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The relationship between Sam Wilson and Bucky Barnes has been a turbulent one ever since they first met back in 2014 when the Sergeant was still under Hydraʼs control. That bad first impression the Falcon got was never truly mended, and his smug attitude and witty remarks didnʼt help his case either when it came to warming up to the former Winter Soldier. After all, the unstable man, who was just coming to terms with what had happened with his life ever since he fell from that train in Switzerland, saw the other as a sort of threat.
In a sense, Bucky saw Sam as someone trying to replace him. Not only as Captain Americaʼs sidekick but as Steve Rogersʼ best friend as well. Even though the same man went to “war” against half of the superhero team he was part of just to keep him safe and away from being wrongfully imprisoned after he was framed for murdering the then King of Wakanda, Buckʼs insecurities were at an all-time high.
It took a lot of convincing from Rogers to reassure Barnes that no one could ever take his place by his side and that he would forever be his best friend, in life and death.
The grudge remained anyway, to Steveʼs disappointment and despite his best efforts to help them get along better. It seemed that the two men either held a bigger resentment towards the other or just enjoyed way too much messing with one another. The Captain couldnʼt tell for sure at that point, and it was as disheartening as discouraging, to think that their relationship could never get better, no matter what he did to help nourish their bond.
Despite all of the missions and team-building exercises they went through together, Sam and Bucky delighted in finding any opportunity available to annoy the other. Sometimes it didn’t go further than a harmless prank or a slightly offensive joke being made, yet other times, whatever shit they pulled would end up in a physical altercation. Those kinds of situations needed the intervention of other Avengers and were usually followed by stern lectures from Steve, reminding them that they are teammates and supposed to at least be cordial when working together.
Still, nothing seemed to be able to dissuade either of the two men, making the other heroes wonder if their grudge could ever be settled.
“It just saddens me to see them act like that, so hostile toward each other,” Steve commented one chilly afternoon while making cocoa for Natasha and himself. “I really wish they could at least stop being at each otherʼs throats for a while.”
“You canʼt really blame them for kinda hating each other, though,” Romanov argued, attempting to steal a couple of marshmallows without being noticed.
However, the Captain did notice and snatched the bag away from her reach, chiding her about waiting for the hot beverages to be made.
“I was there when Bucky reappeared, and it was not a pleasant encounter for sure. But the difference between us and Sam is that he had never met him before. So, it stands to reason that it takes him longer to accept him.”
The Widowʼs words of wisdom do little to comfort the Captain, yet he sees reason in them. He knew the real Bucky, the one before the fall, and was convinced that he was still there, under all the mind-control and memory-wiping. Natasha not only had encountered him a couple of times before, but she actually knew him from her time working for the KGB. And as someone who has been trained as a ruthless assassin, she knows better than any of them not only about the extreme manipulation and torture spies and assassins are put through to ensure compliance but that redemption for them is possible as well.
The only consolation Rogers had was that at least it seemed that they were getting along a bit better, and perhaps they were even on their slow way to a truce. The ideal would be friendship, according to him, but he shouldn’t keep his hopes that high unless he wants to risk being let down.
“It’ll take time, but it’s not impossible,” he assured at last, sharing a small smile with the Russian.
That was when he was finally done with their drinks and he passed Natasha her mug as well as the marshmallow bag. She put at least a dozen of the small, puffy sweets into her cocoa, making Rogers starts chiding her all over again.
So, Wilson and Barnes’ actions have been less aggressive during the last few months, reduced to petty pranks and heatless comments fired instead of butting heads. One such example of the scaling down of the hostilities was Bucky using his metal arm to reflect the sunlight into Samʼs eyes in order to blind him as if the limb were a mirror.
Luckily for the team, and since Bucky isn’t either stupid or that big of an asshole, he did it during a training exercise in which they were running a drill of an upcoming infiltration operation. They were doing it outdoors in an area similar in terrain to where their actual target was located, and given the cloudless sky, there was plenty of sunlight to go around and use for a harmless prank.
Harmless in the sense that Wilson was wearing his visor, thus the light being reflected onto his eyes wouldn’t pose a real threat to his eyesight. Otherwise, Bucky knew he would be in deep shit afterward.
“Yo, who the hell is shining shit on my eyes?” Sam exclaimed once he landed on the field, looking at the teammates present.
“Well, donʼt look at me, I ainʼt doing anything,” Clint defended himself as soon as Wilsonʼs inquiring gaze fell on him.
“I donʼt even have anything to use to reflect sunlight!” Came Peterʼs argument once he felt the accusing heat present in the Falconʼs stare.
“Iʼm not petty like that.”
Romanovʼs own defense was not only aimed at Sam but at the true culprit as well. Yet the way she side-eyed the man responsible for the prank was missed by the victim given that she was somewhere in the forest surrounding the field.
“Can we concentrate on the mission here, please?” Tony interrupted through the comms. “You can figure out the mystery later.”
“Tonyʼs right, everyone, we need to focus on getting this right. Otherwise, we might fail the real mission,” Steve
Rogersʼ concurrence with Starkʼs directive was enough to refocus the teamʼs attention back towards their tasks. Still, Wilson was already suspecting who could be the one to blame, who not only wasnʼt visible from the open field, but remained silent through the comms as well. He figured it could only be the one person that had reasons to mess with him in such a “lame” way.
The rest of the drill went by without further incidents, and they completed it successfully. That was enough to make most of them forget about what happened, except for Sam, of course. So, the man decided to get his revenge as soon as possible once they got back to the compound. But to do that, he knew he would need to be discreet, as well as ask the engineer for a little assistance.
In the end, Wilson chose to punish Bucky by messing with the very thing that he used to mess with him: his metal arm.
First, the Falcon asked Iron Man for a big and potent magnet, the kind that would be a pain in the ass to get detached. Second, he needed to hide it someplace where he knew Barnes would get his arm close enough to it to stick without realizing it until it was too late. And third, he would just need to be present at the right moment, so he could enjoy the show.
He got the magnet, without Stark asking any questions about it -already suspecting what it was for and not minding being an indirect co-conspirator in the whole affair. He hid it well enough so Bucky didnʼt notice it until he felt the pull and yelped at the brick-sided magnet sticking to his arm and weighing it down. And he cackled as he watched Steve trying to pry it from the Sergeantʼs prosthetic limb. He also got told off for laughing at the otherʼs misfortune, yet he couldnʼt care less.
The magnet, which couldnʼt be separated from the metal arm, ended up messing with the internal functions, forcing Buck to ask Tony for help. With concealed joy and feigned annoyance, he proceeded to demagnetize the dark grey block attached to the Sargeʼs forearm before he removed the whole limb as well in order to repair the mechanisms inside. And, just to avoid anything like that happening again, Barnes politely asked Stark if he could add a magnetic-force sensor to the armʼs features.
After that, a little prank war broke out between Sam and Bucky, which ultimately was resolved with a few tasteless jokes and an agreed cessation of hostilities. They were both forced to stop by Steve and Natasha, given that they were both done with the other twoʼs ongoing shenanigans.
Still, the magnet prank was continuously used by Wilson to make fun of Barnes. And every time Sam did that, Bucky proceeded to reflect light into his eyes.