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randomfoggytiger · 9 months

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X-Files Collector's Edition: Fics That Deserve More Comments (Part II)

These fics have an atmospheric je ne sais quoi to them that pulls me in every time-- clean and cutting, gentle and soothing. I adore them all; and definitely believe they need more attention.

Loose chronological order below~

saltringangell's the time it would take (to fix my heart)

""And she wants to tell him- or wanted to tell him at least. Let him know that watching him with someone else brought up something she can’t place yet; something she is terrified of. That watching him with Diana was almost worse than if he told her he didn’t feel the way she did at all.

But then he’s sobbing, unapologetic and earnestly, and the image is wiped from her mind.

“Let me help you.”

A noise wracks from him that makes her skin crawl, her chest lurch. It reminds her of the first time she had seen her father cry; a stripping of innocence, a breaking of a barrier. Watching something break apart in front of you with no warning and no safety net to catch the fall. It makes her instinctively grab the side of his face, burying her hands into his hair.

She allows herself to let him fall apart. She doesn’t move to shush him or to whisper sweet nothings in his ear. She doesn’t give herself the luxury of calming him, just grabs hold and lets him fall apart.""

AU-- Post The End Mulder is only responsive enough to beg Scully into his car, where her comfort finally cracks him. She works through their fears, her hurt; and steadies him through his breakdown.

@muldertxf's (Ao3)

Dark Fear, Chapter 2

""Mulder looked down at Scully, then back at the woman. Cheryl was like a hideous neon beacon amidst a sea of yellow light. It almost hurt to look at her. His pupils receded into green. “Uh, yeah. More specifically, your husband’s case of events. May we speak to him?”

A light bulb burst in the right corner beneath a red, white, and blue striped lampshade.""

S1 Scully and Mulder interview a skittish abductee. She chalks his state up to other factors whereas her partner is awed by the experience, eagerly driving them to the abduction site.

flutter, pt. 2 (Ao3)

""Mulder shakes his head, begins walking down the cracked sidewalk. “Doesn’t matter, Scully,” he replies, his back to her. She follows him. “I had doubts about him anyway, but it was worth a try. Sorry to intrude.”

“No, you didn’t…you didn’t intrude, Mulder. I was surprised to find you there if anything. But not offended,” Scully reassures. He keeps walking. “Mulder. Do you need a ride?”

There’s a pause, and he slows, turning to face her once more.""

S1 Scully is surprised that Mulder stumbles across her path after a no-show witness; and offers to drive him home after he ends their dance and begins to withdraw.

Descension, Part 5 (Ao3)

""Warm light stung her. Every which way she turned, something felt illuminated. Too bright. It would frighten her if it didn’t annoy her so much.... And something weird, notable–she’d dreamt of her father last night.

When she arrived to work, Mulder was not at the bureau early like usual. Baffling. She had beaten him for once.

Scully’s heels uttered muffled clacks against the flooring, as she made her way to place a book in front of a basement window. Carefully, she stepped over the spiral notebook. It seemed that’s all she’d been doing since yesterday.... The sense that something was not as it seemed still gnawed at her insides, like an animal, but she ignored it.

Her gaze fixed on the spiral notebook. Kneeling down, she plucked it from its resting place and flipped it open to make another attempt at reviewing her partner’s written notes.

The bleary feeling began to cross her frame again.

It was blank.""

Pre-One Breath Scully is caught in a hallucination-- Mulder (or not Mulder) and she are investigating a case... but little tiny things are off.

11:11 (Ao3)

""This assignment feels asinine to me, too. But we have to do it. Kersh isn’t too happy with your little chase , recently.” She flashed a hand into a ray of streetlight to gesture to her ear.

That case had been a real headache , Scully thought. But she’d never say that to him--she knew the effect being held captive had on a person. It wasn’t joke material.""

Post Drive Mulder is withdrawn on a muggy stakeout. Scully banters and makes a silent wish.

beginning of season 6 drabble thing

""You think aliens eat cold food only?”

An expression of sheer confusion contorted her face like a snake bite. Her crimson lips pouted, mindlessly chewed swollen, now stuck outward. “Is this your weird way of asking me to lunch?”

“No, no--listen,” He said, rotating his chair towards the basement door to fully face her. “But I mean, if you want to, we could, um...”

A sigh deflated from her small frame. “Just go on, Mulder.""

S6 Mulder throws pencils and asks asinine questions distract him and Scully from their scutwork. She cuts his misery short and sends him home.

No Small Feat (Ao3)

""Scully had remarked, in the way only a weathered pathologist could, that it was kind of funny how the town kept the attractions going despite the grizzly brutalities. Mulder couldn’t find any humor in such a scenario. This cold front had locked those gates, shut down the rides, and effectively stuck its tongue in their faces, as far as Mulder was concerned.

Scully had effectively shut him out, eyes locked on the faded yellow trailer that stalled just ahead. On its license plate, party balloons danced behind a metal string of numbers and letters, all chipped just slightly. She briefly considered honking the horn to hasten the driver. There were only two routes one could take here and said driver’s blinkers didn’t hint anything. She bit her lip.""

S6 Scully is impatient with their failure on a case; but both she and Mulder stumble across the killer clown anyway-- and he makes a break for them with an axe.

A Drabble relating to The Sixth Extinction

""Dana Scully’s voice was a shot in the dark, a pulverizing sear through his tender flesh and bone.

“Mulder, if you never come out of this,” she had droned rather forcefully, weaponizing her dry voice as a barrier against bitter tears, “that I fed your fish this whole time. You owe me.” She laughed emptily.

He bit sharply into the lethargic ice cube that had sunk him, and his irises methodically swam up to meet hers. He clung onto her baby blues like a life raft. His one in five billion.""

Amor Fati Scully sits by Mulder's bed, unaware that he is aware but still believing in a nagging feeling at the back of her head.

Sea Waves (Ao3)

""Do you really believe people have seen a hippocampus out here, Scully?”

The ship rocks and Scully’s grip on the railing falters a bit; she readjusts. “Don’t you? Why are we out here then, Mulder?” she questions, scrunching her brows in annoyance, “Was falling off our boat deliberate? That shirt is ruined.” She giggles despite her attempt of seriousness.

“Look, I’ve got dramamine, Scully. I won’t be seasick. There’s no shortage on plain white work-shirts, and…” Mulder’s speech drawls off into nothing, as he realizes in horror, that his tie’s disappeared.""

Post Millennium Mulder lures Scully out on a boat-- not for a case. Just to enjoy watching her have a good time.

define humor (Ao3)

""He simply stares at her, lips sucked in. It’s not nausea, he realizes, it’s...

Hilarity.

Mulder’s shoulders are jerking up and down and his eyes are squinting. A tear tracks down his cheek, and Scully looks on in horror. Rip-roaring laughter tears through the silence. None of this is funny, none of it should be, he tells himself. My sister is dead. The thought makes his sides ignite in flames. My sister is dead!""

Post Closure Mulder is struggling with clashing sensations and emotions. Scully is horrified when the dam bursts, comforting and steadying her partner.

post En Ami

""Her eyes glow.

Scully imparts his first name in a whisper, and immediately his head snaps up in alert. “Come closer,” she breathes.

Mulder begins to slope his shoulders forward, to gear his pants seat to slide nearer, but he stops early. The black is all-encompassing, drowning both of them like a thick fog. Mulder stops moving, blindly reaching for his drink. His cheeks are warm.

“Scully, what’s going on? What’s wrong?""

Post En Ami Scully is unharmed; but turns the conversation away to begging then threatening Mulder not to go to Bellefleur. It wasn't her, after all.

Cheap Motels and Headaches

""He looked at the suspicious vehicle again and weighed the risks of running out there with a gun. Mulder’s hand fumbled to his waist instinctively.

It hit worn elastic.

If they were here...they were here. Mulder geared away from the bullpen, and back to reality, where the ceiling bared a pregnant bulge, and the carpet jumped with nats. Take me, he thought, anything but her. His face paled.

Then, hand in the cookie jar, the Cadillac zipped just out of sight of the dusty window. The AC wedged in the corner behind the door coughed.

Being on the run felt otherworldly.""

Post S9 Mulder and Scully are holed up in a motel room when his Biogenesis abilities return with a vengeance. His fear and aching sorrow and joy conflict when it allows him to hear how happy Will is.

One More Meeting (Ao3)

""She must do this. But before she could commit to the action, the door flew open.

Scully gasped, her hand locked to the spot where the handle had ripped from her now empty fist. She sensed him coming to the door. She should not be surprised, and yet here she was, eyes wide, and red-cheeked.

The boy unclenched his jaw before reaching forward to take her hovering hand. A wobbly smile met his lips. His palm was warm. She looked up at him, and he radiated something that tugged at her heart. Tall.""

Post Ghouli Jackson meets, comforts, and reassures Scully in New Jersey. He encourages her to stay with Mulder instead of pursuing him.

Kennel

""Do you need any help? Any pet preferences?” The teenager asks, resting her gel pen on the granite.

“We’re just looking right now, thanks,” Mulder replies, as Scully wanders off in his peripheral vision. A small grin crosses his face, “but we’ll let you know if we need something.""

Mulder loves watching Scully putz around an animal shelter; and loves being mistaken as an old married couple even more.

@oceanofthesky/noifsandsorbees's

By the Sea (Ao3)

""Long past Baltimore she tells him to get off the highway, to follow the twists and turns of a map she hadn’t realized she’d memorized until there is nothing but ocean ahead of them. Her body feels heavy when she slips out of the passenger seat, as if the new growth inside her has doubled her weight, but she pushes forward, drawn to the eerie whisper of the calm water.

She hasn’t been back here since she said goodbye to her father so many years ago, but she suddenly needs to know the secrets he took away with him. His ashes are a mere memory in the sea’s veins, yet she trudges through the rocks and grass until the ice water is nearly running over her shoes, as if he’ll be standing there waiting for her.""

Post Elegy Scully almost falls apart on a beach, drawn to her father's memory and his side in the great beyond. Mulder bolsters her, demanding she not give up yet.

this one was just titled per manum.

""She’s with him, but she’s thinking of infants and angels, and how maybe one day, in some inconceivable afterlife, she will be reunited with her little girl (the one she so rarely thinks about anymore; a stranger, really, but a stranger with her sister’s eyes and face and the smallest fingers she’s ever clasped in her own; a child always living on the edge of death but somehow at the same time her only chance for a future). She’s thinking that one day she’ll hold Emily somewhere resembling heaven, and she’ll be whole again.

But that, fittingly, would require her to believe, something she’s become less and less sure of how to do.""

Post IVF failure Scully is floundering; but realizes that Mulder is there to weather every loss with him-- that he's her constant, always.

holding on (Ao3)

""This month, she tells herself, she’ll finally refold each of his shirts into a nondescript box and drop it off at Goodwill, throw away his stockpile of newspapers, lock his door for the very last time. This is the month where she’ll stop falling asleep in his bed, searching and searching for what’s left of him in the sheets and waking up in tears she’ll wash away by breakfast.

But for now, she places the check into an envelope and scribbles his landlord’s address from memory.""

Deadalive Scully pays for Mulder's apartment again, still not able to bring herself to box up his things and move out.

Unnamed

""Just one, she pleads, and the only image he can conjure is her rising from the bed and walking out the door, so he swallows hard, nods, and tries to narrow the worlds he’s created into the one that will hurt her least.

He has universes of memories that will never be, one for each star in the sky, for each breath in his lungs. And sometimes he thinks that's all he has, all he ever has had, a never ending dream of ‘what ifs’ that start to resemble happiness if he believes in them hard enough.

And he knows she realizes the depth of his imagination, of the possibilities he can conceive that will never rival reality, knows that one day he may get irreversibly lost inside himself. He almost wonders if she’d join him and they could build another reality between their minds — the clarity in which he knows she would is stunning, alarming. He wants to warn her to run, but he supposes she already is, she’s running and he’s a decade too late (and when really has he not been too late?).""

Post S9 Mulder wants to spare Scully as much as possible from the pain of missed happier lifetimes; but she clings to him, refusing to let him keep in his vast "what ifs" and memories.

together again. (Ao3)

""mulder, why would you take him? you scared me half to death,” she gasps and watches his eyes cloud over with sadness. she forgets that he doesn’t know, that she hasn’t yet had a chance to tell him everything. he can’t imagine a child alone in the middle of a crater of rubble, in the hands of strangers, anywhere but beside her.

she calms herself and moves toward mulder, lets him wrap his arms around them both.

“i can’t stop looking at him,” mulder whispers against her. “he’s just so big.”

“you’re here,” she whispers back, her heart finally having slowed, allowing her to remember what a miracle his presence is.""

AU-- Post S9 Scully wakes, panicked, thinking Mulder and Will are gone. She's calmed finding them both engaged in Mulder's bedtime stories.

Sunrise (Ao3)

""He still doesn’t understand her energy so early in the morning, somehow always fully awake and ready to take on the day, with an optimism and flirtiness that often mellows as the day goes on. He stands up and throws their comforter tight around him as he walks off to the living room.

The walls are bare and the floor is dotted with thrift store furniture they’ve found in the last week and what few possessions they have left. Scully is hunched over the unnaturally heavy couch, pushing it a few inches at a time as it catches on the uneven planks of their new home.""

Pre-IWTB Mulder is baffled that Scully thrives as an early bird, reluctantly joining her furniture-rearranging shenanigans.

open door. (Ao3)

""miss you,” he mumbles... and then he falls back asleep. she closes her eyes and prays this means he’s finally fighting for them; he slips away by morning.

months pass before he surprises her again, after dozens of trips to their little house and talks that seem to go nowhere, after too many nights pleading with god to bring him back to her.""

Breakup-- Scully leaves Mulder a key, hoping he'll drop in on better days.

xf revival ficlet

""it’s only week two back on the job, but mornings like these are muscle memory, being awoken too early and packing through half-closed eyes, her body following his without quite knowing why it couldn’t wait until sunrise. she dreads his middle-of-the-night calls, because he’s dangerous when she’s half asleep, too much like home for her to keep a proper distance....

it couldn’t wait until morning, because it matters too much to him, their cases and the answers to their mysteries and her, always her. everything and everyone but himself, she reminds herself as she drifts off to the rhythmic beating of the storm, grateful that he is once again finding his footing in the world.""

Revival Mulder and Scully reacquaint themselves with each other while on their long road trips. She lengthens their time together, knowing how much Mulder craves these moments.

of adventures and goodbyes (and once about the family they left behind).

""1994. He comes to Maryland to send his father out to sea one last time, a sight far more familiar than welcoming him home. Charlie sleeps on Dana’s couch and she wakes him in the middle of the night, making him sit up so she can lean against him, so they can stifle their tears into each other’s shoulders.

“I don’t know what to do now,” he whispers. “I wasn’t even that close to him. I don’t know what I’d do if it was mom. If was you.”

“If it was Melissa,” Dana finishes, and they both feel like children once again. He clings to her harder.""

Post Home Again Scully relates Charlie's heartbreak and distance after Melissa's death, fearing that it's too late to reach out. Mulder, hopeful man that he is, encourages her.

White Noise (Ao3)

""There are always two clocks running in his head. Every glimpse of his watch followed by an automatic, nearly subconscious subtraction.

It’s eight a.m. here, six there. She’s just waking up, shuffling toward the shower in a silk robe, boiling water for tea on the stove as she stirs pollen into her yogurt. Nine p.m. and she’s running a bath, her dinner roasting in the oven. One a.m. and her eyes are fluttering closed, her breathing soft in his ear as he drifts off.

She calls him as soon as she gets home each night and they don’t say much. He turns on speakerphone and leaves his phone on the kitchen table as he washes dishes, next to him on the couch as he throws on a movie, cradled against his ear as he falls asleep. It’s almost like she’s there.""

AU-- FTF Scully is still reassigned after she and Mulder make the next step in their relationship. They weather a long-distance relationship, connecting over the phone while he works furiously to get her back.

I've Got To See The Stars (Ao3)

""What are you up to?”

“Just trying to sleep.”

“Wanna hold off on that a bit?”

“What did you have in mind?”

“Let’s get out of the city for a few hours.”

“Scully, we just got back to the city this afternoon, or did you already forget about Indiana?”

She ignores him. “Pick me up in ten.”

“Okay.""

Post The Unnatural Scully calls, asking Mulder to drive out to a field with her. He's amused; and both stare at the stars without any way to figure out constellations.

5./21. mulder/scully

""And on some subconscious level you know, have always known, that you’re the cause of whatever innocence, whatever tenderness he has left; you’re the reason his heart is still beating and his eyes are ever-hopeful. Your medical degree is useless next to the effect of your mere presence, your stubborn instinct to believe in him even if you question all that he accepts.""

Post Millennium Scully knows what makes Mulder happy, refusing to take the generous out he provides for her.

Scully makes Mulder breakfast for the first time

""she pushes the eggs around in the saucepan and curses mulder for not having any oil in his pantry, no butter in his fridge, not even any bacon to give it some grease. she had considered, and then quickly dismissed, coating the pan with juice, and instead left hot water running over a bottle of ketchup hoping to work the crust off the lid.

and really, why did mulder even have eggs if he didn’t have anything else in there to make them taste better? four eggs, half a gallon of expired orange juice, the unopenable ketchup and a frozen pizza barely gave her anything to work with after he turned to her in bed and whined please, my physician ordered me not to take these painkillers without food, raising his arm as high as the sling would let him to prove he couldn’t cook for himself.""

Post Millennium Scully tries to make Mulder breakfast... but a Mulder fridge is filled with many useless things.

Sunday Morning

""She rolls away from Mulder, who has nudged one knee between her and the edge of the bed and is bouncing like a child.

“Sculllllllly,” he whines.

“fivemoreminutes” she mumbles, turning to lie fully on her other side, her right hand reaching behind her to pull him along....

He stares at the clock on her nightstand for exactly five minutes.

“It’s time to wake up now,” he whispers the second the clock changes.""

Dating-- Mulder wakes Scully up with a present: a "case" in Maui.

ok, i still find this so cute. this is from a random group os s7 vignettes i never finished.

""Mulder guessed a letter wrong and she moved to add the final alien foot, but not before Mulder pushed her hand away, as if not letting her finish would prolong his defeat. But she fought back and ended up drawing a balloon-like circle across half the page....""

Skinner is highly amused that Scully is the person to instigate a silent alien hangman game in the middle of boring presentation.

@gingerstorm101/Gingerstorm101/dana_katherine_sculder's

The New Hen House

""Wha- what are you doing?”

“Finishing up the new chicken coop.” He said matter-of-factly. “Do you like it?”

She walks around it, taking it in. “I don’t know what to say.” What could she say to such a thing? Maybe living in the middle of nowhere was a good idea after all. “You built this all while I was at work?” She can’t take her eyes off it.""

IWTB Mulder updates his chicken coop with light-up UFOs.

Beautiful

""He leans back in his seat as she joins him at the picnic table beside one of the venders. He tried, but he can’t keep it in. He had to tell her. “You are so beautiful when you smile.”

She doesn’t say anything; she doesn’t have to. The smile radiating off her is all he needs to see. It makes her ever the more beautiful.""

Revival Mulder's admiration of Scully pushes them into a little bubble of happiness.

Picture of You

""There is a knock on the door.

His head shoots up, eyes wide. “Just a minute!” The nurse calls to the people on the other side of the door. She hands him back the photo of his wife and he dries his eye quickly. She waits until he’s ready for company before she makes her way to the door and slowly opens it.

“Excuse me,” He hears a small familiar voice. “Is my Daddy here?” He wants to start crying again, ashamed at thinking of leaving the little girl behind.""

AU-- Post Finale Mulder is diagnosed with terminal cancer. His heart bleeds for his two children, pouring out his pain and sorrow to a sympathetic nurse. (This is a tearjerker for me.)

@stellagibsonisalifeforce's Unnamed

""This morning, Black Friday for everyone else, Mulder let Scully sleep in a little while he went for a run in the rain. He brought back coffees, a bear claw for himself, and a toasted bagel with regular cream cheese for her. After, they started to dig the Christmas decorations out of of the basement.""

Revival Mulder and Scully set up their Christmas decorations, pal around with Daggoo, and miss Maggie's presence.

Thank you for reading~

Enjoy!

#txf #fic #Collector's Edition #Fics That Deserve More Comments #Part II #xf fanfic #x-files #xfiles #muldertxf #gingerstorm101 #dana_katherine_sculder #stellagibsonisalifeforce #saltringangell #noifsandsorbees #oceanofthesky #mine #Mulder #Scully #Skinner

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