crossoverfic | Ficlet: Stepping Out of the Shadow (G) (Reply)

Title: Stepping Out of the Shadow
Author: Kaz
Disclaimer: Marvel owns Tony Stark and such and the Sci-Fi Channel owns EUReKA.
Rating: G
Fandom: EUReKA and Marvel’s Civil War
Spoilers: Civil War 3 in Marvel, post ‘Before I Forget’ for EUReKA.
A/N: This is my first time writing for EUReKA *and* for Iron Man. In fact, most of my Iron Man info is from wikipedia since I was just introduced to him via Civil War and Young Avengers. Apologies if I’ve tromped on canon.
Wordcount: 611
Feedback: Yes, please!
Thanks to:

sionnain for the beta!
Summary: Nathan Stark finally gets to help his dear cousin Tony.

When he’d first accepted the position at Global Dynamics, Allison had only been one of the reasons he’d accepted it. She’d gone west to get away from him, and he’d gone west to get away from his family. He still loved her, but the idea of getting away from dear cousin Tony was even more appealing.

His best was good enough for the board of directors of GD, but it wasn’t good enough for Stark Enterprises, and Nathan wouldn’t stay anywhere he couldn’t be the best. But how can a normal genius compare to someone who not only ran a Fortune 500 company, but also played at being a superhero in his off hours?

Nathan has never gone for the cape and tights crew. He had nothing against mutants and those who couldn’t help but be born the way they were, but the normals who just pulled on a pair of tights – or an Iron suit – got under his skin. If he was going to do something like that, he wouldn’t bother to cover his face. Then again, he wasn’t as smart as Tony, or so everyone had always told him. His parents had always gushed over his cousin, and when his aunt and uncle were killed in the car accident, they’d become even worse.

If Nathan had heard ‘why can’t you be more like your cousin?’ from his mother again, he thought he might just run off and change his name. He hadn’t, of course. He wasn’t stupid enough to throw away what the Stark family name could get him, but it’d been a close thing. Then he’d found Allison and for once he’d felt the richer, the smarter of the two until she’d left him.

And now … now Tony was coming to him. It was a strange feeling and one he was relishing. Stark Enterprises had brilliant scientists, but Global Dynamics and Eureka had more. He wasn’t sure about opening Section Five to the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, but when the President of the United States bandied around words like ‘national security’ and ‘future dealings with your company’ it wasn’t smart to say no.

A knock on his door startled him from his reverie, and he looked up expectantly. “Come,” he said, affixing a little smile on his lips.

Allison stepped in first, professional and proper as usual. He suppressed a sigh at her utter lack of emotion upon seeing him. He’d work on her later.

He moved from behind his desk as Tony walked in. “Good to see you, Tony,” he said, taking his cousin’s hand and looking at the various people behind Tony.

“You too, Nate,” Tony said, oblivious to the fact that Nathan winced at the nickname as he looked curiously around the office. Nathan had been fairly circumspect on his new position and what it entailed when speaking with his parents. He wondered what they’d told Tony as he searched his cousin’s face for some hint of what he was thinking.

A slender woman with close cropped dark hair cleared her throat. “S.H.I.E.L.D. director Maria Hill,” she said. “We’re quite interested in what you have for us.”

Nathan smiled as he shook her hand. “Global Dynamics is always happy to help. It’s what we’re here for, after all,” he said, shrugging as he surveyed the faces of those around him. “Come. I’ll give you a tour and show you some of the projects we’re working on. In fact, the boys and girls of Section Five have been trying out something especially for Captain America.”

The quickly hidden expression of pain on his cousin’s face almost made up for the years Nathan had stood in his shadow. Almost.