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 24: How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful

Amora was annoying. The West Coast Avengers would be all set up, they had the facilities, Tony had started the process of hiring – they would need agents, office workers, janitors, all that jazz. The pitch had been an easy sell to the council and they got sanctioned to move ahead with it. However, before Sif and Hilde could move to the other side of the US, they had to capture Amora, because the Asgardians had promised to take care of their own mess.

"You ready for your big role, big guy?", asked Tony with a smirk, clapping Thor on the back.

"Aye. I shall show that Loki is not the only actor in the family", declared Thor proudly.

Loki huffed and refrained from commenting. They were relying on Thor's acting abilities to lure Amora into their trap. Loki and Strange were going to team up on her, the entire rest of the Avengers were assigned to keep all other attackers at bay.

"Today's the day", declared Carol. "She made us chase our own tails for too long. Today, we capture her and put her behind bars. Everybody knows what they have to do."

"Time to kick villain butt! Avengers assemble!"

Everyone slowly turned toward the very excited duo of Miles and Peter who were fist-punching the air after making their little announcement. Slowly, one by one the adults started laughing.

"What's that supposed to mean?", asked Rhodey under tears. "Assemble? What are we gonna do? Build an Ikea shelf, or what? Assemble. Kids these days. Playing too much with their Lego, huh?"

"Aw, leave them be, I think it's cute", chided Carol softly, slapping his arm lightly.

"I think it got a nice ring to it", agreed Tony.

"And honestly, makes about as much sense as our name, doesn't it?", offered Hope. "I mean, what do we 'avenge'? We fight when we're being attacked, we're not a force that goes out to avenge anything after an attack is over. We're more Preventers than Avengers."

"Sh. I've been dodging that question for years now", hissed Tony, hip-checking Hope.

"Wait, did uncle Nick really never tell you why the Avengers are called that?", asked Monica.

With piqued interest did they all turn toward Monica, who was sitting on the couch. Carol cleared her throat, staring her daughter down pointedly, but that only made Monica crack a smile.

"It was mom's call-sign. The Avenger. So when uncle Nick decided to gather a team of superheroes, his inner fanboy showed and he was all 'I gotta name them after my biggest hero!' and so you all were named after my mom, Captain Marvel, the first Avenger", offered Monica delightful.

The blush on Carol's cheeks was unusual but endearing. Rhodey smirked knowingly, most likely the only other person in the room who had known about this (and put two and two together). He wrapped an arm around her and pulled her close to kiss one red cheek.

"That's surprisingly sentimental of him though, considering the Avengers were formed, what, fifteen years after the two of you met?", questioned Bruce amused.

"What can I say, Nick Fury is quite the softy", smirked Carol.

Everyone started doubtfully at her at that, before she cleared her throat and clapped. "Well then, as our juniors here just said, let's do that. Avengers assemble!"

/break\

Loki loathed fighting side by side with Strange. It hurt his pride as a born magic-wielder, as an Asgardian, as a student of his mother. That he required Strange's help in apprehending an Asgardian threat however? That was particularly insulting. But as Carol had said, today was the day. Today, they were going to capture Amora and then Loki would be done working with him.

"Stay concentrated, Loki", grunted Strange irritated. "Stop getting distracted by Stark."

Gritting his teeth, Loki refrained himself from a counter. Because Strange was right (and wasn't that even more irritating?). Loki's focus was drawn toward the golden-red figure in the sky every so often, worry overtaking him. He couldn't help but remember the last time they had fought Amora, when Tony had been so severely injured, Loki had feared he might have lost him before he even had him. Now they were dating, they were maybe even more than that – they were taking care of their children with each other, they were a meshed family.

"Your little friend is right, Loki. I am the one you should focus on, not him."

Loki gritted his teeth even harder, nearly breaking a tooth as he glared at Amora before throwing himself at her. Knives and magic, everything he got. He was going to take her down today, he was going to take her out today. She had hurt his Tony. She was ruining the Asgardian's reputation just as Loki was trying to be a part of them, truly a part maybe for the first time in his life, trying to ruin this space he had carved for himself somewhere where he did feel like he belonged, truly for the first time in his life. This was a place where he was happy, where he had found love, where his daughter had found friends – where he had found friends. There was nothing he wasn't willing to give to stop her, to protect – protect what was his, protect his home and his family.

"I will stop you for good, you second-rate witch", snarled Loki.

He poured more into his fight, more. More magic, more anger, more everything. She howled as she threw everything she had right back at him. The magic sparking between them was overwhelming.

"You stand no chance against me, Loki", taunted Amora. "Do you know why?"

"I stand above you so high, Enchantress, you are nothing more than an ant", snarled Loki.

"You stand no chance because you waste so much of your own magic on your carefully crafted disguise", hissed Amora. "So much magic you could spent on fighting me, but you have to keep up your pristine little cover of being a prim and proper Asgardian, mh? So not another world will see you as a monster, so your little human pet over there won't hate you for what you are."

Loki froze, for just the fraction of a second, but it was enough for Amora to serve a harsh blow. Strange, he was mainly spending his energy on containing them, because the magic sparking off of them was too much for this city. It was up to Loki to actually fight Amora. He shouldn't get distracted like that. And – And he shouldn't waste his energy.

Amora was right. He was spending a certain amount of his magic and energy on keeping the glamour up that was making him look Asgardian, making him look human. He was well-aware what the Asgardians thought of his kind, but he couldn't even begin to imagine what humans would think of his monstrous blue form. He had to hide it. He also had to beat Amora, he had to protect Tony, he had to protect Hela and Gwen and Katherine and Harley, he had to protect this city for he was now an Avenger, he had to prove himself worthy of being an Avenger, he had to prove that he deserved a place here, that he deserved this second chance.

He had to.

The question wasn't even what was more important; the answer to that was clear. The question was how he would cope afterward, however, he was going to face that when it came to it. Right now, he was going to truly channel his everything into overpowering Amora.

He could feel the moment his disguise slipped as he lifted the glamour, free to use all of his magic to fight this battle. Amora looked terrified the moment she realized. The moment she realized that she was going to lose. She went out not with a cry but with a whimper and Loki stood looming over her, in all his blue-skinned glory. Taking a slow, deep breath he straightened up.

"You may have been right, Amora. But you were arrogant to think I would not put my everything into defeating you", stated Loki calmly, using his magic to contain her.

Strange lifted the shield and slowly, the other Avengers approached. With the Avengers, news reporters came. They had been filming from a (more or less) safe distance before. Now they wanted a close-up of the defeated villain, however as they spotted Loki, he took all the focus away. Fear took a hold of him at that. The world was about to see him for what he really was and, more importantly, the Avengers were going to see him. Tony was going to see him.

Swallowing hard, Loki braced himself for the rejection and disgust and maybe even fear he may be facing now. He was ready for it. That was a lie. He wasn't ready at all, however he was as ready as he would ever be. The first person he saw was their good captain. She looked at him for only a moment before smirking and patting him on the back (a bit too hard).

"Well done, Friggason", grunted Carol before turning toward the others. "Secure Amora and everyone else! Make sure no civilians get in here before the parameter is secured!"

The others made sounds of approval and cheered and no one... seemed to react to him. Until the masses parted and he saw Tony. Tony's eyes were wide as he stared at Loki and there it was.

"Lokes... you're...", started Tony slowly, breathily.

Disgusting? A monster? Frightening? Terrifying? Vile? Loki held his breath as he waited.

"Really freaking hot", gasped Tony out as he wrapped his arms around Loki's neck.

He got so close, looking, really looking at Tony. His fingers – the suit retracted, so it were calloused, warm finger-tips – running over Loki's face, over the markings on his skin. Tony's eyes traced them before he looked Loki dead in the eyes. Into his blood-red eyes.

"...What?", asked Loki reluctantly, confused.

"You're gorgeous. How dare you never showed me you can go blue?", asked Tony playfully. "How... I mean, I know you're adopted, but is this... I somehow assumed if Asgardians look like humans, then the race you're from does too. But you're... This is what you really look like?"

"It... It is", confirmed Loki, still thrown by Tony's words.

"Man, that's really hot", huffed Tony. "Which is ironic considering your skin is really cold."

He laughed softly and, without a warning, he pulled Loki into a kiss. Was it the adrenaline from their victory? Did he truly think that Loki was hot? Whatever it was, all Loki could do was wrap his arms around Tony's waist and pull him closer, deepen their kiss.

"Well, that much for laying low about your relationship", noted Rhodey. "Darcy's gonna have a field day. She has so many memes about your relationship ready to fire."

"I... I don't understand", admitted Loki when their kiss broke.

"Well, a meme is-", started Tony.

"No. I know a meme is. You. You're... not afraid?", asked Loki.

"Babe, you're beautiful and you're still you, why would I be afraid?", asked Tony confused. "Because you're blue? Brucie turns really big and green. What's the difference? You can turn blue. I already knew you're an alien and that you have magic, why would I... why would I be afraid of you having blue skin, Lokes? C'mon. I'm not that shallow."

Loki huffed out a broken laugh before his knees buckled and he found himself heavily leaning on Tony. Within moments, Rhodes got Loki from the other side, sliding under his arm.

"You can't just go fainting after Tones kisses you, it'll go straight to his head", warned Rhodey.

"What can I say, I even make the most powerful sorcerer fall for me", teased Tony.

Loki simply blinked and looked from Tony over to Rhodes as the two of them helped Loki onto the quinjet. Tony didn't leave his side, holding Loki's hand even during the flight. Despite the light snarking, Tony looked so worried every time his eyes landed on Loki.

/break\

"Oh wow, the Enchantress turned Loki blue! Are... Are you going to be alright?"

Peter looked so genuinely frightened for Loki that it was quite endearing and managed to get a small smile out of Loki. Before he could reply, his daughter stepped in. There was a kind look in Hela's face as she took Peter's hand and tugged him out of the way.

"The Enchantress did no such thing. Let's leave my fathers alone, please", requested Hela.

She was rarely firm and barely ever asked for anything, so her request had not just Peter but the other teens who had come in to ask questions follow her back outside. Rhodes and Tony were still aiding Loki, guiding him toward his suite, despite their insistence for him to see a doctor.

"A human doctor will do nothing for me", pointed Loki out. "I am not wounded, there is nothing physically wrong with me. My magic, my energy is drained."

"Tell me what I can do to refill those tanks, Lokes."

"Food and rest is all I require, Tony", assured Loki with a small smile.

"Fry, baby girl, you heard the man. Order all his favorites and put an ASAP on that order."

"Already done, boss", replied Friday, sounding nearly proud of herself.

"Thank you", whispered Loki amused, looking up at the ceiling.

/break\

Laying and recharging were not entirely Loki's specialty. Neither was sitting and waiting Tony's. Both of them were restless as they laid on the bed together, between them the feast Friday had ordered, or rather the remains of it. They had eaten most of it and still kept eating every now and again. They laid in silence, which also was not usual for Tony.

"I know what it's like to look into a mirror and hate yourself", offered Tony softly, startling Loki. "The way you talked, earlier. The way you're avoiding my eyes. You're... You're the one who thinks you're a monster. And I know it's different, I know that, but I still know what it's like to hate yourself. I just... wish you could see yourself with my eyes, because what I am seeing is magnificent. You are magnificent, Loki."

"I appreciate the sentiment, however I find it hard to believe", admitted Loki, clenching his first.

"Will you allow me to show you what I see?", asked Tony. "I mean, if you're up to it. I don't how much rest you require? But you... wouldn't have to move. Let me do the work."

He winked at Loki, a grin on his lips. Loki stared at him in surprise.

"You... want to have sex with me? Like this?", asked Loki in utter disbelief.

"Oh, yeah. I wanted to climb you like a tree right then and there but that seemed a bit inappropriate", confirmed Tony, eyes dark with lust. "So, what do you say?"

He started carefully taking things off the bed, out of the way, until it was only Tony and Loki on it. Slowly, Loki nodded, unsure how else to react. It had never occurred to him that Tony may actually find his blue skin attractive. But the hunger in those honey-eyes? It spoke volumes. Slowly liking his lips, Tony rolled over and came to straddle Loki. He bent down to kiss Loki hungrily, hands greedy as they trailed down, tugging on Loki's leather armor. By now, Tony could even find how to remove it in the dark and without looking, amusingly enough. The human seemed eager as he undressed Loki more and more until all that blue, marked skin was bare.

"You're beautiful", whispered Tony firmly as he kissed down Loki's chest. "You're big and you're blue and you're beautiful, Loki."

He punctuated every statement with a firm press of his lips against Loki's skin until he reached Loki's slowly hardening cock. Whistling, Tony repeated the mantra once more, tracing Loki's member particularly as he said 'big'. It made Loki bark out a laugh.

"Wha—at? I know what I want", huffed Tony with a small pout.

And oh did it feel glorious to be wanted by Tony Stark. Because Tony wanted with every fiber of his body, he craved, he desired, he made Loki feel as though he was the most precious, most attractive being on this planet. Tony did everything with his all and that showed and that made one feel so very special simply for being acknowledged by Tony, being worthy his time and love.

"C'mon, Big Blue, lean back and relax some", grinned Tony teasingly.

"How is one supposed to relax while a being like yourself sits on top of them?", asked Loki.

Tony feigned thoughtfulness at that while reaching out for the lube. For a moment, Loki wondered when Tony had even undressed. He must have done so while kissing – no, more like worshiping – Loki's torso, repeating his compliments. That attention had distracted Loki and now he had this gorgeous, naked human kneeling over him, prepping himself and looking so delectable.

Here Loki was, more naked than he had ever been with anyone. He had never been with someone without his glamour. He was putting so much trust into Tony here and he was repaid with gentle words of praise and adoration, with loving, heated touches and kisses.

Reaching out, Loki grasped Tony by the neck and pulled him down into a slow kiss, startling Tony. All Tony did when they parted was smile at him curiously, his fingers still deep inside himself.

"You think you can handle this?", teased Tony.

"This being you? Oh, I can handle you", assured Loki amused, resting his hands on Tony's thighs.

He pulled his human lover closer. Tony adjusted himself, pulling his cheeks apart and lowering himself onto Loki's cock. Loki hissed, grasping Tony's thighs tightly and making Tony hiss.

"Your dick is cold", gasped Tony surprised. "I mean, I expected that considering that your skin was already cold anyway and hey, I've always been a fan of a bit of temperature play, you know?"

Loki blinked slowly and watched his ridiculous human wink and fully lower himself onto Loki. How was Tony Stark real? How had Loki been lucky enough to meet him? Lucky enough to be wanted by Tony, to have Tony's attention like this?

"I love you", whispered Loki without thinking of it.

Tony froze mid-roll of his hips and stared down at Loki. "...Seriously? Like, the middle of me riding you, that's when you decide to say the big l-word for the first time...?"

Clearing his throat, Loki averted his eyes a little. "Admittedly not the best timing, however... You... I love you. You, like this, you with me, the way you make me feel. I love you."

"Okay. Not... Not a story we're gonna tell our grandchildren, but nice", nodded Tony with a laugh before he leaned down to kiss Loki feverishly. "I love you too, Big Blue."

Loki smiled faintly at the new nickname and then he was distracted as Tony started moving again. The way he rolled his hips, the way Tony felt like this – because yes, without his glamour, Loki ran colder and thus, Tony felt hotter and the sensation was quite overwhelming. Loki's fingers dug deeply into Tony's hips, sure to leave bruises but he knew his lover didn't mind these.

"You're beautiful, Big Blue", stated Tony as he went back to kissing along Loki's torso.

Loki gasped and bucked up as he felt himself close to his orgasm. Tony moaned at that, wrapping his fingers around his own cock and jerking himself off in sloppy motions, as though Loki's cock and Loki's being distracted him too much to focus. After what felt like eternity, Tony came in thick robes and Loki was close to follow as his lover tightened up around him. Tony collapsed on top of him, breathless and gasped, but clearly sated. Smiling faintly, Loki wrapped his arms around him.

"You are... extraordinary", whispered Loki.

"Says the blue space wizard", muttered Tony playfully.

"I'm a Jötunn. I wield magic. I'm from a different planet. All these are not that special, but you? Your kindness? Your heart? Your... you?", argued Loki, kissing the top of Tony's head.

"You're such a sweet-talker", huffed Tony, nudging his lover.

/break\

Sif, Hilde, Vision, Sharon and Monica packed up within the week to leave New York behind and head to San Francisco – to start a new team over there. The West Coast Avengers. Now that it was official, they had made a lot of press-statements about it and it seemed that the public was behind this. More Avengers teams to cover more ground, protect more people.

"You kids are going to be the next generation one day", noted Tony, voice gentle.

The kids were sitting around the living room table. Ned, Peter and Miles were arguing about something movie-related (Tony had tuned them out after a while), while Shuri, Gwen and Harley were actually working on their homework. Shuri was bound to leave soon, her stay had never been meant to be a permanent one. But she had made such good friends and she had learned so much about teamwork here. Hela sat behind Gwen, braiding her hair and not minding them much.

"What do you mean, dad?", asked Harley curiously, looking up.

And oh did that still feel strange. The kid hadn't seen his biological father for ten years and what Tony had done in these past months was more than that guy ever had, so Harley had started actually calling Tony dad. Tony loved the sound of it. He smiled, also smiled because he knew Katherine was currently out with Loki, because Tony and Loki were actually really good at this co-parenting thing. Leaning back, Tony put his tablet fully aside, smiling at them.

"Ever since we announced the West Coast Avengers, we've been getting applications, you know. Meta-humans, mutants, even aliens who had been brought here through SWORD seeking asylum on Earth. Young, hopeful future heroes", replied Tony. "The world is filled with future heroes. Not all of them will become Avengers, there are so many more teams. I was there when this started, before the Avengers started. I was the first one Fury sought out for this. I never thought I'd be this involved in its legacy. But you kids – well, maybe not all of you and certainly not if you don't want to – but you're the future. The future of the Avengers, if you want to be."

"Of course", huffed Harley and gave him a pointed look. "I'm gonna outshine Iron Man."

"I will, factually, be the next Black Panther. Once T'Challa retires for old age in, say, five years", joked Shuri with a smirk. "And I do plan on working closely with the Avengers too."

"Every team needs a guy in a chair", muttered Ned, nearly tentative.

"You mean to say, every science department needs a head", corrected Tony softly. "Don't sell yourself short, kiddo. You hacked into Pete's suit with barely any problems. You're a scientist. The future of the Avengers need those too, because me and the old people will retire one day."

"Tony. Be realistic, you're never gonna retire", commented Gwen dryly. "I saw Iron Man try and retire before. It just doesn't stick. You'll be out there, old and gray and on an iron cane."

Tony huffed offended. "The disrespect. Why do I keep adopting children who disrespect me?"

"I don't disrespect you", commented Hela lightly.

"Yes. Future stepdaughter. Total favorite", declared Tony seriously.

"He—y!"

Tony turned around to see Loki and a now pouting Katherine enter. Immediately, Tony opened his arms for her to run into, though she was still pouting very personally offended. His daughter, truly.

"Total favorite of the children present", offered Tony to appease her.

"Hello, love", greeted Loki as he stepped up to Tony from behind, kissing the top of his head.

"Personally", started Gwen, redirecting the attention again. "I don't know where I stand on this whole hero-business. That bulky suit of yours isn't really mine."

"Good. Because that's my gig", huffed Harley and shoved his adopted sister.

"Like I said, not all of you children have to become heroes, or even Avengers. I know Spidey's doing his solo-gig and... Peter, you gotta know that you won't have to join the Avengers on my behalf, you know that, right?", asked Tony gently.

Loki sat down with Tony and Katherine, turning to also watch the kids around the table.

"No, I know that", assured Peter with a grin. "But maybe... it was kind of intimidating to join the Avengers? All these experienced adults? But, I don't know, about a couple years solo gig and with the right kind of team. Who knows what the future holds, right?"

"You're very right about that, Peter", agreed Loki and wrapped an arm around Tony.

Tony smiled and leaned into Loki. Yes, the future was complex and unpredictable, so who knew.


Author's note: So this chapter was essentially what the fic was supposed to be? Obviously that whole last scene wouldn't have been in it, because that next gen hit me outta nowhere when writing this story and in the beginning would have been about one additional page of quick summary about how these Avengers formed. But the original pitch for the story was Loki, as a member of the Avengers, draining his magic during a fight against Enchantress and revealing his blue form, being self-conscious about it so his boyfriend Tony gets to show him how beautiful he thinks Loki is. Like. That. That was supposed to be this whole story and then I COMPLETELY got lost in the world-building of how these Avengers formed and I accidentally wrote 100k of this? Ooops? xD"

Well, but all good things come to an end. And the next chapter is the end of this. If you know my fics, you know I like to end it on a time-jump to show a happy future. So, that's what you can expect for the next and final chapter. ;)