A/N: I've decided to upload all my fics into a single account. eye of the beholder until let the walls break down were originally only uploaded to my AO3 account, callingthequits. Then I went back to my roots and thought, "Hey, why not post it on Fanfiction too?" so here I am.
I was intrigued by the similarities between Steve's "Stark, you know that's a one-way trip," in Avengers and Arachne's "One false step and you'll fall all the way to Tartarus - and believe me, unlike the Doors of Death, this would be a one-way trip, a very hard fall!" in Mark of Athena.
It was dark. It was so, so dark. Tony was shaking, his eyes panicked, looking up at Steve who was still not letting go. Why wasn't he letting go? Tony handled monsters, more than Steve could imagine, even if they weren't as impressive. Dracanae, hellhounds, vengeful old flames of his dad? He could handle this, he could handle Tartarus. He'd fight, and fight, and he'd keep on fighting, find the Doors of Death and everybody would be happy, and Steve would stop looking so scared, why does Steve look so scared? He's never been scared before.
"Steve," he choked, hissing as Arachne tried to pull him into the depths, her claws digging into his bleeding leg. And Steve, the idiot, why won't the Son of Zeus let him go, he had to let go, but his grip was so strong, Tony almost believed he could pull them back up. Back to the ship, where they could start planning, where they were safe, where he wouldn't shouldn't couldn't fall.
Tony held back on a scream. His heart hammering, far too fast, too many beats, his fingers started to slip. "Steve," he said again, staring into those blue eyes, always blue, blue for years, "Steve, I can't."
Hands sweating, eyes burning, leg throbbing, head aching, and feeling cold, far too cold. His pants were ripped and he had too many scratches on his arms and his ankle was sprained and he wants to go home, go back to camp, to quit, to let go, he wanted to let go. He wanted to leave, he wanted to leave, he wanted to leave and walk away and forget this ever happened because saving the world once was good enough and twice is too much and Arachne was pulling him down but he wasn't down yet he still had Steve-
For how much longer?
Tony sucked in a breath, putting air into his lungs, because he needed it, he was suffocating. He looked up at Steve, blonde hair, blue eyes, the Son of Zeus he had judged too fast and avoided too long, he remembered thinking just how hopeless he was, a demigod that was clueless and naive and far too stupid for their world; the world of gods and monsters and gritty bloodbaths at every corner. But Steve, well, he was Steve. Determined and head-strong and actually nice enough when you get to know him. He'd known him for five years and counting.
He hoped someone was counting. He hoped this wasn't the end.
"Steve," Tony moaned, pleading, begging, because he'd personally sell his soul to Hades just to make that horrible, terrified, pained expression on his face to disappear. Please, he thought, never look like that again. That's my last wish. Please. Their hands were slipping, it wasn't too long now. He stared into Steve's eyes, blue and determined and so, so beautiful.
"Steve," Tony croaked, "let me go."
The last thing Tony heard, before he was falling, was Steve screaming, "Never!"
And after that, a muscular body was holding him, shielding him, catching him, and Steve whispered into his hair, "Not again."