heaving through corrupted lungs
Derek (Stiles, Matt); There are other ways a person can drown.
(2.10 spoilers)
"I don't know Derek, I think you two make a pretty good pair," Matt says with a smirk and a mocking tone.
Derek thinks of drowning.
He's sinking; drifting down with his eyes clenched shut. Move, he tells himself, over and over in his head. Move, he demands, but his arms stay still and he just keeps on sinking. He opens his eyes to see Stiles swimming towards him. The next moment he's breathing again.
He hates the paralysis. Hates it the way he hates wolf's bane. Hates it the way he'd hate anything that left him vulnerable and defenceless. He lies on a police station floor – and at the bottom of a pool – and remembers electric shocks and chains; remembers lying on a concrete floor with poison pumping through his veins. He remembers Peter, too.
"I can't stay up any longer," Stiles says. "I need something to hold on to." His fingers slip and suddenly they're both drowning. Move, Derek tells himself and his arms twitches but it's not enough. Another death to feel guilty about, he thinks.
There's a foot at Stiles' throat and he's gasping for air. Move, Derek tells himself, over and over, like he can will himself into action. He thinks of a pool; he thinks of a heavy weight pushing – dragging – a person down and leaving them desperate for air.
Derek thinks of the heavy weight of guilt.