Tony has never been close to his father. So when his mother convinces Howard to bring him along on a business trip, despite his protests, he does his best to keep his distance. Then, when it was finally time to meet the client, Howard had told him to "just stay out of the way," his eyebrows raised in a way that Tony knew meant he better not tell Maria about this. Tony happily complied. His mother's machinations and attempts to get them to bond weren't anything new. After 12 years of nothing, though, Tony doubted that anything she tried would ever work. But Maria was just as stubborn as Howard was, so when she put her foot, like she had when she'd practically ordered Howard to take Tony with him on his business trip to Miami to meet with a client, Howard hadn't bothered with pointless arguments that would get him nowhere. Tony had watched from behind a corner as Howard had nodded his head and said "Sure," all three present well aware that Howard did not mean his words. But as much as Maria tried, she wasn't all that much persistent. If Howard agreed, then that was enough for her, she knew she couldn't do much more than that and she didn't bother to try. Tony had been avoiding Howard the entire weekend, and when Howard had finally just told him to leave, Tony had the permission he'd been waiting for to hightail it out of here to literally anywhere else.

Tony ended up walking down to the private beach of the resort they were staying at. The ocean appeared to have just reached low tide, from what he could tell, at least. It was practically deserted, but he wasn't surprised. He counted maybe half a dozen men and women attempting to tan themselves and that was it. From his experience, rich people tended to love the aesthetic of the beach, but never actually spent any time there, as if it was beneath them. Instead many hung out as private pools and the like, where they could control everything from what the staff wore to the temperature of the water.

Quickly, because the sand burning his feet, he jogged down to the shore, where the tide met the sand. The water was cool and refreshing. He'd always found the tide of the ocean reassuring, calming. The way the tide came and went and came again, never failing to return. Something he could count on, unlike certain figures in his life.

Tony waded into the water, feeling what had been crisp and hot particles of sand away from the sea, now nothing but a mushy conglomeration of soft sand, broken down rocks, and the occasional piece of seaweed, squish between his toes. His arms fell limp as his hands danced upon the surface of the water, moving along with the ebb and flow of the ocean. Tony waded until the water was high enough to reach just below his chest. He was in the grasp of the sea now. Though he knew enough to be wary of riptides that could very well grab him and not let go until they had dragged him out to sea, he couldn't help but feel calmer here than he ever had under the same roof as his father. Howard had a tendency to yell, and yeah, okay, though he'd never all out hit Tony, his father's harsh words never failed to be enough to haunt him for months — if not years — after he'd originally spoken them.

Tony bent his knees so he could be more fully in the water. He spread his arms out to aid in his flotation as he leaned his head back to stare at the cobalt-blue sky above him. It wasn't a cloudless day, but there few enough of them that with his eyes on the vast blue heavens above, he felt as if he could get lost in them. And he did, he supposed. He stared up there for who-knows-how-long. When he felt a wave coming he'd just lightly jump and glide over it. It was peaceful, and it almost made up for the forced and unsurprisingly fruitless attempt of his mother for him and Howard to bond. I'm 12 years old, Tony thinks bitterly, if we aren't close at this point, I doubt we'll ever be. As it often is, his father, whether it's his physical presence or just the thought of him, as the case happens to be, has ruined any semblance of serenity that Tony has. He wasn't able to put any more thought into this though because it was at that moment that a wave, unexpected and huge, way bigger than any of the other waves, came out of no where and washed over him, and Tony was pulled underwater.

His eyes were open but unseeing. The water was dark and murky with mud. Tony, helpless, couldn't do a thing. It happened so quickly. His arms and legs flailing, the wave tossed and turned him underwater. He lost all sense of direction. He tried to swim the way he at least thought was up and found nothing but dirt and sand instead. Panic was the only thing he knew, it consumed his mind and left no room for anything else. His throat was burning. He needed air. His lungs cried for oxygen. He put a foot on the ground and pushed as hard as he could towards the opposite direction. He flew threw the water and broke free at the surface. He used his arms to keep himself buoyant as he gasped for air, panting.

It took him a second to realize it, but he must have been several dozen meters away from where he had started. Not only that, but it was then that he noticed that he was steadily drifting away from shore. The wave pushed me into a riptide, Tony realized with dread. Lacking enthusiasm, he tried swimming against the current, but, as he had thought, it was futile — the current was too strong, it would only tire him out. He tried shouting for help, but no one heard him. Whether it was because they'd been listening to music or they honestly couldn't hear him, he didn't know.

He tried to keep calm, tried not to panic again, but it was hopeless, he was stuck, drifting further and further by the second. He took a breath, trying to relax his muscles, but when he glanced behind him and saw a wave just as big, if not bigger, than the last, he tensed up immediately. He blanched as he took the biggest breath he could. A second later, he was pulled under.

It was just as dark as before, but here it was deeper, much deeper. He stretched his limbs, all he found was more empty water. He was running out of oxygen. He squinted through the water, trying to find a source of light, the sun, to swim towards. He found nothing. It was at this point that he gave into fear, into panic. What else could he do? This time was different. As horrible as it was, he'd been lucky before. This time he wouldn't be able to reach the surface in time. This time his limbs numbed in the cold water as he lost himself to the void of unconsciousness.

a/n: the second chapter will probably be soon, as in maybe even tomorrow, i realize that not much has happened yet but i do hope that you will stick with me and favorite, follow, and review! it really does help motivate me, thanks!

(also my first official mcu fanfiction! ahhh!)

(title is from the song "centuries" by fall out boy btw)

-nocturnalis