neither fish nor flesh

Valjean rescues Javert from the Seine, but it is an act that raises far more questions than it answers. They breach the surface again just before it is too late. His first deep gasp leaves him dizzy enough to offset the pain and then he is panting, his eyes shut, mouth open - this is what Valjean wants, he thinks, but he will soon find that Javert is not so easily thrown from the trail as that once he has set himself on it. "What is it," he says between breaths, forcing his eyes open again to stare down at the water, though he does not yet try to look back again, "what is it, Valjean, that you do not want me to see? What have you done?"