Sam and Bucky walked into the bar holding hands – lately Bucky got really comfortable with that, and he just liked to be able to do that. And Sam kind of loved it, too. Everyone knew they were dating, anyway, it’s not like they were hiding it.
The room was dimly lit, and a bit noisy, like you could expect from a bar, but still there were fewer people than Sam would’ve expected on a Saturday evening. They looked around, and Bucky apparently spotted his new friend pretty quickly, as he pulled Sam in the direction of a booth far in the back, where two figures were seated. One of them was Jessica Jones, who Sam had not had the pleasure to meet yet, but since Bucky met her, they’d started hanging out from time to time, and were becoming friends. Jessica was sitting next to a man, who Sam assumed was her boyfriend. As far as he knew, Bucky hadn’t met him either. They’re already drinking when Sam and Bucky approach.
“Hey.” Bucky slid into the booth opposite them, still holding Sam’s hand. Sam smiled slightly at that. “Sam, this is Jessica Jones. Jess, Captain America.” Bucky grinned, and Sam rolled his eyes, sitting down next to him.
“I’m Sam. Nice to meet you.” he smiled at the woman.
“You too. I’ve heard a lot about you.” she said, then looked at Bucky with amusement. “Bucky talks about you a lot.”
“No, I don’t.” Bucky said defensively, and Sam already knew it was true. Then Bucky smirked and added: “Besides, you talk about your guy a lot, too.”
“Oh, you do?” the man next to Jessica turned to her with a smug smile. “That’s good to know.”
“Oh, shut up, Branes.” Jessica rolled her eyes, and then clearly must’ve kicked Bucky under the table, since he said ‘ow’ and kicked her back. “This is Erik, by the way.” she added, almost off-handedly.
Once the pleasantries were out of the way, they settled into a quite comfortable conversation. Bucky talked much more than he usually did in front of other people, and Sam loved seeing him like this, so at ease, clearly enjoying the company. Jessica had a very dry, sarcastic sense of humor, and Bucky matched her perfectly in a banter that ensued, and it was very amusing. They seemed to really get each other. Erik seemed perfectly nice, too, very laid-back and also sarcastic, and quite charming, actually.
All in all, it was a nice evening, with lots of talking and getting to know each other, and drinking. Sam didn’t drink much, not wanting to be the only one completely wasted, as he couldn’t keep up with two enhanced people, but he was also surprised to see Erik matching Jessica.
And then, something happened. Someone walked past their table towards the bathroom, and Erik winced and groaned, grabbing his head. Sam and Bucky had no idea what was happening, immediately alarmed, but Jessica calmly asked:
“How bad?”
“Like a 5.” he pulled out some pills out of his pocket and swallowed a few down with his whiskey.
“What’s going on?” Sam asked, confused.
“Erik-” Jessica started with a sigh, then looked at him for confirmation that she could continue. “Erik has this power. He detects evil people.”
“Are you serious?” Bucky’s eyes widened. Sam was surprised, too, because he’d never even think a power like this could exist. “How does that even work?”
“He gets headaches around bad people. The worse the headache, the worse the person.” Jessica explained, looking at her boyfriend with concern. She caught his eye and he nodded, as if reassuring her he was okay.
“That’s- uh, that must be useful?” Bucky then said unsurely, not knowing what to say. Jess snickered.
“That must be tough to live with.” Sam said empathetically.
“Yep.” Erik downed the rest of the drink in his glass.
“So, did it just start to hurt?” Bucky asked quietly, and Sam immediately knew what was going through his head. He reached for Bucky’s hand under the table.
“I think so? It always hurts even a little when I’m around people, but I’m also always heavily medicated.” he smiled weakly, the pain visibly subduing a bit.
“Hm.” Bucky hummed.
“Baby, don’t go there.” Sam spoke up. “We’ve been sitting here for almost an hour. You’re fine.”
“Oh, no, don’t worry, Bucky.” Erik hurried, probably knowing well who Bucky was and who he used to be, as everyone knew. “You’re good. I get nothing from you.”
“You’re sure?”
“One hundred percent.”
“See?” Sam put his arm around Bucky, bringing him closer. Of course he’d known that, because as much as Bucky still felt guilty, he wasn’t consciously aware of anything he was doing as the Soldier, but Sam figured having this little reassurance from, well, a human evil-detector could be good for him, too.
Suddenly, Jessica raised her glass.
“Here’s to the never-ending guilt.” she said dryly, looking at Bucky with understanding. Bucky smiled at her. Sam was really glad they found each other, and had a connection. He needed that, he needed a friend, someone who could relate and understand what he went through.
“You wanna go catch a bad guy with us?” Erik asked, as he saw the guy leave the bathroom, and he winced at the pain once more. Jessica looked pleasantly surprised at the suggestion, as if he didn’t usually want to chase the bad guys, which, with the pain, Sam could kinda understand.
“Always.” Sam smiled, as the four of them got up.
He had a feeling he’d never really be bored with this group of friends he was making so far. It seemed that the move to New York was indeed a good idea.