Certifiable Genius

4.

Thor didn’t like to dwell on his life before the Avengers. Did he? All the time. Constantly. But did he like it? He liked it about as much as that time Loki enchanted his voice to be two octaves too high whenever he’d speak to one of the staff in the palace. So, not at all.

And there it was. Loki, again. Always back to thinking about Loki.

Thor grunted as one of the torrents of water being shot at him hit their mark. He had been in the new training room for around four hours, trying to clear his head. The god had never had the opportunity to really train in the tower before, seeing as none of their equipment suited his strength. At least, until the Man of Iron designed this new room specifically for him.

It had been puzzling to walk into the dimly lit chamber two weeks ago and have his friend insist he stand still. Thor had even been wondering if Tony had been enlisted by Loki (stupid, stupid) for some kind of scheme. But then Stark had pushed a button on the wall and great streams of water threatened to knock Thor straight off his feet. Several metal targets descended from seemingly nowhere in the high ceiling space, and Thor took up the task of avoiding the assaults while he tried to hit them all.

“Thought you might like it!” Tony had called from outside the large viewing window. “There’s a fire option too if you ever want to spice things up!”

Thor was now seriously considering trying out that fire option for the first time when the lady warrior of the tower walked into the viewing room. She knocked insistently on the window and gestured for him to come outside. With a frown, he obliged. Usually the only person who visited him here was the Man of Iron.

“How can I be of service?” He asked upon swinging open the door for Natasha to enter. She merely grabbed his forearm and hauled him out of the training arena instead.

“Have you seen Stark?” She crossed her arms, looking around as if the before mentioned man may be hiding in one of the corners. It took Thor’s whirling mind (previously so invested in trying to purge out any unwanted thoughts of his brother) a moment to catch the question.

“No, I have not.”

“He’s gone then. Jarvis! You told me he hadn’t left!” The assassin directed the last part of her sentence upwards. Her voice carried an accusatory tone, as if she were exasperated from having her time wasted.

“Sir did not leave the premises, Ms. Romanoff,” the British A.I responded. Thor wasn’t surprised but rather overwhelmed at the twists this conversation was bringing. Natasha was now ignoring him in favor of glaring at one of Jarvis’ cameras hanging dutifully in the corner.

“Then where is he?” This was her millionth attempt at this question. She should probably just give up.

The A.I seemed to think similarly, if the tilt to his voice was any indication. “As I’ve said before, that information is classified. Sir has ensured that the team always has access to his status on premises, but he is utilizing a protocol that protects his location.”

“Why would he want us to know he’s here, but not where? We’ve always been able to ask where everyone is.”

“Yes. Sir does not use this function often, but he is adamant that you know he is here if you need him in a time of crisis. He simply wants privacy at the moment. This is all my program has instructed me to say.”

“Bullshit!” Natasha huffed. She wasn’t used to not having access to these things. It had come to her attention when she casually asked Jarvis where Tony was so she could check on his progress with her new holsters. It hadn’t been a big deal, but when Jarvis informed her that a new protocol was being run so that no one could find Tony in the tower, she was immediately invested in finding him. It was kind of sweet knowing that Tony had thought to code Jarvis so they always knew if he was here or not for missions, but she became skeptical when she had scoured all the residential floors and had still not found him.

Jarvis was usually pretty amicable, but this was a blunt reminder that he was still an intelligence that Stark had full control over, and any “slip ups” he had previously was all because Tony’s code allowed him to exercise that level of humanity. He had said to her once, “J isn’t quite a robot. He’s based off people. He’s been with me long enough to know my right from wrong.”
“Isn’t that dangerous?” She had asked.
“Of course. I still have control over him. But that doesn’t mean I want him on a leash all the time,” Tony had been perturbed at having to admit this. And, honestly? Nat was not enjoying obedient Jarvis in the least.

It was at this time that Thor cleared his voice to subtly draw her attention. “Forgive me, but I’d like to be filled in on the situation.” Thor was slightly amused at the interactions he was witnessing, and worried all the same. The assassin had been so preoccupied that he was left trying to make sense of the scraps of information he was being thrown.

“Sorry. Stark is somewhere here but no one can find him. I was just wondering if you had seen him.”

The god hummed inquisitively. “No, not since yesterday night. Do you have an urgent matter to discuss?” Thor began tossing his hammer lightly from one hand to another, subconsciously warming up for a mission. Loki was now the last thing on his mind.

Nat sighed and shook her head. “No. If you see him send a word up? Steve is kind of losing it.”

“You told the captain?” Even Thor knew that was a bit much.

“Regretting it. He has Barton crawling vents. Even ordered Bruce to hack Jarvis. I’ve never heard him say ‘I’m not really that kind of engineer’ so many times in one sitting.”

Thor gave a hearty laugh despite the situation. “Tell him to use one of those doctorates he’s so fond of.”

Nat gave a lopsided smile and began heading towards the door. “Will do. Keep us updated.”

As she left Thor felt a strange kind of foreboding. Things had been fine for the team since the huge PR meeting that Tony ran a few weeks ago, even if he had been a bit untalkative afterwards. Whatever conflict had arisen between Natasha and the man had presumably been sorted out, and the team was as close as ever. Why would Stark be closing up now? Especially in such an unprecedented way.

Thor had a good relationship with him, in fact, he was rather fond of their time together. The witty banter and mischievous nature of the engineer reminded Thor a lot of….

Damn.

Thor set off to look for his friend. He really needed a distraction now.

He started from the penthouse and made his way down floor by floor, skipping his own for the time being. On the way he bumped into the captain. Steve took one look at him, asked “Anything?” And marched away when Thor shook his head, hollering for Bruce to at least give his hacking skills a shot.

“I don’t feel comfortable participating in anything morally ambiguous right now!” The scientist replied in a sing-song from one of the common rooms.

“For me?!” Steve nearly pleaded.

Thor heard Bruce laugh. “Tony is rubbing off on you!”

The god rolled his eyes and continued even further down into the tower. All the lower levels were office spaces of S.I that he tried to stay away from, but he went in anyway. A quick chat with a few receptionists let him know that the boss had not made a visit today, and trust them, they’d know.

Thor had reached the end of the road. He entered the elevator for the last time, a little put out by his lack of success. “Take me to my floor, good friend?”

“Of course,” Jarvis replied smoothly. The doors closed with a beep.

Thor stood in the small space holding his ridiculously sized hammer. “Hey Jarvis?”

“Yes?”
“You’d tell us if something were wrong, yes?”

“Sir’s safety is the first priority of my programming.” Thor looked down and rubbed his neck. It had been a long morning.

“Alright. I will respect his decision not to be bothered.”

The elevator opened with a soft dinging sound. Thor stepped out onto his residential floor. He usually didn’t come here during the day. In fact, he spent very little time in the customized living space. Stark had even given him the smallest floor because of it. He prefered to spend his time out and about with his colleagues, training or fighting the villain of the week. Coming in here when the sun was still up was a worrying reminder that one of his favorite companions in the tower was nowhere to be found.

After wandering through his kitchenette and pint sized living room (compared to the other floors), Thor settled on taking a nap in his extravagant four poster bed. “Everyone will be home by the time I awake…” he assured himself. With that, he dozed off buried beneath a quilt Tony had imported especially for him.

Groggy and blurry eyed from sleep, the god raised his head and searched for the time. It had been a couple hours since he had fallen asleep. Confused as to why he woke up, Thor sat up fully and took in his surroundings.

There was a faint noise hanging somewhere in the air. It was swelling and receding, barely noticeable among the white noise.

Is that… music? Thor thought. He didn’t remember leaving on the television…

But no. All of the humanely devices in his living quarters were pitch black and silent, patiently awaiting their time to be used.

Thor followed the music with his eyes, scanning the area as if there would be a hint as to where they originated from. As the musical notes increased in intensity, Thor’s gaze fell on his closet door. He pressed his ear to the wall within. Yes, it was definitely louder back there.

He was now emboldened by the mystery of it all and anxious to investigate. Thor took off around the corner of the hallway until he got to the wall adjacent to his closet. A lone painting of an acoustic guitar hung squarely in the center of the peach colored wall. He had never given it much thought, but now he questioned why the Man of Iron had included it in his rooms at all. It didn’t quite fit in with the abstract Midgardian nature scenes decorating the other spaces.

The muffled sounds were much clearer standing at the hallways dead end. Thor pressed his hand to the paintings face, wanting to feel if there were any distinct vibrations, or if he somehow was confused. The water colored art was definitely jostling in place....

A great whirring sound erupted from the wall as the painting was pushed backward by Thor’s hand. The entire thing swung open on hinges he had never seen before, revealing another hallway lit by yellow lamps.

“What…?” Thor breathed out. Music flooded into his apartment, wonderful chimes and chords from instruments that the alien couldn’t name. Tentatively venturing down the hallway, Thor turned into a room that stole the breath from his lungs.

The circular room was more akin to a miniature concert hall, constructed of dark wooden panelling and high ceilings. Several of what Thor recognized as being guitars lined the walls. A plethora of other instruments were displayed in cases or hung up delicately on the walls, each one a work of art. Their exteriors glistened and shone, reflecting rich colors underneath the lights.

And, to Thor’s ultimate surprise, the source of the current noise sat in the middle of the room on a low bench, fingers streaking across the keys of a black grand piano.

It was Tony.

Dressed in a gray sweater and black slacks, Thor couldn’t help but stare. The ensemble was a bit more formal then what the engineer usually wore around the tower, but the fluffy wool socks on his feet evened it out. Tony’s hair was more disheveled than it normally was, too. It looked as though he had rolled out of bed… and gotten dressed for a piano concert?

Suddenly the piano keys stopped and the final note echoed almost hauntingly around the room. Thor looked up to see why it had ended. His friend was staring at him with bemusement. The corners of his mouth were downturned in a frown.

“Thor? What are you…?” Tony sighed and rubbed his eyes. He got up and walked over to where Thor was standing open mouthed. Seemingly determined to ignore the strangeness of this situation, Tony took the Norse god by the shoulder and tried to turn him around. “Sorry to bother you, Point Break. I didn’t expect you to be back in your room so soon.” The engineer still had a hand on his shoulder, gently but insistently trying to lead him back outside. His frown grew deeper as Thor’s silence dragged on.

With a shake of his head, Thor spoke. “ I wasn’t aware this… space existed on my floor.” That explained how his living quarters seemed to be so much smaller than the other’s. Half of it was taken up by whatever this was.

“Sorry.” Stark repeated. He offered no other words of explanation.

Thor wasn’t satisfied.

“Natasha was looking for you a couple hours ago. Everyone was.”

Tony crossed his arms in a defensive stance. Well, it would’ve been a defensive stance if it wasn’t so lacking in intimidation. While the billionaire looked slightly annoyed and determined to see Thor out, he also couldn’t help but notice the red around his eyes. He more closely resembled a disgruntled puppy than Iron Man.

“That so? Maybe I didn’t want to be found.”

“Jarvis said as much.”

Tony grunted out a sound of acknowledgement. “Glad to know he’s doing his job.”

“Aye. Despite the worry your absence brought about, it was considerate of you to let Jarvis tell us you were here. Why are you here, by the way? I was unaware that my floor had such a secret passage.”

“It’s not secret!” Tony rushed to deny. His expression turned sheepish. “It’s private.”

“And what is ‘it’ exactly?” A sigh of defeat signaled to Thor that he had finally worn down Tony’s resolve. He felt a bit guilty, although, the team had all agreed to be more open with each other. So perhaps he was just being a good teammate.

The Man of Iron sat back down at the impeccable piano. His arms swung outward to gesture towards the entirety of the room. “ Welcome to the Maria Stark Concert Hall. Or, studio, more like.”

“Maria?” Thor repeated inquisitively. The Stark name was familiar. Hell, up until a while ago it had labeled the very tower they stood in. But who was Maria?

“My mother.” Tony said quietly. His voice was merely a whisper. “She… she always loved music.” Thor watched as the other man cleared his throat and marched off towards the guitars adorning the walls. “See these? I made them. For her.” Tony gingerly picked up a pearl colored acoustic and offered it to Thor without hesitation. “This was one of her favorites.”

Thor may not have known much about the situation he currently found himself in, but he was smart enough to be touched by Tony’s casual display of trust. Thor’s large hands, used to swinging hammers at attackers, gently cradled the instrument. “It’s beautiful.” The god couldn’t think of a compliment more sincere and accurate as that. It truly was, the strings and wood glimmering like strands of silver.

“I made those too.” Tony continued, not acknowledging the awe in his friend’s voice. He pointed towards a vast array of human instruments. Flutes, other wind instruments, violins, and big violins? The god wasn’t quite sure about all the names.
“Can you play them all?”

“Yeah. Mom taught me.”

Tony spoke of his mother with a tone so filled with admiration that Thor couldn’t help but smile. “My mother also loved music. However, she never tried to pass her talent on to me. The arts were always more of Loki’s-”

Abruptly Thor’s voiced hitched. Oh great, now he was thinking about him again.

The Man of Iron’s eyes had gone wide at the mention of Loki’s name, but he appeared otherwise unfazed. “It’s alright, you know. To talk about him. He’s your brother.” Thor broke eye contact. Inspecting the floor suddenly sounded like a wonderful activity.

Unable to ignore the stare Tony had pointed at him, Thor finally caught his eye. “Yes. He is.”

Stark gave a firm nod of agreement. This was the first time any of the team had referred to Loki directly. At least, as anything besides the enemy they once fought together. It was like a sheet had been torn away, revealing the ancient relic that was their familial relationship.

“Say, could Loki do this?” Tony asked, picking up a piccolo and playing a light, playful tune. Thor laughed at his dramatic movements, head banging as if he were shredding an electric guitar riff.

“I believe Asgard’s instruments are a bit different, though I have no doubt he could do something similar.” Thor managed to get out between his deep laughter. After a moment of reveling in the joyous atmosphere, Thor continued to reminiscence aloud. “Mother and brother didn’t only bond over music. There was another art as well. Magic.” Tony listened attentively, head cocked to the side.

“Now, I definitely wasn’t talented in that. Loki got passed down that gift. I was merely the future king.”

“ ‘Merely’” Tony repeated with a snort, though his disbelief wasn’t mean spirited.

Thor glanced at his companion with a sad smile. Oh, how the Man of Iron reminded him of his forlorn sibling.

“I still remember the first time we truly realized his potential. Strangely enough it was actually because of music.” He surveyed the room with a keen eye. “Though, I don’t see the particular instrument he used. I suppose Midgardians don’t know of it.”

Now Tony was really listening. “ Some sort of magical instrument?”

“Indeed. Crafted from the finest wood and enchanted by the strongest sorcerers in Asgard. Only they can play it. Anyone else will destroy the craftsmanship before a single sound can be made. At age 3 Loki managed to play quite a fine chord progression.”

“Damn would I like to see that.” Tony said. “ It sounds amazing.” His interest was practically permeating the room. All signs of earlier annoyance were washed away.

“ Man of Iron, I forget to ask you why-”

“Could you bring back one of those instruments next time you travel to Asgard? If it’s possible?”

Thor blinked at the impromptu interruption. His earlier thought was derailed as he considered the proposition. “Actually, I happen to have one here now. It’s actually the same kind that I was just describing.” The small secret was difficult to admit. It felt like some kind of admission of guilt, like the Asgardian was secretly harboring a little more homesickness then he let on.

“Really?” Tony enthused. Thor’s brother in arms did not seem to care about the implication of his confession. The engineer’s curiosity blocked out all other lanes of thought. “Can I see it?”

A wave of shame crashed upon Thor without warning. Now he remembered why he hadn’t told anyone of the relic he kept from his home planet.

“I’m afraid it’s broken.” Thor ducked his head to avoid the look of disappointment he was sure Stark must be sporting. “One day I just wanted to hear the sounds of home again. I knew it wouldn’t work but I had hoped-” he breathed out a sigh, “I broke it. My hands may be worthy of Mjolnir, but not of a sorcerer's tool.” There was a beat of silence.

Voice just as confident as before, Tony questioned, “May I see it anyway?” Thor shouldn’t have been taken aback by the request at this point. The Man of Iron was nothing if not determined.

Thor shrugged and moved to stand. “Aye, come with me.”

The duo made their way back to Thor’s living quarters. Tony’s earlier somber mood seemed to be completely gone, replaced by his excitement. Thor reached beneath his bed to where a small wooden box was safely hidden away from any prying eyes. Not that he thought he could hide anything from the spies lurking around the tower, but it was the thought that counted.

What Thor pulled out of the box hardly resembled anything Tony had ever seen, much less a musical instrument. “We call it a ‘Sigyn’.” The god raised the rectangle object up to the light, letting Tony examine it from afar.

“Gimme,” the engineer demanded, making grabby hands at the Sigyn. Thor relented easily.

The frame was made of gorgeous white wood, dotted with obsidian swirls. It was about six by six inches. Between the frame were stretched four layers of criss crossing strings. The topmost layer was a glittering gold, the second was silver, the third being bronze, and the fourth was an inky black. Tony noticed that they got thinner as the layers went down.

Steady hands flipped the Sigyn over. The engineer scoured the object for any noticeable damage. “Ah ha!” He pointed out a bundle of crumpled strings in the bottom layer. “I’m assuming this is your doing, Point Break?”

“Aye.” Thor sighed. “Such a shame.”

“I have to admit”, Tony started, placing the Sigyn on the dresser. “I have no idea how this works or what it’s supposed to sound like.”

Thor nodded in understanding, moving to put it back into the box. Stark grabbed his hand before he could.

“However… color me intrigued.” His lips twitched up into a smile. “Maybe you could lend it to me? Let me look it over some more? It’s not everyday that I get my hands on a piece of an alien orchestra.”

“Man of Iron, I respect your skills and knowledge immensely. This technology is not like yours, though. This is a marriage of ancient Asgardian craftsmanship and magic.” Thor hoped that his words did not sound unkind to his teammate. “I wouldn’t expect any Midgardian to be able to fix it.”

Stark considered his words for a moment. “I don’t expect myself to fix it. Just let me mess around with it for awhile. I promise to be careful.” Stark crossed his heart and stared at Thor imploringly. “Please?”

Thor huffed in deliberation. “I don’t see why not,” he conceded.

“Nice! I swear I won’t break it anymore.”

“Don’t worry about it. Even on Asgard these Sigyns are rarely repaired, they usually cannot be salvaged after any damage done by a non-sorcerer. Have at it.”

Tony grinned and didn’t waste a moment striding out of the room towards his lab. “Thanks MC Hammer!”

Thor chuckled and shook his head. The Son of Stark was quite the character.

It wasn’t until the next day at dinner that Thor realised none of the others were aware that he had found Tony. They were all gathered round their meals, eating in a stiff silence when the engineer burst into the kitchen.

“Hey Goldilocks!” Stark exclaimed as a loud chorus of “Tony!” greeted him.

“Where have you been?” Cap asked, worry beating out the tough ‘team leader’ voice he was trying to project.

“We thought you had ditched us,” Clint hollered.

“Steve kept trying to make me hack Jarvis!” Bruce tattled petulantly, pointing an accusatory finger across the room.

Nat sat in her seat, a single eyebrow arched upward.

Tony scanned his teammates in confusion before answering. “Uhm… the lab? You could’ve just knocked.”

“Bullshit! We checked the lab,” Clint griped.

“Several times,” Nat added.

“And the vents!”

Steve ran a hand down his face. “The whole team was looking for you.”

“Jeez I gave Jarvis that ‘On Premises’ Protocol so that this worrying wouldn’t happen.” Tony huffed. “And I was literally with Thor yesterday but go off I guess.”

All eyes turned to the god Tony was standing next to, confusion and guilt etched across his face. “It seems I forgot to inform you all that I found him.”

Everyone groaned in unison.

“You’re all a bunch of mother hens. Anyway, Thor,” the billionaire shot him a pointed look. “Are you interested in my surprise or what?”

“Of cour-”

“Why does he get a surprise?” Clint interjected.

“Did Thor replace me as your favorite? I’m sort of offended.” Bruce teased.
“What surprise?” Steve asked.

“If you heathens could quiet down for a minute I would show you!” Tony set the Sigyn on the table with a joyous “Ta-Da!” He watched as the expressions of the room remained unimpressed. Well, except for Thor.

Thor picked up the instrument delicately, inspecting it for several long moments. “You- you fixed it?” He asked, awestruck. “It looks brand new. Hey did you-?”

“That’s not all. Stay with me for a second, okay?” Tony raised his palms, as if to show he meant no harm. Then, he did something that made the god gape in amazement. His fingers moved down to the precious strings of the Asgardian instrument and began to move.

When the engineer first flicked the golden string, Thor expected it to snap in half with an awful shriek much like it had done for him (and all non-sorcerers who touched such a relic).

But instead an elegant melody was played. Tony plucked an intricate series of strings from within the four layers of the frame, grinning as Thor watched on in astonishment. The sound was heavenly, like the finest musicians of Asgard had decided to visit Thor once more. The piece wasn’t anything he had heard on his home planet, and it certainly wasn’t anything from Midgard either.

“I don’t know how the hell this works, or how I’m using it, but pretty cool right?”

“What is that?” Bruce asked. Everyone was gathered around, watching Tony fiddle with the foreign device. The look of Natasha’s face in particular was priceless. It was like the music made her forget everyone could see her stunned expression.

“Asgardian jukebox,” Tony replied. He was strumming dutifully.

“A Sigyn. A Sigyn that can’t be played by anyone except Asgard’s most skilled sorcerers,” Thor emphasized. The Norse god was trying to puzzle out how this was happening. “And a Sigyn that was broken no less than twelve hours ago.”

“Oh I fixed it in half that time. Took me a hot minute to figure out and design a substance close enough to whatever that original string was made of- the tensile strength was off the charts- but yeah. I was using a laser guided apparatus to reattach everything when my hand slipped. And whaddaya know? I somehow didn’t snap the entire thing into limp spaghetti. So then I started trying to play it and-”

The team listened on as he explained his creative process. The highs and lows of his extensive tinkering.

“No Asgardian- no Midgardian- should be able to do what you did.” Thor breathed. His eyes choked up as he thought of Loki- his mother- working on their musical abilities within their palace. The sound of their playing filtering into his bed chambers and lulling him off to sleep as a boy.

“I guess I’m just a prodigy,” Tony laughed. “And most certainly not your average Midgardian.” It was the sort of comment he made that the others knew not to take seriously. The kind that was tinged with self deprecation and embarrassment.

Thor ignored it in favor of bestowing Tony with whatever compliment could communicate his admiration.“Your mother must have been an incredible teacher.”

Now that made Stark stop and spin on his heel. Steve and Nat were watching curiously as he struggled to find the right words to say. “Thank you,” he settled on.

“Wait, wait, wait. So what is this again?” Clint asked. Bruce nudged him in annoyance as Tony launched into another explanation. Not once did he bring up Loki, or the hidden studio on Thor’s floor, or anything that they had talked about yesterday. Thor glanced down at the Sigyn sitting in the middle of the dinner table and decided that it was in good hands with the Man of Iron.

That night, after reminiscing for a bit longer than usual about Asgard and his family that had splintered at the seams, Thor pulled out his phone. It was one of the smartphones Tony himself had designed, and had given to Thor for his personal use.

He pulled up the colorful Google icon and began a search. ‘M-a-r-i-a-S-t-a-r-k’, he typed.

Thor read the small box of quick facts that appeared with the thousands of other links. He looked at the woman’s smiling photo, and couldn’t help but see a resemblance to his friend. Beneath the picture were two dates.

Thor’s breath seemed to hitch in his throat for a moment as he swiped down to look at the current day and month. Yesterday had been Maria Stark’s birthday.

He thought of Tony, and his snarky remarks, quick wit, and the way he laughed and joked among the team earlier. He thought of how easily he had played that damn Sigyn. The god still had no clue how he did it. How he did so many things.

That’s when Thor came to one definite conclusion; Tony Stark was certainly not any average Midgardian.