LURE - 6
Eldritch Angler!Ghost / Field Researcher! Waltz AU
Aka: monsterfucker TWO
Summary: The Sierra Golf Oceanography Team has obtained a secondary high-value specimen
Words: approx 2.4k
TWs: Eventual teratophilia, blood, violence, dubcon, accidental mutilation.
She didn't dream that night.
And when she woke the next morning, she wondered if it was because Ghost had left her alone. Favoring rest, rather than ‘recreation’.
Yesterday was such a blur now that she wondered if it had even really happened. It felt like a weird, lucid dream that Ghost had put in her head- like all of the others.
Waltz leaned back in her desk chair, a creak filling the ever-humming, industrial ‘quiet’ of the room as she pulled up the sleeve covering her right arm. Now that the blood had been washed away, there wasn't even any evidence of her wounds at all. Ghost had healed her so perfectly that there weren’t even scars.
But Ghost had scars. He had many. She'd seen them when she was trying to untangle him from the wires. If he could fix her without leaving a mark, then why couldn't he do it to himself?
She'd have to remember to ask.
What bothered her most about her absent injuries was the knowledge that she and Ghost had literally bled into each other's wounds. What, if anything, could happen from that kind of contamination?
She'd probably be ill by now if any negative effects were to happen, but…
What if, right??
She was the first to arrive at the lab in the early morning.
Part of her was surprised that all that blood on the floor was gone when she entered. Barrera and Price likely cleaned it up themselves, since so few people were permitted in the room with Ghost. Custodial workers didn't have the clearance to enter.
The razor wire had also been removed. The top of the tank was bare.
She wondered if it would ever be replaced now that the hazard to personnel was known.
Knowing Price and Barrera, they'd likely gone to Graves immediately after the incident and chewed him out for the wire even being there in the first place. Still wearing blood, to get their point across.
As they'd seen now, Ghost could've climbed out at any time he wanted. He'd simply chosen not to, this whole time. He hadn't posed any danger since capture; and even allowed her and John to untangle him without so much as showing his teeth or raising a hand.
The wire had been pointless from the beginning.
Ghost had always been the one in control of the situation.
She knew that now.
She wondered if König had a similar hold over Tango. If isolating her had been his goal.
Some creatures chose only one mate.
Waltz paced to the tank and stepped up close to the glass, eyes straining in search of a hint of a glow.
She was fine after the incident, save for some lightheadedness until she ate something. But Ghost had lost more blood than she did.
He’d been cut much deeper than she had. Bled longer.
Even if he had a human-shaped circulatory system, he was almost certainly in poor condition. And without knowing what he was or how to help him, it was impossible to determine whether he'd survive.
Or if he was even alive right now.
Come closer, she urged, forehead leaned against the glass. She had no idea how, but she could feel his presence in this lab with her. Even without seeing him, she knew he was here.
How had she gotten so invested in him from just a few good dreams? A few moments of nonverbal connection?
Hearing her name from his mouth? Calling weakly out for her when he was in pain? Accepting her help and helping her in return?
Her eyes closed and she heaved a sigh.
They were bonded somehow. She knew it like she knew how to breathe. And she, somehow, knew that he knew it too. Whether it had been staged was still up for debate.
Show me you're alive, she thought.
Then she saw his glow through her eyelids, dimmer than usual.
Opening to see him resting against the glass as well, forehead to forehead, hand to hand.
She didn't like how the sight of him gripped her chest as she pulled back from the tank wall. It was like seeing a lover after a long absence. Terrifying and exciting and familiar and comforting all at once. Love at first sight, one hundred sights later. She shouldn't be feeling like this.
Did you climb out to see me…?
Y̢̘̰̠̓͆ͅę̱̯̳͓̼̘̳͈̝̪͇̓ͅs̨̠̭̭̯͈̯̤̬͐̈́̌͒̎̏̾̔͘͝͝.̘̹̼̞̊͊͂̆̒͌͠
Why?
I̘̐͑̈́̓͒̏͂͆̇́̿͑t̪̺̺̱͈̲̙͈̣̦̙̙͖͙͙̊̓̋̃̍ ̧͇̝͈̟̖̖̻̹̦̂͛͝w̡̪̋̆̐̈́̔̇̆̎́̈́͑̚̚͠a̫͇͇̘̻̘͍̟͖̹̖̩͉̣͋̂̓̈́̀̓̓̏̄̍̇̆͘͜͝ś͉̺̲͉͕̝̫͓̜̙̬͓̝̈́͋͒̿͑́ ̨̛̻̘͈̬͍́͗̆̄ͅẁ̨̲̹̘̭̘̻͇̰̤̪̮̱̥͊̈́͋͋̍͋͌̚h̜͈͇͊̀̇̓̀̒̅̿̏̐̂͘͘a̧̛̛̝̮͙̲̤͇͚͕̤͋̿̆̐̀̄̚͝t̨̛̬̻̗̜̔̐͒̀̂̔̒̑͊͘͠͝ ̺̼͕̲͎̌̏̓̂̈́̇͝y̻̱̖̟̑̀̋͐̀̍͆̋̀̽͠͝ȍ̡̡̼͔̮̭͉̠̯̲̆̎̈́͒̑́͒̐͑̒̓̽̚͜u̜̪͎͇̺͙͂̕ ̧̖̹̱̩̘̲̮̜͈̬̦̣͍̲̍̕w͓̦̺̺̯̱̻̙̃́͐̀̊̐̈́́̀̌̋ẩ͇̰̪͈̗̙̮̗͓̺̝̤̦́̈̈̃̽̚͘n͚̝̝̍̎t̡̢̟͍̪͇͓̽͂̅͌͝e̢̤͇̹̥͕̖͓͔̓̀̓̐̐̈́̊d̹̠̗̰̞̙̼̤̀̂̏͐͆̈́̂̀̏̆̽́͝͝͝ͅ.̣͖̘̮̥͌̈́̈́͂
It felt ridiculous to know she was telepathically ‘speaking’ with someone– something, that wasn't even human. But this ease of communication was the first she'd had in a very long time.
And maybe she was happy to have it.
What if I wanted you to stay in the water?
Ì̟͓͙͚͍̟̂́̏̉ ̡̛͓̣̭̤̻̩̻̐̿̅̓̓̊̀̀͂̕͝͝͝w̡̡̧̖̗̥͓̝͙̰̖̤͒͌̆͊̆͗͝͠ͅo̢̢͒͆̑̉̐͑́̀̆̐̐̏̈́̈́̃u̡̱̟̤̲̬̗̻͂̒̈́̍̋̀̽̈́̐̌͠l̻͇͓̝͍̳̖͉͈̀̆̕ͅd͙͙͔̈́̆͋͐̏̓̈́͒͘̕̕͜ ̧͙̫̗̠̦̬̟͈̹̩̈́̃̽̔͜͜͝͝s̢̙͉̭̟̞̣̲̙̪̓̐̿̿̀̉̈́̾̌̓̎́ͅt̡̢̢̼̟͉̫̰̱̣̪̫̓̎̔͗̎̅ä͎͕̩̘͚̞̣̬̽͒̊y̙̩͉͙̠̓̀́̄͆̀̋̔̏̃̈́̉͐͘͜.̨̢̛̖͍̯̮̖̜̦̪͕̣͈̯̆͑̾̾̅̈́̿̈́͑̆̎͝͝
It was so strange to be understood without strain. Without effort.
She would've given anything for this from a person. But with sentience and human shape, who was to reasonably say that Ghost wasn't a person?
What are you– and König, the other one?
His head turned to the side, like he had to think. Like it was the first time he'd ever thought about it.
I̯͎̪̤̳͓͕͕̝̓͐̔͒͑͑̄̃̅̑̅͜ ̩̭̙̳̳͕̠̖̣̤̫͙̫̘̿̎̒̅̆̅d̢̢̨̧̛͇̥͎̤̜̰̘͙͆̊̎̍̃̈́͐̓̉̉̒͘͜͝ö̻͍̝̻̭͚̲̟̗̜̰̦̈́̒͜͠n̰͙̖̝̝̘̗͒̔̎̔́̾̂'̧̮̠̫̪̳͓͇̹̞̪̠̪̪̯̂̈̃͑̍̈́͐͝͝t̡͙͚̫̬̟̙̊̅̀͛͘͝ ̢̢̗͖̮̣̣͒͗͐̊̀̓̋̔͂̽̏̕̕k̨̨̘̖͚͎͕̼̥̝̼̬͓͈̿̑̈̈̔̂̄̆̎ͅņ̜͈̤͍̞̻͎͔̣̰̈́͐̀̈́ŏ̯͗̆̆̇̆w̡̍̑̿̊̑̈͘͜.̢̬͕̻͎̹͖͓̳̈̃͐̆̓́͒̈͗͌͛̈́̋͑̏ͅ.̢̳͖͇̭͑̈̐͋́̐͋͝.̖̠̰̖̺̱̼̝̦͖͇͕͆̈́̋̀͘͜͜
Waltz felt her stomach sink.
Of all the answers she could've expected, that wasn't one of them.
Of course, animals didn't know they were animals. They only recognized that other animals were different from themselves. Only humans assigned names to the things they came across in nature, including themselves and each other.
But Ghost and König, as sentient as they were, didn't even have a clue as to what they were?
Jesus fucking Christ, how was she even going to explain something like this to Barrera? And should she?
What if Ghost and König weren't animals at all? What if they really were alien?
They'd probably be taken from Sierra Golf and put on a government blacksite. Go from being humanely poked and prodded at by marine biologists to being vivisected by anonymous, pentagon-approved butchers.
The thought nauseated and saddened her.
They should be let out, she thought. They shouldn't be in cages.
I̭̋̓̽̓̊̅̾̉̔͛̈́̿͝͠ ̤̙̫̖͍̻̲͚̙̙͇̰́̃̐̒̿̿̚̕͝ͅẁ̩̩̫̫̦̓̒â̤̠̭̪͕̦̬͎̪̪͛n̢͚͎͎̲̠̠̳̼͈̩̲̬̾̂͛̓̏͛̓ͅt̨͉̜̯͍͐̐͆̓̐̍̏̈̽͘ ̞͓̭̪̥͠ṭ̰͚̻̆̍̒͑̾̾̂͑͛̂̚͠ơ̛̮͖̥̭̭͚̈́͐̈̅̈̓̀̀̎̐͋̎ ̦͑͒́̑̀͒̅̋̾͘̕s̟̦̥̭̖̼͐̍̀̆̎͋͊̓͝ͅţ̧̡̛̲͓͎̩̪̰͈͔́̋̌̄̓̋̇̅͆̎̀̓̑͝ȃ̢̡̯̦͇͔͇͔̩̻͖̮͙̃̈́́̊̈́̓̇͋͑͆̊͛̕͠ỹ͍̮͇̬̫̫̼̙̼̘̭̝̯̚̕ ̫̰̙̏̿̽w̢̡͍̺̫̻͛͛̏͂̇̑̽̇͒͝͠i̧̨̯͖̱͎͉̣͓̞̲̦̿̈̓̎ͅt̛̺͙̻͚͕̞͗̀͑̒͊̆̒͑̊̋̇h̟̬̪͔̭̫͂̅̂̆̈́̂͘̕ͅͅ ̡̨̛̣̗̯̝̻̘̘̗͆́̌̄͂͗͋͂͗̎̚̕̚͜͜͝ỳ̧̖͍̲̩͍̯͖̼̣̭̽̈́̐̇͆̿̓̃͝͠͝͝ǫ̨̥̯̱̯͓͓̫̠̗͖͌͛͋͜u̜̖̹̒͛̈́.͔̝̬̲̱̭̳͍͚́̒̅̋̓̑̆͐͂̎͘͜͠ͅ
She didn't know until now that Ghost could hear all of her thoughts. Not just the ones she wanted him to hear.
How much did he know about her?
She stepped back from the glass to look at him as a whole in the dim light.
He was tall. Strong, with powerful musculature… Lowkey hung.
Physically attractive. A face hardly mattered when he didn't even have one to begin with- and when everything else was so appealing.
Realistically, he was shaped like her ideal man. And in her dreams, he knew how to touch her. Every move on the dot. He ‘spoke’ to her with affection and patience and didn't draw any sort of attention to her disability because it didn't even matter. Maybe he knew her preferences already and leaned into them. If knowing that much about her had emboldened him enough to try to climb out to her when prompted.
And what was he really expecting to do when he got to her?
Act on the fantasies he put into her head when she slept?
An urge in the back of her head demanded for her to find out. A strange, intrusive desire that she could relate to thoughts of jumping off a massive height- just to see what might happen, even reasonably knowing what the end result would be.
Death. Always death.
But not this.
Death wasn't certain in this scenario.
She thought maybe that was why the call to proceed sounded so, so good.
This wasn't exactly the same as taking someone home from the bar, but…
Ghost's head turned to peer at something past her, but she didn't think anything of it. Too busy wondering what was going so wrong in her head so quickly.
“Couldn't wait to get back to him?”
Waltz jumped at the sound of John's voice behind her and realized he'd entered without her even noticing. She leaned against the glass, hand over her eyes as she came down from the adrenaline, giving him a loud huff! in reprimand for surprising her.
Price only chuckled and wandered closer with his hands in his pockets. “Sorry, love. Thought you heard me come in.” He looked to Ghost. “He noticed right away.”
She sighed and stood upright again, eyes turning to the tank to see Ghost observing them both.
“I tried to come and check on you last night,” John added. “You must've been asleep. You didn't answer.”
She nodded, an apology in her expression.
Guests in rooms were frowned upon on the afloat facility; mainly to discourage people from fucking.
It happened anyway, of course. She and John were no exception. They'd slept together more than a couple of times, but things stayed casual between them.
“Safe to say Ghost's taken a liking to you,” he noted, eyes not leaving the creature in the tank. “You worried about that?”
Waltz shook her head. “I don't know what to think about it,” she signed.
Would it be a bad idea to tell him about what she'd been experiencing? She hoped it might at least help her snap out of whatever was going on if she told someone.
‘Never be the lowest ranked person with a secret.’ And in this exact scenario, she was the lowest ranked individual.
“I have dreams about him,” she signed. “Sex dreams.”
John looked over at her, absolutely baffled. “Serious?”
All she could offer was a nod and a broad, clueless shrug. It wasn't like she would consciously choose to fuck him without his influence… Right? “This is just what I get for wanting to stay on the project.”
“Guess you made your bed,” Price agreed, half-joking. “S'pose it wouldn't be too unethical to think about. He's almost human- just looking at him.”
“Humans and Neanderthals mixed,” she reasoned, hating that she was making excuses for herself. Historically, it took less internal conflict for her to fuck men far less attractive.
“They did,” he mused. “This isn't so different…”
“No.”
“Don't get ideas,” he sighed, rocking on his heels. “Barrera did say that isolating Ghost with you was a test to see if Ghost would focus on you. Not the other way around.”
He was right, and the truth of it stung more than it should've.
She shouldn't have been thinking of Ghost sexually, romantically, or anything more than just as a lab specimen.
She wanted to talk to Tango about it.
But Tango was gone now. Transferred with König to the ashore facility where they had better testing equipment.
Would Ghost eventually qualify to go there too?
And if he did-
Ẇ͎̘̇́̉̋̎́͐͊̒̍ö̱̻͙̝̞̗̮̣̭̹̱́͜ủ̡̨̡͖̺̭͍̩͉͙̰̥̀l͖̺͖̻͓̣̬̤̳͆̇͂ͅd̨͎͙̺̳̟̳̭̤͉̬̾̽̏͆̃̑͊͐̎̒͛̚͠͝ ̤͉̟̘̗̭͎̪̺̙̖͒́̅̅̽̎̇͊̚̕͘̕ͅy̱̹̰̝͕̝̖̦̗̓̈́̾̎̄̿̀̒͘o̧͎͓̖̲̻̮͓̯̎̄ú̡̺̹͙̠̮̯̪ ͈̱̘͎̣͚̞͕̺̹̘̇͋͜͝ͅĝ̨̛̻̤̜͂͒̐̾̐̉̀͠ơ̢̗͍̙̺̺̫͌͑͋́̀̍̇͛̕̕͘̚͠ͅ ̢̲̬̝̺͖͕̎̀̏̑͂̈̂̎́̀̈͝͝w̲̝͚͔̪̺̣̦͈̞̣̃ͅḯ̹̤͎̜̂̍̔̍ţ̟͔̣̫̗̏͌͑̓̍͌̔̅́̔͑͠ḣ̨͇̞̘̫̥̼̫̭͐͊́̾̓̅̆͗̀̏͒̈́͛̚͜͜ ̢͕̙̖̬͔̈́͌͛̌̚m̢̥̰̪̰̝̦̯͎̀̋̑̅͂͠ȩ̠̯̘̘̘̤̗͈͇̑͑̆̃̌̓͛͗̐̾̄̍͒̽̌?̡͔͖͙͉͕̱̤̂̔͗
She unwittingly flinched at the question, having to remind herself that he could read all of her thoughts.
I don't know.
With Ghost being the afloat facility's number one concern now, Raven may as well have been under a microscope along with him. She knew her interactions with him were pivotal for research simply because Barrera had spilled that secret.
Price had convinced her to tell Barrera (off the record) about her dreams, and now his focus had shifted from monitoring Ghost to monitoring her- down to her vital signs, diet, sleep habits– and even questions about her sexual health.
The questions were clinical, thankfully, and she didn't feel too weird about answering them. Jokes weren't made. Notes weren't even taken. This was to stay away from Graves; and she was grateful for that.
However, secret or not, it didn't do anything to ease her mind.
The explicit visions continued after a day or so of Ghost’s recovery.
She could feel it all as if it was actually happening to her. And, for once, she was willing to let herself like it. If she couldn't do so while awake, she'd do it where it was harmless… Only to wake up as the Ghost in her dreams was finally lined up between her legs.
She wouldn't ever tell a soul that she'd finished the job herself that night. Rutting pathetically against her fingers until she was sweating and overstimulated. It was all she could do to finally fall back asleep.
“... I think you should do it.”
Raven choked on her coffee, having to spit it back into her mug to keep it from getting everywhere when she began a coughing fit, putting down the ruined brew to fight to clear her throat. Face red, mortified that she was hacking up a lung in the middle of the galley because Barrera had greenlit the worst idea yet after a quick few questions about her latest vision– which she described as vaguely as possible.
He waited for her to catch her breath, watching as she quickly grabbed her water to take a big gulp and right herself. Not speaking again until she set the cup back into place on the table.
“I think it might change the course of my research if you do,” Barrera continued, quietly, so that no one else could hear. “Ghost has been harder than König to study. He won't come out for anyone but you. Maybe it'd make him more social…? Feel more secure…?”
He trailed off when he saw how Raven's expression grew more sour by the second.
“You'd have privacy,” he added, last-second. “Nobody to watch. I won't ask questions… At least not about you.”
“No,” she mouthed. “Not doing it.”
Even if permission was pretty much the final step.
She was horny, and deprived of sex for the last couple of months, but she wasn't stupid.
She wasn't gonna get into the tank and fuck something that could very well drown her in the process. Something that could hurt her, if it wanted. Something that damn well could eat her instead, having lured her in like some kind of little fish, dumbly swimming towards a pretty light suspiciously deep in the dark parts of the sea bed- just to be torn to shreds by something with teeth as long as her pinky.
“You said something about sexual parasitism before,” she reminded, having to harshly whisper to be heard over the sounds of the communal space around them.
“Oh, I didn't even think you were listening to that– So,” Barrera began, revisiting the exact conversation. “The reason I brought that up was his physical size. Female anglerfish are much bigger and much sharper. You think of any ol’ anglerfish, the one you're picturing is female. Ghost is, physically, male. The males of the species are tiny. You wouldn't even recognize it as the same fish. And when they're lucky enough to find a female, they latch on permanently. They can even fuse so that they're–” he paused when he saw the newly horrified look on her face. “But it probably won't happen for him-!”
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