Avengers || FrostIron || How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful || FrostIron || Avengers

Title: How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful – New and Improved Avengers

Fandom: Marvel | Avengers

Disclaimer: All rights reserved to Marvel Comics for the creation of some of the most awesome heroes ever. This fanfiction on the other hand is entirely mine. No money is made with this, though reviews are more than welcomed.

Warnings: m/m, not Infinity War compliant, team as family, team building, fluff, PTSD, hurt/comfort, past child abuse, explicit intercourse, anal, oral, m/f, f/f

Main Pairing: Loki/Tony

Side Pairings: Hope/Darcy, Valkyrie/Sif, Rhodey/Maria/Carol, Bruce/Jane, T'Challa/Ororo, Happy/Pepper

New Avengers: Tony Stark | Iron Man, James 'Rhodey' Rhodes | War Machine, Carol Danvers | Captain Marvel, Hope van Dyne | Wasp, Vision, Sif, Brunnhilde | Valkyrie, Loki, Thor, Bruce Banner | Hulk, Sharon Carter | Agent 13, Jane Foster, Darcy Lewis, T'Challa | Black Panther

Junior Avengers: Peter Parker | Spider-Man, Shuri, Hela Lokisdottir, Miles Morales | Kid Arachnid, Edward 'Ned' Leeds, Harley Keener, Gwen Stacy | Ghost-Spider

Allies: Stephen Strange | Doctor Strange, Ororo Munroe | Storm, Okoye, Heimdall, Maria Rambeau, Monica Rambeau, Virginia 'Pepper' Potts, Happy Hogan, James 'Bucky' Barnes

Ex-Vengers: Steven 'Steve' Rogers | Captain America, Natasha Romanova | Black Widow, Clinton 'Clint' Barton | Hawkeye, Samuel 'Sam' Wilson | Falcon, Wanda Maximoff | Scarlet Witch

Summary: Post Civil War, Tony has to build a new team of Avengers. Aside from new recruits, there are also two well-known Avengers that return to Earth – with a ship full of refugees. New and more functional Avengers rise from the ashes of the old and new alliances, new friendships and even new relationships are formed. Though the biggest wild-card proves to be Loki, not entirely unexpected.

How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful

New and Improved Avengers

Chapter 23: West Coast Avengers

Dating Loki was surprisingly... soft. The Asgardian would gently card his fingers through Tony's hair during movie nights and when they were cuddled together on a bed or a couch – also the fact that there was general cuddling to begin with. They would hold hands when going out on a walk. When Loki passed Tony, he never did so without pressing a gentle kiss against his cheek or the corner of his lips. It all had startled Tony at first, but with time he understood.

Loki had never been quite close with anyone and he was not a very physical person. In his own way, Loki was starved for positive touch, just like Tony. So they came to share it, to provide each other with the warmth they both sought out and it were those soft moments they cherished most.

It was more than just gentleness that bound them together though. Their battles of the wits could last for hours if they so pleased. Tony loved going to the theater with Loki and hearing him so passionate about the pieces (they had seen Hamilton last week and Loki had discovered a new passion – musicals!). And the way Loki listened to Tony, just listened even when it was pointless science rambling. It... It felt so good, Tony loved feeling listened to like that?

He was so happy with Loki, he didn't remember ever having been this happy before.

/break\

"Are we in trouble? Whatever it was, I swear it was Peter's fault."

"Hey!", exclaimed Peter from outside the room before being shushed by Miles.

"We're not supposed to eavesdrop be quiet, Pete", hissed Miles lowly.

Tony raised one eyebrow and stared at the closed door, while Shuri and Harley rolled their eyes (and Hela and Katherine giggled). Loki shook his head, sighing softly to himself.

"Peter, Miles, you can as well come in", offered Loki. "And no one is in trouble."

"Then what's this about? And what am I doing here?", asked Shuri.

She raised one eyebrow and looked from Tony's kids to Loki's kid. Peter and Miles quickly joined them, standing behind the four of them and staring at Loki and Tony with eager curiosity.

"We, together, have... decided... to foster someone", started Tony slowly.

"...Wait you're seriously going to get a child first before even getting married?", asked Shuri.

"We're not like... taking her in as a couple, that would be ridiculous and way too soon, but the two of us both agree that she needs a better, safer environment. And before I invite another teen to live here, I'm going to run this by the teens already living at this mansion", stated Tony.

"I'm getting a sister?", gasped Katherine and Hela excitedly at the same time. "Yes!"

Both girls turned to look at each other at that, large grins on their faces as they high-fived. Tony and Loki exchanged a soft smile at that; they loved that their kids got along like that.

"Who's the kid?", asked Harley. "The new sister you're forcing upon me?"

"Hah, funny. Actually, you should know her. Peter, Miles and Ned went against her in the science fair. Her name's Gwen Stacy", replied Tony with a smile.

"Her?", exclaimed both Peter and Miles high-pitched.

"...That a good 'her' or a bad 'her'?", asked Shuri doubtfully.

"She's really clever, like we nearly lost", offered Miles. "And she makes music! I designed their last album cover. Earned me twenty bucks and a copy of the album. They're pretty good."

"Now, we want you guys to think on it first and tell us honestly what you think. We're not going to do anything without you agreeing", assured Tony gently.

"I vote 'your choice', because I'm not actually here to stay. Like. You do realize I'm going to return to Wakanda at one point, right?", offered Shuri amused, tilting her head.

"I'm definitely not gonna say no after you took us in when we needed it", shrugged Harley.

"We already agreed we want a sister, right, Katherine?", asked Hela with a smile.

"Ye—es!", exclaimed Katherine.

/break\

Gwen raised both her eyebrows as she looked around. Honestly, when Tony Stark had become a regular at her diner, she had never thought she'd be moving into the Avengers mansion? Become Tony Stark's foster daughter? She whistled softly to herself as she went deeper into the mansion.

"Holy shit, that's the Avengers in pjs", muttered Gwen amused.

War Machine was wearing a WarMachineRox shirt and sweatpants as he made coffee. Doctor Banner sat with Doctor Foster's head leaned against his arm as the two ate cereals. The PR manager was only wearing a shirt and panties, while the Wasp was trying to make her put on pants. Thor was wearing actual pajamas with small angry Hulk faces printed all over. How cute.

"Ah!", exclaimed Thor as soon as he spotted her and immediately walked up to her to pick her up and hug her. "Hello, my new niece! It is glorious to meet you."

"...Niece?", echoed Gwen startled. "What."

"Thor! She doesn't... She's never actually seen Loki unglamoured before. You spoiled it."

Thor turned and put her down so she could look at Tony Stark and Loki. Loki. Huh.

"You know what, now I'm mad I didn't figure that out on my own", huffed Gwen annoyed. "The golden-green color-scheme, the hair, the hanging out with Tony Stark. Wait. The dating Tony Sta... oh. Huh. This day's just getting more and more weird."

"Hello, are you our new big sister?"

Yep. More and more weird. Gwen raised both eyebrows as she looked at the little girl peeking out behind Tony. Right, the two kids he adopted a couple months ago. Gwen tilted her head and smiled before kneeling down in front of the girl.

"Hi. I'm Gwen, it's nice to meet you", offered Gwen softly.

She looked up at Tony, trying to convey with one look what she felt in the moment the girl hugged her. This was different. This was going to be different, because Gwen knew what kind of person Tony Stark was – and she actually felt like she knew what kind of person Loki was, after all the interest he had shown in Gwen's music and art. This wasn't going to be like any of the other foster homes before, because these two, they... genuinely cared for her?

"Hey, kiddo", greeted Rhodes as he approached her. "I just want to welcome you here in the name of all the Avengers. There's... a lot of people living here and we don't want to overwhelm you, so everyone's... taking turns meeting you. For now, you're just going to settle in, mh?"

"Su—ure thing, Colonel", nodded Gwen reluctantly.

"Oh, nonsense. That's uncle Rhodey from now on", corrected Tony light-hearted.

The smallest smile found its way onto Gwen's lips as she looked around again.

/break\

Loki's eyes were soft as he watched Hela and Gwen. Gwen was teaching Hela the guitar, because Hela had gotten curious about the weird Midgardian instrument. Currently, she sat with a hyper focus on what Gwen was doing, amazed by the notes coming from the instrument and the ones coming out of Gwen's mouth. He knew that Hela had always wanted a sister.

"Hey there", murmured Tony lowly as he slid his arms down Loki's chest.

Slowly, his chin came to rest on Loki's shoulder and he leaned in to kiss Loki's cheek. Closing his eyes, Loki leaned his head back against Tony's shoulder. Oh how much he cherished his affectionate Midgardian. Reaching out, he rested a hand on Tony's, interlacing their fingers.

"The girls are getting along well", noted Tony amused.

Katherine was sitting on the floor in front of the couch, watching both Hela and Gwen with avid attention. It was endearing and Loki felt no less amused and fond as he watched them. Loki was... happy. He was happy in this home, with this lover, this family, even this team. It was a strange feeling, he had never felt unconditionally happy. Usually, there was always a downside. Someone else trying to put him down – his childhood bullies putting him down about his magic, Odin just generally always managed to put him down. Closing his eyes, he nuzzled into Tony's neck.

/break\

Hope, Darcy, Tony and Loki were on a double-date. That had surprised Tony a little at first, however Darcy and Loki had somehow become quite good friends so maybe it shouldn't be that much of a surprise. While Hope and Tony were debating on the pros and cons of blasters versus wings when it came to flying, Darcy and Loki were exchanging gossip. Gossip. Loki Friggason was into gossip. Not... as surprising as Tony would have thought, actually. But cute.

"So you visited Scott...", drawled Tony slowly as they were halfway through dinner. "How was it?"

"I had an idea", noted Hope tentatively. "We're currently... many Avengers here. And, visiting Scott in San Francisco – which went surprisingly well actually, he seemed very excited that I found someone who makes me happy." Hope paused to look at Darcy softly. "It gave me an idea. The West Coast is... far away. Having all Avengers settled on the East Coast means our reaction time for the other end of the US is slow. What if... there were Avengers on the West Coast?"

"You want to put Scott Lang in charge of an Avengers division?", asked Tony startled.

"Well, no", laughed Hope and shook her head. "He has a good heart, but he's not very diplomatic and the official business attached to being a leader... doesn't quite suit him. However, we currently have four Asgardians. Two of whom have leadership experience. And no, not the princes."

"Hilde was the leader of the Valkyries, Sif was a general in Odin's army", noted Loki. "You want to send them away to lead a fraction of the Avengers?"

"There are eleven Avengers in New York, on top of the unaffiliated vigilantes. The West Coast only has Ant-Man. We could... should... cover more ground. The Accords are meant to guarantee a certain safety for heroes, income, protection. It's making more super-powered humans come forward. If we spread out more, we could recruit and train more, have more teams out there. There are fifty states. We have enough ground to cover in the US alone and it's time we start doing it."

"Okay", whispered Tony thoughtfully, tilting his head. "You're right, of course. And considering Hela, Shuri, Harley, Peter and Miles, we already are raising the next generation of Avengers. Maybe it's time to branch out more with what we have right now."

"Oh, that could be fun", noted Darcy curiously.

"Yes, yes, quite so, however I thought no Avengers business during dates", chided Loki dryly.

"Ah, you're right, you're right", laughed Hope. "I'm sorry. Well, visiting Scott was nice. His daughter is getting so big and she adores me? She flat-out told me that when I retire, she wants to become the new Wasp. Which is cute, but... I think she's also serious."

"Well, that's still a couple of years until Cassie would be old enough to train", grinned Darcy. "But she's cute. Very adorable. Potential to become a badass."

"To future potential badasses then", offered Tony and lifted his glass.

/break\

Tony gasped breathlessly as he was backed into the door as soon as it closed, Loki's lips upon his. The kiss was fierce and passionate, eager hands exploring Tony's chest, tugging on his shirt. They had been dating for weeks now and the tension between them was growing more and more.

"I...", gasped Tony and arched his back. "Are we..."

"Yes. If you want", murmured Loki, gently kissing down Tony's neck.

"I want. I want you a lot, I want this a lot, yes", groaned Tony, fingers curled into Loki's hair.

The two kissed again and during their kiss, they tried to rid each other of their clothes, which was harder than it had any right to be. Both groaned breathlessly as their clothed erections pressed against each other. They stumbled their way over toward the bed and practically collapsed onto it. Rolling around, they freed themselves off their last articles of clothing.

"You're gorgeous", whispered Tony in awe as he stared at the lean, pale body.

Loki smirked back and traced a curious hand down Tony's torso, gentle as he traced the arc reactor. "You're gorgeous yourself, my dearest."

His hand slipped lower, along Tony's abs, down to the slowly hardening cock between his legs. Slowly, Loki wrapped his long fingers around it and massaged him into full hardness. Tony clawed his fingers into Loki's shoulder, leaning into him for support while Loki jerked him off.

"You... stop that...", groaned Tony. "Or it'll be over too soon."

"Very well", agreed Loki and let go to kiss Tony once more.

He slowly rolled them over so Tony was on his back. The billionaire smiled up at him and spread his legs in invitation, winking at Loki. The prince huffed amused, though gladly took the invitation. He coated his fingers in his magic, warm and slick. Carefully, they found their way into Tony, one by one. He opened his lover up with gentle, experienced moves, drawing the most sinful sounds from Tony's lips. Needy, hungry sounds that even without words begged for more.

"What do you say, my treasure, are you ready?", asked Loki, voice low and seductive.

"So ready, so very ready, totally ready", groaned Tony frustrated.

Smiling bemused, Loki pressed a gentle kiss to Tony's lips before he pulled out. He grasped one of Tony's legs to place it over his shoulder, carefully adjusting to ease his way into his lover. There was a breathless gasp coming from Tony as he breached the genius.

"Sh, relax for me, my dearest", murmured Loki, peppering Tony's face with kisses. "Relax."

Tony grumbled as he nuzzled his face into Loki's chest. Smiling to himself, Loki kissed the top of Tony's head. He took all the time in the world to push deeper into Tony, to be embraced by Tony's tight heat. Gasping, Loki finally found himself fully sheathed inside the genius.

"You feel divine, my dearest", gasped Loki, holding tightly onto his lover.

The rhythm was slow, shallow at first. Lazy, really. Drawn out so Loki could thoroughly enjoy it all. Tony's fingers were digging into his biceps and shoulder, clinging onto him for dear life, his legs tightly wrapped around around Loki's waist, pulling him in deeper. His heels dug into Loki's ass, trying to urge Loki deeper. Finally, the prince picked up the pace and the drawn-out languished love-making turned into more wild fucking. Tony moaned breathily as Loki grabbed his cock again and jerked him off once more, this time in time with his thrusts. Every time Loki pushed against his prostate, Tony felt a shudder wreck his body. He moaned as he finally spilled his cum all over their chests. Loki groaned at the feeling of Tony's orgasm, thrusting harder and deeper before he came too, deep inside Tony. He collapsed forward onto his lover, before he slowly rolled them over.

"Well, that was long overdue", mused Loki fondly.

He ran his fingers through Tony's hair in a soothing, gentle manner. Tony offered him a small, pleased smile before he leaned in and kissed Loki deeply. After, Tony bedded his head on Loki's chest, the two of them cuddling closer together, hands gently running over each other's bodies.

"I love being with you", whispered Tony gently. "Every moment of it."

"So... do I", replied Loki, kissing Tony's temples.

/break\

"West Coast Avengers?", asked Rhodey skeptically.

"It's a good pitch", countered Carol, her legs in his lap.

The both of them were sitting on one couch, Maria perched on top of the backrest. The Avengers were gathered and, after days of private planning between Hope and Tony, the two were pitching the idea to everyone else. Thor, who was in the middle of a board-game with Bruce, Jane and Darcy, looked intrigued but also clearly displeased by the idea of them breaking up.

"We're eleven Avengers living in New York", noted Hope. "Every mission farther away from New York means we lose valuable time, time that could save lives. If we had another Avengers division on the West Coast, we could cover more ground."

"Four of us are Asgardians", continued Tony. "Wisdom would be to divide and conquer. Dibs on my boyfriend staying on the East Coast though."

Loki huffed, though there was a fond smile on his lips, while Thor voiced his concerns louder. "If my brother and my nieces stay here, so will I."

"Naturally, big guy. You're an OG Avenger. We gotta stick together", smiled Tony. "Right, Bruce?"

"Considering the science division is going to stay here, it would make most sense for me to stay in New York too. The majority of what I have to contribute to the Avengers is my science."

The majority of what he was willing to contribute, that was. He tried to use the Hulk less and less these days and thanks to how many power-houses the Avengers had gained, it was only very rarely necessary for Hulk to come out – most of his time, Bruce got to spend most his time in the lab.

"I would be staying here too, since my... power, not necessarily skill-set, is matched by Scott."

"Scott Lang is on house-arrest, though... house-arrest watched by the Avengers and community service by working with the Avengers sounds amusing", chuckled Rhodey, shaking his head.

"If Thor and Loki stay here, you want us to go", concluded Sif thoughtfully.

"Good public image for the Asgardians and also some experienced leadership and warriors to take care of the West Coast", agreed Tony. "If the two of you would want the job."

"Mh. I'm not against it", shrugged Valkyrie. "New start. And we can show that we would lead the more effective Avengers. Wouldn't we, babe?"

Sif smirked mischievously as she turned to look at Thor, who laughed and puffed his chest out. "Bring it on, we shall compete for glory and praise."

"It would make me feel better to have someone more experienced back Scott up", sighed Hope.

"If... you don't mind, I would tag along too", offered Sharon thoughtfully. "We have our two teams here but I feel like... proving myself somewhere else may do me good. I'm so tired of being called 'Black Widow 2.0' just because we're both spies. If I can make the West Coast Avengers mine..."

"We would be glad and proud to have you", smiled Sif pleased, patting her on the back.

"I too would offer my assistance", stated Vision, hovering in the background. "I have... followed my fathers' footsteps yet I am still struggling with my purpose and my own path. Maybe it is time to find it and to... what would they say... move out at home."

Tony grinned softly at that and nodded pleased. He knew that Vision had been rather lost, especially in recent months, feeling stuck where he was and unsure where he was going with his life. Maybe San Francisco could be a good new start for him to step out of Tony, Bruce and Thor's shadows.

"I wanna go too."

Suddenly, there was silence. Everyone turned surprised eyes toward Monica Rambeau. The young woman stood with her hip cocked and arms crossed in the doorway, a stubborn determination written over her features that mirrored all three of her parents.

"Excuse me, young lady?", asked Maria slowly. "And what would you be doing there?"

"Both mom and dad are the leaders, but shouldn't have to live on different ends of the states. Not after all the time the three of you have spent apart already. And uncle Tony already made it pretty clear that he's gonna stay here. That West Coast team deserves an iron warrior too, if the East Coast gets to keep both War Machine and Iron Man. I've... been working on a suit of my own. I want to follow your footsteps, but I never really... said something because becoming an Avenger here would just make me War Machine's daughter. Sharon and Viz made a good point. I want that too."

"You're not – what do you mean you've been working on a suit of your own?", asked Maria startled.

Monica grinned and lifted her wrist before tapping her watch. Much like Tony's old gauntlet, she had put her nano-tech suit into a watch. It had been Tony's idea, who had heavily helped her. Yes, Monica was clever, but she wasn't that much of an inventor herself really. Slowly, the nanobots moved to cover her body in a blue, golden and red suit. It looked like Tony and Rhodey's in that it was an Iron Man suit, however the symbol on the chest and color-scheme were reminiscent of Carol's costume. The design had been all Monica's and she had been very insistent on it.

"Meet Lieutenant Marvel", stated Monica with a proud grin behind her mask.

Carol huffed, though the pride was evident on her face as she looked at their daughter.

"I really want to protest it, but I've been married to a superhero for too long to think for even a second that I can make you stop", grunted Maria displeased. "But know that I am not happy."

"Yeah, ma, that was obvious", laughed Monica as the face-plate retreated to show her face.

"So, the West Coast Avengers – Sif, Valkyrie, Vision, Ant-Man, Agent 13 and... Lieutenant Marvel", summed Tony up, looking pleased by that. "While the East Coast gets to keep Iron Man, Thor, the Wasp, War Machine, Captain Marvel and Loki – and on a need-only base the Hulk. That is... surprisingly evenly split, I did not expect us to figure this out so well."

"What can we say, I guess all of us are a more well-tuned team than expected", smirked Sharon. "We all do want the best for this team. Even if there is going to be more distance between us."

"Okay, great, so... No, wait, not the captain, not my responsibility", started Tony before laughing.

""Okay, so", repeated Rhodey and rolled his eyes. "Carol and I are going to finalize this and propose it the council. We have to find a headquarters in San Francisco and we have to bring Lang before the council to have him plead his case on why he deserves this second chance."

He gave Hope a pointed look at that, prompting her to nod. "He does. He was blinded by Captain America's All-American Smile. That's all. If he had... leadership, someone he should look up to. Someone to guide him properly, rules to obey, I think he will be a good hero."

"Well then, you're it for the character witness section of that pitch", grunted Rhodey.

"Now, before all of this will be finalized in a couple of weeks, we are definitely going to capture the Enchantress first – after all, that is why Sif and Hilde joined the Avengers to being with", argued Carol. "Before we just send them to another coast, we need to take care of this."

Everyone made sour faces at that, because despite their best efforts, Amora proved to be elusive. Her magic was powerful and she was gathering followers fast. Humans quite literally enchanted by her. Whatever they had tried so far, it never quite worked.

"A trick", suggested Loki, eyes dark. "We have to trick the Enchantress."

"And... how do we do that?", asked Tony slowly. "All open for suggestions."

"What she wants is recognition. We could provoke her and in a rage, she may lose control enough for us to overwhelm her. Coax her out of hiding", suggested Loki. "We bait her. Mock her."

"...That could also backfire", argued Bruce with furrowed brows.

"What else do we have. She has been more vicious lately", shrugged Loki. "The more often she has to face me and Strange, the more frustrated she grows and the more frustrated she grows, the sloppier she may actually get."

"I mean, I guess it's worth a shot. Darce, can handle that?", asked Tony.

"Mocking an evil sorceress into making her own pride her downfall? Sure, sure, that sounds like a regular Tuesday on twitter, I'm already on it", hummed Darcy, her phone in hand already.


Author's note: We are REALLY very close to the end! Next chapter is... uh... actually going to be the thing that this story was supposed to be. The original pitch. They're going to face the Enchantress and Loki will be forced to reveal a side of himself he didn't want Tony to see - how will Tony handle his boyfriend's true form?