Pansy stood with her arms crossed over her chest shaking her head. "There is no possible way in hell that you are going to get me on that thing," she said, side-eyeing Sam beneath the hem of her knit cap. "I'm not spending Christmas Eve in the infirmary."
"You won't get hurt," Sam reassured her, wrapping an arm around her shoulders to pull her into him. "I'll be with you the whole time."
"We both are not going to fit on that thing, and it's meant for a child!" Pansy replied, rolling her eyes.
"So, cast a spell to make it bigger," Sam shrugged, chuckling at the appalled look on Pansy's face when she spun around to glare at him.
"You know damn well I can't do magic here," Pansy hissed, smacking his chest. "Would you like to see me summoned to the Ministry for the use of magic in front of muggles?"
"I mean, not particularly," Sam said, wrapping an arm around her waist and pulling her close. He leaned down and pressed his lips to hers in a gentle kiss. "I'm kinda fond of having you around."
"That's what I thought," Pansy laughed, pressing up on her toes and kissing him once more before taking a step back. She glanced down at the toboggan and shook her head. "I'm going to go back inside and curl up on the couch in front of the fire. You can have fun out here on that death trap."
Pansy pulled her jacket tight around her waist and turned on her heel to head back to the cabin, pressing a kiss to Sam's cheek before leaving him to enjoy his time in the snow. She could feel the nip of Jack Frost at the tip of her nose, and she was ready to feel the warmth of the fire. She could hear the crunch of the snow as Sam took off at a run to catch up with the rest of the Avengers at the top of the hill.
"Some peace and quiet," Pansy whispered to herself as she pulled the doors to the cabin open and made her way inside quickly, hidden away from the chill of the snow. She sighed as the door closed behind her, sealing in the cabin's warmth. The smell of sugar cookies drifted from the kitchen.
"Back already?" Wanda's voice called. "That didn't take long."
Pansy laughed, hanging her coat on the hanger and kicking off her snow boots. "It was too damn cold, and Sam wanted me to ride with him on a human death trap," she replied, moving to join Wanda and Pepper in the kitchen. She let out a sigh when she noticed the freshly brewed pot of coffee on the counter. Pouring herself a cup, Pansy wrapped her hands around the mug and relished in the warmth against her cold hands.
"Deathtrap?" Pepper asked, raising an eyebrow. "I thought they just brought the toboggans."
"They did," Pansy replied, rolling her eyes. "But have you seen how fast those things go down the slopes?"
"That's your fault for going outside with them all," Wanda laughed. "You gave them false hope that someone besides the other guys was going to join in their crazy antics by bundling up with them. You certainly didn't see any of us doing that."
Pepper and Natasha both were laughing as they shook their heads. Pansy hung her head with a sigh. Wanda was right. She had given the boys the impression that she was going to go riding with them today. She had been promising Sam all week leading up to their trip that she would spend some time with him out in the snow. She just never promised what activities.
. . .
A few hours had passed when the girls heard the front door of the cabin open, so Wanda stepped away to investigate who had finally had enough of the cold.
"It took you fools long enough," Wanda teased, offering a smile to Vision. The smile soon fell from her face when she noticed the look of concern he was wearing. "What's wrong?"
"Where's Pansy?" Vision asked, brushing the snow off his boots before moving further into the cabin.
"She's in the kitchen," Wanda replied, reaching out to place a hand on his back. "What's going on, Vision? You're scaring me."
Vision reached back to grab Wanda's hand and pulled her into the kitchen with him. His eyes moved around the room for a moment, taking note of everyone's faces until he landed on Pansy. The joyful smile quickly fell from her face.
"What did he do?" Pansy asked, setting her mug on the counter and swinging her feet around to jump down off the stool. "Wait, don't tell me yet."
She moved from the kitchen, down the hall, and disappeared into the room she and Sam were sharing for this trip. Mumbling under her breath, she pulled her suitcase out of the closet and began searching for a few small vials. Pansy picked each vial up and examined it for a moment before setting a few of them aside on the bed.
"This man is going to be the death of me," she muttered, shaking her head as she shoved the suitcase back into the closet. "He's damn lucky I always carry a few vials of thing for occasions like this."
Pansy returned to the kitchen, still mumbling and cursing under her breath as she went past Vision to grab her coat and slip back into her boots. "Where is he?"
"We didn't want to risk moving him," Vision replied, "in case he broke any bones. I'll lead you to him."
"Thank you," Pansy sighed, offering a smile.
"Of course," Vision assured, moving to the door of the cabin, and he pulled the door open and ushered Pansy out the door. "Right this way."
It was a short walk to the bottom of the hill where the rest of the men were gathered, looking down at someone laying the snow. Pansy took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, reaching into her pocket and pulling out a vial. She popped the cap off and lifted it to her lips.
"What's that?" Vision asked, leaning over to whisper in Pansy's ear.
She swallowed the potion quickly and grimaced at the taste. "Draught of peace," Pansy answered, shoving the empty vial into her other pocket.
"And that's for…." Vision said, furrowing his brow.
"To calm me down before I strangle him," Pansy said, smiling as she glanced up at Vision. "Thanks for watching out for him."
"Thank you for coming to his rescue when he does something stupid," Vision laughed.
Pansy rolled her eyes, laughing at Vision's joke. She couldn't wait to hear what Sam had done to himself this time.
As they approached, Tony and the others stepped aside, revealing Sam stuck in the middle of a snow bank with the toboggan lying to the side.
"Hey, Pan," Sam said, offering a smile. "What brings you out here on this fine snowy afternoon?"
Pansy turned to the others and offered her sweetest smile. "Thanks, guys. I've got him from here. Why don't you go back to the cabin and get warmed up? I think Pepper is almost done cooking dinner, and I'll bring him in soon."
"Sam, good luck," Tony laughed, waving to him. "I'd say since she's sending all of us away, you might not make it out of that snow bank alive."
The rest of the Avengers bowed out without saying a word, returning to the cabin. Once they were no longer within earshot, Pansy turned slowly to look at Sam and assess the situation.
"What the hell did you do?" Pansy asked, resting her hands on her hips.
"Well, you see," Sam began, a smile beaming brightly from his face, "the thing about snow banks is that they don't move out of the way when the toboggan is headed straight for it."
Pansy bit her lip as she shook her head, fighting the urge she felt to roll her eyes at him. "Well, yes. One would think that if you were headed for a snow bank, then an intelligent person would jump off the damn sled and let the sled crash into the snow bank."
Sam laughed, shrugging his shoulders. "I mean, that idea did cross my mind," his voice trailed off, "as I collided with the snow."
"Sam Wilson," Pansy huffed, crouching down to her knee beside him, "you are going to be the death of me if it's the last thing you do, aren't you?"
"It's only because of how much I love you," Sam said, pushing himself up on his elbow and pressing a kiss to her cheek.
Pansy rolled her eyes and offered him a hand as he pushed himself out of the snow. "I love you too," she groaned, shaking her head as he pushed himself up from the ground. "Do you feel broken anywhere?"
Sam danced around for a few moments and then shook his head. "I don't think so."
Pansy sighed, pulling another vial out of her pocket. "Drink this just in case."
"What is it?" Sam asked, raising a brow as he took the vial from her and lifted it to his lips.
"Skele-gro," Pansy replied, taking his hand in hers. "I want to make sure that you don't have any broken bones before I smack you upside the head for scaring me half to death."
Sam down the vial quickly before pulling Pansy to him, wrapping his arm around her waist. He cupped her cheek with his other hand and kissed her softly. "I love you, Pansy," he whispered, resting his forehead against hers.
"I love you too, you big idiot," Pansy replied, smacking his chest playfully. "Let's go back to the cabin and get warmed up."