Sorry this is so late, I'll try to be more consistent. I hope you guys are enjoying this. Things will get more interesting soon.

Disclaimer: I don't own Iron Man or any related characters. Marvel does, and unfortunately, Disney owns Marvel.

Chapter Three

Nighttime Talks Among Girls

Tony wasn't the only one who had been having trouble with sleep since New York. However, unlike Tony's nightmares, Diana's trouble manifested in the form of suddenly becoming an extremely light sleeper. The smallest of sounds or movements would wake her up. So it was no surprise when sounds from Tony and Pepper's room startled her from her sleep. She took a moment to understand that the sound had been a loud crash, and then voices. She stood up and wrapped a robe around herself, before leaving her room to search out the disturbance.

She ran into Pepper in the hallway. "Pepper?" she asked, surprised. "What happened?"

The older woman seemed to be trying to hold back tears. "Nothing, Di," she said, trying, and failing, to summon a smile. "I'm fine. Just go back to sleep." But Diana wasn't going to just take that answer. She wrapped an arm around Pepper's shoulders, and steered her toward the kitchen. Pepper didn't protest.

Ten minutes later two cups, one of tea and one of hot chocolate, were sitting on the coffee table and the two women were sitting curled up on the couch. "Spill," Diana insisted.

Pepper reluctantly told her about Tony's newest suit coming into their room and attacking her when Tony had been in the middle of a nightmare. Diana nodded in understanding and took a sip of her hot chocolate.

"Why are you angry?" she asked after a moment of silence.

"Those suits are consuming him," Pepper replied. "And now they're even dangerous to his friends! If he hadn't woken up when he had, who knows what would've happened."

Diana hummed thoughtfully and took another sip. "Is it really the suits, or that he's changed?"

"What?"

"You've been on edge since we got back from New York. We all have, but you were the only one who wasn't there. You didn't see it happen, you only heard about it. And that scares you. You don't know what we went through, so you don't know how to help. Tony has been channeling everything into the suits, using Iron Man as a mask or wall to hide behind. Tonight that wall smacked you right in the face. I think you're afraid that he is too far gone and you will never be able to catch him again."

Pepper stared at her over her mug. The tea was still steaming, but the red-head hadn't taken a single sip. "How do you do that?" Pepper asked, astonished.

Diana shrugged. "I just speculated. I don't have much to do other than provide Tony with a sounding board."

Pepper smiled and reached over to pat her knee. "Thank you, but I don't think I can go back in there tonight."

Diana shook her head. "I wouldn't expect you to. I just wanted to make sure someone could get some sleep tonight."

Pepper looked at her in concern. "Still having trouble with that?"

Diana nodded. "It's gotten worse since that dream about Loki." A couple weeks ago, Diana had finally gotten into a deep enough sleep that she could dream. Unfortunately, the dream had been about Loki trying to take over her mind. Ever since, her already lightened sleep had gotten even lighter. "I wake myself up moving," she told Pepper. "The wind outside sounds like his laugh sometimes."

"I wish I could help. Have you tried sleeping with music?"

Diana nodded. "Yes, I did. Every time the song changes, I wake up."

Pepper sighed sadly. "I'm sorry."

Diana shook her head and stood. "Thank you. I should get back to bed. I need to get as much as I can." Diana dropped a kiss on Pepper's head as she went by. "I know you'll figure it out, Pep. He loves you, and you love him. I know you'll figure it out." With that, she returned to her room.

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