Can I buy you a drink?

Like most nights, she was sitting at a bar and drinking. She had a long fucking day. She finally caught the guy she’s been after for the last couple of weeks and got him arrested, and it took way longer than she expected, so she decided to go to the bar and unwind. Alone, of course, she didn’t feel like talking to anyone. And that’s why she got annoyed when someone sat right next to her, despite having most of the chairs unoccupied. They were sitting in silence for a while, the guy just ordering himself a drink and not bothering her. Until he did.

“Hi.” the guy finally said. Fuck. Was he gonna talk to her now?

“Not interested.” she answered, not looking at him, downing the rest of her drink. It was instantly refilled by the bartender.

“Trust me, me neither.” he chuckled, and she finally glanced at him. And oh fuck. She recognized him instantly.

“I know you.” she looked him up and down, noticing one of his hands being made of metal. He had gloves with him, but they were taken off, lying on the counter. “You’re, like, old Captain America’s best friend or something, right?” she asked, even though she knew exactly who he was. Of course she knew. 

“I’m Bucky.” he smiled, but it seemed a little forced. “And you’re Jessica Jones.” that was not a question. He knew who she was, too.

“One and only.” she said dryly, taking another big sip of her drink. “So what brings you to Hell’s Kitchen?” she asked, not because she wanted to make conversation, God no, but because it could not be a coincidence that an Avenger was in her usual bar. 

“I want to buy you a drink and talk.” was Bucky’s response. She just raised her eyebrow at him.

“I told you, I’m not interested.” Jessica said, despite knowing that that’s surely not what he had in mind, either. “I actually have a boyfriend.” she added as an afterthought. She felt weird saying that, since they haven’t really labelled it, but they were technically together, trying to work it out, so what the hell.

“Cool. Me too.” Bucky rolled his eyes, a small, soft smile appearing on his face for a second, as if involuntarily. 

“Let me guess. Captain America?”

“I’m not here to talk about my dating life.” 

“Then why are you here?” she turned fully towards him. She didn’t really care that there was this superhero sitting in front of her, but she was a little intrigued. 

“Can I buy you a drink?” he asked. She really wanted to say no. She wanted to finish her drink, and then go home, work and drink some more, and then sleep it off - just because she gave a shit now, didn’t mean she was gonna change her habits. But Bucky was there, and that made her curious. So she took a deep breath, and despite herself, said:

“Fine.”

They ended up ordering a bottle of bourbon, paid for by Bucky, and sitting in a booth in the corner. She poured herself a glass, drank it immediately, and poured another one, Bucky just watching her with amusement. 

“What? If you want to get drunk, you gotta buy your own bottle.” she said. He poured himself a glass of bourbon too, but didn’t touch it yet.

“I can’t really get drunk.” 

“Well, that fucking sucks.” she commented. 

“Yeah, well. It is what it is.” he shrugged. “Not the worst part of getting my, uh, abilities.” he added more quietly, and maybe a little uncomfortably. He didn’t want to talk about his powers. But she had a feeling he was trying to steer a conversation in a certain way. “You’re strong, too, right?” here it was.

“Yeah. I thought you knew that.” she said, because he did know who she was. 

“I did. Uh, you’re not a supersoldier, tho, are you?” he seemed a little curious.

“Nah. A different kind of lab experiment.” she smiled grimly. “I guess we have that in common.” she added and he chuckled. “Is that what you’re here to talk about? My powers?”

“Kind of? Um, it’s-” he paused and took a breath. “We’re putting together a new team.” he started, and wanted to continue, but she heard what she needed.

“No, thanks.” Jessica said, starting to get up.

“Wait. Can you just listen to me?” he asked, and she must’ve been really tired, because she sat back down and looked at him with a bored expression. “I don’t know why Sam sent me here, he’s so much better at this.” he chuckled again, this time nervously. 

“And where is he? Too busy to try to recruit me himself?” she downed her drink again. 

“He’s talking to someone else right now. Someone you might know, actually. He’s from here, too.” oh, that’s interesting. So they’re looking for all kinds of people with abilities? Why? What’s the next big threat? She was interested and she hated that. “But that’s not the point. I’m here, and I just want to talk.”

“So talk.” she poured another drink. “You have time until I finish this bottle. Then I’m leaving.”

“I’m bad at this, so I’ll keep it short, I promise. Like I said, we’re trying to put together a team. Like, a new Avengers kind of thing. There’s no world-ending threat right now, not that we know of.” he rushed to add. “But just in case, we want to know that there are people we can count on. We want to be prepared. I know you’re needed here, protecting your city, and I don’t want to take you away from that. But we could use your help, too. If there’s no threat, we won’t even bother you, aside from maybe meeting from time to time, because Sam thinks we need to work on teamwork and trust if we work together, or whatever.” he rolled his eyes, but he did smile when he said Sam’s name. As if he couldn’t not. He was clearly very in love with him, and she could tell by just hearing the way he said Sam’s name… That was adorably sickening. “Like I said, I suck at talking. So, if you say no, then that’s a no, whatever. In either case,” he fished a piece of paper out of his pocket and laid it on the table. “If you ever need any help, here’s my number. Sam’s number on here, too, but, uh, he’s busy being Cap, so just call me. And there’s also the address and time of a meeting. If you change your mind and decide you want to be a part of our team. Sam will be there and probably explain everything a little better.” he added, with another, barely there, smile at the mere mention of him. 

“Okay.” she reached for the piece of paper. “But I really don’t think it’s my thing. I work alone. Or,” she rolled her eyes with a sigh. She hasn’t worked purely alone in a while. Nowadays most of the time Erik was there with her. And Malcolm worked at Alias with her now. She wasn’t alone anymore. “Or just with a partner. But team things…” she trailed off with a disgusted expression. Definitely not her thing.

“Yeah, no, I get that. I’m the same.” Bucky said. “If it was up to me, it’d just be me and Sam. But if another Thanos happened, we’d need a team. Couldn’t do it alone.”

“Right.” she sighed again. That was true. And if she could help prevent another world-threatening event, shouldn’t she? There was a time she would say no and not think twice about it. Back when she didn’t give a fuck. She missed those days sometimes.

“Were you blipped?” he asked tentatively. It was still a sore subject for a lot of people.

“Yeah. Thankfully, my neighbor and, uh, associate wasn’t. He kept the business running.” she took the piece of paper and pocketed it. She might use the number one day. Or maybe even the address… She hasn’t decided. “By the way, if you ever need a P.I., here’s my card.” she took one out of her wallet and gave it to him. “You were blipped, too, right?” she had no idea why she was keeping the conversation going. That was unlike her. Maybe he was just easy to talk to.

“Yeah, we both were. But I had experience with missing time, so it was easier for me to adjust this time.” he said with a bit of amusement. 

“Well, it was easy for me, too. Probably harder for people who had families and shit.” she said dryly, once again thinking about Trish. Technically, she was the last person alive that Jessica considered family. But she had no idea what was going on with her, or even if she was blipped or not. “Anyway.” she snapped herself out of those thoughts, finishing her drink. The bottle was almost empty. Bucky drank like three drinks, and she drank the rest. “I gotta go.” she said. She hated how relatively comfortable and enjoyable it was to talk to him. They had a few things in common, more than she expected. She generally didn’t like company, but Bucky wasn’t so bad. “Maybe I’ll buy you a drink next time.”

“Sure.” he smiled genuinely this time. “Sam always says I should make some friends, so.” he shrugged. He wanted to be friends with her? Wow, okay. She strangely did not hate the idea. 

“Hey, we might even try to find the amount it would take to get you drunk.” she proposed. “Now that’s a challenge I’d take up.”

“Yeah, why not.” he chuckled, as she stood up. “Maybe I’ll walk you home.”

“No need. I can take care of myself.”

“No, I know that.” he rolled his eyes. “But you’re drunk.”

“I’m fine. I gotta go.” she repeated. “It was nice to meet you.” she added, surprised that she meant it, and it actually sounded genuine. Fuck, she liked that guy.

“You too. See you around.” he said, when she was already turning back and walking away.

She hated that she was actually considering going to that meeting. And what, she was gonna be an Avenger now? That was so not her scene. But what could it hurt to at least go? If Sam was as good at this whole talking and convincing thing as Bucky said, she might even see some familiar faces there. And she might be of some help if the world was about to end again. Huh. Giving a shit sucked.