Title: A Stark State
Summary: Nathan Stark is having a bad week. Not only are things blowing up, but the government is forcing projects on GD. But, where did these projects come from? A crossover.
Pairings: None.
Rating: T
Disclaimer: Don't own, not mine.
Nathan Stark rubbed his eyes and looked away from the monitor. Even with all of the technology that surrounded him staring at the computer for hours on end still gave him eye fatigue.
One of the civilian military contractors had recently stopped all research and the slack fell onto him. With all of the problems that happened around Eureka on a daily basis just getting work done was hard. It was like his own researchers were conspiring against him. If Fargo came in one more time to tell him something was "critical" or that there were "high levels" of anything, Nathan felt like he would scream.
There were many experiments that would lead to scientific breakthroughs but they were all being put on the back burner. The DOD gave them piles of incomplete projects from the now uncooperative company. They even expected the old time lines to be followed.
Nathan hated that company. He hated it with every breath. If he had time he would find the person responsible and give them a piece of his mind. Or put something in their food. Nathan was not picky.
After grabbing a headache pill, Nathan got back to his endless paperwork.
A few hours later, Nathan was still at work. It was hard to tell if it as still today or if it was already tomorrow. Glancing at the clock, Nathan groaned. He had now been at work for 19 straight hours and he was still behind. Even if he worked through the night he was not sure he could catch up with everything, and then he would still have to face the rest of the day.
His eyes burned.
It wasn't worth it. He would need to be clear-headed during the day. Sighing, Nathan saved his work and carefully put everything away. He might not be getting much sleep, but he dearly needed what little he would get.
I guess I'll have to beg the DOD for some extensions, he thought darkly, slamming his office door behind himself.
The next day proceeded like the one before, with emergency after emergency. Much of it were small problems that could be handled internally, but eventually something big blew a hole in the wall and began to terrorize the town. He was loathe to do it, but Nathan called in Sheriff Carter.
"Did you know him" Carter was asking Deputy Lupo as they walked in.
"No, he was Air Force. But I still doubt it was 'training exercises.'" Lupo shook her as if to clear it of some idea.
Carter stops right in front of Nathan and cocks his head. "Whatcha got?"
Lupo rolls her eyes.
"Well, did you notice the hole when you drove up? We're not putting in new windows," Nathan feels his temper rise just looking at Carter.
Carter responds, but Nathan is hardly listening. He pulls out a tablet and shows them a picture of the escaped invention.
"Is that a marble?" Lupo asks incredulously.
"Not exactly," Nathan continues to explain the specs of the giant marauding ball. The top secret military giant marauding ball.
Carter makes some comment about "following the bouncing ball" but Nathan just ignores it. Both the Sheriff and the Deputy leave, on their way to save the town. Again. Nathan has to smile when Fargo accosts them on their way out and they both end up looking as harassed as he feels.
Nathan watches the havoc on a monitor in between checking in with the more accident prone sections. By mid-afternoon Carter had gotten the ball tangled up in a net he got somewhere. Nathan was guessing Henry was in on it somehow.
There he was. Henry pressed a few buttons on the thing and hooked it up to his truck. Then he either towed or dragged it back, Nathan didn't know. When he saw that it was caught he had turned back to his computers.
A few days later, one of the weapons teams had finished their latest project. It was for an advanced targeting system that had been close to finished by the other contractor. Nathan quickly rotated them onto working on some missiles. For the blueprints he had they were quite advanced. He had to go down and look at them himself. No matter how he felt about the creators, he could respect the the technology.
Nathan ran his hand down the metal casings almost lovingly. But, he froze when he saw the company logo that was stenciled by the tail-fins.
Stark Industries.
He blinked, and it still said the same thing.
Some of the other researchers looked at him oddly when he started taking deep breaths and almost ran out the door. Nathan heard the door slide closed and he collapsed against the wall. He held himself still for a moment before lifting his head.
Nathan's eyes were hard as he walked back to his office.
Tony had some explaining to do.
Nathan Stark smiled wolfishly as he played out the confrontation in his mind. His week was finally looking up.
End note: Yes, a Eureka/Iron Man crossover. I had to do it. I mean, two genius inventors with the last name Stark? Something is fishy there. But, I'd love some feedback. To tell the truth, I haven't read any Iron Man or Eureka fics so I might get the characterzation a bit wrong. So just read past and OCC-ness. If you catch it for me, I'd love that.
Reviews are love.