The Girl In Battle (Carol x Valkyrie)

go away. it's okay.

"I don't need food, nor your help." Valkyrie continued looking out the window, though she knew she was hurting poor Mantis' feelings. "Please."

  "Oh." Even without looking at her, Valkyrie could feel Mantis' antennas drooping. "I'll just leave the soup here then."

  Soft footsteps.

  The sound of the door opening and clicking shut.

  Valkyrie was tired of staying in bed for nearly three days. Her face still throbbed and her wound was getting better, but the healing process was so fucking slow.  If she were a mortal right now, she would have died in space. She cursed to herself when the door slowly opened again, and she glared at the figure at the doorway. Which made her even more infuriated, for when she scrunched her eyebrows, the bandages around her head moved and made her scratches itchy and painful.

  "Go away," she growled.

  The redhead shut the door and sat at the foot of Valkyrie's bed. "You okay?"

  "Why wouldn't you just go away?" Valkyrie, in her annoyance, tore out her bandages to reveal the stitched together gashes on her cheeks and forehead. She still wasn't used to having half of her vision gone, and she turned her head a little to see Natasha a little more clearly. "I don't need your goddamn sympathy."

  "It's okay." Natasha stared at her right back. Her green eyes were fathomless. "You can be angry."

  "Isn't that what I am right now?" Valkyrie snapped.

  "But you're allowed to cry too," Natasha said quietly.

  Valkyrie's eyes watered and her face grew hot. Her throat seemed to choke itself. Ever since Thor and Loki had seen Carol carrying her and leaving her to their care, she kept her tears to herself. She was angry, but she didn't know who or what she was angry at. "My face hurts," she mumbled as a tear dripped down her cheek, and her wounds burned.

  Natasha stood up and went to the bedside cabinet, pulling open a drawer and taking out a box. She laid it on the bed, opened it, and took out a roll of bandage. Then, she started wrapping the white cloth around Valkyrie's face gently.

  "I'm sorry," Valkyrie whispered.

  Natasha shook her head and gave her a small smile, which shocked Valkyrie. The former assassin never smiled that much around her, and Valkyrie thought she didn't care much when she returned nearly bleeding to death. But here she was, helping Valkyrie wrap her head. "The soup's getting cold. I'll check in on you in a bit."

  She then disappeared out the door, the old bandages in hand.

  Valkyrie held the locket close to her heart. Her heart pulsed against it. She closed her eyes and cried.

-

As Carol wandered around the galaxy, the image of the wounded girl burned into her brain. That guy...he called her 'Val'.

  Carol played with her bottom lip. Val...Valkyrie.

  Valkyrie.

  Carol's hands shot up to her face. "Valkyrie," she murmured. "Val. Brunnhilde."

-

Valkyrie was having another panic attack as quietly as she could in bed that night. The attacks had been happening quite frequently over the nights. She would wake up after a nightmare, unable to breathe and paralysed with fear.

  Valkyrie tried to calm herself down as she desperately gulped for air. Her lungs screamed and her heart roared in her ears. The bandages suffocated her and she clawed and stabbed until the white cloth fell away. Her salty tears stung her wounds.