There were times that when she dreamed, Pepper dreamed of the dead. Not so much her parents anymore, but sometimes she would dream of her grandfather. Mostly they were memories, the times they spent together when she was little, when he could still lift her to reach for the sky. Or times that never actually happened, but they felt like they could have. Christmases that never were, or conversations that she wished could have happened. Pepper would find his face in the crowd at her college graduation, or waiting for her at the airport after a business trip. Those times she would wake with a small ache in her chest or a feeling of wistfulness that would last until the afternoon.
Pepper would dream of Obadia Stane too. Rationally she knew that she was trying to deal with the strange reality that her life had become. The times where she dreamed of the mundane times with him, at the office going over paperwork, or the shared chore of Tony wrangling. The times there was laughter and a feeling of camaraderie. Those were the times she would wake up and find a few tears in her eyes and she knew that she missed a friend. But the darker dreams would always weave their insidious way in right after. The feeling of being chased, of fear and an unsuspecting well of hate. Then Obie would become a menacing figure who would stalk her in the night, cornered her in the office, or at Tony's - the places where she used to feel safe. Then there was the time he dropped her off the roof of the Arc Reactor building. She fell in a shower of glass, smoke and amid the screaming of metal and harsh voices that sounded so familiar. Pepper would wake at those times bathed in cold sweat, with fear, betrayal and anger burning both hot and cold in her chest. She was never able to go back to sleep after those dreams.
Pepper never told anyone about them, although Rhodey used to try to talk to her about it - he stopped after the 4th time she greeted the topic with a cool smile and silence. Tony never asked, and for that she was greatful. But there were times that she would catch him studying her out of the corner of her eye after she had a bad night. THen she would find a small goil foil wrapped piece of chocolate carelessly placed on the courner of her desk. Almost as if she had forgotten it, as if Pepper would ever be so careless with ridiculously expensive Belgain chocolate. They never talked about this token of understanding - or compassion? It was just something else that filled the space of the things unsaid.