yet asleep. A light was on in the bedroom. Wonderful, she is still up. He stepped over to the window, gave a tug, and... locked. Sheepishly, he tapped on the windowpane. MJ came out of the bathroom, dressed in shorts and a nightshirt with slender straps.

She smiled, unlocked the window, and gestured inside. As his feet touched the floor, she wrapped him in a hug. "I've missed you this week," she murmured, tugging his mask off and bringing his head down for a kiss. When the kiss ended, she continued, "Are you too tired, or would you be interested...?"

His lips traveled down the line of her jaw to her neck. "You read my mind..."

Andy set up his tripod exactly, adjusting the camera so that it pointed toward the bedroom window. He had found a great location on the roof across the street. The edge of the wall was crenellated so that he could shoot through the indentation, yet still hide himself from view.

It hadn't been difficult to find her building. He staked out the theater and followed her cab home. He hadn't been able to follow her into the building, because the main door locked behind her. He couldn't very well buzz every apartment to find hers. Besides, he didn't even know what her voice sounded like. Then he noticed the nameplates over each button. One read: Watson (in type), then Parker (written underneath in pen). Bingo.

He waited until the next morning, dressed in a delivery-style outfit, and buzzed the apartment. A female voice came over the intercom. "Yes?"

He picked a nameplate at random. "I have a package for Johnson."

"I'm sorry, you have the wrong apartment."

"This isn't Apartment 103?"

"No, this is Apartment 506."

"Oh, sorry, thanks for your help."

"No problem."

Once he had the apartment number, he knew she was on the fifth floor. It wouldn't be too hard to figure out which one was hers. She kept late hours as an actress. Just wait for her to come home and see which lights came on.

After watching her the next night, he knew hers faced the street. And what luck - the building across the street had a roof at just the right height.

As he was waiting for Watson to come home for the night, he wondered just who "Parker" was. Her roommate? Her live-in boyfriend? (He could be Spider-Man... If not, would he be in for a shock.) He was pretty sure she wasn't married yet, not so soon after ditching Jameson. But he had never seen anyone else enter or exit the building with her. And he had certainly not seen anyone through the windows other than the girl.

He made sure his good camera was loaded correctly, and took a few focusing shots. He then checked his backup camera. Both seemed ready to go. Just a waiting game, now.

A few minutes later, Watson's cab pulled up to the entrance. She paid the fare, unlocked the door, and went inside. The lights went on in her place soon after. She appeared in the bedroom, and began to shed her clothes. He knew he was being a voyeur, but hell! This was one of the few perks of his job.

Unfortunately, before it got too interesting, she went into the bathroom, leaving the door slightly ajar. Steam began to filter into the bedroom, effectively blocking his view of her.

Faster than he could register, that red and blue blur from the other day landed on the balcony. He lifted his camera and took his first shot. Click. Spider-Man tapped on the window. Watson came to the window to let him in. Click. They embraced and she removed his mask! Damn, this was going to set him up for life! Click. He only had a view of the back of Spider-Man's head. They began kissing. Click. Come on, turn a little to the side... It was hard to tell in this light, he thought the guy had black or brown hair, could have been a dark blond...

They moved to the bed, but Spider-Man's back was still to him. He laid her down, pulling the straps down on the nightshirt. Click. Suddenly, a gust of wind got him off-balance, and the camera crashed to the bricks by his feet. No time to check it now. He quickly grabbed the other camera, and lifted it... to find he was face to face with the Wall Crawler himself.

Peter kissed Mary Jane all along the side of her neck, down to her shoulder, Instinctively, they moved toward the bed. He hadn't bothered to remove his costume yet. Besides, she liked to do that. But the buzzing in his mind was not going away. Leave me alone! he thought at the world. Can't a guy enjoy a few minutes with his girl? He set her gently on the bed, and began to pull her nightshirt down. Breaking contact with her lips, he reached to turn off the lamp on the nightstand.

In the sudden dark, his spider-sense screamed at him. It was as if the danger were right on him. In what seemed like slow motion, he turned, realized the focus of the sensation was across the street... "MJ! Close the curtains, now!" He flew out of the window, then leaped across the street to land on the face of the building opposite. The man there lifted his camera, and looked up at him with a 'deer in the headlights' sort of look.

"You know, the guy who usually takes my picture asks my permission first." Spider-Man shot out a strand of webbing and yanked the camera out of Andy's hands.

Andy stood gaping. He was so stunned he couldn't get any words out. He had never been 'caught in the act' before.

Spider-Man popped the back of the camera, removed the film, and tucked it in the waistband of his costume. He made as if to toss the camera to the street, but instead webbed it in a small sac, and tossed it back. "I know a guy's gotta make a living." His tone quickly changed. "Leave Miss Watson alone. Get my drift?"

Andy finally found his voice. "A... Are you threatening me?"

"Hey, don'tcha read the papers? I'm a menace!" Spider-Man swung away down the street.

Andy looked at the sticky mess in his hands, then down at his feet. The other camera was still there. If the fall hadn't damaged it... Andy turned toward the direction Spider-Man had gone, and smiled. You're right, Spider-Man. A guy's gotta make a living...