The world changed from gold to blue. And from warm to cold. And from - not wet - to very, very wet.

Angel blinked his eyes and tried to brush something from his face - but his hands were bound at his sides. In an instant he realized where he was: the box.

This was one of the hundred days he'd spent at the bottom of the sea, because of Connor's misplaced rage.

A sea crab scuttled past the small window in the lid. Angel clenched his fist and realized, to his relief, that the device was still in his hand.

Of course, he could wait. Wesley would tow him up again at some point - maybe 100 days from now, but maybe only a handful. His sanity might be a bit dicey at first, but then Angel would have a chance to begin again. Connor wouldn't be so hardened then, and when that thing returned in Cordelia's body -

--the wrongness of it revolted him all over again, nauseating him so that he shivered in the cold waves -

--he could stop it. No, he wouldn't mind killing that thing twice, not at all. This time he would explain to Fred and Gunn beforehand - Wesley too -- and Angel thought he might be able to convince them all. They wouldn't tip off the creature inside Cordelia. They could even warn Connor before he ever met Cordelia, so that confusion would never come to pass.

Yes, maybe it would be best to wait it out - again -

A fish swam by. Angel thought it might be a trout.

Fuck this, he thought. One more spin, and all of it, trout included, melted away.

**

Read on to the next chapter.
Read on to the last chapter.
Return to the Two Steps Back Index Page.
Return to Chivalry Is Dead.
Return to Yahtzee's Main Page.