the last ficlet request for apartyoncygnus on twitter who requested "Chloe and Bobby on a mission in the ocean?"! mission fics and adult bobbychloe combined make my serotonin machine go into overdrive.
Angling in the Deep Sea
Chloe grumbled, narrowing her eyes on the monitors. One dark green screen showed how far they descended, now approaching four thousand feet. Much to her displeasure, another one with the map fizzled in and out. It showed the ocean floor with its array of sand, stones, and subtle waves caused by the submarine lowering itself into the cavern. But it flickered and went gray before returning every few seconds. Even worse, the sonar showing the location of their objective continuously moved beyond her understanding. One minute it was at a certain pair of coordinates, the next it had moved farther into the grotto, baffling Chloe as she knew what they needed to find was stationary. It should not have been able to budge, especially not in its current state and thousands of feet below the surface..
"Did the electricians not bother to give any of this a cursory system scan before we boarded? And they rushed us before I could give the communications cable a good look," Chloe groaned and dragged her hand down her cheek.
At her side, Bobby watched the screens with equal frustration. He ran his fingers through his hair, scowling. "And they had the balls to say there was no time to get one of the better subs. Jeez, it's not like anyone was using them."
Chloe nodded and leaned back in her seat. She crossed her arms and glanced around the submarine. It was rather small, compact to the point of near claustrophobia. Bobby was made to continuously crouch if he stood, and even with his hair in a bushy ponytail, it still connected with the ceiling. The soft blue lighting did them no favors as it made the screens seem washed-out. They had to squint at the various displays showcasing the navigation system's information pertaining to the cavern's rocky, narrow passages.
They winced as the submarine nudged into one of the walls. It jarred the entire ship, causing an alarm to flash bright red lights in their eyes and unleash a keening sound echoing throughout the chamber. Chloe clapped her hands over her ears, wishing she had her helmet to buffer the noise. Catching himself on her chair, Bobby grit his teeth and quickly snatched the helm, steering to the right. Chloe breathed out a sigh of relief, thankful the ship had not maintained damage according to another fizzling scanner. As soon as they were out of harm's way, the lights returned to their regular blue hue, the silence more than appreciated as their ears still rang from the sudden, sharp noise.
"HQ can dish out money for a barber shop, but they can't fix us a nice submarine," Bobby snapped, keeping a firm grip on the helm. He sighed and crossed his legs, tapping his boot on his knee. Looking at Chloe out of the corner of her eye, he asked, "Any luck or did this thing hightail it outta here and I gotta put us in reverse?" He tilted his head when she remained silent, her eyes wide and focused on another monitor. "Chloe? You see something?"
She gestured for him to come closer. Bobby leaned into her, resting one hand on her shoulder. He tilted his head, furrowing his brows before quietly gasping, unsure of what to make of the oddities.
"What the hell are those things?" Bobby breathed out.
From the depths, they emerged rotted. With what appeared to be pockets of open scales and fangs overlapping where an upper lip should have been, the fish swarmed the bottom of the cavern. They twisted around one another, their vacant, black eyes reflecting the submarine. Only the light purple dots decorating the underside of their scales gave them some semblance of normalcy.
But mingling with them were far more grotesque fish, ones that made the corners of Bobby's mouth lift in a grin. They were distorted, mangled husks of fish with leathery orange skin. Their mouths gaped with jagged, uneven teeth, their overbites massive. The lures on their heads swayed in the water, their soft luminescence the only source of genuine light in the grotto.
"The snaggletooth dragonfish and the deep-sea anglerfish," Chloe said, rubbing her chin. "It seems we've uncovered a den." She hummed. "I'm used to seeing the widely known darker gray anglerfish, but I suppose this is a regional variant."
"Man, the Gulf of Mexico has some nasty fish," Bobby said, an airy quality to his voice.
"Nasty as in good or nasty as in bad?"
He snickered, grinning at her. "Hell, I'll go with both, that's how freaky they are. They look like they belong in a Lucio Fulci movie."
Chloe chuckled, nodding. "They do look like they've risen from the dead-" She pointed to an anglerfish swimming away from the group, its lure swishing from side to side. "-especially this one. It has a green hue that..."
Chloe trailed off, lowering her finger. That particular anglerfish's entire body jostled as it swam. Its jaws tried clamping shut, but something prevented it. It gnawed on something, causing its body to continue pulsing with a lime green aura, a color that was not a part of their natural physiology.
"Oh, that motherfucker giving us the runaround," Bobby hissed, pulling away and grabbing the helm.
Inside the anglerfish's mouth was a jar. Within that was a brain bobbing from side to side. Bobby wasted no time steering after the fish, asking Chloe if could grab it. She nodded and set two fingers to her temple, extending her right hand out to the windowpane.
Her telekinetic hand appeared outside of the submarine. She took a breath and held it, carefully pushing it through the water until it appeared over the anglerfish. She pinched her forefinger and thumb together, slowly wiggling it into the fish's mouth. She felt the smooth curve of the jar around her palm, and she cupped it, keeping it secure in her grasp.
So surprised by the sudden force in its jaw, the anglerfish released the jar. It floundered, wobbling in place as Chloe dragged the jar to the submarine. The fish seemed to contemplate its next move before scurrying back to the others, eager to flee.
Bobby rotated a switch as Chloe pulled in the jar. A compartment underneath the submarine opened. Using a monitor to guide her hand, she slipped the jar into it. Once safely inside, Bobby toggled the switch, closing it, and they watched it rise into the belly of the ship, spilling water on the bridge.
Chloe bent over and took the jar. She ran her fingers along the sides and found no cracks, but she frowned nonetheless. The small brain shivered in the translucent green liquid.
"Well, the girl's brain is safe. No external or internal damage from what I can surmise," she said, sitting next to Bobby. "I'm sure they'll be able to rebrain her and return her to the senator's side in no time."
Bobby huffed out a breath, turning the submarine around with a casual flick of his hand. "Good thing, too. Those fish were starting to get ideas."
When he hitched his thumb at the display showing the cavern floor, Chloe looked and snickered. All of the fish watched them, mouths still gaping open. It was as if Chloe and Bobby had been tattled on by the anglerfish for stealing what might have been its meal.
"Bye-bye, no brain food for you," Bobby sneered, waving at the monitor, and Chloe laughed, tucking the jar to the chest as he set a course for headquarters.