Cruel - Criminal minds enemies to lovers

Deadly vulnerability

The water attacked every crevasse in Morgan's body. He was thrown down and up in its waves until he couldn't tell which way was up anymore. He tried to swim, he fought the water as his lungs hurt from the lack of breath. His body was panicking, his mind more. He felt his chest hurt and knew he would soon black out if he didn't find a way to reach the surface. He also knew that reaching the surface was only half the battle, he then had to get out of the water somehow which seemed impossible given how much it threw him about. He thought about how he was going to make it out alive, how he was going to get to the bank, how he was going to meet-

He paused when he thought about Athena and then remembered what she told him.

Don't fight the water, let it do the work for you

He let his body go limp, not sure why he was trusting her words with his life. Maybe it was because he had no other options or maybe, it was because he trusted her.

He felt the same thrashing of his body against the rocks in the water before it started lifting. He was amazed as he felt his head break the surface, gasping for air with a violent splash. His body was still being dragged along the water, it was just on top of the water now.

You'll know when to swim to survive,

He heard her words like a record in his mind. He heard her a lot in his mind over the past few weeks when she barely talked to him other than to argue with him. He spent the nights trying to remember how she sounded when she woke up in the morning, her voice groggy and snarky remarks passing her lips which made him laugh. Laugh- her laugh forever engraved in his brain, he used it as a retreat when he needed her. He needed her now.

You'll know when to swim to survive.

He knew, and it was now.

He thrashed against the waves, setting his sights on the bank ahead of him. It seemed impossible to get there but he fought the water that threatened to pull him back down to his watery grave.

His muscles spasmed, his body ached and he wanted to let the tides consumed him. That was until he heard it, he heard her laughs from a distant memory in his mind that told him to keep going.

To survive for her.

His hands grasped the frost-bitten grass of the bank and yanked him out of the freezing water into the equally as freezing air.

His feet scrambled after him, helping his aching muscles that had grown weak and feared would give out any minute.

He fell onto all fours, coughing water out of his lungs. A terrible weight still on his chest, a banging in his head from being sloshed around, a blur to his vision from the water in his eyes.

He tried to slow his breathing, there was no use even leaving the water if he couldn't find a way to breath on land. It eventually steadied, his vision came back and he could feel the earth beneath him. It was muddy, a kind of cold, almost hard mud that gave you the false hope that you could step onto it but when you did it covered your boot in mud.

He stayed in that position, in the mud, staring at the floor before a terrible thought rushed over him and he looked up. He looked into the darkness around him- nothing.

"Athena!?" He yelled out. He had been too busy coughing up his lungs to realise she wasn't on the bank with him- she wasn't anywhere.

He forced himself to stand up, the cold taking a hold of his body but he pushed past it and pulled a lighter from his pocket. He held it up, flickering it's dim flame to life to try and find her.