When the Captain's larger figure moved even just a bit out of his own personal bubble, Tony physically felt the pressure ease off him. Stark thrived under pressure, lived for it, but only when it pertained to his work (or, recently, missions). Being pressured by people or feeling as if he was, well, he hated that feeling. It made him defensive, quick to snap, quick to say things he probably never meant to say. Pepper could attest to it. Maybe he'd feel bad about what he had said to Steve later, maybe he wouldn't, but he wasn't going to apologize.

The argument was getting ridiculous and tiresome. Rogers just needed to get over himself. What Tony had done had worked, so what if Victor knew who it was that had busted down his door? It wasn't as if the Avengers couldn't handle the egomaniac. Despite the Captain's claim of not forcing anyone to follow him, Stark heavily suspected that Steve's feelings were hurt because Tony wouldn't fall in line.

"Let it go, Rogers. We're alive, we got the mission done. I'm done," Tony replied and pushed past Steve with, probably, more force than he should have. "I don't know what Howard saw in you. You're just another jarhead officer who hates it when people don't follow your preconceived notions to a 'T'."