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

Turf Dispute

Ava didn't wait for him to answer. She grabbed the collar of his shirt, her grip surprisingly powerful, and pulled him out of the chair toward the back exit of the library. Y/N stifled a sharp gasp as the sudden movement pulled violently on his bruised ribs. He didn't fight her grasp, letting her haul him into the narrow, dimly lit boiler room corridor just past the emergency doors.

She shoved him against the brick wall, pinning him with a glare that could melt steel. "I asked you a question. What are you doing spying on me?"

"Me? Spying on you?" Y/N let out a harsh, breathless laugh, ignoring the throbbing pain in his side. "You're the one who showed up at my crime scene, threw off my rhythm, and then conveniently changed back into your school uniform in an alleyway three blocks from my locker!"

"Your crime scene?" Ava stepped closer, her jaw tight, her voice a sharp, dangerous whisper. "Those thugs were tracking Black Market weapons tied to my family's killers. I've been tracking that crew for three weeks, and you swung in like a colourful distraction, cracking jokes and ruining a month of stakeouts!"

"Oh, I'm sorry, did my saving those hostages get in the way of your brooding?" Y/N snapped back, his eyes narrowing. He leaned in, matching her intensity. "New York is crawling with tech thieves and a lunatic on a flying glider. I don't have time to guess if a new vigilante in a cat suit is a friend or an Oscorp assassin."

"I am nobody's assassin," Ava hissed, her fingers tightening into fists at her sides. The Jade Tiger amulet under her shirt gleamed with a faint, tense light. "You think you own this city just because you hang out with the Avengers? You're just a kid playing hero, Y/N. You don't know anything about the real cost of putting on a mask."

"Don't talk to me about the cost," Y/N said, his voice dropping to a dangerously low, cold tone. The playful Spider-Man persona was entirely gone, replaced by a raw, hardened edge. "You think you're the only one who lost people? You think I do this for fun? Look at me, Ava. I can barely breathe right now because I took a blast to the chest last night protecting people who don't even know my real name."

Ava looked at him, her sharp eyes mapping the tension in his shoulders and the subtle wince he couldn't quite hide. For a brief second, the icy anger in her expression wavered into something resembling reluctant understanding.

"Then you should have stayed in bed today," she said, though the venom was gone from her voice, leaving only a bitter hardness. "Because if you get in my way again, I won't hesitate to put you down myself. Stay out of my grid, Spider-Man."

She turned on her heel and stormed down the corridor, the heavy metal door slamming shut behind her, leaving Y/N alone in the dim light to finally clutch his aching ribs.