Villain Preference: Taking Care of Them When They Are Wounded
Ajax was angry, humiliated by his own weakness. His mutation stopped him from feeling pain but his body was not immune to injury. If something was too badly broken or beaten then he was rendered unable to fight. One had to step lightly around him at first; he was looking to express his anger. But rage would wane into brooding irritability, and then it was safe to approach him and make sure he was okay. He was always relieved to see you in those moments. Although his injuries slowed him down they at least served as a reminder that you were still safe from his many enemies. Deep down, he would rather be beaten beyond repair than see any harm befall the only person he cared about.
Whenever he was badly injured Angel would come home a beaten man. The first time he appeared on your doorstep bloodied and bruised from battle, he was afraid to let you touch him. He flinched when you reach a hand out to stroke his tattered wings or to place a comforting hand in his, but eventually he let you touch his cheek, gingerly running a finger over the bruises there. Angel was afraid to appear weak but he took defeat to heart. Once he was no longer a champion, he felt reduced to nothing. But the tenderness and concern you showed reminded him that there was something more important than winning: love.
You were the first thing Brock sought out when he returned from a fight, injured or not. Regardless of how exhausted, bruised, and defeated he felt, he would pull you into his arms and wouldn’t let go for the rest of the night. So it came as a shock the first time he didn’t return home straight away. It was later the next day somewhere during breakfast that you finally did get a call from a comrade of his, saying Brock had been badly burned and was hospitalized at HYDRA headquarters. You had never gotten somewhere so fast. When you finally were him and he was strong enough to speak, Brock expressed how scared he was for you to see him, covered in burns and bandages. But all that mattered was that you loved him more than anything in the world and nothing, not even this, could change that.
Harry was like a wounded animal; angry, defensive, vengeful, and unapproachable. But he would never, ever hurt you. Even bleeding, swearing revenge, and throwing a fist through a wall, Harry still only saw you through his haze. You were his one weakness, an achilles heel he never anticipated. So whenever he came home distraught you would reach a hand to his shoulder and tell him it was one small step in the plan. One small hiccup in a long term battle for power and success which you knew he would one day achieve. You patched up his wounds as well as his bruised ego. And somewhere, deep down, Harry knew you were the true source of his power.
Loki took his own failures and shortcomings far too deeply to heart. And it made him cold and ruthless at times. But you warmed his heart in a way he never knew he desired. So he began to seek you out for comfort. That was how he fell in love with you in the first place. Before he confessed his feelings, he confided in you and trusted you with his vulnerabilities, knowing you would not fear him or pass judgement. Loki wasn’t a monster to you; he was a man. He cherished the quiet moments with you and kept that image in his mind whenever you two were apart. And when he returned from a battle with injuries or loss of faith, you greeted him at the door, ready to offer comfort and healing.
Erik suffered twice when he was injured. So often the battles in which he retained some injury were those in which he also lost friends and loved ones. He battled his humanity constantly, and in his weakened state he was even more vulnerable to his own guilt. But the way you looked at him, with genuine concern and love, smoothed out the edges and lifted some of the heaviness on his heart. You stayed by him while they cleaned up his wounds, talking to him about something to take his mind off of the pain. Then once the two of you were alone you would drag him to bed and stay curled up together while he tried to stumble through an expression of his feelings. Even if he was just recounting the battle, it still took the weight off to talk to you and feel you pressed against him. You brought out his kindness.
Nebula was not at all accustomed to being cared for and she panicked the first time you tried to help her with an injury. She was always a little hesitant when you showed her outward affection. But she warmed up to it in time, accepting the fact that you loved her and were genuinely trying to help. Eventually, she started coming to you with every injury she retained in battle, and you proved to be a loving, attentive nurse. It still scared her a little to show someone that underneath, she was actually a very sweet, vulnerable, even romantic girl. But you always made her safe.
Ronan had scores of servants to tend to his wounds after a battle. At the beginning of your relationship, you wouldn’t even know he had been hurt until the wounds had begun to heal and you happened upon a fading bruise or scar. But eventually you stumbled upon him right after a particularly brutal fight, and found yourself genuinely shocked by the sight of him weakened. Ronan was angry that you had to seem him in that state and questioned why you were intruding, but the look on your face, a look of genuine fear for his safety, softened his anger. You approached him cautiously to take his hand and wait while the servants cleaned and bandaged all his wounds. Once they were done he dismissed them immediately to leave the two of you alone in the room. He never said anything, but in his own way he thanked you for being there with him even at his weakest.
In his eyes, Victor allowed you to help him when he came home all beat to hell. It was his way of keeping his pride intact. In reality, he’d be dead without you. He always took on more than he could chew, overestimating his own abilities and refusing to back down from the fight. But really it was you who was the strongest. You tolerated none of his attempts to pump his ego, yet balanced it with a fearless love for the man. He may have been too proud to admit your power over him but at the end of the day, he still found himself knelt before you while you bandaged his wounds and smiled at the sound of your shaming him for being reckless.
Often, in battle, Stryker fell too hard into the “win it or die trying” attitude. He wasn’t on the front lines often, which kept him mostly safe, but there were the times when he got caught up in the fight and came home with some fairly severe injuries. He did his best to stay proud and keep them under wraps, but there was always a wince or a limp that gave him away. Although he wasn’t a very sentimental or romantic man, William did spare some affection for you in these vulnerable moments. He knew you were concerned so he would assure you that he was fine; it was just a bump or bruise. And it made him feel at home when you offered to play nurse until his wounds healed a little more. Eventually, he would even agree to take a day off to rest and be with you.
Grant always insisted on patching himself up when he could. He had various kits stashed around the house that he would break open to perform his own at home stitching and bandaging. He hoped to maintain the air of mystery that he used to defend himself from ever being hurt by another person. That is, until you stumbled upon him attempting to put stitches into his own back. After much arguing and a fair amount of blood on your carpet, he finally resolved to let you take a look at it. It was silent as you worked, until you finally told him that he was the most stubborn person you knew; but also the strongest. Although he said nothing, Grant smiled to himself, and took your hand in his when you were done to tell you in his own way that he was grateful.
