the progress project [3]

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everett

"fags," he hears someone mutter, and he can feel derek tense underneath the grip on his waist. he tears himself away to spit out a retort, but derek squeezes his hand, pulls him away to an empty spot behind a pillar.

"i'm sorry," he starts off, loosening his tie. "my mind is a jumbled mess right now, and i just... needed something to ground me."

everett offers him a smile and a face full of confusion. "you won the case."

"did we?" derek asks, knowing the answer. he's flustered and keeps running his hands against thighs. "because that cop still gets to walk free despite what he's done. he's gonna pay the one million and still stay on his force, and he's going to keep doing what he's doing. that black man? he'd get fired in an instant if the roles were reversed. we fight for equality and they think they give it to us by making him give eric one million dollars, but that money can't hide the fact that police brutality still happens and the one time we get the chance to fight against it with a large public crowd to raise awareness, it's brushed off like every other case like this. and that's what you call a victory? a victory would have been putting that man behind bars, or... or... something!"

"i'm sorry," everett murmurs, tugging him into a hug. "you did everything you could."

"but i can do more," derek mumbles, and lets himself sag into everett's arms.