Captain America: Professional Best Friend

Cabin Fever

A few more months pass in a blur of training to keep up physical fitness. The time passes so quickly that the winter months come before everyone is ready for them. After years of not having to drive the terrain, Emma forgot that she needed snow tires and chains for the truck to be able to get out safely in the winter weather that inevitably came around.

The lack of snow tires becomes a problem when one morning Emma wakes up bright and early to head out to do some odd jobs around town she had been doing over the past few months. When she goes to open the door after slipping on a coat, she is met with freezing cold wind that blows snow into her face and into the doorway of the lodge.

Emma studies the weather for a few seconds, watching the snow relentlessly fall with no intentions of stopping anytime soon. She can't even see ten feet off of the porch. She debates on if she should still try and head into town to help those families that needed the extra set of hands so close to the holiday season.

Her internal debate is stopped though when she hears Steve's groggy morning voice coming from behind her, asking, "You aren't going out in that are you, Em?"

Emma looks back at Steve and replies, "These families really seemed to be counting on me is the thing..."

Steve approaches her and wraps his arms around her, mumbling into her hair, "And I'm relying on you being here and safe. It isn't safe out there, especially without the proper equipment to get around." Emma tries to open her mouth to protest, but Steve then starts lazily tracing his fingers along her hips which makes her putty in his hands. He then continues with his statement, saying, "I know you try and keep your word, and I think it's so generous of you to help these people, but I just think it would be best if you called them to say that it isn't safe for you on the roads. Maybe this will all clear up in the next couple of days and you can go then. I just want you to be safe."

Emma thinks about Steve's words as he continues to run his fingers along her hips and she sighs with a smile, saying back to him, "You know I'm really glad you were up to stop me. I'm not the best at driving in this weather."

Steve chuckles and moves to kiss her. After he pulls away, he rests his forehead on hers and says, "Here, how about you come back to bed since we have time to kill now?"

Emma smiles and nods, telling him, "Let me make some calls, and then I'll be right there."

"I can't wait," he replies, giving her one last lingering kiss before shuffling back to their now shared bedroom.

After a few days, the snow still has not relented and the lodge gets successfully snowed in. In a desperate attempt to try and find a way to help those families out, Emma tries to fly SAM over the property to find a safe route out, but to no avail.

Not being able to do anything and not being able to help those families sets off Emma's anxiety, and Steve can tell, so when Christmas Eve rolls around, he offers that they all have a Christmas movie marathon to get Emma's mind off of things. Everyone agrees and that night they set up a fire in the fireplace, make some hot chocolate, and settle in for the movies.

Emma and Steve sit on the couch curled up with one another in warm comfort as they watch the movies. As the movies go on and Steve continues to absentmindedly play with Emma's hair, her worries slip away at least for the time being.

A few movies in, Natasha gets tired, so she stands up to head to her room for the night. Sam feels the same so he heads off to his room as well. As they both leave the den, Steve yawns and then stands, offering his hand to Emma to help her up. "You coming?" Steve asks with a smirk, referencing the movie they just finished.

"I'll be there soon," Emma replies with a small smile. "I'm gonna take care of the dishes and the fire first and I'll be right there. Don't get too comfy until I get there."