"Tony is needy sometimes," Aurora murmured. She tapped out a text to her cousin.

The nest is taken care of. Reilly and I are home. Anything else?

You usually text me, what's going on? Tony sort of demanded. Because he could tell something was going on.

Aurora sighed. She didn't want to deal with Tony right now.

Just a rough hunt. We're staying in for a while.

Tony eyed his phone at that. Alright, he agreed. Text me in the next couple days so I know you're not growing new life sitting on the couch or anything.

Aurora was in the middle of a reply when one last text came in from Tony, after a pause.

On second thought, I'm coming over. Got a new toy for you to see anyways. Be there in fifteen.

That made Aurora freeze, because she was very sure she didn't want Tony knowing about Steve yet, and she knew Reilly would agree about Bucky.

You don't have to, she replied to the text, to see how much pushing it would take to keep Tony away. She had a sinking feeling that he was still going to show up regardless.

Toy needs testing too, so this isn't entirely altruistic, I need my ego stroked, Tony texted back. He was already pretty much ready to go.

Steve shifted when he heard her heart rate pick up. "What happened?" he asked quietly.

Aurora couldn't figure out a way to protest without Tony getting suspicious, so she didn't reply to him immediately. Instead, she took a screencap of the text conversation and sent it to her sister as a heads' up.

"Tony's coming," she murmured to Steve. "And I don't think I can get him to not show up."

"Do you want me to go?" Steve asked quietly. He didn't move yet though.

Reilly saw the text and swore. Her first order of business, though, was to get some proper clothes on and do something with her hair.

"I don't know," Aurora said. She cuddled a bit closer. "I would just tell him to stay away, but everyone knows Tony Stark has a mind of his own and won't be told what to do."

Bucky blinked when she started swearing.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

Steve snorted quietly. "Well, if there's no stopping him coming, I could always leave while he's here," he offered quietly.

"Tony's coming," Reilly said. "He's about fifteen minutes out. He's stubborn and he designs half our hunting toys."

Aurora thought about that for a moment.

"I... don't know," she said. "He's a hunter too, for the most part. I don't know how he'll react to you."

"I see," Bucky said. He looked at her. "Do you want me to hang around when he gets here?"

Steve nodded. "Whatever you think is best," he offered, looking at her.

Reilly huffed, pushing some hair back out of her face. "Yes," she said after a moment. "But I don't know how he'll react to you. He might try to stake you. Fair warning."

Aurora hesitated.

"Stay?" she asked. "I'll talk Tony around if I have to. I don't want you to go."

"I'll be alright," Bucky said. He put an arm around her. "I can handle myself against one guy."

Steve nodded, resettling his arms around her. "Then I'll stay. I'll be fine, don't worry."

Reilly snorted quietly. "Tony makes our toys," she pointed out. "He's an exceptionally good shot when he wants, and he might want."

"I'll be alright," Bucky said again. "Really. Promise, I won't even bait him."

"See that you don't." Reilly huffed a bit but went to go be a real person and put on actual clothes and everything.

Bucky just grinned and let her go get ready.

Aurora also reluctantly got up and put some real clothes on. As comfortable as she was with her cousin, she still didn't want to be wearing old sweats when he showed up.

Steve let her do that, sidling out of her room to go find Bucky and see what he was going to do. "You heard about their cousin?" he asked quietly.

"Yeah," Bucky said, nodding a bit. "Just our luck that they're related to Tony Stark. Who knows what he's got up his sleeve to try to kill us with?"

"Probably all kinds of things." Steve smiled grimly. "Or if he doesn't now, he'll come up with them in short order, I'm sure."

"Well, I'm still sticking around," Bucky said. "Reilly wants me to stay. You?"

Steve nodded. "Aurora asked me to as well," he said. "So I'll be around."

"Good," Bucky said. He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "When did things get so complicated?"

"They've been complicated," Steve said with a wry smile. "We've just been mostly lucky so far."

Bucky sighed.

"Well, looks like we're about to have another hunter on our hands. This should be fun."