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After the Sokovia Accords events that left the relationship amongst the Avengers members in a pretty bad shape, the tension between Bucky and Tony remained rather high, despite Steve’s best efforts.
Stark continues to suffer through the aftermath of finding out the truth behind his parents’ deaths. And at the same time, Barnes has to deal with the ever-present guilt of all the people he murdered through the years as the Winter Soldier, which threatens to consume him whole.
Even though most of the initial conflict that was the catalyst for all of that has long since ended, there’s a certain grade of lingering animosity between the two “opposing teams” that refuses to be vanquished. Nevertheless, the Avengers have come together once more after the dust settled, going as far as to welcome new members like Scott and Peter into the team.
All the while, Bucky is undergoing psychological treatment, in the hopes of not only being able to reinsert himself into society but with the hope of a possibility to join the team as well. However, he’s still missing his left arm since Tony blasted it off, and the older (younger) man also refuses to give him a new one until they can make sure that it’s safe for Barnes to have it.
Because of that, and Stark’s enduring hatred towards the Sergeant, Buck has become the subject of a lot of pranks and jokes steaming from the engineer.
A particularly annoying and recurrent one is having objects being thrown at him. At first, the action pissed him off and he would try to at least defend himself if he couldn’t retaliate. But after some time, he just gave up and decided to wait until Tony got tired of it.
In the end, the Sarge saw more damage in confronting Iron Man than to let him blow his steam in the pettiest of way. Bucky thought that he had caused enough trouble for everyone involved already, thus while he didn’t say anything to Steve at all. Last thing he wanted was to be the reason behind another rift between the two heroes.
One such example of Tony doing his most ‒yet at the same time his less‒ to annoy Bucky was when Scott first arrived at the compound.
Ant-Man was being given a tour of the premises by Sam, who had been bestowed that responsibility since he was the one to basically introduce the former criminal to the team when they both came across Stark in the lounge/kitchen area. Then, Lang decided to ask what he considered a fundamental question. One that would provide vital information.
“So, what do you guys do for fun around here?” Asked Scott, attempting to sound as casual as possible.
“Oh, I don’t know,” Tony replied nonchalantly, a glint of mischief appearing in his eyes. “Sometimes we throw random shit at Barnes.”
“You mean Bucky?” Lang questioned with a confused expression, unsure if the engineer was joking or being serious.
“Yeah, that one. Check this out,” Stark announced before grabbing the nearest thing available. “Hey, Barnes!”
Upon hearing his last name being called from across the room, Bucky, who had been sitting on one of the couches while reading, turned his head in order to answer. However, before the younger (older) male could reply to the other, he saw the projectile heading in his direction.
Turns out that Stark, wanting to demonstrate for poor Scott what he considered to be fun, had proceeded to throw an almost empty water bottle at the one-armed former Winter Soldier, hitting him square in his broad chest. The slight pain caused by the impact was barely registered by the victim, who just glared mildly at Tony from his seat.
Stark only replied with a smug and satisfied smirk, silently communicating that he knew the other wouldn’t do or say anything about it. And no matter how the billionaire’s consciousness told him that what he was doing was wrong, his narcissistic and prideful side told him to ignore it.
After all, he liked to justify himself saying that it was all harmless and that Barnes deserved much worse anyway. At least according to him.
On the other hand, Bucky’s anger was mitigated by an empathetic sadness he felt towards his “attacker”. He knew that Stark was still in pain and mourning, for the second time in his life, the death of his parents. So, he couldn’t really bring himself to be too upset about the whole ordeal, given how he still blamed himself for what happened all those years ago.
He knew, or least believed, that he deserved much worse anyway.
Meanwhile, Sam, who had been observing the situation play out, said nothing about it, having learned that it was wise to not come between the two men and their issues with each other. After Germany, he knew better than to take sides in matters that didn’t concern him or anyone else. Besides, he understood that the matter was delicate, and something that only Bucky and Tony could work out in the end.
And even if he didn’t agree with Stark’s blatant mistreatment of Barnes, Wilson couldn’t help but feel slightly amused as well. After all, the Falcon and the ex-Winter Soldier didn’t start off with the right foot. That’s part of the reason why their rivalry remains to this day.