AVENGERS

1, 2, 3, 4

Author's Note:

Main Pairing: Tony Stark/Loki

Side-Pairing: Clint Barton/Natasha Romanov

Warnings: Implied sexual content, mild language, fluff

Title/Lyrics: 1, 2, 3, 4 by Plain White T's

Disclaimer: The world and characters of The Avengers belong to Marvel. I own nothing but the plot and make no money from this story.

"Give me more lovin' from the very start

Piece me back together when I fall apart

Tell me things you never even tell your closest friends

Make it feel good when I hurt so bad

The best that I've had, I'm so glad I found you

I love being around you"

'Okay,' Bruce said for what must have been the fifteenth time in the past half-an-hour. Which was weird, because usually Bruce wasn't fazed about anything. It took a lot to truly amaze or confuse the doctor, and Tony figured that it had something to do with turning into a giant green dude every other week and battling super villains with a Norse God and a guy in a flying suit of armour.

'Okay?' Tony echoed. 'What's that mean, Brucie? Okay is in, oh, your liver's fine despite the fact that you drink like a fish? Okay as in you're way too healthy for a guy who regularly gets beaten up? Or okay as in, well look at that giant cancerous growth, you have two weeks to live?'

Bruce turned a slightly amused smile on Tony, who grinned in response. Tony was undergoing his regular physical. Bruce had never been trained to be an MD, but he'd travelled a lot, and had treated more people than he could probably count for all manner of things. And the Avengers felt better having someone they trusted look at their personal medical files, opposed to some SHIELD agent poking them with sharp objects.

'First of all,' Bruce said, snapping Tony from his thoughts, 'you've been drinking less and less since you and Loki started... whatever it is you're doing.'

'Dating,' Tony said.

Bruce ignored him. 'Second, you take relatively good care of yourself, lack of sleep and poor diet aside. Third, you don't have a cancerous growth, or any other growths, that I'm aware of.'

'Well, that's good,' Tony quipped. 'What's with the dozen "okays", then?'

'Well...' Bruce hesitated, glancing back at the screen he'd pulled towards himself. It was currently projecting all of Tony's test results, the light blues and greens scrolling quickly across the screen whenever Bruce tapped the holo-keyboard.

'Well?' Tony repeated.

'Erm...' Bruce frowned a bit and reached up to take his glasses off. He rubbed his eyes briefly before continuing. 'According to all of this, you're as healthy as a horse. Well, actually, you're healthier than a horse.'

'Isn't that good?' Tony questioned.

'Yes,' Bruce nodded, 'it's too good, Tony, and that's the problem.'

'Being healthy's a problem?' Tony asked. 'Damn it, I knew you and Steve were lying to me. Pepper, too. It's a conspiracy!'

Bruce sighed, but was too used to Tony's dramatics to let them get to him too much. 'Tony, all of this points towards you being in your mid twenties.'

Tony blinked. 'Right... no, that can't be right. I turned forty a few months ago.'

'Yeah,' Bruce agreed. 'Last year you had the typical work-up of a thirty-nine year-old man who drinks a bit too much and eats poorly. You were relatively healthy, only your blood pressure and cholesterol were too high. Your liver was also a bit damaged. All of that's gone, now.'

'Okay,' Tony mused.

'You don't seem to get it,' Bruce sighed. He sat back down and swivelled his chair to face Tony, who was sitting on one of the hospital beds he'd bought when the Avengers had moved in. 'These results don't indicate that you simply changed your diet; started eating better, stopped drinking, etc. They point towards you never having any of those issues.'

Tony just blinked.

'Also, I ran a few full body scans,' Bruce continued. 'Your bones are stronger than they've ever been- at least, according to your medical records. There are no indications that you've ever broken a bone, or had any type of surgery apart from your arc reactor. And even your heart shows signs of healing, signs that are simply impossible for a simple human to have naturally.'

'So... what, you're saying that someone's been feeding me some type of healing drug?'

'There's nothing in your blood or tissue or... well, anything, to indicate that,' Bruce admitted. 'At least, not anything that your machines or JARVIS can pick up.'

'Hmm,' Tony hummed. 'Would Extremis do this?'

'I think even you would notice someone secretly shooting foreign chemicals into your body daily,' Bruce replied. 'And before you ask, no, there's no trace of any Extremis-related chemical in your body. Or any chemical, actually, apart from the painkillers you took just before we started for your headache.'

'Okay.' Great, now it was Tony's turn to repeat every other word. 'So what are you saying, exactly? For once in my life, I'm asking someone to dumb it down for me.'

Bruce rolled his eyes, but complied. 'Basically it's like nothing medically bad has ever happened to you, apart from the reactor in your chest. You still have the scars around it, and your heart is still slightly worse than, say, Steve's. Also, you still have a number of scars from your various battles and childhood injuries. But everything else is gone. There's no hairline fracture on your right leg from when you were twenty-three and broke it. There's no evidence of the multiple breaks you've suffered since becoming Iron Man. Even though a doctor can set the break, and the bone will knit back together, there will always be a slight trace of evidence that you have broken it. Except that now there isn't, not any more.'

'So, what, my bones have magically healed themselves?' Tony joked. But Bruce's eyes went wide, and Tony realised that, wait, magic could have fixed it. Bruce was also Thor's doctor, and Loki's ever since the Trickster had sort-of switched sides. Bruce was always commenting on how quickly and thoroughly Loki and Thor healed; Loki could heal himself magically, and always did, crafting broken bones together so that no trace was to be found an hour later. And Thor, despite being terrible at magic, still had enough healing factors to mend himself better than any human. 'Shit,' Tony gaped.

'Shit indeed,' Bruce agreed. Normally Tony would have laughed at Bruce swearing, but he was too wrapped up in what he'd just realised.

'You don't think...' Tony trailed off, and Bruce shrugged one shoulder.

'We all know how he feels about you, Tony,' the doctor offered. 'He's healed you before, without ever being asked. The others have to beg him to heal them, or do something in return. You just have to wince in pain and he's at your side pushing magic into your body.'

'But... but this is different,' Tony said. 'It's one thing to heal me when I'm injured in battle, but wouldn't something like this take time?'

'I'd assume so,' Bruce said. 'I'm no expert on magic, but I know from personal experience that healing magic hurts.'

'It does,' Tony agreed. Snapping a bone back into place, even magically, hurt like a son of a bitch.

'Healing all the issues with your bones and muscles and liver... yeah, that'd be something you'd notice if it happened all at once,' Bruce continued. 'But if Loki did it daily, maybe when you were asleep? Mend a bone here, heal a part of your liver there... I really don't think you'd even wake up, not for something on such a small scale.'

'So... Loki's been healing me daily, for, what, the past year?' Tony asked.

Bruce nodded. 'Your last physical all made sense to me. This one? Not so much.'

'Shit,' Tony repeated and rubbed his eyes. 'Why the fuck would Loki do that?'

'Seriously?' Bruce laughed, and then raised his eyebrows in surprise when Tony looked at him. 'Tony, the guy loves you. Everybody know it. He might not say it, but the way he looks at you?' Tony gaped. 'You can't be surprised,' Bruce huffed another laugh. 'We all see the way you look at him, too. We all figured that you just kept that kind of thing... well, private.'

'Um... no, not so much,' Tony admitted. He did love Loki, he knew that much, but he and the god had never exchanged any words along those lines. There had been times, though, when Tony thought that they might both be feeling it; when one of them was injured, or when they were curled up in bed together, even when they snuggled and had Harry freaking Potter marathons.

Oh dear God, he and Loki loved each other. Tony Stark was in a healthy, loving relationship with another guy, a freakin' Norse God. The guy who had tried to take over the world just over two years ago.

'Wow,' Bruce hummed, 'you're really slow.'

'Shut up,' Tony whined. 'I knew how I felt, but how the hell was I supposed to know that Loki felt the same?'

'You could have asked me,' Bruce said. 'Or Natasha. Steve. Thor. Hell, even Clint knew. I bet the King and Queen of Asgard do, too. And Pepper. As well as the general public.'

'I hate you right now,' Tony declared. 'That's it, we're no longer science bros!'

Bruce put a hand to his chest, face a mask of hurt. 'I'm truly wounded.'

Tony flipped him off but Bruce just chuckled. He slipped his glasses back on and spun to face the computer, tapping at the keyboard to save and file away Tony's results. 'You might want to go discuss this with Loki,' he said without turning. 'Because it seems that he's trying to keep you around. If he can heal you this well, you'll probably live until you're a hundred and twenty, possibly longer.'

'Yeah,' Tony mumbled and slid off the bed. Bruce waved half-heartedly, but Tony didn't both saying anything as he left the small medical wing and entered the elevator. 'JARVIS, where's Loki?'

'On the communal floor watching a movie with Agent Romanov and Agent Barton,' JARVIS replied.

'Take me there,' Tony ordered. He stood in silence as the elevator travelled upward, and stepped out when the doors slid open.

Tony's gaze slid past the navy blue walls, the white carpet and large floor-to-ceiling windows that showed the New York skyline. The main part of the living room was down a step, sunken into the floor, with the flat-screen TV hanging off of one dark wall, surrounding by shelves filled with books, DVDs and framed photos.

There were couches and armchairs everywhere, and Clint and Natasha occupied the one that faced the windows, while Loki had stretched himself out on the one directly facing the TV. He was wearing baggy grey sweats and one of Tony's band t-shirts, which always made Tony's heart skip a beat in pleasure. There was really nothing sexier than Loki wearing Tony's clothing, especially when the shirts or pants failed to fit properly.

Loki's hair was a mess of dark waves, falling across his face and shoulders, his bright green eyes on the TV. They were watching Skyfall, because Clint and Natasha liked complaining about the gadgets and how they could stop the bad guy more efficiently, while Loki liked to chime in with what he, as a former super villain, would correct to successfully take over the world.

It always ended in Clint throwing popcorn or chips at Loki, and Loki using magic to colour Clint's hair a weird shade of blue, green or orange. Clint always seemed to take pride in the new hair styles, and he and Loki would then work together to turn Tony, Steve or Bruce's hair a similar shade.

Loki heard Tony enter the room before either of the SHIELD agents, and offered Tony a small smile that, on anyone else, would have been a grin. But Loki was still reserved, even after a year of he and Tony being together, and slightly less time living in the Tower. At least around other people he was.

'We're going to re-watch the earlier James Bond movies,' Loki said, making Clint and Natasha turn to see who he was talking to. 'Would you care to join us?'

'Uh... yeah, sure,' Tony said and moved further into the room. He went to sit beside Loki, who'd held an arm up, waiting for Tony to lay beside him. But Tony froze, just staring down at the man- the god- who had decided that Tony Stark was worth his time and affection.

'Anthony?' Loki mused, raising one dark eyebrow.

'You've been healing me,' Tony blurted. Okay, not the smoothest way to bring the topic up- or the right place, seeing as how they weren't alone- but Tony had never been known for his subtly.

Loki's eyes widened, and he sat up quickly, long, pale fingers pushing his hair behind his ears. 'Oh,' he said. 'I wasn't sure that Banner's machines could pick up the changes.'

'Yeah,' Tony said, 'well, they did.'

'I see,' Loki replied. 'And... how do you feel about it?'

Wow, Loki was asking about his feelings. Neither were very good at talking or expressing themselves in a healthy manner, but there you go. The relationship really had changed them for the better. It was a miracle, it really was.

'I... uh...' Tony hesitated, and was vaguely aware of Clint and Natasha watching them, eyes swivelling back and forth like they were at a tennis match. Only Clint was still stuffing popcorn into his mouth, so it was more like a good drama show. 'I don't know,' Tony admitted slowly.

'You don't know?' Loki asked, his eyebrow going back up.

'Yeah,' Tony said, ''cause I'm not sure what you're saying.'

Loki blinked. 'I'm afraid that I don't understand.'

'Well... why?' Tony asked. 'Why have you been healing me? And secretly, too? Why go to all that trouble, drain yourself, just to heal a few old wounds?'

Loki licked his lips but didn't say anything, so Tony continued.

'Did you do it to make me sturdier or something?' Tony asked.

'Not... exactly,' Loki said slowly.

'Then why?' Tony asked, feeling exasperated and overwhelmed and all together too... emotional. 'Because I have a theory, but I don't wanna say it if you don't feel the same way.'

'Feel the same way?' Loki echoed.

'This is better than Days of Our Lives,' Clint whispered.

'You have a problem,' Natasha replied just as softly.

'Yeah,' Tony said, ignoring his team-mates. 'Because if you're saying what I think you're saying, and what Bruce and apparently everybody else knows, then I'm really, really fucking happy. But if you're not than I just wanna know why you did it.'

Loki blinked again, looking thoroughly confused. 'Anthony, I haven't said anything. I may be a master of words, but I'm having difficulty following this conversation.'

'Me too,' Clint agreed, but nobody paid him any attention.

Tony breathed out heavily and put his hands on his hips. Okay, so he was gonna have to say it. That was cool, Tony could totally do that. He was a super-hero for fuck's sake, he could totally tell the guy he was dating that he was maybe, quite possibly, totally in love with him.

'Okay,' he nodded, 'right, I can say it. I'm a grown man in touch with my emotions.'

Natasha snorted, and even Clint giggled at that. Loki shot them a mild glare, but his attention almost immediately focused on Tony once more.

'I... well,' Tony cleared his throat, 'I'm gonna say it, okay? And you don't have to say it back if you don't feel it, I don't want that. If you think that you can feel it, in the future, let me know. If you can't, I'll deal with it.'

'Anthony-' Loki began, but Tony cut him off.

'I'm in love with you.'

Silence followed his words, except for Natasha's very softly murmured, 'Finally,' and the sound of Clint dropping his bowl of popcorn. Loki's mouth fell open, bright eyes wide, and he just... stared.

'Yeah,' Tony said when he felt that it'd been silent too long, 'I'm totally in love with you. Like Thor's in love with Jane, only better, because it's me and you. Like couples who've been married forty years love each other. Like Clint loves playing Angry Birds.'

'I do not,' Clint muttered.

'I want to grow old with you,' Tony continued, 'and wake up every day with you, and fuck you every day over every available surface in the Tower.'

'Ewe,' Clint grunted, and Natasha mumbled an agreement.

'I wanna be with you, um... forever,' Tony said, even though it sounded incredibly fucking cheesy. It was true, though. 'And if you don't feel the same, that's cool. I mean, it sucks, but I'm a big boy, I can handle it. But see, you healing me every day, making me healthier and stronger, makes me thing that you might love me, too. That maybe you wanna spend more time with me, more years. And if that's how you feel, well, you should tell me right now, so that I'm not the only one making an ass out of myself in front of BlackHawk over there.'

'We prefer Clintasha,' Natasha admitted, and Clint nodded enthusiastically, though Tony and Loki both missed it, eyes still trained on each other.

Again, silence fell; Tony and Loki staring, Clint and Natasha waiting.

Finally, Loki stood, his borrowed shirt riding up to show a sliver of pale stomach and hips, but Tony didn't look like he usually would have. Instead he kept his eyes fixed on Loki's.

'I...' Loki said slowly, his voice slightly hoarse, 'I'm not good at matters of the heart, as you well know.' Tony just nodded. 'But, you are correct in assuming that I have been healing you so that I could... spend more time with you. You are mortal, with far too short a life span, and... I just want more time.'

'Because...?' Tony asked. Loki huffed in frustration. 'You're not getting off that easy,' Tony said.

'I... well,' Loki muttered and frowned, and then crossed his arms over his chest defensively. 'I love you, too,' he muttered.

'What was that?' Tony asked, trying to sound teasing. It was ruined by the full-blown grin spreading across his face.

Loki rolled his eyes, but a smile tugged at his lips. 'I love you, you insufferable fool,' he finally said, loud enough for Clint and Natasha to hear him clearly.

'Damn right you do,' Tony beamed. 'And I love you, too.'

'Obviously,' Loki drawled, but chuckled when Tony suddenly launched himself at the god, tugging Loki in for a bone-crushing hug. Loki's arms went around Tony's shoulders, squeezing tightly, and he buried his face in Tony's hair, breathing in deeply.

'You shoulda just told me,' Tony mumbled against Loki's neck.

'Despite what others might believe, I do not enjoy reading minds,' Loki responded. 'And I would never break your trust like that.'

'Damn,' Tony laughed, 'we're really fucked, aren't we?'

'In the best way possible,' Loki agreed.

Tony laughed again and squeezed Loki briefly before pulling back. He grinned up at the Trickster, who smiled down at him. Tony leaned up and gave Loki a soft, sweet kiss, one that was full of love and devotion and all those squishy feelings that people in love felt. They'd been exchanging kisses like that for months; Tony really was slow.

'So,' Tony said when they broke apart, 'do you really wanna watch James Bond, or...?'

Loki raised an eyebrow, a smirk creeping along his face. 'What else did you have in mind?'

Tony leaned up to whisper in his ear, and Loki shivered. When their eyes met again, Loki's were darker, and Tony grinned wickedly. 'I am amendable to such a situation,' Loki said, before he wrapped his arms around Tony and teleported them in a shimmer of green and gold.

Clint and Natasha blinked at the spot they'd been standing, before the archer glanced at his girlfriend. 'That was awkward.'

'But entertaining,' Natasha said, the other agent nodding in agreement. 'I hope JARVIS recorded that, because it was gold.'

'We should call Steve, Bruce and Thor,' Clint said. 'Hell, Jane and Darcy too!'

'And Pepper,' Natasha said as she stood. 'I'll make the popcorn.'

Clint laughed and Natasha smiled, the two going their separate ways to get the sudden party started.

All of the Avengers- plus a CEO, a scientist, and an assistant- were immensely grateful that Tony's penthouse was four floors above the communal floor. Because Tony and Loki didn't leave their bedroom for three days.

While they were happy that the two idiots had finally realised what everybody else had known for months, none of them wanted to hear it, thank you very much.

"There's only one thing to do, three words for you

I love

There's only one way to say those three words

And that's what I'll do

I love you"

– 1, 2, 3, 4 [Tom Higgenson]

{The End}

Author's Note: Ahh, FrostIron. How I love thee. This is for GreenLoki on AO3, because we love fangirling over FrostIron and Clint together.

Cheers,

{IBegToDreamAndDiffer}