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Just after the calm of the storm, an even bigger one approached. Thanos had successfully invaded the ship that held the last of the Asgardians after the inevitable destruction of Asgard. They were weak, tired, and worn out. They were in no shape to face the army Thanos would unleash unto them. “The Black Order” as they so proudly called themselves had succeeded in murdering half of what was left of the Asgardian population. Just like that. Without a second thought or the slightest hesitation.
They were monsters quite frankly.
And Thor, their newly appointed king was backed up into a corner that he couldn’t get out of. His best bet in this truly unfortunate circumstance was to save the very small fraction of his people. That’s what a king would do after all.
Throughout Thor’s life, he had lost so many people he truly cherished. He seemed to lose everything he had ever cared about. Time and time again Thor had been rendered helpless in each of their unfortunate fates. Guilt had been no foreign feeling to him anymore.
There was one person in his life that he couldn’t lose. No matter what. Thor had glanced over to the very reason his life had held any kind of meaning.
Valkyrie.
She was fighting off a member of the Black Order, trying to protect as many Asgardians as she could. Thor couldn’t let her die. He wouldn’t let them kill her.
Hulk had been serving as a great distraction for the Black Order. This gave Thor the right amount of time to formulate a solution. Valkyrie had been thrown into a wall by the Black Order member and soon discarded to help contain the Hulk who putting up quite a fight.
Thor made his way over to Valkyrie, helping her up and making sure she was okay. “Valkyrie, I need you to assist me in something.”
“Assist you? We have a battle to fight!” Valkyrie was preparing herself to attack once more, but Thor held her back. “Please. This fight isn’t like anything we’ve faced before. I need you to gather as many people as possible and take the emergency pod to get out of here.” Thor looked her straight in the eyes, proving the urgency of the situation.
“But, what about you, your Majesty? You can’t just stay here and—” Thor cut her off. “Valkyrie, please.” It seems as if years went by as they looked into each other eyes before Valkyrie caved in and lowered her sword. Thor gave her a look of gratitude as she began to round up the survivors.
Thor could tell that the fight was drawing near. Hulk couldn’t fight forever. And the man infamously known as Thanos began to enter the ship on his own accord. Thor knew he had to get Valkyrie and the rest of his people out of contact with the psychotic titan.
The escape pod was practically filled up with scared survivors. “C’mon, your Majesty, we have to get out of here!” Valkyrie was making her way to the pod gesturing for him to follow her.
Thor wasn’t moving.
“Valkyrie, I’m afraid I can’t accompany you.” Thor’s voice was low and seemed to waver, but he stood his ground. Valkyrie looked behind her with an incomprehensible expression on her face. “W-What do you mean? You can’t just stay here, you’ll die!”
“I have to make sure Thanos won’t go after my people and…you.” Thor looked at Valkyrie sorrowfully. “T-Then, I’ll stay with you...I can’t—”
This time Thor didn’t stay anything but walk towards Valkyrie, thus backing her into the escape pod forcefully. “I need you to lead my people, I don’t trust anyone but you to do it.”
“B-But I don’t know how to lead people—your their king! They need you!” Tears threatened to fall on Valkyrie’s distressed face.
“Please, Valkyrie I’m done watching the people I love die.” Valkyrie was shocked at those words. “You love?” Before Valkyrie could say anything else, Thor cupped Valkyrie’s cheeks and pulled her in for a passionate kiss.
The kiss was one filled with desire and uncertainty. The desire to see each again and uncertainty on what was next for them. Regardless, Thor kissed Valkyrie with all the love and admiration he had for her. Eventually, Thor pulled away, leaving Valkyrie breathless. “Don’t worry Valkyrie, I’ll make sure that I’ll see you again.” Thor wiped the stray tears that left Valkyrie’s eyes. His hands trailed down to her hands to squeeze them tightly. “Continue our voyage to earth, and seek out a group called the Avengers, they’ll provide you with all the protection and questions that you’ll require.”
It seems that this moment couldn’t last forever, because Thor no longer heard Hulk raging on from behind him, which meant Hulk had spotted the notorious Thanos. Thor begrudgingly sealed the escape pod closed. Valkyrie pounded on the glass, tears running freely down her caramel skin.
Before the escape pod departed, Thor had said three words to her, and although Valkyrie didn’t hear it, she knew exactly what he said.
“I love you too.” Valkyrie turned away and set off for the planet earth.
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Valkyrie had thought the worst of her and Asgard’s problems ende once they escaped the grasps of the mad titan. She had been proved wrong in the most terrible ways.
About two days into their voyage, people were…disappearing. Vanishing into dust. The horror on the Asgardians faces will forever be ingrained into Valkyrie's mind. When what seemed like purge was done, only two hundred Asgardians were left. Valkyrie could only guess it was the man Thor called “Thanos” that caused all of this agony. He did murder half of the Asgardians population back at the main ship.
Valkyrie remembered Thor’s words. “The Avengers will provide you with all protection and questions you’ll require.”
Thor. Valkyrie had been thinking of him every minute of the way. Had he survived the extinction that was probably universe wide? Valkyrie wasn’t too keen on praying to higher being for guidance, but Valkyrie prayed to whatever god there was for Thor just to be safe. They would see each other again. Thor said so himself.
“Valkyrie.” Korg interrupted her train of thought. “We’ll be arriving in an unknown area of Earth in 30 minutes.”
Earth. Valkyrie didn’t know the last thing about earth. All she needed to do was find the Avengers. Thor trusted her with his task, she couldn’t just let him down.
“Full speed ahead, Korg.”
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The battle was finally over. They had lost. Thor had lost.
“You should’ve went for the head.”
That phrase will forever plague the depths Thor’s mind. That was the exact moment where he let the titan who was responsible with the slaughter of his people and the death of his brother out of his grasp. He was this close to ending it all, but he had failed.
He had hoped that Valkyrie was safe, he couldn’t live with himself knowing that he took a part in the death of the women he loved. He loved Valkyrie. He never never truly knew the depth of his love for her until he said those words to her when they were separated.
Steve Rogers had entered Thor’s spare room in Wakanda. “Thor, there’s something entering the atmosphere…gear up.” Thor didn’t have to be asked twice. If it was Thanos, he would be absolutely, positively sure that he will drive his axe into the nape of his neck to completely behead the beast.
As he walked out with his
teammates
friends, he remembered the many battles they fought. What were the chances that all of original members of the Avengers would be spared by Thanos’ rath. It was almost like fate. What a twisted fate that was.
Everyone was on guard as they awaited the inevitable invasion. Looks of vengeance and despair was on all of their faces. The extinction of half the human race was only four hours ago. People were still mourning for their lost comrades. Their eyes had the purge of their loved one’s on replay. Thor was high on adrenaline, so much had happened in only a two day time span.
Shuri had allowed for the spacecraft to get through, she herself was mourning for the loss of her brother King T’Challa. She wanted to finish this. Before the grief would inevitably eat her from the inside. If there was a glimmer of hope for their lost comrades residing on that interference entering the atmosphere, they would make sure to seize that opportunity.
No more hesitation.
After almost what felt like an eternity, the unidentifiable object entered the atmosphere. It was a ship. The remnants of the Avengers stood their ground. Leaving no room for mistake. Not this time.
The ship had landed. For a moment everything was silent. Thor gripped onto Stormbreaker harder than before—knuckles going white. “You should’ve aimed for the head,” ran in his mind like a broken record.
The ship opened and as the Avengers were on the verge of attack, a single woman exited the ship.
Thor’s face softened immediately.
It was her. The woman who left the ship was Valkyrie. Her hands were up, to show she meant no harm.
Thor immediately dropped his weapon and ran up to her. Ignoring the other Avengers lingering stares, and embraced her. She’s safe. She was safe. Thank God she was safe. Thor ran his hands throughout her hair, still holding her close. He was still afraid she might disappear from his grasp, like everyone else did.
“Your Majesty,” Valkyrie managed to say, after being unable to speak from all of the raw emotion resonating in her. Hot tears rolled down her cheeks, unable to stop flowing. She was finally letting out all of the pent of frustration and fear from the past few days. She could finally let those worries go.
Thor begun to wipe her tears away with his thumbs. “Thank heavens you’re safe. I thought about you the minute we parted,” Valkyrie had remembered the self sacrificing stunt Thor pulled two days ago and decided to shove him rather hard for all the stress he cause her.
“You can’t just do that your Majesty! I was so worried, I thought I’d never see you again. Don’t go deciding things on your own like that! We’re a team remember?” Valkyrie’s voice wavered and cracked as she cried tears of frustration.
Thor embraced her once again. “I promise never to do something like that to you ever again,” Thor brought her face close to his and kissed her. He kissed her more slowly. Like they had all the time in the world. They had finally found their way back to each other. It was a kiss that spoke for itself.
No “I love you’s” needed.