"Peter dear," Aunt May chimed as they exited the restaurant and walked out into the cool night air. "It's so nice to be able to do this every once in a while. I know your...job...keeps you busy and..."

"Aunt May you're making me feel guilty!" He snorted as they turned the corner. "You know that I'd like to be able to spend more..." he began.

"You do a marvellous job of keeping these streets in order," she cut in with a smile. "You do your parents and your uncle proud and Oh!" she said as three teenagers whizzed by on skateboards, missing the two of them by less than an inch. Peter had managed to nudge his Aunt out of the way just in time. "Although, if you could just teach punks like that a lesson or two more.." she half-spat as they continued towards the car, which was located in a parking garage two blocks away.

"I'll do my best," he smiled inwardly, before a somewhat haunting echo cast itself over the darkened sidewalk, reminding him how dangerous New York could be after the sun set for a non-super-powered individual. "Let's go," he muttered, knowing that something was up. He didn't want to alarm his Aunt, but he could feel the hairs stand up on the back of his neck, and his trademark spider-sense began to give off a low hum in the back of his head.

"Why?" his Aunt whispered quietly as they shuffled along. "What's wrong?"

"Just keep moving," he whispered as they entered the dark parking garage. That's when the howling and laughing began. "Now," he barked quietly, and his Aunt nodded in response as a particularly fearsome growl split the air.

"WHHHHOOO-HHHHOOOO!" a voice from the shadows called out.

"COMBO DEAL!" another shouted.

"EASY PICKINGS!" a third shouted, mockingly. The hum in the back of his head grew into a full-blown warning as he grabbed his Aunt by the arm.

"Run," he whispered. Together, they wound their way into the staircase. He kept up what was a slow jog for him while he noticed Aunt May had begun to pant. I could have those punks on the floor before they knew what hit them! He thought with a grimace as they neared the door that led to the level Aunt May's car was on, but I don't know how many there are. If even one got to Aunt may they'd...

"BOO!" a young male shouted as Peter tore the door open. The man was dressed in all black. He had a ski mask over his face that sported a skull. Chains dangled from his ripped jeans, and shook as the man made a motion to step forward. Peter instinctively slammed the door in his face as he felt two sets of hands grab him from behind. Two thugs pushed him out the door and against a wall. He began to push back, but one of them drew a knife.

"Make a move and the bitch gets it," the skull-faced man barked as he put the knife close to his Aunt's throat. You asshole, he fumed internally, i'd have your ass upside-down against the wall in three seconds flat if you...His eyes widened in horror as the skull faced man jerked his Aunt's head back, dropping the knife as he did so. His spider-sense went on high alert, forcing him into action. He slipped out of the hold that the two other thugs had over him and rushed forward.

The man with the skull mask reacted impossibly fast, meeting Peter's charge with his shoulder. The two of them fell to the ground in a heap. Peter rolled to his feet, and the mask-wearing man did the same, tearing off the ski mask as he did so. A wicked, toothed smile crossed the man's face, revealing elongated canines.

"Get him," the man snarled, "let the bitch watch us tear him..."

"Hey!" a clear female voice shouted from somewhere unseen, causing all present bodies to turn towards the apparent source. "This is my turf," Jubilee said as she dropped out of the shadows. Peter raised an internal eyebrow at her outfit, which was comprised of a purple t-shirt, jeans, a yellow trench-coat and large, pink sunglasses.

"The Krieger sect goes where it wants," the man snapped, "I don't think you wanna fight us all."

"Exactly," Jubilee replied with a hint of a snarl. "So back off before this gets uglier than it has to." Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Jubilee's protruded fangs, and Aunt May's startled reaction to them. He had neglected to tell her about the incident several months ago, even though he had seen Jubilee since then several times, considering her a friend.

Several audible hisses escaped from the fanged mouths of the three attacking vampire muggers before one of them lunged forward, towards Jubilee. Peter intercepted him and sent the man sprawling across the pavement as another leaped high into the air, on a trajectory for Peter's back. A blur of yellow swept across his peripheral vision, indicating that Jubilee had caught the man in midair.

Turning his attention to the remaining attacker, Peter drove his foot into the creature's abdomen and neck before being forced into a defensive roll out of the way of the first mugger, who was back on his feet and inching his teeth towards Peter's neck, and digging his claw-like fingers into his back.

It was at that point that a primal roar resounded in his ears. He felt his attacker being pulled off of his body with force. He turned around just in time to cover his face, as a shower of blood rained down on him, followed by sorrowful whimpering.

He uncovered his eyes, coming across the sight of his Aunt standing in one spot, a look of shock on her face as she herself stared at her saviour. Jubilee however, was on her knees by the body of the only remaining attacker, as the other two had fled. She was coated in scarlet, mainly around her mouth. Long tears cascaded down her face, mixing with the blood as it pooled in front of her. He looked from one body to the other, unsure of who to help first. Fortunately, Aunt May made the decision for him.

"Are you...alright dear...?" Aunt May said as she took a tentative few steps forward. Five steps in, Jubilee let out a warning hiss as she shot to her feet and backed up defensively.

"Get away from me!" she snarled with exposed fangs.

"It's okay," Peter said as he grabbed her arms and forced her to face him. "It's okay," he repeated to his Aunt, allowing her worried expression to dissipate slightly. "She's a friend," he finished.

"I...I didn't...mean to...to..." she muttered as she buried her face into his chest. Soft, muffled sobs echoed through the nearly deserted parking garage. "I...I just...I've tried so hard to...I..." she continued to sob into his chest. Taking a cue from his attempts to comfort Jubilee, Aunt May came forward.

"It's okay dear," she said as she used her gloved hand to wipe away one of Jubilee's tears, "I..."

"AAAAAAAAAGGGGGGHHHHHHHH!" Jubilee lurched backwards as her hands flew to her face. A tiny wisp of smoke trailed from her cheek. Peter's eyes flew to Aunt May's wrist, catching sight of the silver cross dangling from her bracelet. He also managed to catch his Aunt's hand as she reached forward again, thumbing the cross and shaking his head slowly. He had been sure to do his research on vampire-ism, noting things like silver allergies and the fact that normal food was toxic. The lack of sound lasted for several long minutes, broken once again by his Aunt.

"Why don't you come with us dear," Aunt May cooed softly, "you can wash up and rest."

"Mrs...I can't...I'm..." Jubilee began.

"That lovely girl who my nephew has obviously been spending time with?" Aunt May replied with a tilt of her head. "You need to wash up, at the very least."

"Too...too many lights..." Jubilee muttered.

"Peter dear," Aunt May said, pulling him to the side. "I trust your judgement on this girl, whatever her...affliction may be. Why don't you take your friend to your place. Much closer, the two of you can 'walk.'" she continued with a slight twinge on her face, "please just be careful."

"I will," he nodded before turning away from his Aunt to face Jubilee. "You like to free-run?" he asked with a small smile, earning a shaky one in return as he pulled his miniaturized web-shooters out of his pockets. Only able to hold one tenth the amount of webbing his regular web-shooters could, they still proved useful. Quietly, they made their way to the top floor of the garage. From there, he shot out a line of webbing to the nearest building and motioned for her to take his hand.

"Catch me," Jubilee said with a slight twinge of her mouth before leaping into the air, over the street and onto an adjacent building. He smiled as he swung across the distance. Together, they ran across New York, arriving at his meagre apartment in no time. With one hand, he opened up the secret access panel he had created for the purposes of sneaking in and out. He dropped down, and she followed closely.

"Welcome to Chateau Parker," he mused as he motioned around the meagre space. "Complete with a single bedroom, bathroom, half a kitchen and a faulty window that won't open."

"Beats the hell out of a rusty warehouse or parking garage," she replied with a shrug. "I can't remember the last time I got a good day's sleep."

"So you do actually need to sleep?" he asked her as she removed her trench-coat. "Just a little curious," he offered.

"More like waiting until sunset," Jubilee replied as she set her pink sunglasses down. "Gets kinda boring, so I just close my eyes and start counting to infinity. Or I'll try and nab a book or two from the library and just read."

"Oh," he remarked, "sounds fun. Shower's down the hall and to the left." He felt her hand trail down his shoulder and across his body as she turned down the hall. He smiled slightly as he watched her walk, his concentration broken only by a ringing phone, which he promptly answered.

"Peter?" his Aunt's voice said from the other end of the line. "Are you there?"

"Yeah," he replied.

"I just...just had a few..." she began to say, stumbling over her words.

"A few questions?" he interrupted, following her train of thought, "that you felt might be deemed rude or insensitive?"

"Yes," Aunt May replied. "Is she...?"

"A vampire?" he said in a low voice as he heard the shower turn on, "yes, I know. She told me herself a few months ago."

"Just be safe," she said before hanging up on him. Just in time, to, as Jubilee called to him from the shower.

"There's no towel," she said over the rush of water. "Can you bring one in? I don't wanna get your carpet all wet and stuff."

"Hang on," he replied as he moved too the linen closet and grabbed one for her. He moved to the door and entered as he continued, "that was awful quick. I thought you said..." He felt himself become pinned to the wall as a pair of hands roamed up and down his body and full, red lips crashed into his. He felt her tongue move along his lips before entering his mouth as he ran his hands down her nude form. Her skin felt unnaturally cold to his touch, but she seemed to relish in the contact.

He ran his tongue along the length of hers, relishing in the sensuality of it. It had been so long since he had a girlfriend. His hands roamed down her back, causing her to jump slightly. The tiny movement was enough for him to quickly retract his tongue in surprise, only to have it sliced into by one of her elongated canines.

He jumped back in an instinctive reaction that startled Jubilee. He watched as she licked her lips, tasting the blood. He watched a saddened look creep into her eyes as the knowledge of what had happened crossed her mind.

"sorry..." she muttered as she slumped against the wall, defeated.

"Eh," he replied as he spit the tiny amount of blood that had pooled in his mouth into the sink. "No biggie. It's not like you bit it off or anything," he continued as he sat next to her. "Aside from the last bit," he smiled, "that was one of the best kisses I've ever had."

"One of the best kisses," Jubilee scoffed with a shrug, "with an ex-X-man slash bloodthirsty vampire? Wow, you're twisted Peter Parker."

"hey," he replied, "you could be worse off. A lot worse off."

"How?" she asked.

"You don't sparkle, that's a plus," he smirked as he wrapped his arm around her shoulder. "And you could not know someone who's majoring in biological studies and mutations to genetic structure. Or not have a place to stay during the day."

"I don't have a place to stay during the day," she said with a tilt of her head, "not really. I just kinda drift from place to place, night after night."

"Yes you do," he replied. "There's only one window in the whole apartment, and I can tape the blinds shut with duct tape. So that way you can move about the place unrestricted without bursting into flames."

"I'm not gonna put you in that kind of..." she began as she pulled away from him and curl into a ball on the floor.

"Don't give me that bullshit about being put in danger. I'm immune, remember?" he said as he grabbed her by the shoulders and forced her to face him, "And I'm the guy who leaps off of skyscrapers and goes toe-to-toe with thugs with guns while wearing skintight spandex." He smirked as he traced his eyes up and down her still-nude form. "So as I said, you stay here during the day. Much more comfortable than a parking garage or warehouse." A brief moment of silence existed as he waited for her response.

"When I said I didn't want to put you in that kind of danger," she replied with a twinge of a smile. "I wasn't just referring to myself. I was referring to a guy who's kinda like a second father to me. He threatened to gut my last boyfriend."

"Who?" he asked, nonchalantly.

"You know Wolverine, right?"