Chapter 21: Tony Stark, creator of souls?

The next morning, Tony passed through the communal floor to see who was up, and found Romanov making herself some coffee. He sat on the kitchen island, his own cup in hand and turned to the assassin.

"So, what's the verdict, Red?"

She faced him before she spoke. "They didn't know."

That was... surprising. "Really? Speed-boy seemed pretty involved."

She shook her head. "No involvement. He's a confused sympathizer who trusts his sister's powers. The girl is definitely not a sympathizer but is too immature to recognize the limitations of her own abilities. Ultron either kept track of them and planned his speech so that it coincided with us skipping town, or it was just happenstance. Knowing the robot, it could be either."

"Huh." So talking to the twins wouldn't be as useful as he thought.

"It's why she hates you so much, you know."

"What?" he looked at Romanov.

"Wanda." she explained. "She hates you because of how much she trusts in her own powers. The twins are not complete idiots. They know the difference between weapon manufacturers and those who use those weapons. They hated you for the weapons you made, but it was Wanda seeing in your head that justified their hate completely in their minds."

Tony forced a grin, although he was hating the turn of this conversation. "And what did she see?"

Romanov just stared at him, the grin likely not fooling her for even a second. "You believe it is your fault for what happened to them. Thinking her ability infallible, she and her brother believe what you believe too."

What the—? "So they think they are right to hate me because I feel guilty?"

"Not quite, but not far off."

The elevator doors opened and the sound saved him from having to think of a response, so he cheerfully greeted the person incoming.

Thor entered the room, looking less pensive than last night and quite a bit relieved as if he had pushed a weight off his shoulders.

"My friends!" Thor greeted them, his voice booming across the floor.

"So what's up, Point Break?" Tony said. "Did getting lost in the Big Apple help you out?" Thor had gotten lost once or twice. Or 6 times but who was counting?

The Asgardian's brows furrowed. "I haven't seen a Big Apple."

And cheerful mood restored. Honestly, if Thor kept being confused by his references, then all was right in the world. It was why it was so much fun just throwing them at him.

"Manner of speech." Romanov explained. She was no fun.

"Did you come for breakfast?" Tony asked. He had stacked one of the counters full of pop tarts once he learned how utterly in love Thor was with them.

"Not for now, friend Tony." Thor answered. And was Thor being more formal than usual or was it just him?

Romanov placed her coffee on the counter, putting her full attention on the Asgardian. Well, it wasn't just him then.

"I have news I must part with all our shield brothers and the Man of Fury."

God, hearing Thor speak was like watching really good or really bad cosplay.

"Fury?" Romanov asked, sounding more alert than before. "Why? What has happened?"

"I wish to speak more of this once we have a meeting." Thor said.

"There must be a reason to make an appointment with Fury." Romanov said, lying straight on because Tony was sure if Thor asked for a formal meeting, then something had happened in godland, so the man would want to be informed firsthand. But hey, Tony was also too curious to wait, so he said nothing. "The boss needs to know how urgent this is first."

Understanding the logic of a leader who needs to prioritize his time, and the lie completely flying over his head, Thor elaborated. "I will not join you in your quest against Ultron again." he said.

Hearing that, Tony was stuck between a 'fuck yes!' and 'damn, too soon." While he was happy that the number of people who could actually destroy Ultron had decreased by one, he was also worried about whether Thor would be needed seeing as Ultron's sanity was still in question.

"Why?" Romanov asked. "Has something happened in Asgard?"

"No, Lady Natasha. Asgard has not called for me. However, after Ultron's speech I have come to understand that the feud between him and the Avengers is that of a political nature." Thor explained and those words were enough to make both Romanov and Tony realize the implications, but the man continued. "I consulted with my father last night, and he supported my thoughts on the matter. Asgard should not interfere in Midgardian affairs."

"Ultron is not Midgardian." Romanov insisted but to Tony it was obvious that she understood this was a lost cause. The All-Daddy had been 'consulted,' after all. She was likely putting in a token effort just to have something to excuse herself with to Fury and SHIELD. "He is a machine gone rogue."

"Ultron was created by a Midgardian." Thor said, giving Tony a nod at this. "But his sentience is not in question. The Man of Iron has proven his ability to create souls."

Wait. Did he say, Tony created souls?

"Souls?" It seemed Romanov also got sidetracked by that little tidbit of information.

"Jarvis Starkson was able to lift Mjölnir. No machine could have done that."

Starkson? Tony.exe stopped computing for a second.

"You are saying JARVIS... has a soul?" Romanov repeated. "The android?"

Thor seemed to be confused by their surprise. "Yes. Why is this in question?"

Tony let out a laugh at his honest befuddlement.

"Oh, it never was, Mr. God of Thunder. It's just nice hearing it out loud." he said cheerfully. God, it was so good to hear someone not doubt JARVIS' personhood, though it had taken lifting a magical hammer for that to happen. The knowledge... of souls... of his AIs having them... also warmed him. As for him being able to 'create' souls, and then being considered the legal father of said souls by alien royalty, he will think about that when alcohol became readily available.

The fact that Romanov was also honestly showing surprise on her face, as in Tony could actually see it beyond a widening of the eyes, was amusing as well. He didn't know whether to feel offended at how unbelievable she found it that JARVIS had a soul. Or maybe, it was the confirmation on the existence of souls the baffled her. It depended a lot how religious she was and which religion she subscribed to. Tony had honestly thought of her as an atheist. Christianity didn't seem like the best option for an assassin-by-trade at least.

Thor turned fully to him then. "Once I explained the situation, my father was very interested in you, friend Tony. And about how your sons came into being."

"My s—sons?" Tony choked a bit at that. Well, he did call his AIs his kids but... no one had called them his 'sons' to his face before.

"Yes. He would like to send someone to speak with you but with the current political situation in Midgard, he believed that it was for the best if he did so once things are resolved." the Asgardian explained.

The King of Asgard had questions about his AIs? That wasn't the kind of meeting he could just waltz in unprepared.

Tony coughed. "Yeah, right. Better leave the talk for another time. Good thinking."

Thor nodded. "In the meantime, I am to stay in Midgard to oversee the situation. I have been ordered to retrieve the Mind Stone once peace returns."

Retrieve the Mind Stone? Tony looked at Romanov and her face had returned to a neutral mask that had more in common with ice than human facial expressions. He didn't envy her position. Fury would probably explode at the report she would have to give about all this. While Tony would love to do some more research on the so-called Infinity Stones, he'd learned his lesson from Ultron. Well, some part of his lesson, which included don't poke the shiny alien thing immediately, poke it after you've made sure it won't explode in your face. Now that he knew it would explode on his face, it was time to move on to different shiny alien things. That and, it was probably for the best that SHIELD did not get its hands on the Stone.

Tony stood up. "Well, this was exciting. We learned new things, didn't we Red?" he sent a smirk at her, and he took the twitch of her lips as the victory it was. He patted Thor's shoulder. "Good to hear you'll be staying for a while, Point Break. Let me know if you want anything changed in your now-permanent floor. Also, tell me when you are holding that meeting with Fury. Wouldn't miss it for the world. I'll also bring the popcorn."

Thor seemed a bit confused at the 'popcorn' comment but like many things that he didn't understand about Tony, he ignored it, in favor of continuing to speak with Romanov about the meeting with the 'Man of Fury.'

Tony entered the elevator, in a much better mood than when he woke up, feeling better about speaking to the twins in their 'house-arrest' floor. And hey, he could tell JARVIS about the Thor's talk of souls. The android would probably find it ridiculous and sigh a bunch at his creator's enthusiasm.