Hurt me with the truth | Stony demigod AU

Steve

TW: Implied trauma/PTSD, death mention, drowning mention, loss of control

A/N: uh, hi. It's been a while, and i'm a lot older now, haha. this era of my life is super nostalgic to me, and i remembered this and thought, 'why not?' 

Steve hated flying.

It wasn't that he was afraid of heights.

It was that he was afraid of the sky itself.

At any moment, the sky could darken and erupt into a storm. Bolts of lightning, sheets of rain, thunder shaking the sky. Steve knew what the sky was capable of; had seen it tear itself apart in front of his own eyes. And if Steve was in the air when the storm hit, he would be caught right in the middle of it.

His thighs were starting to go numb from how hard he was gripping Bucky's sides, but if he closed his eyes, he could almost pretend he was back at camp, riding a horse into victory during their war games.

But Steve was not at Camp Jupiter. And this quest was far from a war game.

He was thousands of feet up in the air, on a solo quest to find something evil that may or may not exist.

Steve closed his eyes, trying to steady his breathing.

He was terrified.

He knew that if he looked down, if he saw how high up he was, he wouldn't be able to go on.

At any moment, a storm could erupt.

Torrents of rain. Bolts of lightning spiralling down towards the Earth. Crashing thunder. Walls of water and swirling winds destroying everything in their path, reducing entire cities to rubble.

Radio static. His own blood pounding in his ears, drowning out Peggy's frantic voice.

Just like that day.

Just like that day.

Just like that day.

Steve shook his head, forcing the thoughts away, pushing them deep down and praying they wouldn't come back up.

He didn't have time to think about what could have been.

He had a quest to complete.

He was a Roman. Romans always put their duty first.

Above their feelings. Above their fears. Above their desires.

Above everything.

The legion always came first.

It didn't matter how much he hated flying, or how it made him sick to his stomach with fear.

He had to push forward.

He had to reach Alaska.

He had to complete this quest and save the legion.

His legion trusted him to keep them safe.

The day he'd become Praetor, he'd made a promise to them. To always put the legion first, to serve them even if it cost him his life.

And now he just had to deliver.

He just wished that delivering didn't involve flying.

For the next few hours, everything went smoothly.

As much as Steve hated flying, he had to admit that the world looked pretty cool from up here. He could see all of the towns and rivers and bridges and parks and highways, but they looked miniature, like childrens' toys.