So I saw Thor Ragnarok and absolutely loved it! The movie was well made and really fun, not to mention the fantastic way they adapted big plot points from the comic version of Ragnarok. I was pleasantly surprised by Valkyrie's character in the movie. And so I came home from the theater and wrote this brief one shot. SPOILER WARNING for Thor Ragnarok from here on out. This occurs during the movie, so if I misquoted anything or got the sequence of events slightly out of order, I apologize. I have only seen the film once.

Marvel and Disney own the characters and the plot. I don't. Enjoy.

"You are a Valkyrie, sworn protector of the throne of Asgard". The fool continued to blather on, but Valkyrie wasn't listening anymore. A sworn protector, yeah right. Maybe a millennium ago, but not now. Today she was a drinker and a fighter, but certainly not a protector. She completed her purchase and prepared to retire to her ship. Tonights proceedings would be entertaining, though she knew the end result would be unpleasant for her newest contender. Even an Asgardian couldn't stand against the Hulk.

"You have to help me". Oh no she didn't. She didn't have to do anything other than look after herself. Grabbing her copious amounts of alcohol, she nodded at the barkeep and strode to the energy fence that divided the bar patrons from the gladiators.

"I don't have to do anything, Your Highness". Acid dripped from her voice as she looked him over. Thor, the brat child of Odin. She had heard tales of his exploits across the Nine Realms, of his youthful debauchery and violence, then fascination with Midgard and refusal of the throne. Even places like Sakar, where time moved much faster than the rest of the galaxy, received news from Asgard. She had heard other things as well, whisperings of Odin's strange negligence and disinterest with the rest of the nine realms, stirrings of the fire demon Surtur, and the faintest whisper of her. Valkyrie took a swig of her booze and turned away, only to hear the Asgardian royal yelling at her back about escaping and saving Asgard. The sooner the child learned that he was stuck here, the better. She turned and smirked at the dethroned prince, petulantly pressed the button, and gave him another electric shock. Valkyrie rather enjoyed the irony of defeating Thor with something so similar to his own element. Leaving him to writhe on the floor, she strode out and returned to her ship.

While watching the spectacle at the arena, she had to admit she was impressed. Yes, Thor was goofy and ridiculous. His planning skills lacked subtlety and effectiveness. For Odin's sake, he even thought he could talk down the Hulk with some ridiculous poem. But when he lit up as trillions of electrons surged across him, calling on his heritage as not the Son of Odin, but the God of Lightning, she could see why the people loved him. His idealism made him hopelessly naive, but he was willing to back it up, put himself on the line for his people. As the Grand Master cheated and the Hulk went in for the final strike, she turned back to her ship. The battle was won, there was no need to glance again at the final resting place of Thor, Son of Odin. Pity, he could have made a great gladiator. And then she took another swig of her alcohol (she honestly wasn't sure what it was at this point) and forgot all about the prince of Asgard.

Until she saw him, alive and kicking in the Hulk's chambers. Until he was in her face, asking that she join him on a grand quest to save Asgard. "We're going to stop her. Because that's what heroes do". She'd been a hero before. It wasn't worth it. It never was. She sidestepped him, taking his ramblings as his typical posturing, until he swiped her remote and removed his implant. As much as she hated to admit it, he wasn't as dumb as he looked. And then he jumped out a window. And the Hulk jumped out after him. Yup, she was screwed.

That was how she found herself in front of the Grand Master, bargaining for her life and her standing on Sakar. Cursing the moment she met the troublesome heir to Asgard. Cursing his brother even more, who was trying to secure his favor with the Grand Master by usurping her. Oh no, he didn't. He might be able to fool the gentle-minded Asgardians with his magic tricks, but Valkyrie was centuries older than Loki. She could take him down in minutes. And she did, until he reached inside her mind with his sorcery and plucked the memories of that day, the one she had buried long ago. She saw her commander take Hela's blade for her. Saw her sisters around her strewn around like broken dolls destroyed by a petulant child. She could feel her boots slipping over the ground as the overwhelming stench of blood filled her nose. The pure black spikes forged from Hela's power surrounded and closed her in, trapping her in this moment forever. The sky grew light with dawn, a red sun peaking over the horizon, exposing the horror that was their battle for survival. For Odin's survival. No one would notice one of hundreds had survived. Not when the Valkyries were in pieces on the ground. So she left. Because there were no Valkyries anymore. Because the man she swore to protect had appeared only once the battle was won. He chained his rabid daughter in Niflheim and pretended like she had never existed, that she was a monster of the deep, not the heir to Asgard. An ancient myth, whose mysteries would only be revealed at the end of days. The old man (not her King anymore) replaced his heir with a son. He continued to love power too much, love the thrill of battle and the riches from conquest. Valkyrie remembered her last glimpse of Asgard, trampled by Fenrir and awash in the blood of her family.

She pulled back from the second son of Odin, who did not look like his father but was so very like him. Taking a moment to chain the meddlesome prince in the closet, she focused on her task. Find Thor and the Hulk. Return them to the Grand Master before the trickster could find a way to escape. And if she downed a couple bottles before she set out, well, no one would ever know. The unflappable Valkyrie could never be bothered by the past, let alone a pathetic being like Loki of Asgard.

When she found Thor slinking around Sakar's underbelly with a skinny, curly haired man trailing behind him, a cloth wrapped around his head like a child playing spies, she couldn't help but smirk. Oh, turning him in would gain her favor with the Grand Master. But bringing only him back, without the Grand Master's precious Hulk? That would be suicide. No, she would help the fool, if for nothing else than to irk the meddlesome Loki. Life was becoming dull on Sakar anyways. She had been mapping a path off-planet, hoping to travel to Xandar and spend some of her carefully hoarded credits. But Asgard would be much more interesting. It had been far too long since she'd battled someone who could truly challenge her. And if she played the hero and honored her fallen commander's memory one last time? Be a part of this "Revengers" team? Well then, she supposed she could adjust. As long as they brought a plethora of booze.