In New York City, everybody is a somebody of some kind. The heir to a huge retail chain, related to an actor, their godmother is a famous pop singer. Which means no one has any real leverage over the other.

You're a student at Columbia University, your dream school. When you got the acceptance letter, your parents threw a huge dinner party and made the biggest deal. Now, you were scared you were going to start sinking before you could even start to swim.

Columbia might not be the first thing people think of when you say "engineering," but they had a good program and you were suddenly finding out why everyone asked if you had a good therapist before you started your first year.

This assignment, for a supposedly easy English core class that everyone said would be a breeze, was causing the most stress now. You had to find someone- an expert- from your dream career field and interview them.

If you couldn't get an interview, you got an F. That could not happen.

But you didn't know who to interview. You and your roommate brainstormed, and they brought up an idea.

"Message Tony Stark on Instagram," they said, as if telling you she saw a bird on her walk.

You shook your head. "Dude. That would be a dream interviewee, but impossible to get. He's freaking Iron Man. Sure, I'd love to ask him about his suits and what it was like building and creating something like that, but he's way too busy to even run his own socials. He'd never see the message. Or worse, he would, but wouldn't say anything because I'm just some college student with no connections."

Your roommate shook their head now. "Play the student card. Everyone loves to help out a student."

At first, you wanted to dismiss what they suggested. But... it wasn't such a terrible idea. "You know... honestly, even if that doesn't work with Tony Stark I'm sure I could with someone else. So worst case is I have to find someone else," you said out loud, reasoning with yourself.

They nodded their head. "Yes! Oh my god DM Tony Stark now."

So, you did. What did you have to lose? Not dignity, because hundreds of people probably DM the man every day, so you wouldn't be the one weirdo. And, like you said, you could pull the student card on someone else if this doesn't work out. Why not try?

You and your roommate crafted up the perfect message to send, then did. You made sure to hit all the important points: you were a student at Columbia wanting to go into engineering and would love to interview your hero for a class assignment.

You did your best not to kiss ass too much, but you did put a little bit of ego stroking in the message to see if it would help your case at all. What you said was true- you viewed him as a hero not just because he literally was a superhero, but because he's a regular guy who used his brain (and money to be fair) and built and incredible suit.

After you sent the message and freaked out for an hour, you let it slip your mind. You'd check back in a few days to see if you've heard anything. If not, time to find someone else. Luckily you got the assignment that afternoon, so you had some time before you needed to have the interview complete.

Two days passed and you had nearly forgotten about the entire thing until you got a notification on your phone. You checked it, having no idea what it might be and froze when you read the text.

"Holy shit," you said, sitting up quickly from your bed. Your roommate sat up as well, half asleep but wanting to know what was up. You turned to them and smiled. "I've got an interview with Tony Stark."

Your roommate woke up for that and started cheering loudly, ignoring the fact that it was a weekend and people next door were probably wanting to sleep in.

"This is incredible!!!" they cheered, getting out of bed and jumping around. You joined, and the two of you laughed like crazy people.

After a couple minutes of that, you calmed down and read the entire message. "Okay, so we need to set up the date and time, obviously. Should I- do I ask him when he's available? Or, well, probably his assistant or whoever runs his socials. Still, should I do that?"

"Offer a date and time to see if that works, but also mention you can be super flexible. Skip class if you need to- it's Tony Stark."

You nodded and got to work, writing a new message with a proposed date and time. Of course you made sure he knew he could change either if needed to fit his schedule. He was the important person here who had important things to do.

Only a couple minutes later, you got the response saying that worked. Followed by a question about what address to pick you up from.

"'Pick you up from?' Dude, this is insane," your roommate said. "You're getting, like, all kinds of VIP treatment for this."

"Well, you know, for security reasons, I guess," you said as you sent a message with your address. "He can't just have random people coming and parking at... wherever I'm going to interview him."

A sudden, terrifying thought hit you. "Oh my god, I need to come up with the literal best questions of all time. Help me?"

~

When Monday came around, you were shaking with excitement and nerves. Luckily, your roommate only had classes in the afternoon, so they were able to help you get ready in the morning and calm you down as much as they could.

"The blazer looks great and the jeans are in great condition! You look fine."

You couldn't stop checking over your outfit in the mirror. "Are you sure? Because this is a huge deal but we're also talking about a man who wears band tees with suit jackets."

Your roommate laughed, and gave you a gentle side hug so your outfit didn't get wrinkled. "You're fine. Now let's go- the car should be pulling up outside any minute and there are going to be some very curious children."

The two of you laughed and, with your bag in tow, left the room and went down to meet the car.

"I'll tell you all about it, from when I get in the car to when I see you again. You'll have all the details, I swear," you said as you guys walked out of the doors.

Your roommate stopped. "Holy shit."

You turned and saw a sleek limo sitting on the road with a man standing outside, holding a tablet with your name on it.

"Holy shit is right," you breathed. Other students were standing around on the sidewalk, talking with each other and taking pictures of the crazy car.

With a small push from your roommate, you finished walking down the steps and to the limo.

"Hi, I'm (Y/f/n)," you introduced. "Do I- do you need an ID or something, cause I can show you my student one?"

The man put the tablet down. "You're all good." Then, he opened the door and you slid inside. You were all alone in the limo, which wasn't shocking, but certainly awkward.

You took a couple photos and videos of you inside, how could you not? No one was there to judge you.

The entire ride you were terrified, and kept going over all of your questions. By the time you felt the limo coming to a stop, you had started to feel a bit better. You knew your questions well enough and knew Tony Stark wouldn't be a super stern man like the one driving the vehicle.

Speaking of, he opened the door for you again and you stepped out after making sure you left nothing behind. That would be embarrassing.

The man led you from what looked like a private parking garage to an elevator, where he pressed a button with a number higher than any building you've been in before, and then you rode in silence.

You took quiet, deep breaths to keep your heart rate down. Soon, you'd be in the same room as your hero. All the calmness you felt exiting that limo evaporated pretty quickly.

The elevator doors opened and the man led you a few steps into the room before a voice broke in.

"Happy! Thank you very much for bringing our esteemed guest up here."

You turned and saw the man, the myth, the legend himself standing there. And, just like you pointed out to your roommate, he was wearing a band tee with a suit jacket. You felt pretty well dressed for the occasion, even with the man- Happy- dressed in his traditional suit.

"Uh- M-Mr. Stark, it's so good to meet you," you said, stepping forward to shake his hand.

He accepted the handshake, but made a weird face. "Tony is better, Mr. Stark was my father."

You nodded quickly and nearly malfunctioned. "Right, okay, Tony, thank you so much for agreeing to this interview, this means the world to me," you said, the excitement coming out a little strong.

It went over well, though, and Tony Stark smiled. "Of course, always happy to talk with students. So, tell me about this interview."

He started walking, so you went up to walk beside him and explained the assignment. "I'm majoring in engineering and thought you'd be a fantastic person to interview on your engineering feats."

"Well, I'm flattered I was your first choice. I was your first choice, right?" he asked after a brief pause.

You nodded eagerly. "Yes. Honestly, I was thinking it was a shot in the dark since you're so busy with being Tony Stark and Iron Man," you said. "So I was shocked when I got the message back from your assistant saying this would happen. Unless it was you who messaged me back."

Tony Stark shook his head and waved his hand. "Oh no, I no longer have access to my socials. That was revoked after I got into one too many arguments in random comment sections."

That had you snorting, and you immediately turned red and felt horribly embarrassed. "Oh my god I'm so sorry."

With another hand wave, Tony said, "No, it is funny. Not too many people can say they got into an argument with the Tony Stark on Instagram. But I guess enough people can that my privileges were revoked."

You arrived at an office- Tony's if the nameplate outside meant anything. He opened the door and let you in first before shutting it and following.

"Well, welcome to my office! I hope this works, I don't do too many home base interviews considering the people who usually interview me only do it for the 'fame,'" he said.

"Oh yeah this is great, yes." The two of you sat at his desk- you on the visitors side with him on his side. "Are you okay with me recording this conversation? I don't want to miss anything."

He nodded. "Oh yeah, sure. No worries there."

You smiled and got your set up going. Your phone acted as the recording device and you got your laptop out to read off the questions and take some additional notes. Then, you pressed the record button and got everything started.

"Hello, this is (Y/f/n) and I am here today with Tony Stark to talk about engineering and how he's found his career in this field. So, Mr. S- Tony, how'd you get interested in the field of engineering, and was there a specific aspect that drew you in the most?"

With that, the interview was off. It started out pretty stiff on your end. Tony was very serious, too, but would throw some quips in there every now and then to lighten the mood and it worked. By your last question- honestly, the only one about Iron Man- you felt like you guys had been friends for years.

"So, I know I haven't talked about Iron Man yet, so here it is. I was just curious on what it was like to create that very first suit and what it's like to innovate and update the suit since you really only seem to be outdoing yourself and setting the new threshold instead of having to compete with others to stay on top."

That had him leaning back and thinking. For a moment, he even looked impressed by such a question.

"Well, the first design was something my father had created back during World War II, and it helped save my life. From there, I knew it could be something, something to combat the world I inadvertently created with my weapons. Suddenly, I was going from creating the newest, most destructive weapons to the best thing to help protect the world from them. That became my new goal."

You listened intently as Tony talked about what it was like. The passion in his voice was unrecognizable and you even stopped writing notes to listen to him. He also talked a lot with his hands, something you figured was helpful for a creator, and you felt inspired by the end of his answer.

"Wow... th- thank you so much, that was a beautiful answer. A wonderful way to end my list of questions. Before I completely say we're done, is there anything you want to add or expand on?"

Another few seconds of thought. "Well, I would like to see some of your work for sure, don't let me forget. Other than that, the best thing I can say is be unapologetically yourself. I'm aware of the reputation that I built over time, but I also know that there are people like you out there who still look up to me and as egotistical as it sounds, it's nice to see."

It made you smile. "Well, thank you again for taking time to do this interview with me, it means so much and I learned so much through just this short interview with you."

You ended the recording and were mentally preparing yourself to have to leave. It was coming eventually, you knew that, but it was sad that it was now.

Or was it?

"I know the interview is done, but if you have nowhere to be immediately I really would love to see some of the things you've come up with."

Your heart soared. "Oh- uh, yeah! Yeah, absolutely, that would be amazing!" You moved your laptop from where you had it on your lap to up on the desk and then, a moment later, Tony was sitting in the chair next to you so he could actually see what you were pulling up.

For about an hour, you took him on a tour through some of your designs, explaining the inspiration and the thought process behind creation. Admittedly, many of the things you showed him were related to some of the Avengers.

"Of course everyone loves the heroes that defend New York, especially after the Battle, and I was just sort of... goofing around and wondering what it might be like to make new weapons or new shields and what not for some of you guys."

Tony listened to every word and asked question about your work, too. It was his girlfriend and CEO, Pepper Potts, who had to stop in and tell Tony he had a meeting he couldn't skip this time, which meant your visit finally came to an end.

"Again, for the hundredth time, thank you so much for doing this interview with me. All of my classmates and my professor are going to be so jealous." The two of you laughed and you shook Tony's hand once again.

At the elevator, he stopped the doors before you and Happy could go start descending. "Just before I let you go, I wanted to give you this. Call me when you're looking for an internship or a place to work."

He let go of the doors and handed you the card. You looked down at it, then back up at him with a smile of disbelief right before the doors closed.

"Did that just happen?" you asked, still staring at the doors.

Happy sighed. "Yes."

When you got back to your room you were thankful your roommate was already there.

"Holy shit dude, you're not going to believe a word I tell you."

~Fin~

A/n: So this imagine is inspired by an assignment I had! To keep details short, I had to interview someone about something they were passionate about and create a minute long video including the interview and some B-roll. The inspiration came when I messaged a local, famous radio show host if he could do it and I let my imagination run wild on what could happen if he said yes.

Obviously he didn't, which is fine cause it all worked out quite well in the end, but I thought it could be a cool imagine! I hope you guys liked it, I did my best to keep it gender neutral/ambiguous for you and the roommate. I hope I did okay!

Also, real quick, RDJ BACK IN THE MCU HOLY SHIT THAT IS JUST INSANE.

I'll see you guys next week!!!!!!!!!