Sam arrived at the Tower a few hours after everyone else. Normally Sam would head home to DC after spending time at the Avengers Initiative since he still had his work at the VA. But today there was another soldier who needed his help. Sam had viewed the video of Nikita and Agent Tyler, the unedited version. Adding Nikita's clear trauma to the issues that Steve was just beginning to deal with could have potentially disastrous results. Steve was definitely in over his head and Sam was determined to help his friend.
Sam found Steve and Bucky in Steve's apartment. Steve had already gotten a bit of an earful from his childhood friend. Steve's situation with Nikita had upset Darcy, and Bucky did not put up with anything upsetting Darcy.
Steve looked up as Sam entered, "I'm really not in the mood to talk right now, Sam."
"Okay, what are you in the mood for?" Sam asked.
"I don't know," Steve sighed, rubbing his face with his hands.
The three sat in silence for a while. Finally Steve turned toward Sam. "What do you think I should do?"
"I think that if it weren't for Hawkeye Nikita would be in the wind right now," Sam answered. "She has some trauma that you're frankly not prepared to deal with. From what I saw on that video she has some PTSD, and I know you do too."
"I'm fine," Steve protested.
"Listen to him, Punk." Bucky growled.
"If you don't get some help for both of you, you're gonna lose her," Sam insisted. "This isn't the forties, man. Bonded or not, she doesn't have to stay with you. She can leave anytime. You have to give her a reason to stay because right now I think all that's keeping her here are Darcy and Clint."
Steve let that sink in for a moment. He knew Sam was right, though he was loathe to admit it. He tried to deny that he had flashbacks and trouble sleeping, as long as he kept busy and focused on others he could keep them at bay. It was one of the reasons why he had gone to work for SHIELD and why he kept throwing himself into missions. But Nikita was too important to risk losing
"I don't have nightmares when she's here," Steve admitted.
"That's good," Sam smiled. This was the first time Steve had admitted that he had nightmares. He thought maybe this situation with Nikita would cause Steve to finally get help with his own issues. "I know you don't like dealing with doctors, so what if I worked with you both? I have training and experience from the VA, and you know you can trust me."
"Yeah, Okay." Steve agreed.
"I'll stick around so we can talk to her when she's done hanging out with the subs, see if we can get her on board," Sam replied.
After that they settled down to watch Blues Brother's, one of Sam's favorite movies. When the movie was over, Sam left for one of the guest rooms while Bucky headed up to his apartment.
Before walking through the door Bucky paused and turned to Steve, "For the record Punk, I don't have the nightmares with Darcy either."