2008

You and your family never had an easy life. You lived in a pretty war torn region of Afghanistan, and had days where you'd be terrified you wouldn't live to see the next. It was hard, and you had to find a way to survive.

It got harder when the Ten Rings took over in the region. They were horrible, using illegally purchased weapons to murder hundreds in the area. You were scared that every day might be your last.

One day, it almost was. The Ten Rings came to Gulmira and started rounding people up. You thought this was it, this was the day you'd been dreading for years. Your father and brother were being taken away to be executed while you and your mother were going God knows where.

That's when Iron Man came. He saved all of your lives- not just your family's, but the whole village of Gulmira. Ever since that day, you vowed to make a difference yourself. And also to one day tell Iron Man thank you.

2016

After years of hard work, you managed to get yourself into a university, then you managed to get into an American graduate school for medicine. Your family was so proud of you. They saw how hard you worked after the day Iron Man, or Tony Stark, saved your lives.

You were smart enough in school to have plenty of options for hospitals to do your residency at. You picked one in New York City, not just because it was a great pick, but because it got you closer to your dream.

Okay, so your dream wasn't just to become a doctor and save lives. You also wanted to find Tony Stark and tell him to his face how he saved you and your family, and how you just wanted to thank him for it. Without him, you wouldn't be here now.

It was easy to find Tony Stark. Not only did the world love him, and therefore take all the pictures of him and with him, but he also loved attention. He flew around the city every now and then, just enjoying life. You couldn't blame him.

It was actually getting to Tony Stark that would be difficult. You already knew trying to reach him at the Avengers Tower or any of his office spaces like that would be impossible- security was tight, they probably wouldn't give you a nod just because you want to say thanks.

The answer laid in finding him out in public. That sounded easy, because he was always out, like you just said.

However, he was in and out pretty quickly most of the time. He loved the attention, just not a lot at once apparently. Which was fine, whatever. Just turned you into Tony Stark's number one stalker.

Whenever you could, you were out and trying to find Tony Stark. It was hard having to do this in your spare time, because all you really wanted to do was sleep when you weren't doing your residency.

However, at the same time, this was too important. You were going to make this work. Some how, some way. And it seemed to be approaching faster than you expected.

Right before work one morning, you were grabbing coffee. Last night, you maybe got three hours of actual sleep, so your coffee was your saving grace this morning. The barista handed you your cup and you gave her the best smile you could muster before turning to leave.

Except, you stopped in your tracks and gaped for a full two seconds at the amazing situation you just found yourself in.

"Holy shit," you said to yourself, finally regaining brain function.

Tony Stark had just walked in with a bodyguard in tow, and he was already being swarmed by other patrons.

You didn't want to be a sheep and do the same, and honestly debated waiting around until people left him alone. Except, you saw the time and had to get to work very soon, and this moment had escaped you too long for you to let it go again.

"I- T- Mr. Stark?" You came in and people moved out of the way enough for the man in question to look at you. The girls off to the side continued to record the man.

"You don't know me, and that's okay- I do not expect you to, I'm (Y/n), but I..." You reigned yourself in, trying hard not to cry. "You saved my life years ago in Gulmira. And I, um... I wouldn't be here, in New York, working to become a doctor without you, so I just really want to say thank you."

By the end, you couldn't hold back the tears anymore and they were coming down in waterfalls. You weren't alone, though. Several other people around you were also crying, and even Tony Stark removed his sunglasses to wipe his eyes.

You honestly expected him to maybe give you a hand to shake, say something cool, and then you'd finally be satisfied.

Instead, he took those steps forward and pulled you into a hug. It wasn't at all expected, but you realized it was needed.

"Thank you," you whispered again, not knowing what else was important enough to be said. "From me and my family, thank you."

The two of you pulled apart from the hug and Tony Stark smiled at you. He held out a hand to his security guard and he pulled something out of his pocket to and it off.

"You are going to do great things, (Y/n)." He took a deep breath, handed you the card, and then smiled. "Thank you."

When you got to work later, your head was still in a haze of holy shit and you had to work hard just to make it to the locker room. The other residents and interns looked at you the second you stepped through the door, which threw you off.

"What?" you asked.

"You're going crazy all over Twitter, girl." You looked at the resident who spoke, and she handed you her phone.

On the screen was a video taken of you and Tony Stark's interaction. The video had been posted not even thirty minutes ago, yet it had already garnered thousands of likes, comments, and retweets.

"Holy crap," you whispered. The card started to burn a hole in your pocket. It had Tony Stark's number on it, and he had told you he would genuinely love to actually have the chance to sit and talk to you.

That was going to stay to yourself, though. No one else needed to know or try to take advantage of that.

The resident took her phone back. "It's crazy girl, I never knew you went through that."

You shrugged and finally moved your feet to get to your locker. "No one really does, it was scary back there. Iron Man did a lot not just for me, but for everyone in Gulmira. That day was the last time we really had to live in fear. But I don't want to be defined by that."

"Well, unfortunately, the world now knows you as that- every immigrant's dream being lived out. It's really inspiring, actually," another resident piped up. "It's really cool."

You smiled at him, and nodded as a thanks. As the day went on, several people made comments about you being the girl in the video- all good. It kept Tony Stark in the back of your thoughts.

By the end of it, you had called the number on the card and set up a small 'coffee date' for tomorrow with Tony- he hated Mr. Stark and also felt weird with you calling him by his full name, so now he was just 'Tony.'

The next day, you got up and met him at the Avengers Tower, since he didn't want to be swarmed by people.

You two talked, you about what happened after his "visit" and what you planned to do in life. He talked some as well, and you felt like you actually got to know his instead of what he showed to the public.

You did learn his security guard that was often with him when he was out is named Happy Hogan, which you questioned but mostly chuckled at.

Nearing the end of your time, Tony was looking out over New York City with a look in his eye. "You know," he suddenly started, catching your attention. "And this might sound stuck up, which is not my intention, but I guess I always knew I was saving lives. That's why we do it, you know? You get to save a life or two which is great. I just never got to talk to someone who I really actually saved and it's... I guess it puts things into a new perspective."

You smiled. "I'm sure I'm not the only one out there who credits you with saving them. They just haven't made it to you to thank you yet, or they just assume you get so many fans telling you their stories they don't want to be the one thousandth one."

He hummed and nodded lightly. "You're probably right. It does mean a lot to hear it, though." He then looked at you, and you could see the vulnerability. "There are enough haters out there that make it hard sometimes. It's just... I like seeing the good things that come out of what I do."

You smiled and looked back out to the city. You couldn't imagine anyone hating Iron Man or Tony Stark for saving lives. Maybe you just had to become his number one fan on social media to prove haters wrong. Of course that was a joke, but you almost considered it a couple times.

By the time you had to go for work, you guys were in very good states of mind.

"I can't wait to hear about all the amazing things you're gonna do," Tony said as he walked with you out of the elevator and into the lobby.

A confident smile appeared on your face. "I'm sure you'll get to read all about it in all the fancy medical magazines someday."

He smiled and laughed, then gave you a strong handshake. "Well, hopefully we can chat again before that." After the handshake you two turned back to walk out the front and he gave you a pat on the back. "You're gonna do great things."

You turned to him before walking out of the tower. "Because of you. I'm gonna keep saying thank you as long as I can, so, thank you."

You and Tony stayed connected, even being able to call each other friends. After you went through your residency and picked your specialty, Tony hired you to become a doctor for the Avengers, and gave you space to work on your passion projects.

While you were loudly Tony Stark's biggest fan, constantly defending him and supporting him on social media and in public, he was quietly your biggest supporter, doing everything he could to keep you going for your dreams.

It was maybe his proudest accomplishment.

~Fin~

A/n: I really wanted to end this book on a high note, a nice happy imagine. I've had this idea for a while and decided it would work as a final note, you know? I wanted it to feel happy and hopeful. I hope you guys liked it!

Don't go away yet, though, there is one more thing for you guys...