#thorbruceweek

The first thing Hulk heard was the crackling. The strident sound of bones cracking reverberated through the spaceship. Hulk threw a blue-green alien, smashing it into a wall before he turned around.

Thor was squirming on the ground resembling a bug rather than god. Towering him was a cloaked creature, the arch of its back curving over like a praying mantis. It wielded a pitch black sword, clutching Thor by the neck.

Through his teeth, Thor spoke. “Why are you doing this?”

The creature’s lips curved into a malicious smile. “I am Gorr, the God Butcher.”

Then as if to slit Thor’s throat, Gorr set the blad up to his neck.

“NooOOO!!!” Hulk screeched, his voice almost halting the battle. Witnessing Thor become meek and fragile after a matter of seconds, caused the Hulk to become fearful.  

Another alien jumped at him, he merely swatted them away. Hulk tried to gage his own emotions, but one beast jumped on top of him after another. However, his energy only increased the longer he was away from Thor. Every enemy that charged to him died, beaten against the metal of the ship.

“The God Butcher?” Valkyrie asked, running to a spot. She swung the sword, aiming for the Gorr’s shriveled skull. “You will not harm him.” It was a declaration so assured, and very Valkyrie-esque.

Hulk didn’t care who the monster hovering over Thor was. He had to die. That was Hulk’s conviction. With righteous anger, Hulk will crush him to ashes.

The last of the little putrid, blue monsters stood. Thor still quivering along the floor gave a lingering look towards him. Valkyrie protected him, but even she was beginning to struggle with the God Butcher.

Finally, slaying the last of the henchmen, Hulk rushed to Thor, calling out to him in agony.

“Hulk,” Valkyrie commanded,”Buddy, you have to finish this guy off for me.”

Hulk grunted, yanking the killer off the ground. With one hand, he held Gorr by the skull. His head appeared like a walnut in his hands.

He could snap his neck right there and finish the job, but a moan of pain from Thor, lighted his eyes in rage. He peered into Gorr’s beady eyes growling, revealing a long row of teeth.

“If you think you can kill me, you can’t. This amulet gives me all the power I need. I have slain gods of war, peace, love, famine, nature and now I will add the God of Thunder to my list. It is my destiny to decimate the gods of this universe.”

Hulk scoffed, slamming the body into the floor, smooshing it further down, creating a large dent.

“Hulk is no god. You can’t hurt Hulk.”

Then seeing that the Gorr was still alive, he rammed the body into the floor once more.

Hulk paid no mind to the cries of his enemy. He had experience in ruthless killing and conquering on Sakaar, and those killings were more of an afterthought. But this was brutile, unfiltered fury that he was working with.

Piece by piece, Gorr became fragments of flash and bones, and was forming into compost in Hulk’s hands. Ruthlessly, he tossed the body around, never heading the cries of the dying beast. As blood, splashed all over his chess, Hulk ceased his temper tantrum, considering making the killing more ruthless. .

From the corner of his eyes, Hulk could see Thor limping against Val’s shoulder. One last surge of anger was all it took for him to rip that disgusting creature clean in half.

If the God butcher had any last words, there was no one to hear them.

Thor’s gentle voice rang through. “Hulk. Don’t be like that.” But the butcher was an unrecognizable pile of meat. Banner will surely squirm at the sight of that.

Rushing to Thor’s side, Hulk reached out to Thor. No longer angry, he only felt discomfort at the sight of someone so indestructible, someone that he cared about crumbling before him. With his open hand, still using Val as leverage, Thor reached to Hulk.

They were touching each other’s faces. Thor’s smile was telling him everything would be okay, and Hulk believe that..

He submitted himself to the comfort of Thor’s touch, and allowed himself to rest.

Although Hulk was aware of everything that went down on the ship, Bruce awoke distorted and shocked. Before his eyes was Thor with Val at his side. To his surprised, a giant gash was present at Bruce’s knee, residing all the way down his calf. The bone was visible.

“Thor??” was all he could choke out, a terrified lump in his throat  building up. He felt a bit dizzy at the sight of the blood and guts all over him.

Fighting off his own tears, Bruce grabbed Thor’s free hand and placed himself beneath the other man. He could do at least this much.

Thor’s groaning incited fear into Bruce. He couldn’t lose Thor, not when they just found each other, and not when everything seemed to be going well between them.

The ship had several sleeping compartments, and when they came to Thor’s they helped him to lay down. After making sure Thor was comfortable, Val hurried to the medicine cabinet.

Thor grimaced pain surging through his body. A bead of sweat rolled down his face.

Bruce grabbed his hand and gave it a hard squeeze.

“It’s going to be okay.. I promise I will do anything to make this better.” Resting his head on the hand he was holding, Bruce swallowed his need to sob.

“I feel like I should be telling you that, Love.” Thor chuckled despite the agony he was in.

A moment of silence fell between them, one man crying and the other trying not to. But Thor was more of an emotional lover than a stoic warrior, and the second he heard Bruce’s broken sobs, gentle tears fell down his face too.

When Val returned with the giant emergency kit, she also brought back a surprise.

“Look who I found.” She said as she rushed inside to quickly get to work. Loki didn’t hesitate to follow her inside. It was lucky for him, that when Gorr hunted their ship, he was elsewhere making a deal with the Grandmaster. No one really knew what that man was up to. He could have easily became another on the list of the god-killer’s victims

“Thor!” Loki called out, staring at the profound wound.

“Brother.” Thor hummed, giving Loki a nod, before returning his attention to Bruce who was in shambles, still clinging to his hand.

Approaching the bed with caution, Loki asked, “How I can be of service.”

He face the fierce eyes of a warrior, but no reproach was given. At these moments, Val tended to be more critical of the trickster god, but today she pointed at bottle of liquid.

“Give him some of this. It’s a pain killer. He’s going to need a lot of it.”

Loki nodded, pouring the thick as syrup liquid into a cup, and carrying it to Thor who was gritting his teeth. Through his grimace, Thor drank the medicine as Loki brought it to his face. It tasted like strong liquor mixed with heavy amounts of plants and herbs. Minty, but not refreshing.

Bruce was still holding onto him when Valkyrie stopped inspecting the wound.  Her face was grim.

Loki was beside her, his eyes sorrowful. He shut them and looked at his feet.

Val clasped her hands together. “Thor, I can’t save your leg.”

Bruce gave his cold hand a squeeze, his eyes only watching Thor’s face.

The pain was subsiding only a bit, as he realized that the medicine might have contained something more than all natural ingredients. He was dazed, but not enough.

“Chop the thing off.” His resolve outweighed the other options.

Many years ago, this situation would have been the worst case scenario. But he had seen his brother die twice before, witnessed the loss of Asgard, and more importantly, his people. A leg was nothing.

Bruce stayed with Thor, the entire time, although Loki left the room. Whatever his attitude may tell, deep down he couldn’t bare see his brother hurting.

Bruce couldn’t bare to see Thor in pain either, but he knew that he had to be Thor’s strength and support. He could protect Thor as much as Hulk.

Every second that the surgery went on as Val hacked away, Bruce petted Thor’s head, in gentle motions, wiping off sweat.  Sometimes, he would place his forehead on Thor’s or whisper little secrets in his ear to distract him from the pain. The medicine was only capable of so much.

When it was all over, there was nothing below his right thigh. Loki walked back inside, placing a hand on Thor’s shoulder. He smiled but turned his attention to Bruce’s face, stained with tears.

One hand on his forehead and another in his hand, every ounce of Thor was full of Bruce.