A Witch and Two Spiders² (Spider-Man reader x Wanda x Natasha)

Even Footing

The rest of lunch passed in a blur of forced casualness. Y/N kept his eyes strictly away from Ava's neckline, though his mind was racing. The Jade Tiger amulet. He'd read whispers about it in S.H.I.E.L.D. data drops Natasha had carelessly left open around the compound, but seeing it active—and on a classmate—changed things entirely.

"So, Y/N," MJ's sharp voice broke through his thoughts. She was looking at him with her usual piercing, observant gaze. "First food poisoning, now you're intensely staring at a carton of milk like it killed your family. You sure you didn't just get dumped?"

"Very sure," Y/N said, offering a weak smile. "Just tired. Brain's fried from Mansfield's English lecture."

"Mansfield is a saint," Gwen chimed in, tossing her blonde hair. "At least he doesn't make us read Beowulf in the original Old English like the substitute did last week."

Beside him, Peter was vibrating with low-key anxiety, probably still processing being shoved into a locker by Flash. Y/N nudged Peter's shoulder with his elbow. "You good, Pete?"

"Yeah, yeah. Totally fine. Just, you know, geometry homework," Peter lied terribly. Ned, sitting next to him, gave a solemn nod as if geometry were a true tragedy.

Ava, meanwhile, remained quiet, eating her salad with methodical precision. She caught Y/N looking at her one last time before the bell rang, her brow furrowing slightly in suspicion. Y/N quickly looked away, gathering his backpack. As he stood up, a sharp, white-hot flash of pain shot through his ribs—a lingering reminder of the fight from the night before that he'd tried to wash away in the shower. He stifled a groan, but Kate's sharp ears caught it.

She lingered back as the rest of the group started shuffling out into the crowded hallway.

"Out of date cheese, huh?" Kate murmured, falling into step beside him. Her shoulder brushed his, a deliberate gesture of support. "You're a terrible liar, Y/N. Natasha would be ashamed."

"Cut me some slack, Hawkeye. I had to think on my feet," Y/N muttered, gripping his backpack strap tightly to keep his balance as a wave of dizziness hit him.

Kate noticed the way his knuckles turned white. Her teasing demeanor dropped instantly, replaced by the genuine concern she'd been hiding since they left the compound. "Hey. You're really hurting. We should go back. I can call Nat, or we can just take the bike and—"

"No, I'm staying," Y/N interrupted softly but firmly. "I need to look into something. Someone."

Kate followed his gaze down the hall, where Ava was walking alone, her posture rigid and alert. Kate's eyes narrowed. "The new girl? Why? Because she wears cool chokers, or because she looked at you funny?"

"Because she's the one in white from the bank," Y/N whispered, leaning in close so the passing students wouldn't hear. "She's the White Tiger."

Kate stopped dead in her tracks, her jaw dropping slightly before she quickly masked it. "Are you serious? The one who stole your spotlight?"

"She didn't steal it, she... helped. Sort of. But I need to know why she's here, Kate. New York is getting crowded, and with Oscorp's tech going missing and that green, flying psycho terrorizing the skies, I don't believe in coincidences anymore."

Kate stared at him for a long moment, evaluating the stubborn tilt of his chin. Finally, she sighed, a small, defeated smile tugging at her lips. "Fine. But if you pass out in AP History, I'm telling Natasha it was your fault, and I'm definitely not helping you carry your gear."

"Deal," Y/N said, feeling a genuine spark of gratitude.

When the school day finally ended, Y/N didn't head for the bike. He slipped into the library, finding a secluded terminal in the back corner where the librarian rarely checked. Pulling out a encrypted drive he'd borrowed from Tony Stark's secondary lab, he bypassed the school's basic firewall and tapped into a secure database.

He typed in the name: Ayala.

The screen flickered, loading several redacted files. Y/N leaned closer, wincing as his ribs throbbed. The screen displayed historical records of the White Tiger mantle, tracing it back to a legacy of heroism—and tragedy. His eyes scanned the text, stopping on a recent police report from Chicago.

"Looking for something?"

Y/N slammed the laptop shut a little too quickly, the loud snap echoing in the quiet library. He turned his head to see Ava standing right behind his chair, her arms crossed over her chest. The deadpan look was gone, replaced by a cold, calculating glare that belonged on a seasoned warrior, not a high school junior.

"Just doing some light reading," Y/N said, keeping his voice even despite the adrenaline spiking in his veins.

Ava leaned down, her voice dropping to a dangerous whisper. "I know who you are, Spider-Man. And I know you followed me. So let's skip the small talk. What do you want?"