A/N: This is kind of a companion piece to my other story 'In Dreams'. Movie-verse. Rated T for violence.

Disclaimer: I don't own them.


Only in her nightmares would Obadiah Stane get his hands around Tony's neck, his helmet long gone but the rest of his armour intact, the whiteness in Obadiah's knuckles the only indication of how hard he is trying to take away Iron Mans last breath.

Only in these haunted dreams would she too be made helpless, a whip around her neck, choking her, as she was forced to watch him die.

There are tears on her cheeks as she attempts to claw at the coils around her neck, the second of his whips curling around her abdomen, a smile slithering onto Vanko's lips. A hand, his hand, would sneak down to rest atop of the coils lying around her stomach, coils that seemed to tighten around her, a solid promise to Tony that he would take not only Peppers life, but the one growing inside of her.

"No! NONONO! PEPPER!" he would fight harder against the hand around his throat, fear in his eyes, but not for his life, but for hers.

"Say good bye to your boss." Obadiah would say before his mechanical hand would reach through Tonys armour and pull out his heart, where it would lay nested in shorted wires and crumpled metal as it beat one final time.

The light in his chest would slowly fade away with the rest of him.

As the coils tightened around her, he would look at her one last time, "Pepper..."

"Pepper!" she woke feeling hot tears on her cheeks, and his strong hands pushing against her shoulders.

She placed her hands over his heart and felt its strong beat against her palms, the hum of the arc reactor strong in her ears.

She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him tightly to her.

"Don't ever leave me!" she whispered against his cheek.

"I won't, I promise."

She kisses him then, needing to feel his warmth against her, knowing that only in her nightmares would he break his promise.

FIN.


A/N: Hope you enjoyed it. Thanks for reading.