Summary: Desperate to save her sister, even if that means breaking the laws, Emma Webster finds herself bonding with Bucky Barnes, who struggles to regain the memories stolen from him. Clint Barton struggles to cope, following a devastating betrayal, while Jessica Webster tries to hold herself together in the face of her looming death. Co-Written with WalkingPotterGirl14. Bucky/OC, Clint/OC, Wanda/OC, Steve/Darcy, Natasha/Matt Murdock, Tony/Pepper, and Sam/Sharon. Rated M.

I do not own Marvel or the characters. I only own Emma and Jessica Webster, and if I did own the films, Bruce/Natasha would not have happened.

Special thanks to, .witch, and BuckyBarnes07 for reviewing, following and adding the story to favourites and Harukawa Ayame for following the story and adding to favourites

A Tangled Web

Chapter 3


"No, you're not a monster, Bucky. You're a good man. HYDRA made you into the Winter Soldier, not you. You're a good man, you were found innocent of all charges. You can't blame yourself for this. You never asked for this. Everyone knows that you would never hurt anyone, but you can use your skills as an Avenger," Emma said comfortingly.

She paused, before placing her hand on his. He looks over at her.

"You'll find someone who will love you for who are you, Bucky. The Winter Soldier is a part of you," Emma said firmly. She squeezed his hand comfortingly, causing Bucky to smile at this.

"Thanks, Emma," Bucky said quietly. Emma smiled and wiped his tears away with her fingers. After that, she called Steve, who immediately hurried into the lab.

"I think we should finish for today. Steve, stay with him or ask one of the others to stay with him and keep him company. He needs to be with friends, not alone," Emma said quietly to Steve, as they watched Bucky drinking some water from a paper cup.

Steve nodded in understanding and gave her a grateful smile. Bucky looked at her quietly and she smiled at him, as she got ready to leave to go join her sister at the hospital.

"Thanks, Emma…I mean it," Bucky said gratefully. Emma smiled at him and gave him a hug. It comforted him in a strange way.

"You're welcome, Bucky. See you and Steve tomorrow," she said softly. The young woman left the two men in the lab so they could have some privacy and talk.

She hoped Bucky would be alright. She cared about him.


Jessica sat in the waiting room of Metro-General Hospital, feeling nerves run through her. Emma sat beside her trying to stay calm. She'd phoned their grandmother, and Joanne had immediately wanted to come home from her vacation in Great Britain. Jessica as well as her sister had convinced her to stay so she could enjoy her vacation.

'I refuse to ruin grandma's dream holiday. I won't ruin her holiday like I've ruined Emma's life, along with mom,' Jessica thought firmly. A doctor called out Jessica's name.

"Jessica Webster?!" Dr. Malcolm Sharpe called patiently.

Jessica stood up and went to the room with Emma at her side. They both sat in the room, and Malcolm closed the door, giving them privacy.

"We have the results from your blood tests, along with your recent bone marrow transplant. I'm so sorry, Jessica. You're in the third stage of leukaemia…it's better than we thought, but there's really not much more we can do," Malcolm said quietly. Jessica felt numb and swallowed thickly as she took in the news.

She was terminal. Really terminal. That meant she was going to die and there was nothing they could do unless it was to make her comfortable for the end of her short life.

"How long…do I have?" she asked finally, trying to keep her voice calm. She could feel her hands tremble in her lap but kept them steady. Emma took her hand.

"Six months. We can give you strong pain medication and a cannabis card that will allow you to purchase cannabis legally," Malcolm said calmly, his eyes sympathetic.

"There must be something that you can do. Surely a bone marrow transplant or a blood donation will save her life?" Emma asked angrily, refusing to give up on her little sister.

"Jessica failed to get into the program due to the medical insurance. We only have three available spaces left," Malcolm said apologetically, but Jessica got the sense that he wasn't upset.

She missed Dr. Jean Grey. She'd treated her as a young teenager and always been kind to her. She had explained things how they were, with no sugar coating or lies.

She told it how it, was and that was it. Not with how it was now.

"I'd like to go now, please," Jessica said quietly. Emma nodded and wrapped her arm around her tightly as they left the room. Emma glared at Malcolm, who had an air of smugness.

"I won't forget this, Dr. Sharpe. All you care about is the fact that you get your money, regardless if your patients can afford the medical insurance," she said coldly, and left.

Jessica signed the papers that the receptionist had given her to sign. She swallowed thickly.

What did people do when they found out that they were going to die in six month's time? Write lists? Write letters to their loved ones or plan for their funerals?

Or write a bucket list?

Her vision suddenly became blurry. She wiped her eyes as Emma took her hand, and they began walking home, not needing to say anything.

Jessica was glad because she couldn't talk. She was so scared, angry and upset at the fact that she'd been rejected from a project that could possibly save her.

And now…it was nothing.


Emma didn't want to leave her sister alone. Jessica seemed to privately agree, but didn't speak it out loud, so she took her to Stark Tower. That was where they met Pepper, and a beautiful young woman with black wavy hair, and Dr. Jane Foster.

"How did the appointment go, Emma and Jessica?" Pepper asked gently. Emma suddenly couldn't speak. It just felt too real, too painful and raw.

Her little sister was going to die if she didn't figure out a way to save her and soon.

"I'm going to die. Apparently, Dr. Sharpe said that my health insurance doesn't cover the expenses of the medical trial that he's holding, and I've got six months to live. So, all I have is the right to grow and smoke weed, and strong painkillers," Jessica said quietly, causing everyone to freeze.

With that said, Jessica sat down and simply started writing things down in a black book. Clearly she was trying to keep calm.

"I need to go down to the lab and look at some things. I'll be right back, Jess," Emma promised firmly. Jessica smiled at her fondly, her hazel, green eyes bright.

"I'm not going anywhere yet...Em," she said reassuringly, giving her a hug. She watched her older sister leave, as the dark-haired woman came over towards her.

"Why don't I introduce you to everyone? Show you around?" she asked kindly. There was no pity in her eyes.

Thank God. Jessica couldn't stand pity or being the recipient of it. She'd had enough of it during high school, when the bullies would tease her for having bruises and having no dad.

Bitches.

"I'd like that, thanks," Jessica said quietly. The woman smiled at her and offered her a hand.

"I'm Darcy Lewis," Darcy said pleasantly, causing Jessica to smile at her friendliness.

"I'm Jessica Meyer Webster. It's nice to meet you. Pepper's told me and Emma a lot about you, Darcy," Jessica said shyly, as the three of them began walking.


Emma had been reading over books on spiders when she realized that perhaps, the spiders could save her little sister's life. She read that uncommon spiders had been discovered to have healing qualities in their blood. What about the super soldier serum? Since Steve Rogers had been turned into the first super-soldier, then Bucky and the Red Skull, or known as Johan Schmidt before he had become the Red Skull.

The super soldier serum was known to heal people with weak immune systems. Steve had been frail and sick, and had suffered from weak lungs due to being born seven months early. He'd suffered from long term asthma as a result.

She now knew of a way to save her sister, when she saw Peter Parker entering the lab shyly with Gwen Stacy and their friend, Mary-Jane Watson.

"Hi, you three. How can I help you?" she asked gently, determined not to be depressed in front of the three new Avengers.

"We honestly just wanted to stop by," Peter says quietly. "We know about what's going on with your sister and wanted to offer our condolences about it. It's horrible to find out like that."

"And if we can help in anyway, we're here for that," Mary-Jane says quietly. "Really. We want to help in any way possible."

Emma smiles a bit and sighs. "You three are sweet, but I'm not sure there is much you can…" Her words trail off, as she realizes who she was looking at Spider-fucking-Man, who was bitten by a spider. Who gave him powers. Who made him stronger.

What the hell was she saying?

"Peter…when you were bitten by that spider, was it a specific type of spider?" she asks him quietly.

His brow furrows. "It…wasn't something I knew of off the top of my head. I just knew that it was uncommon and radioactive. I did a little bit of research and found out it's in countries that have warm weather patterns. That's about all I know about that."

"Yes, but you do admit that it did heal a lot of you, right? It made you stronger?" Emma asks him quietly.

He nods. "Definitely. Won't deny that."

Emma nods, looking down at the ground. This was starting to pull together a bit easier. "Thank you, guys," she admits. "Really. Even talking to someone helps with this stuff. I gotta get back to work."

The three teens leave her to her work. Instantly, Emma races over to the bookshelf that was within the lab, and pulled out journals from her mother and father's time together. Before her father's death, they had been so in love. They had travelled the world together, looking all over for mysterious and new things.

And these books might have been what she needed.

Nervous hands flipped through the pages, sticking to the old paper from the sweat that rolled off her fingertips. And within moments, she lands on a page, full of colour and happiness. At least in her mind.

All about the same spider that bit Peter. All about uncommon spider species.

She had hit the motherlode.

After hours of researching and not having even emerged from the lab, it didn't surprise Emma that someone came to check on her. As she turned around, what did surprise her was that it was Bucky. "Bucky," she mumbles. "I thought I told you to go rest."

"I did. And when I woke up I was surprised to see you back here." He walks over to her, resting his hands against the desk she was working at. "Why are you driving yourself crazy over this, doc?" He asks her quietly. "What else can you do for your sister?"

She looks at the journals and sighs. "I'm refusing to give up on her. I love my sister way too much to let her die like this. I already told you about what's been going on with her. I'm not letting this happen." Bucky looks down at her quietly, before slowly taking a seat next to her.

"Is there anything I can do to help?" he asks quietly.

Emma smiles a bit. Oh, Bucky. He was always trying to bet he nice guy, even if he did sound a bit awkward. "No…there's not much you can. I just…she was always there for me when I was younger. When I was extremely depressed. I just…can't let her go. I can't."

Bucky looks down at the journals that were sitting on her desk, and then back at the paper that was filled with scribbles of numbers and letters that he had no clue how to detect. He was smart, but not the way she was.

But looking at it, he could figure out what she was trying to do.

"Are you trying to find a cure?" He asks her. She looks over at him, and then glances out at the hallway, as if to see if anyone was there.

After that, she turns back to him. "I am, but you can't tell anyone. It's against the Accords to make serums without the UN's approval and I just can't go through that shit right now. Please, Bucky."

He looks down at her quietly before raising his hands in defence. "Then I'll pretend I didn't hear a single bit of that." She smiles softly at him. "But you're doing good…you are, even if the government doesn't think so."

"Thank you, Bucky," she says quietly.

He looks over at her work again. "You're welcome," he replies. She smiles again, but at that moment, the door opens, ruining any sort of private conversation the two could have.

It was Tony.

"How can one little person such as yourself be stuck in this lab all day long?" Tony asks her, walking over. "Have you eaten at all, Emma? You look like you're about to keel over."

"I haven't even realised that I've been here all day, Tony. I'm trying to figure out a way to save Jessica's life and make sure that she never gets sick again. Seeing as Dr. Sharpe has given up on Jess, I refuse to give up on her," Emma said fiercely, feeling close to tears but she had a breakthrough.

Tony looked at her silently and sighed. He knew what she was doing. He wasn't stupid but he wasn't going to stop her from saving her sister's life, even if the UN and Thaddeus Ross didn't agree with it. He didn't want to see one of his close friends die. Especially from cancer. Jarvis's death from lung cancer still haunted him.

Especially Jessica. She was a good person who was a happy young woman. The Starks and Webster families had always been close to each other, and it had strengthened after Jeffrey Webster had disappeared and been presumed dead.

"I'm not gonna rat you out, Em. I know you're doing the right thing...just be careful, and for crying out loud if you are travelling abroad, just let me know so I can cover for you," Tony said finally. Emma looked at the two of them with a grateful expression. She looked like she wanted to cry.

She hugged them both tightly, trying to convey the words which she couldn't speak. Tony understood and so did Bucky, as they hugged her back for a moment.

"Thank you, both of you," she said thickly, trying really hard not to cry but a few tears escaped from her eyes. The three of them left the lab to get something to eat.

She now knew how to save her sister from dying.


Jessica walked beside Darcy and Pepper as the two women showed her around Stark Tower, and how the company was helping citizens of New York and other countries that had been hit by Thanos and the Black Order. Some included Japan and Wakanda which had custody of the Soul Stone.

"Thor took the Aether and it's in Asgard safely. The other three were taken by the Guardians of the Galaxy to be kept separate from each other. They're too dangerous to be all together," Darcy explained seriously, as she gave Jessica a smile.

Jessica smiled and nodded. She privately thought that was a good idea. They sat in the living room and Pepper asked F.R.I.D.A.Y and J.A.R.V.I.S to order pizza for everyone.

They all heard soft barking. Jessica turned around and saw a one-eyed golden Labrador running towards her excitedly. It knocked her over as it happily cuddled her.

"Well, hello to you too, buddy. Aren't you a sweet, beautiful dog?" Jessica said fondly to the dog who cuddled her. It swished his tail, as she saw he was wearing a purple bandana around his neck.

"Lucky, c'mere boy! Don't ruin the nice lady's dress...Jessica?" the voice asked startled. Jessica turned at the sound of the voice. She saw it was Clint standing in the hallway, holding a ball, and he had on a pair of dark tinted sunglasses.

"Clint, hey," Jessica said shyly, feeling her face turn dark red. Lucky continued to cuddle her but allowed her to get up as she looked at Clint.

"Not that I'm not happy to see you, but, uh, what's wrong? How did your appointment go?" Clint asked quietly, concern in his voice. He didn't notice a gleeful Darcy and Pepper looking on at the two adults. Natasha entered with Matt Murdock.

"It's not good news. The leukaemia's advanced to the third stage, and even though there is treatment...my health insurance doesn't cover it. Dr. Sharpe says that they can make me comfortable and give me drugs along with weed," Jessica said calmly, trying to keep her emotions together.

Clint looked at her quietly, knowing what she was saying. He felt sick all of a sudden.

She was going to die.

"How long?" he asked quietly. Jessica swallowed and looked at her hands for a moment, before sighing bitterly.

"Six months. I've got six months to arrange everything and make sure that my sister and grandmother will be alright. I don't want them or my cats to be alone," Jessica said thickly.

Clint swallowed back bile. She was still only a kid and in some ways reminded him of Wanda. She was Jessica's age and still only a kid, which was why she had decided to go counselling.

He had to give Jessica respect. She wasn't screaming or crying. She was keeping it together and being dignified about the fact that she was going to die in a painful manner.

"There anything I can do, Jess?" he asked quietly. He'd grown to like Jessica since meeting her at the bar.

"You can all help me make a bucket list, and help me plan my funeral and my will…I haven't done anything like that yet," she said determined, her eyes hard with determination.

Matt spoke up then, clearing his throat.

"Me and my law firm can help you with that, and my partner, Foggy can help with your finances," he offered. Jessica looked like she might faint. Clint realized with a start that she'd never met Matt Murdock, who was also Daredevil.

And Natasha's boyfriend. Clint didn't dare speak it out loud.

"Hey guys, Tony and Bucky are just testing out some equipment while we wait for pizza..." Emma trailed off when she saw Natasha, Matt and Clint.

Jessica looks over at her, as if waiting for her to explain exactly what was going on and that literally everyone here was someone who has saved her life before. Emma chuckles and walks over.

"Jessica, this is Matt Murdock and Natasha Romanoff. I'm sure you've heard of them before." Jessica smiles and nods.

"Plenty. Emma talks about you all the time…I just never thought I'd meet someone like you," she says softly. Matt smiles a bit at her voice while Natasha gives her a quiet smile.

"Well, we overheard what was happening. If there's anything you want us to do, please ask. Your sister is a good woman here and we're happy to help out anyone who is special to her." Emma rolls her eyes but feels a soft blush come over her cheeks.

She walks over to her sister. "What do you want us to do, Jessica?" she asks her quietly. "What do you want?"

She swallows and looks over at Clint. He was sitting across from her. Besides her sister, Clint was the only one she knew more of in the room, so in all honesty, what she said was mainly to her sister and to him. So, she looked at her journal and showed them what she had wrote down.

"Six months," she states with an even breath. "I have six months to do everything on this list, and after that…I can be fine with this." Emma looks over at the list, bringing it into her hands. "It's not a lot…but at this point it feels so…impossible."

Emma hands the list off to Clint, and he raises an eyebrow at this. "Jessica…this is stuff we could get done in one month." Her brow raises. "Go to New Orleans? We can have that done in a quinjet today if you wanted to."

"…really?"

"Of course," Natasha states, moving to look at the list. She smiles fondly. "Ah, you want to go to the circus. Clint knows about that well." Clint gives her a mock finger but chuckles.

"Yeah, I do. Used to work for them." He looks over at her. "Again, something I could do for you easily. Motorcycle one I can do too."

Jessica smiles softly at their words, almost feeling overwhelmed. Tony comes over and lowers his glasses in shock when he sees one of her wants. "You've never had sex?" he whispers in surprise. Jessica glances away, feeling as if he was shaming her. As soon as he saw that he shakes his head. "No, no, it's not a bad thing," he instantly says. "Not at all I'm just…surprised is all. You're just a beautiful young woman and…I'm gonna shut up," he states, taking a step back.

Jessica blushes a bit, rubbing the back of her neck. "I doubt any of you can do that…it's just something stupid on there," she mumbles. Emma chuckles. She knew her sister very well.

Clint looks over at her quietly. Honestly, he was personally shocked too. She was beautiful. He was surprised some guy hadn't taken her yet.

He swallows and shakes his own twisted thoughts from his mind, before handing her list back to her. "Here…we can help you with these, Jessica. All we need if you're ok." She smiles and then feels a tear come down her cheek, quickly wiping it away.

"Thank you," she whispers to them. "Thank you already for…everything."

Emma smiles at her sister. And deep down, she had hope that maybe this bucket list wasn't the last thing she would ever have to do.


Later on, in the day, when Emma had gone back into the lab to work with Bucky and some weapons some more, Jessica had decided to stay and eat some of the pizza that had arrived. As she did, she was looking at job offers.

There was no way, even with six months to live, she was going to just sit in her apartment with all her animals and be a hermit all day. Absolutely not. She was worth more than that, at least in her mind.

Clint, later, sat down next to her, taking a slice and giving it to the dog. "Don't tell the others, they don't like when I steal food for the dog," he mutters to her.

She chuckles. "I won't. I do the same for my cats back home." As she's looking down on the job list, one stands out to her. "Wait…this is for a news station." Clint looks over at her with a furrowed brow.

"You want a job now?"

She sighs. "Yeah…I just don't want to be sitting around on my ass all day waiting for death to take me…it just seems lazy and impractical." Clint shakes his head in disbelief. If he had found out he was dying, sure as shit he'd be laying on his ass all day.

She had a lot of moxy to go out and want to do this.

"And this job…it sounds interesting. A journalist there, and I love to write…but if I don't get it then…" She swallows and looks away, seeing Lucky place his head on her lap. She chuckles and rubs his head, sighing softly. Clint looks at her with a quiet expression and then nods to the computer.

"Go for it." She looks over at him with a furrowed brow. "I mean it. Go for the job. You deserve something like this."


My updates will be slow, as my grandfather died on Monday. But don't worry, the stories will be updated.

Review and enjoy :)