“This,” Stark spits as he thrusts a dog-eared sheaf of papers onto the coffee table, “is the biggest steaming pile of horse shit I’ve ever seen. Bad science, is what it is – wrong, so wrong, it’s so off the mark it makes Columbus look like he hit the bullseye – who published this? Was it even peer-reviewed because seriously I –”
“Can it, Tony,” Barton sighs from his perch on the back of the sofa across the common room. “You’re just sore because you’re bottom of the pile.”
Barnes suspects Barton already regrets bringing the article to Stark’s obsessive attention. He catches a glimpse of the title on the top-most page: Superhero showdown: Comparison of strengths and weaknesses amongst The Avengers . It wouldn’t pay to look too interested and encourage Stark, but he’s definitely curious and he’s not sorry when Steve stretches across him and snags the paper to read it for himself.
Oh, I love media/meta fic such as this, it brings me such delight! (Bonus: Background established Stucky. *g*)