11/07/17 - Edited and added a little more in some parts. Thanks to Laurel for giving me some tips, which I used in the edit. And thanks to all of you who reviewed :)

So it's been sometime before I wrote anything, but then I recently watched Spider-Man: Homecoming and had a couple of one-shot ideas. This one doesn't exactly fit in the storyline, but I thought it'll be nice if it did :D

***SPOILERS IF YOU HAVEN'T WATCHED THE MOVIE***

Enjoy :)

Nobody

It really was a good thing that he healed faster than the average human. Otherwise, Peter would still have to endure sore muscles and broken tendons for weeks. Luckily for him, he was no average human. Still, that by no way meant that Peter felt any stronger or more capable than his classmates.

As if on cue, Flash Thompson arrived here precisely to proof his point.

"Yo, Peter!" Flash shouted above their heads, pushing past a large crowd of students outside History class to catch up with him.

Peter felt his best friend Ned nudge him in the shoulder, whispering, "not again…" before brightening instantly, "imagine what Flash would say if you'd told him who Spider-Man really is!"

Peter snorted, "Nah, he'd just freak out."

"But that's the point!" Ned slapped him playfully on the arm.

Peter just shrugged, shaking his head. He used to think what he did – what Spider-Man did – was heroic, and right. Going around, stopping crimes, chasing criminals…even saving lives. A week ago, Peter would still have thought so. Then there was one day when he'd ended up causing more trouble, and potentially getting many innocent people killed because of his carelessness. He hadn't thought of it this way before, until Mr Stark – Iron Man himself – said something that really made him consider what he'd done… the damage he'd done.

If you're nothing without the suit, then you shouldn't have it.

"Hey Peter. Peter!" Flash had caught up with them and stood squarely in front of him, forcing him to stop in his tracks. "If you know this Spider-Man personally, tell him what he did on that passenger ship was totally amazing!"

Peter looked up at Flash and said quietly, "I don't think what he did was 'amazing'. He nearly killed everyone on that ship."

Flash's jaw dropped as he scowled, "you're just jealous he's so much more than you. Besides, I never believed you are friends with Spider-Man. He doesn't hang out with losers like you." With that, Flash turned on his heels and stalked away.

Meanwhile, as Ned watched Flash disappear into the crowd of students, he stared at Peter in disbelief. "Why did you say that for?" Then he added, "are you still going for your Stark Internship later?"

Peter sighed, "no. I've dropped that."

Ned grinned at his words, "Well then, that means we have more time to spend together. How about we go to your place right now and build the Death Star. We could even – "

"No, Ned." Peter said, "I'm sorry, but maybe another time. I'm really tired today."

"What about tomorrow then? I could come over after dinner," Ned said hopefully.

"Please, Ned. Not this week. I'm really not in the mood to do it."

"Oh," Ned said, shoulders drooping, "alright then."

As he left Midtown School of Science and Technology and headed for home, Peter checked his phone once more.

There was only one unread message from Aunt May, telling him she had gone to the store to get some supplies and would be back in an hour.

No new message from Mr Stark, or Happy, for that matter.

Peter kind of expected it, but he could not admit he didn't feel a sinking feeling in his stomach. He tried to brush it off, seeing that Mr Stark was a very important person, and was likely to have many duties and work under his belt. The billionaire probably was busy inventing another gadget or may not even be in the country at the moment.

Of course, that was not the main reason. Peter felt that the reason why Mr Stark had not contacted him all week after his screw up on the ship was due to the fact that he was pissed, and maybe even angry at Peter.

And the more he thought about it, the more Peter couldn't blame Mr Stark for being frustrated at him. After all, his carelessness was what caused the ship to split in half, nearly drowning all the passengers on board. Even after everything he'd done, he didn't make any difference. The bad guys still got away with the superweapon. That meant that Peter's interference caused more trouble, and if he had not brought matters to his own hands, none of that would have happened.

What Mr Stark had said was true… that he really was nobody without the suit.

It made him feel small and useless now that Mr Stark had taken back his suit. Sure, he was upset that Stark had confiscated his suit, but that was nowhere near what he felt thinking that he'd severed the relationship between Mr Stark and himself.

Like what Flash had said… Tony Stark was an Avenger. Why would he hang out with losers like Peter?

If only Mr Stark would contact him once more, Peter could explain to him how he'd never actually meant to cause so much trouble. And that he'd learnt from his mistakes to stay out of the way; keep his nose out of bigger businesses that was not meant for him to handle.

In fact, Peter was so caught up in his thoughts and the weight of everything bearing down on him, and how he was no hero. His mind bogged him down, overriding his Spidey senses which was something like a sixth sense at the back of his head, causing Peter to lose touch with his surroundings. It was all just a fuzzy feeling in his brain.

All he remembered was that he was halfway across the road when a shrill scream of a woman sluggishly made its way into his mind. He didn't comprehend the scream, because it seemed like it came from a far distance away. He remembered the screech of tires, the smell of burnt rubber on gravel, mixed together with the blare of a truck honk, yet did not understand where it came from. It only dawned upon him that he was in danger when the piercing headlights of the truck was right in front of him, growing ever brighter in less than a second.

There was nothing he could do. Peter knew it was too late for him to do anything. Not even Spider-Man could leap away fast enough. Bracing himself for what he was sure to be certain sudden death, from being knocked down by a speeding truck, Peter's arms instinctively shot up to shield his head.

He felt hard cold metal slam into his small body, knocking the breath out of his lungs. The impact caused him to lose his footing. He was pushed clear of the road, towards the sidewalk. Only then did he realize that he was somehow, miraculously still alive and unhurt. Not even a scratch.

A second later, the thing that had just knocked into him, wrapped protectively around his body and shot upwards towards the top of the building before landing gently on the rooftop.

In the instant it took for him to steady himself on his feet, it dawned on Peter what had happened. Clutching his head which was ringing from the adrenaline, he turned around to face his savior, at the same time, dreading the scolding he was going to get for being careless again.

He saw the Iron Man suit peel open, allowing Mr Stark to step out from inside. Slanted eyes glared at him, making Peter gulp apprehensively. At least he was right about one thing… Tony Stark – the man whom he adored and saw as something of a father figure – was really, really angry at him.

"What the heck, kid? You should've known better than to jaywalk while crossing the road! You could've died there and then!"

"I'm sorry, I was just thinking – "

"Thinking? Yeah right. Looks to me you were doing just the opposite."

Shoulders drooping, and at a loss of what to say, Peter dropped his gaze to a spot on the ground. Mr Stark crossed his arms, hard eyes piercing into Peter, who felt the back of his neck heat up.

Hastily, he tried to recall what he'd prepared to tell Mr Stark… before his near accident.

"Uh… thanks for saving me, Mr Stark," he started nervously, "I know that was really careless of me not to check for oncoming cars before crossing, and I'm really sorry for that. I, uh… want you to understand that from now on, I promise to stay out of the way, and not cause any more trouble."

Peter took a deep breath as Mr Stark just patiently waited for him to finish, "Earlier, I was just rolling over what you said last week was true… I – I'm really nobody without the suit." He paused, "So… I'm really sorry? Please don't be mad at me, Mr Stark."

He forced to bring his gaze upwards to Mr Stark's face, and saw a frown in the billionaire's features.

"I think you misunderstood what I said last week, Peter," Mr Stark said with a soft smile, "I didn't take your suit away to make you feel like a nobody. I wanted to show you that the suit doesn't define who you are, and that you're still a superhero with or without it."

He reached out to place a comforting hand on Peter's shoulder, "Kid, even if you haven't realized it, I can see the strength in you, and I know that you will discover it eventually."

Peter just stared back at the other man. This certainly wasn't the conversation he was expecting. He felt much lighter already just hearing his words.

Mr Stark added with a smirk, "oh, don't get me wrong, I'm still mad at you for some things… but not that mad."

"How did you find me just now?" Peter said curiously, "How'd you know I was in danger?"

"Well mainly because you have a tendency to put yourself in near death situations." He shrugged and added with an afterthought, "And also, I seem to have my ways of keeping tabs on those whom I care about."

He then took a step back towards his suit, raising his arms outstretched on either side of him as if to step back into his Iron Man suit.

Watching with a smile, Peter wondered when Mr Stark would come and meet him again. He really enjoyed having small conversations with him. But he dared not keep his hopes up, this had just been a chance meeting, and Mr Stark probably wasn't going to come looking for him anytime soon.

Raising his eyebrows, Mr Stark lowered his arms slightly, "I thought you'd want a hug, y'know, since last time in the car… But okay then…" He dropped his arms and turned to walk back towards his suit.

Peter stuttered for a moment… it felt childish, but part of him did want a hug, and he took a tentative step forward, lowering his gaze to the floor, even though Mr Stark had already looked away.

But then Mr Stark had expected it, and he turned back, wrapping his arms around Peter in a bear hug, whispering 'knew it'.

Then Mr Stark added, "I'll pop by soon, kid. No need to get all emotional."

Peter blushed, yet he felt lighter than he had in months. The weight he hadn't noticed that was sitting on his chest was lifted and he couldn't help by grin as he watched Iron Man take off into the sky. When the red and gold speck disappeared from his view, Peter dug into his pocket to fish out his phone.

Tapping on Ned's contact, he typed a message:

Actually, I think building your Death Star today would be perfect. Come over to my place ASAP.

How was it? Good? Bad? Please do let me know in the reviews! Or if you've watched the movie, how did you find it? But anyway, thanks for reading and reviewing :)