In the heat of battle, it was easy to block out everything but the fight. Even stab wounds.
"Stab wound' sounded so bad, it was more of an inconvenience than anything, or at least that's what Valkyrie told herself.
She grunted in pain, as the undead warrior pulled his dagger from her side before she separated its head from its shoulders and kicked the rest of him off the Bifrost.
It hurt, like a lot, and she could feel blood soak her skin underneath her armour, but she didn't have time to take care of it. Asgard needed her, and she'd already abandoned them once. She wouldn't do it again.
She ignored the pain and the blood slipping down her side, under her armour, and kept fighting. She had been the survivor of someone's sacrifice before, someone she cared about, and she had felt guilty for that since that day so long ago.
Sakaar had been a good place to hide and drink her feelings away, but time heals all wounds, and time didn't pass there. She had been living with her guilt and shame for so long.
But she didn't want to hide anymore, and if she had to, she would make the same sacrifice that had been made for her. She would repay her debt.
Ignoring the tearing agony at her side, she charged forward, weapon raised and slaughtered the undead army before her.
Her side burned every time she moved and lifting her arm was harder than it should have been, but she fought on, surging forward with her sword raised.
She told herself that as long as she kept moving she'd be fine, because she could feel the adrenaline pumping through her, keeping her on her feet, but as soon as she stopped she would drop and she knew it.
But as the fight wore on, and the dead kept coming, she only got worse. Her head spun and her arm above the cut was growing too heavy to lift. Something was wrong, and it was more than just the cut.
It burned like hell, taking her concentration away from the fight, and making it more difficult to focus. She didn't know how much longer she could keep fighting. Despite her determination and stubborn nature, her body may not hold out as long as she would like.
One of the few good things about battle is that everything usually happens so quickly that it's hard to notice the small details. So, no one noticed her heaving, strained breathing, and the way she stumbled a little when she walked. Thor patted her back as they met on the ship as they escaped, but his eyes never found the hand she had clamped to her side, and the other that refused to move anymore.
She knew she probably tell someone, or at least do something about it, but with everything that happened, there were more important things on everyone's minds.
"Hey, you okay?"
Valkyrie turned to where Korg was watching her, the ship gently rocking beneath them as they moved through space.
She nodded, leaning heavily on the wall, hand clamping tighter on her side, and clenching her teeth through the pain. Her vision was begging to blur, as Korg looked out through the windows.
"I'm sorry you lost your planet. And your home."
Valkyrie was surprised by his words but appreciated them all the same. He was right, she'd lost both Asgard and Sakaar in one day, and it hurt. Although not as much as whatever had been on that blade. Another pulse of pain shot through her side and travelled through her arm, spiking at her fingertips like a shock of electricity.
"Thanks." Her voice was strained, forced through her clenched jaw, and Korg seemed to notice. He turned to her, frowning in concern.
"Are you sure you're okay? Cause you said you were but now you look like you're in pain. That's not what okay is."
Another shock ripped through her, and she couldn't hold back her grunt of pain. She squeezed her eyes shut, shuddering as she pushed away from the wall. Her arm wasn't responding to anything anymore, her lax fingers losing their grip on her sword. A few heads turned as it clattered to the floor.
Korg watched her closely, huge hands reaching out to her as she stumbled past. "I said I'm f-fine."
The room spun too fast for her head, and she fell forwards, barely catching herself on the wall in time.
A few more heads turned her way, including Loki's, but she ignored them all.
"I think you should sit down."
Valkyrie would have rolled her eyes had she been able to without pain lancing through her skull. Loki's words were laced with concern, unusual for him, and she didn't want it.
His hand met her shoulder, pulling her to turn towards him. Valkyrie pulled her hand from her side, and drew her dagger, pointing it Loki's throat in warning.
He removed his hand from her, raising both of his in the air, but he didn't lose the worried expression. Her hand was shaking where she held the weapon, and blood was smeared across her fingers and palm, colouring the hilt a bright red.
His eyes moved to her side, her wound now revealed. His words were careful and low, aware that even injured she could, and would, fight back.
"You're hurt. Let us help."
Valkyrie sneered, eyes blinking too slow for her anger to be taken seriously. "I don't need your help, traitor."
Loki scoffed, hands still raised. "Oh, come on. It was only a few times, and I came back."
Her eyes narrowed, and Loki wasn't sure if it was her doing or the fact that she was about to pass out.
"You're...a...a snake. And you will...not…touch m-"
Loki watched as her eyes rolled back into her head, dagger slipping from her bloodied fingers, before she fell to the floor, nothing but deadweight.
Korg went immediately to her side, as Loki knelt next to her. She was pale and sweating, breath laboured as she shivered.
He quickly pressed his hands to the wound at her side and turned to where his brother was sitting at the front of the ship. "Thor! Valkyrie is down!"
Thor turned, spotting the warrior on the floor, and much to Loki's confusion, he laughed. "She does that. Probably raided the grandmaster's store of booze."
Loki didn't much care for the girl but if he let her die Thor would surely be mad and possibly throw him out the airlock. He tried again, lifting his hand as blood dripped down his fingers.
"Brother!"
Thor turned again, the smile slipping from his face as he realised. He immediately pushed himself from his seat and raced over, looking her over.
"We need Banner. He can help her." He turned, looking around the room until he spotted the big green guy.
"Hulk! Come here."
He obliged, face creasing unhappily as he spotted his friend on the floor. He pointed a giant finger at her.
"Angry girl hurt."
Thor nodded, frantic as Loki pressed his hands against the wound once more. "Yes, she's hurt and we need Banner back to fix her."
Hulk frowned, voice raising slightly. "No Banner, only Hulk."
Thor was running out of patience but tried to keep his cool as Loki complained under his breath.
"I know you don't like Banner, but he knows how to help her. You care about Valkyrie don't you?"
Hulk looked at her, dark hair spilt against the floor, face ashen. "Hulks friend."
Thor smiled, finally getting somewhere. "Yes, she's your friend. And if you don't let Banner help her, she's going to die. And then you won't have her as a friend anymore."
Hulk wasn't happy, but he let out a small rumbly sigh. "Okay. Banner save my angry girl."
He closed his eyes, body shuddering as he allowed Banner to gain back control. Thor watched him shift, shrinking and shaking as the green bled from his skin, leaving only Bruce behind.
He blinked and stumbled back, confused. "What? Am I? I'm back? Did we win?"
Loki cursed, pressing his hands harder against Valkyries side. "Thor, this isn't stopping. And somethings wrong. There's some sort of dark energy coming from the wound. I think the blade was cursed."
Thor turned to him, as Bruce did, face paling. "Is that-? Oh, god she's hurt."
"We need you to help her."
Thor pulled Bruce closer, bringing him to the warrior's side.
Bruce looked her over, brain automatically cataloguing her symptoms and coming to a diagnosis.
"I-I can stop the bleeding and close the wound, but I don't know anything about curses, or Asgardian medicine. That's all on you."
Loki frowned even as he nodded. "I'll handle it, just save her."
They got to work, Bruce determined to save the woman his other half cared for so much.
…..
Valkyrie hadn't had friends in a while and hadn't needed anyone to take care of her for even longer, so when she woke up to someone's hand in hers she didn't immediately realise what it was.
Her head pounded and her mouth was horribly dry, her whole body aching as if she were experiencing the worst hangover of her life. Which, given how old she was, and how often she drank, was saying something.
A groan slipped from her mouth, and she squeezed whatever was in her hand, opening her eyes in surprise when the thing squeezed back.
Thor smiled sheepishly from where he sat beside her bed, fingers curled around hers. "Sorry, you were in a lot of pain when Loki was drawing the magic out of your cut, and holding your hand seemed to help. Although you almost crushed my fingers. I'm glad I didn't let Bruce do it."
Valkyrie turned her gaze to where the human was asleep, slumped in a chair at the end of her bed.
Her dry throat complained as she spoke, voice raspy and weak. "What happened?"
She uncurled her fingers from his, and he took them back gratefully, gesturing to her side where the pain throbbed the most. "You were stabbed with a cursed blade, in battle. And instead of telling anyone, or taking care of it yourself, you did absolutely nothing and almost died. Bruce fixed you up and Loki helped."
Valkyrie nodded, looking around the room to find a window showing her the stars and blackness of space.
"Thanks."
Thor continued, propping his feet up on her mattress, making her frown and try to kick them off to no avail. God, he was like an annoying big brother.
"You know, if you had just told us you were hurt we wouldn't have had to see you faint like a...I think humans call it a 'damsel in distress'. It would have been funny if you hadn't been dying."
She narrowed her eyes at him, wishing she still had her knives. "I am not a damsel."
Thor shrugged, smirking. "Don't go fainting like one then."
She knew what he was trying to do, and she ignored him, looking back to the window.
His voice was softer when it returned, swapping out its teasing tone for something more sincere.
"You really worried the big guy, you know? Hulk gave control back to Banner just to save you. You should know how much of a big deal that is."
She still didn't say anything, but instead peeked to where Bruce was still sleeping. He'd lost his shirt and jacket, now wrapped in a blanket as he gently snored.
Thor leaned forward in his chair, trying to catch her eye. "I know you left Asgard because your fellow warriors died, but you don't have to be alone anymore. We have our team, now. And you're part of it."
Valkyrie let out a snicker. "I thought we were disbanding the revengers. I knew that was a fake name, by the way."
Thor got up from his seat and walked to the doorway, turning to smile at her. "Maybe. But we don't have to have a team name to be friends. Personally, I think you could use some of those. Maybe then you'll ask for help when you need it."
He left, and Valkyrie knew he was right but frowned anyway, muttering unhappily. "You don't have to be all smug about it."
She sank down into her bed, feeling sleep drawing closer. While they were undoubtedly annoying, she couldn't help be grateful that she'd met her team of idiots.