Web of Love

Thanks for the positive feedback on the first chapter! If you want Barbara to return, let me know! (All characters are of an appropriate age, FYI)

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Jubilation Lee

He perched himself on a rooftop, taking a moment to enjoy the peace and quiet that was so rare in New York city. Especially for him. Peace and quiet... he thought, will end in five ...four ...three ... two... one... As if on cue, a frightened scream penetrated the night sky. Time for some responsibility, he thought as he loosed a line of webbing outwards to the nearest building and swung over the street. Okay, one more crime before I head home. It's almost five am. I definitely need to sleep. He let go of the web-line and ran over the rooftop as a woman screamed loudly.

"My Dog!" she screeched as Peter leaped down behind a restaurant, where the woman was kneeling next to the lifeless body of a German Shepard. He took note of the fact that the dog was covered in blood, which extended onto the woman's shirt. The only thing that could take on a dog that size is a bear or a wolf... he thought as his eyes followed a series of bloody smears that led down the alley and up a wall. Except bears and wolves don't climb like that. He walked over to an adjacent wall, studying a mark that had been left here. Four medium-length scratches gouges into the wall. Definitely not a wolf or bear, he thought as he leaped to the top of the building, following the smears and scratches. But a threat to people none the less. Looks like I might not get home by dawn. Again. He ran long and hard, unable to use his webbing, as he wouldn't be able to track the markings from a distance.

Captain America had given him some pointers when it came to tracking an enemy's footsteps, so Peter could determine that the tracks where less than ten minutes old. He leaped over a gap between two buildings and caught sight of a figure in the distance, running over rooftops. Even from a distance, he could tell that the figure was running just about as fast as him. He could also make out short hair and black clothing. The figure turned towards an abandoned building as the first signs of sunrise began to peek over the horizon. He pumped his legs even harder, gaining ground on the figure. So much so that he pinned her to a wall mere seconds before the sun engulfed them in light. He got a brief glimpse of the figure. She was female, of Asian descent. She had short black hair with purple streaks. Her eyes possessed a feral quality and her entire mouth was covered in blood. Faster than he could react, she hit him in the stomach, harder than he would have expected. The force of the blow forced him back several inches, and she tore off into the dark building. He followed her, after recovering from his initial shock of the girls strength.

The building was as it's exterior presented it, abandoned with the exception of the two meta-humans. The dark didn't bother him at all, with his superior eyesight he could see as if it where day. It didn't take him long to see the girl hiding in the darkest corner, which was in the upper corner of the building. He could also tell that she was seriously distressed about something. His mindset switched from crime-fighter to helping hand as he ascended the wall using his powers.

"Get away from me!" the girl screeched. To his ear, her words sounded like they contained more fear for his safety than hers. And that's where his own concern lay.

"I'm not going anywhere," he said sternly, "until you tell me what happened."

"Get out," she snapped as she folded her arms across her chest. "Now. Before it's to late."

"I get the feeling that it already is to late," he said as he noticed the girl's arms had severe burns, as did her forehead. "What happened to you?" he asked as he reached a hand out to her.

"Go away," she snapped as she struck his hand away.

"I need to know why you attacked that dog," he said firmly.

"I didn't want to..." she muttered in response as she wiped some of the blood off of her mouth. He caught the slightest glimpse of the interior of her mouth and began to come to a conclusion, "I can't..."

"You know," he said in a more relaxed tone as he shifted himself to become more comfortable on his perch. "I know this guy, Micheal Morbius. He's one of the smartest people I know, especially in the field of molecular biology. He thought that he could eliminate blindness in people to a certain degree by giving them the ability to echo-locate, like bats." He said as the girl wiped more blood from her mouth, allowing him to confirm the fact that she had elongated canine teeth. Her upper two where at least twice as long as a normal human's, while her bottom two where simple sharper and slightly more pronounced. "He was so sure his science was right that he preformed the mutagen transferal experiment on himself. Only, one of his co-workers thought his girlfriend was having an affair with Morbius, and re-programmed the machine at the last minute. Turning him into a human-bat hybrid."

"Hardly useful information, Spider-man," the girl scoffed heavily. "What happened to him, did he grow wings?"

"Much worse," Peter replied with a solemn voice. "Micheal's chosen species was the vampire bat. After the...incident, he learned he could fly and had inhuman strength. He also developed a nearly insatiable thirst for mammalian blood. That's when I was forced to fight a former colleague of mine. We fought through the night, evenly matched. But when dawn came, he fled. And I had some time to think. I realized that he wasn't a bad person, just someone who was succumbing to instincts he didn't understand yet. So I did what any friend would, I tried to help him by trying to reverse the experiment."

"Did it work?" the girl asked intently.

"No," Peter said, knowing full well that he might be destroying the girl's ray of hope. "It didn't, the machine nearly killed him. But in the end, he was still half bat. But I was, however, able to help him in another way."

"How?" the girl asked as she perked up.

"When we fought, he bit me," Peter said with a shrug. "Clearly I didn't turn into a vampire like him. So I contacted a man named Eric Brooks, and we where able to use a sample of my blood to create a synthesized food supply for him. No harmful biting on my part, and he wasn't forced to hurt anyone as long as he had a supply of about one litre a month."

"One litre?" the girl said with slight contempt, "I need that in a week..."

"So you are a vampire, then?" he asked with a slight tilt of his head. The notion wasn't that alien to him, as he had fought a wide variety of monsters in his superhero career.

"I...yes," the girl said solemnly. "For two months now. Funny, how I wished to get my old powers back and now..."

"M-day?" he asked, familiar with the events that led to the near extinction of mutant kind.

"M-day," she replied, "but one litre...how could he...?"

"Apparently my blood offers some regenerative qualities," Peter answered, "so it began replicating as soon as it left my body, and even when it was in his. So he was getting a constant supply while I only gave him no more than a blood donor would a hospital."

"Well he sounds like he's lucky to have a friend like you, Peter...dammit..." the girl said as she put the back of her head against the wall. "Damn mind reading hypnosis thing...keeps going in and out...I didn't mean to..."

"Just don't go spreading it around," he said with a cocky tilt of his head before turning his voice into a more serious one. "And if you need to...sustain yourself," he said as he handed her a spider-tracer, "don't hesitate to give me a call."

"Why would you do that for me?" she asked as he stood up.

"Better me than someone else," he replied. "After all, it'd be dark out. They could stub their toe or something," he finished with a smirk as he prepared to leave, "sleep tight. Hope you don't get daymares, miss."

"Wait," she said, stopping him from leaving. "My names Jubilation Lee. But you can call me Jubilee. And can we talk again sometime? It's been a while since I had a friend..."

"Sounds like fun, Jubilee," he replied, "How 'bout tonight? Just as long as you don't sparkle or anything." She let out a good, hearty laugh as he left the building.

A/N: well? Thoughts? Opinions? Did I botch it completely? Or do you want a follow-up?

Up Next: Jean Grey/Phoenix