Chronos snarls in pain, refusing to let go of Leonard's throat. Using the forced change in his balance to bear down. The Time Masters did so much worse, for so much longer. The sharp agony of a broken bone is nothing. They taught him until it became nothing.

He can't let go. Not yet. Leonard is close to dead. Chronos knows he is. He's close to dead.

Dead, and gone forever.

His grip on Leonard loosens of its own accord. Before he knows what he's doing, before he can make sense of what he's feeling, he wrenches Leonard up out of the water and slams him against the nearest bit of machinery. His grip is on Leonard's shirt now, not his throat.

Leonard looks like a half-drowned kitten. Barely conscious. Fluid running out of his mouth and nose. Chronos shakes him, like that will get more water out of the man. Don't you dare, an old voice thinks. Don't you dare.