These are good for any time of year, of course, not just February 14. But here are my favorite fics related to the season 6 episode Milagro, a long time favorite. (And @sisterspooky1013's favorite episode of all time: happy VD, girl!) Iâve been reading and sifting through these for some time, and I have tried to include some from all eras: newer AO3 fics, some written right after the ep aired, etc. But I'm sure I've missed some, so hit me with your own faves, please.
Because of Milagro's ending, this entire genre of fic tends to be heavy on the hurt/comfort and angst (which is fiiiiine by me), but thatâs not all thatâs here. Many of these are smutty, but not all.
Adagio - Terma99
A meditative, peaceful take on the aftermath of Milagro by a veteran author that includes both agents realizing something they had learned. Lovely.
Alma - 6hoursgirl (@sixhours)
A lovely hurt/comfort Milagro piece. This one is Mulder POV, which is a little less common for post-Milagro, I think, and I like this characterization of Mulder as desperately wanting to help Scully, desperately wanting to protect her, but also a tiny bit scared of the intimacy and relationship he feels theyâre on the cusp of. Heâs so good-hearted and also a little dysfunctional here, and I love it.
Bated Breath - dreamingofscully (@dreamingofscully)
This one has an original take on Scully's experience; it leaves Scully with clarity and new direction in her relationship with Mulder. DreamingofScully tends to write a more confident, in-charge Scully in the MSR than some do, and I appreciate it.
Beyond the Strokes of a Typewriter - storybycorey (@storybycorey)
When Scully is stricken and ashamed that itâs been so long since anyone has seen her as a woman as Padgett did, Mulder is pushed to revelations. Mulder 3rd person POV. Very good smut build up. And nobody does a gorgeous feelings reveal from Mulder like storeybycorey, man.
I Believe - Diana Battis
There are a lot of lovely, heartfelt hurt/comfort fics about the aftermath of Milagro (for obvious reasons), but this one is especially well done. Viewed from Scullyâs third person point of view, it focuses on Mulderâs capacity for tenderness and guilt. Plus some smut.
Donât Look Up - ArtemisX5
After Padgett's hallway revelation, Scully is horrified that she has no secrets left. But you know, Mulder is much slower on the draw than she gives him credit for. There is also such moving hurt/comfort in this.
Intimacies with Strangers -mldrgrl (@mldrgrl)
This mid- and post- Milagro piece has Mulder and Scully simmering in tension and then boiling over. Their relationship is complex and painfully entangled, and I love how it plays out. There is also excellent Scully characterization. This one helps me to get more fully why she might have been drawn to Padgett initially, something I struggle with in the episode.
La Madrugada - h0ldthiscat
A carefully told tale of RST that takes both characters seriously and is sincerely moving. Excellent.
Lacuna - Aloysia_Virgata (@aloysiavirgata)
This is a longer work, not really a classic post ep per se. But I love this moody, angsty casefile set right after Milagro. This Scully has not come to terms with her emotions, is thoroughly freaked by how she reacted to Padgett, and hasn't even entirely worked out how she feels about Mulder. There is Scully/other here, but the ship is steering home. The end of this is so moving, but cw: dark themes in the casefile, extreme violence against children, traumatized agents.
Still Life - Seek_Its_Opposite (@seek-its-opposite)
Ah, this is such a thoughtful and exquisitely written Scully character piece â and it contains some truly beautiful insights about Mulder, too. It suggests the heartbreaking idea that Mulderâs way of showing Scully respect (giving her distance) is continually hurting her. So tragic (and consistent with canon, e.g. Never Again.) One memorable line: âEvery one of their fights is about how to care for one another, every last one.â
Alma Gemela - matchingfabric (@matchingfabric)
After the events of Milagro, Scully (and Mulder) get accustomed to platonically sharing a bed for comfort. This is a slightly different take on post-Milagro. Exceptionally, irresistibly sweet. Oh, and smutty.
What did I miss? Tell me. And yes, I'm working on my own short Milagro fic that will be coming soon-ish.
When I Think About You, I Touchstone Myself:
Fic Recs for the Biogenesis/ Sixth Extinction/ Amor Fati trilogy
I thought it was time to do some fic fixes for these important episodes for a few reasons.
First, Amor Fati is an episode I canât ever stay away from; I both love it and have big issues with it. I love the tribute to Last Temptation of Christ, a film I admire, but I also find the identification of Mulder as a Christ figure to be problematic, or at least to raise questions the show doesnât really address. I love the touchstone speech and the boy on the beach sequence; I find a lot of the real-life dialogue (e.g. between CSM and Diana) to be clunky.
And honestly, I find it kind of irritating that Diana's death happened off screen, too. Deep Throat, Spender, X, CSM, Well-Manicured Man, Blevins â their deaths were all dramatized onscreen, so it seems weird that Dianaâs was not, doesnât it? Anticlimactic and odd. To me, it's the straw that broke the camel's back for the Diana arc, really raising the question of whether she was ever really written intending to be an important character to the mytharc plot at all ... or whether she just really was a cardboard cutout character there to generate jealousy.
But I digress. What I mean to to say is: I always want to talk more about Amor Fati.
Second, I particularly enjoy me some psychic Mulder fic, and there are some great examples below. How well does he read minds? Does he read Scullyâs? Her every thought? How long does it last? Readers want to know.
Finally, if you believe season 7 was the season of secret sex, or even if you just hold to season 7 as the âsometime consummatedâ season, these 3 eps have to be a crucial turning point. Some people maintain that Mulder got the affirmation to move ahead with MSR when he heard Scully's thoughts. Possibly. Either way, though, by the end, through the events of Amor Fati, they both validate the otherâs point of view in a way we don't really see before. Plus, you know, maybe you heard? Theyâre one anotherâs touchstones. So this is a crucial MSR trilogy, too.
So I have a (NO DOUBT INCOMPETE) selection of fic recs below. Iâm mixing up the fic recs for all three episodes, but I try to note if a fic is really more about one ep than another.
Fic Recs:
Before the White Noise - Nimz12peekaboo
Scully goes to see Mulder inside his padded cell in Biogenesis. This is sweet and canon-attentive, if not quite compliant.
A Less Certain World - Sarah Segretti
This is really only post-Biogenesis and goes AU after that; itâs the authorâs AU Sixth Extinction, I suppose. Mulder is much more affected by the trauma to his brain and body than in the show, and Scully is scared for him. Amazing fic.
Temporary Shelter - Gwendolyn
Also a Biogenesis post-ep, this fic imagines that Scully springs psychic Mulder from the hospital and then takes him back with her to the Ivory Coast. They stay in a cabin (with only one bed!) that was once occupied by another couple affected by the artifact. This is rich in plot (and in MSR.)
Stunned - Vickie Moseley
This is, by description, what happens in the commercial breaks in Biogenesis. And let's just say that itâs kind of a lot. This fic focuses on Scully coming to calm Mulder down at the hospital, on their trust between one another. There is a little Diana wrap up, too.
All the Places - Ambress
A lovely, lovely take on Mulderâs ability to read minds. I cannot recommend this highly enough.
Out of Our Minds - Sarah Segretti and haphazard method
This is specifically post-Biogenesis, written before season 7 began. It focuses on the rather realistic idea that Scully would be freaked the fuck out by Mulder being able to read her mindâlike, existentially freaked out. Both charactersâ POV here; both characters have your sympathy; angsty and extremely true to character.
Disonance - suilven
This piece is kind of a classic in my own little personal world. It just such a satisfying concept. It delightfully doesnât take the canon implications of Mulderâs telepathy seriously, like, at all, which is why we love fanfic. Mulder, Scully, and Diana get stuck on an elevator just as Mulderâs starting to realize he can read minds. Delicious set-up.
the things they say in the dark - MonikaFileFan
Missing scenes for Amor Fati, this piece helps us see the two moving closer and closer together while still having the invisible line between them. There is hurt/comfort here with Scully caring for Mulder, and a little light mind reading. So sweet and well done.
how to tell your lover youâve seen all their secret gardens - 0666666
While Scully is taking care of Mulder after the events of Amor Fati, he tries to think of how to tell her he heard her thoughts. Very good.
Woven Deep by Maureen B. Ocks
This is a really smart little Amor Fati post-ep with sharp dialogue / banter throughout. Mulder is in recovery, and they have a chance to talk about his experiences. Itâs Mulder POV, but Scully is written very well here.
up and down the east coast by skuls When heâs still supposed to be recovering from Amor Fati events, Mulder asks Scully to go on a road trip to look for Sasquatch. She agrees. This one isnât about psychic Mulder so much as the little guarded steps the two take towards acknowledging their feelings. Extremely sweet.
Synesthesia by haphazard method
On a case shortly after the events of Amor Fati, Scully is still coming to terms with the role she plays in their partnership. An excellent conversation.
Petrichor by Aloysia Virgata. A lovely gem, a fandom classic. A one-chapter case file set directly after Amor Fati. Mulder and Scullyâs relationship is offkilter and unsettled; Mulder is troubled by dreams with messages from a familiar ghost; the plot riffs on Anglo-Irish folklore. The spot-on banter and exquisite writing one expects from this author.
Eli Eli by Marguerite
Mulder is recovering physically post-Amor Fati while Scully tries to cope with the crisis of faith her experiences in the Ivory Coast provoked in her. Skinner sends them to a beach house in Galveston to rest and heal.
Silence Waiting by JET
Scully is struggling to cope with the implications of what she saw in Africa as Mulder heals and worries about her. This is intercut with the story of another telepath, Gretta, who grows up only reading the thoughts of one boy in her town, Frederick. This fic is lovely in every way and makes me weep.
The Boy on the Beach - me me (cecilysass)
Yeah, I include my own fic. I just know it best, you know, lol? I include this one specifically for this theme because it was really written in part to engage with Amor Fati, specifically with the implications of Mulderâs Last Temptation of Christ-inspired dream sequence. But I'm the author, so you know, grain of salt.
Best pining fanfics? Mulder pining, Scully pining, both of them, I love it all. Need some angsty "they couldn't possibly feel the way I feel" admiring-from-a-distance (possibly buildup to love confession) fics in my life.
<3
Oooooooooooooooh, that's interesting-- usually don't go for the pining myself, BUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUT that doesn't mean there are a ton I have stashed away. ;))) Brb!
Unironically most (if not all) of @cecilysass's work have pining with requited love, some examples: The Kaleidoscope (S6, Scully dating, both pining), How to Eat Pleasant Holiday Meals With Co-Workers (mostly pining, including IVF and later "breakup" Thanksgiving), Pause (AU after Requiem-- pregnant Scully was "dead" for a year before being returned with amnesia after FTF. PINING.), The Boy on the Beach (AU time travel case after Amor Fati-- Mulder misinterpreted his experience, Scully feels deeply hurt and is given the opportunity to save Samantha from the "past." Both realizing mistakes and talking), and I'll throw in All the Dead Mulders (post Three Words Mulder goes to his family's grave to find closure and/or himself. Scully tracks him down in the end) and Not Orpheus, Not Eurydice (S5 Mulder and Scully feed pond ducks by a church and talk, beautiful) because there's some pining but more importantly, they're my favorite of her fics.
@nowwhateinstein's Now That You're Around Me-- Mulder and Scully's closer relationship is almost ruined by Diana's pestering at the FBI ball.)
Violetta_Valery's The bittersweetness of pie (Breakup Mulder wanders into town, having lost everything except his craving for sweet potato pie. There he sees Scully with a guy, misinterprets everything, and rushes in to save her honor. All ends well.)
SqueekaCuomo's Itâs Not Really about Krampus (Scully has insomnia at her family's Christmas; and Mulder keeps calling. She realizes he misses her and that she loves him.)
@agent-troi's pining and denial during her ongoing IVF Platonic Procreation is an example of how everyone could be telling you the truth and you could be denying it until you're blue in the face.
allthings2020's The Mood Ring almost makes Mulder and Scully confront their feelings.
@tofuttim's Agent Scully is Already in Love (post Milagro Mulder didn't know Scully loves him; and fears that loving him will ruin her. She understands.)
@slippinmickeys's The Concept of Dualism (Melissa makes Mulder and Scully crash in one place post Dod Kalm so she can care for them) and Three Sentence Prompts - Chapter 15 (AU The End where Scully is shot instead, Gibson reassuring her of Mulder's love as she fades away.)
@welsharcher's *chef's kiss* The Almost Kiss (Small Potatoes Mulder realizes Scully wanted more, backs away since he can't be "that" right now. Both pining) and No Place for Me (post The End Scully feels rejected, hears Mulder's heartbroken tears.)
@baronessblixen wrote some great Rain King--Â I Saw You In My Dreams (Scully thinks Mulder was dreaming about Diana, realizes it's her name in Kansas), this one (Mulder and Scully talk out their tenseness by recollecting how he always supported her during the cancer arc), and this funny one (Mulder wakes, happy, then sneezes in Scully's hair-- not so much pining as enjoying?)-- and One Son pining-- this one (Mulder and Scully are both mad at each other and their "betrayals") and Never Cold With You By My Side (Fowley locks up Mulder and Scully in Fort Marlene overnight-- Scully so angry she pushes Mulder away until she's forced to ask for body heat.)
Lapsed_Scholar's Atonement counts, I believe (cancer arc Scully is hurt that Mulder dips without talking to her at all-- turns out, he was following Jewish customs to try to barter for her recovery or to atone for his mistakes that are being foisted, he thinks, on his partner.)
@amplifyme's RoghnaĂonn MĂŠ TĂş counts, I think (S7 Scully is thunderstruck that Mulder had chosen her over Samantha in Endgame.)
Hope these are enough for now! XDDDD Sorry this took me a bit; but I hope you have a wonderful weekend reading~. :DDDDD
Edit: WAIT I'm kicking myself for forgetting @suitablyaggrieved's Fictober Day 10 (S2 Mulder wants Scully back; but Skinner's not budging) and Mulder hears the door (Mulder pining for Scully while she's abducted, Skinner trying to help.)
Hey, let me chime in with a few of my pining faves, because mmmhm, yes, itâs an interest:
Glass Walls by Skuls This little gem is pining made pretty straightforward.
Amor non reciprocatus by thenautilusknoweth. Pining turned into a vaguely supernatural metaphor. M&S investigate a mysterious disease that involves flowers growing inside peopleâs lungs and only infects those suffering from unrequited love.
You Send Me by spooky_nerd. Another neat little supernatural metaphor for pining. Mulder keeps accidentally opening portals that land him near Scully and they canât figure out why.
The Third by Suzanne Barringer. A stakeout conversation. The ending on this will GET YOU.
Love in All the Wrong Places by SisterSpooky1013. Mulder and Scully are both lonely and curious enough to explore online single chatrooms. They wind up articulating their pining for their co-workers to anonymous strangers online, who of course donât turn out to be anonymous strangers.
Lacuna by Aloysia_Virgata. A darker, angstier entry here, a post-Milagro casefile. Scully centric, but Mulderâs doing some quality heartrending pining. Gorgeous writing.
Tiger Lily by Eleanore. I recorded the audio pod fic version here. When Mulder decides to pursue seeing Bambi, we get Scully pining in a buttoned-up, subtle, dignified, season 3 kind of way.
X-Files Collector's Edition: Requiem AUs (Poll Results 4th)-- No Pregnancy, Finding Out Before Requiem, and Bad Endings
FINALLY! The last section of my favorite fic niches (inspired by this poll) is here~. So, here they are: the Strange, the Different, and the Ugly. Hold onto your seats, this ride gets bumpy. (Part 2 will be out sometime soon, chock-full of AUs that stick more tightly to the episode events.)
Loose chronological order below~
No Pregnancy
@peacenik0's (Ao3) A Bathroom Proposal (Ao3)
Requiem Mulder proposes to Scully while they're brushing their teeth back home-- "When you know, you know."
taylenascamila/gillianslali's elope (Alt. Tumblr)
Requiem Mulder feels that times are changing; and convinces Scully to elope with him. He twists his new wedding ring while being abducted.
@leiascully's (Ao3) Variations on a Requiem
There is no abduction and no miracle pregnancy... at first. Mulder and Scully live separate but together, coexisting happily through reassignment and resignation. But their capacity for miracles-- though a decade or so late-- has not yet run dry.
mrkeller/Mary Ruth Keller's (FFN) Lux Perpetua
There is no miracle baby, but Mulder is returned a year later; and in that time, Scully had used video evidence to become AD, open an official FBI Files Group to look into UFOs, and more. Both are excited and enthusiastic for the future.
Alelou's (Xanadu) A Wedding, Sort Of
There is no abduction and no miracle pregnancy, but Mulder does convince Scully to accept his proposal and get married in a comedic, at-home wedding ceremony.
JET's (Alt. Tumblr. mulderscreek, The Other Side)
Snippet from Small Lives Awake
There is no abduction and no miracle baby; and Mulder is a little blue for Christmas. Scully helps him realize and process his family's death.
@amplifyme/wonderland/Lydia Bower's Promise
There is no abduction and no miracle baby, only Mulder and Scully comfortably together on a New Years Eve stakeout as yet another year begins to dawn.
@writingwell/RocketMan/Darkstryder's (Xanadu)
IMTP Virtual Season 08x04 - Good Night
There is no abduction and no miracle pregnancy; but there are more cases involving the mytharc, tests on schools, and a little girl almost being buried alive. Savior black angels, inoculations, and Marita with a gun all come to a head as Mulder's previous Amor Fati experience is dragged back into the Syndicate's spotlight.
agoodwoman's (WBM) Wake Up
Scully woke from a Millennium coma, having dreamt the entirety of canon post that experience. Mulder convinces her to write it down; and encourages her that they can make better decisions this time.
jeri's (mulderscreek) The Strongest Emotions
Scully hallucinates the entirety of S8 from the aftereffects of the Field Trip mushrooms. Mulder is highly amused at her rationalizations.
Finding Out before Requiem
Alanna's Positive
Scully wakes on a random weekend, swirling over her pregnancy symptoms and waiting for Mulder to come back from TLG outing. The two of them are incredibly hopeful but also incredibly scared, moving from the couch to the store and to her apartment in anxiously suspenseful silence.
Chiefchopstix's 7th Inning Stretch
Scully leads up to her pregnancy announcement by getting Mulder to talk about his baseball loyalties and his father.
@markwatneyandenesemble's (Ao3) What She Needed - Chapter 20 and What She Needed - Chapter 21
Scully realizes she's pregnant right before the tragic events of Sein und Zeit, stowing the news for a week until Mulder's closure has been sorted. (I have and will always adore these two chapters.)
@lotsoforangesoutside/@lotzzoforangezoutsideâs (Ao3) Divergence into Stonehenge (Ao3)
TLG made bank off of modeling Mulder and Scully for a new game; but Scully collapses before they can collect on the benefits. A happy ending-- resignation, writing, and three kids-- ensues.
Katherinexx1's Miracle
Scully reveals her pregnancy to Mulder with their hands shaped as hearts.
@foxanddanapetrie's (Ao3) Bedtime Stories
Scully surprises herself and Mulder with the results of a pregnancy test; then helps soothe Mulder's fears of repeating his dad's mistake.
@msrafterdark (Ao3)
MSR Ficmas (Tumblr)
Scully is late, Mulder is happy, and she is surprised he'd be happy. Â
MSR Ficmas (Tumblr)
Mulder and Scully are married; but that doesn't stop his blind panic when she leaves for an appointment and calls him sniffling on the phone.
Ficlets (Tumblr Prompt) - Chapter 103 (Tumblr)
There is an abduction, but Mulder is returned earlier, doting on Scully during her vomity early pregnancy (couch nests, tea, and helping her take it easy.)
Scully Is Abducted
Namarie's (LJ, mulderscreek) All I Will Remember (mulderscreek)
Mulder and Scully were abducted right after his return from Oregon; and they wake in the woods without any memory of getting there. He is overjoyed at her news; and the two make their way to civilization, find out Krycek was behind their release, and save Scully from a fatal poisoning attempt.
Scully is abducted instead; and Mulder's grief compounds when she and their baby are returned, dead... and even more grief when he digs them both up a month later.
lost time (Tumblr)
Mulder and Scully are both caught in a bright light, losing all of their memories past their near-abduction experience in the Pilot. They pour their energy into reestablishing their lives, passively avoiding Scully's pregnancy, and comforting each other with their losses documented in the files.
stellar_dust's (Gossamer)
Threnody 01 - Divested (Ao3) and Threnody - Domani Non Viene (Ao3) and Threnody - Indelible (Ao3)
Scully is abducted instead; and Mulder must battle against his worsening brain cancer, the FBI's restrictions, and his initial dislike of Doggett as he runs against the clock to find her again. (Indelible is an addition to the two-parter: when he and Doggett investigate Skyland Mountain, he finds a frightened imprint of Scully's fears during her kidnapping by Duane Barry.)
EmScully's Not Alone - Chapter 1
Scully is abducted instead, returning to her Colonized planet in time to witness alien creatures tearing each other apart, give birth to her son, and be happily reunited with Mulder (who had relentlessly tracked her down.)
Brynna's Nothing at All
Scully is abducted instead, and returned dead. Mulder falls apart, by turns clutching at her hand and resisting her ghost's repeated attempts to prevent his suicide.
Bad Endings
XPhileChai's
Life is like a new case - you never know what you're gonna get.
Mulder and Scully are dating, but they find out about her pregnancy after a quick trip to the ER determines they'd had twins but lost one.
@fbismostunwanted1158/ElizabethJaneway1158's
What Could Have Been - Chapter 1
Mulder and Scully find out about her pregnancy as she miscarries in their motel in Bellefleur, Oregon.
@greekowl87âs (Ao3)Â
Scully dreams of a better life where Mulder wasn't abducted, excitedly marking his son's progress as the two plan to buy their forever home in the suburbs. All dreams must end, however.
Hey! It works if you're signed in to AO3. Happy to share an invite but it will take me a bit to find the original link while I'm on mobile. Hold tight.
ETA: just kidding it didn't take that long which is a rumblr miracle. Here it is on tumblr
Prompt: A moment of peace and contentment for Mulder and Scully.
Thank you, you're the best!
They go back to her apartment in the new year, zombie-bitten and bold. The cab ride back is breathless, their fingers twined and their mouths feeling lush and bored. They donât kiss but they casually thumb-wrestle in the middle of the vinyl backseat while the driver declaims on the CIA.
âThe world didnât end,â he says again.
âIt might have started,â she replies.
***
They kiss on her couch, his injuries forgotten. His blood has other places to be right now.
Theyâre sweet picnic blanket kisses, open-mouthed and tender and charmingly uncertain after gunshots and cancer and changes to living directives.
He nuzzles the salty sweetness of her neck, her left thigh between his. His tongues her collarbones again, thinks improbably of yogurt-covered pretzels.
âY2K is off to a nice start,â she observes, in her raw silk voice.
Mulder draws her against his chest. He strokes the November sunset of her hair, nibbles at her tender ears. Scully is an endless tactile delight, a marvel of muscle and skin and bone and cartilage.
âWhat now?â she asks into his chest.
He kisses the place where her cheekbone meets her temple, studies her freckles like a start chart.
âEverything,â he murmurs, and she presses herself so tight against him that even water could not pass.
His best guess is that the guy is an ex-boyfriend. They arenât too far from Stanford; she could have called ahead and set something up. He doesnât think sheâd pick a guy up at a barânot that heâd judge her if she did. It just seems unlikely that sheâd risk it after what happened last time.Â
Maybe itâs that hippie guy she told him about. The one who had greasy dreadlocks and played guitar. Or maybe itâs one of her former classmates, some guy whoâs a brain surgeon at Cedar Sinai or fixes kidsâ cleft palates for free out of the goodness of his heart. Someone smart and accomplished. Someone worthy of her time.Â
Scully laughs, high and girlish, and Mulder clenches his fists. His fingernails dig into the meat of his palms and it hurts. The physical pain helps distract from the mental anguish, so he digs them in deeper.
Sheâs been on the phone a lot since he told her about their travel plans a few days ago. At first he was worried that she was talking to her doctor, and his lingering fears about her cancer returning kept him awake all night devising new plans to save her life for good. But then he caught a wide, toothy smile on her mouth during one of those calls when she didnât realize he was watching her, and his stomach dropped out. The good news is, she isnât dying. The bad news is, her brush with death seems to have inspired her to live her life more fullyâwith someone else.Â
Here is a master collection of all the themed X-Files fic rec lists that Iâve posted (so far!). Â These and all my individual story recs can be found under my fic rec tag. Enjoy!
UPDATED: Newly added lists have ** asterisks
Post-episode and Movie Stories
** 3
all things
Biogenesis
Born Again
Elegy
** Field Trip
Fight the Future
Fire
Firewalker
** Folie a Deux
Ghouli
Grotesque
How the Ghosts Stole Christmas
I Want to Believe
I Want to Believe island getaway
Millennium
My Struggle IV
Paper Hearts
Pilot
Pine Bluff Variant
Plus One
Provenance
Providence
Rm9sbG93ZXJz
Roadrunners
Shadows (Liberty Bell fics)
Small Potatoes
Tithonus
Triangle
** The Truth
The Unnatural
Trust No 1 (one lonely night fics)
Wetwired
Season Stories
Season 7, part 1
Season 7, part 2
Season 7, part 3
Season 7, part 4
Season 7, part 5
Season 7, part 6
Season 7, part 7
Season 7, part 8
Season 7, part 9
** Season 7, part 10
Season 7/8 fics involving Mulderâs brain disease thing
Season 8
Season 8/9 fics where Mulder doesnât leave
Season 11
Holiday Stories
Christmas, New Yearâs Eve, and Hannukah, Part 1
Christmas, New Yearâs Eve, and Hannukah, Part 2
Christmas, New Yearâs Eve, and Hannukah, Part 3
Fics where Mulder and Scully exchange gifts
Halloween, Part 1
Halloween, Part 2
Mulderâs birthday
Scullyâs birthday
Thanksgiving, Part 1
Thanksgiving, Part 2
Thanksgiving, Part 3
Valentineâs Day
Other Themed Stories
** Amnesia fics
Angst/smut combo fics
AU fics
Autumn fics
Casefiles, Part 1
Casefiles, Part 2
** Casefiles, Part 3
Casefiles with Mulder and Scully in an established relationship
** Crossovers
Cute domestic MSR fics
Fics exploring Scullyâs faith
Fics focused on Mulder and Scully kissing
Fics where first names (Fox or Dana) are used
Fics where Mulder and Scully exchange keys
Fics where Mulder calls Scully âDana Katherineâ
Fics where Mulder calls Scully âhoneyâ
Fics where Mulder cheats on Scully
Fics where Mulder comforts Scully and calls her âhoneyâ
Fics where Mulder is at Williamâs birth
Fics where Scully cheats on Ethan
Fics with camping + smut
** Fics with Doggett and/or Reyes
Fics with Mulder and Scully at a team building seminar
Fics with Mulder and/or Scully in a kidnapping or hostage situation
Fics with Mulder or Scully sleepwalking
Fics with Mulder taking comfort in sucking on Scullyâs boobs
Fics with Scully breastfeeding
Fics with Scully on her period
Fics with Scully suffering from postpartum depression
First time fics (posted before 2000)
Funny fics
Happy fics
Historical AUs
Jealousy fics
Jealousy fics in the I Want to Believe era
Kidfic and babyfic
Kinky fics
Long cancer arc fics
Marriage proposals
Mulder-as-profiler fics
Mulder being jealous or territorial
Mulder comforting Scully
Mulder comforts Scully while flying
Mulder/Scully arguments (leading to happiness)
Mulder/Scully banter
Mulder/Scully reunion after passed time
** My favorite fics
New Orleans fics
Novel-length stories, Part 1
Novel-length stories, Part 2
Novel-length stories, Part 3
Novel-length stories, Part 4
Novel-length stories, Part 5
One bed trope fics
Party / FBI ball fics
** Post-colonization stories
Scully bringing Mulder to a family gathering
Scully giving birth
Scully miscarriage stories
Scully/Other fics
Scully/Other, Mulder/Other, and MSR
Scully/Skinner long fics
Skinner/Maggie Scully fics
** Skinner is jealous of Mulder and Scullyâs relationship
Springtime fics
Stories involving Ethan
Undercover fics
Do you still take ficlet prompts? If so would love something either post Orison or post Pusher. Thanks in case!
She went to his apartment so he couldnât decline an invitation to hers. Scully brought Thai food and a six pack, wore stretchy pants and an oversized gray Henley she stole from Jack Willis.
Mulder sighs when he opens the door, rubs a hand over his face. âScully, go home.â
She shoves past him to the living room. She deposits their dinner on the coffee table and makes herself comfortable on the couch.
âI was planning to wash my hair,â Mulder says, shutting the door. âI have to clean the fish tank.â
Scully peers at the aquarium. âIt looks fine to me, sit down.â
He does but still looks annoyed. âI really just want to be alone right now. This was one for the books.â
She knows, she gets it, sheâd be doing the same in his shoes. Sheâs imagined watching Mulder watching her die in that little room, if she hadnât grabbed the fire alarm. What would Modell have done then? Made Mulder eat a bullet too? Forbid him if heâd wanted to? She shivers a little - both their lives saved by a chance glimpse in a mirror.
âThen pretend youâre alone,â she says, passing him a foil container of som tum. âWe donât have to talk.â
She doesnât even want to talk, she finds. She just wants them together tonight.
Mulder looks thoughtful. He opens two beers and passes her one. Heaps papaya and noodles and a spring roll each onto two plates. Turns on the TV, which is partway into the opening credits of The Sandlot.
Itâs on tape, Scully realizes. Itâs a movie heâd started watching deliberately, a way to comfort himself.
They eat. They watch it and never say a word, but sheâs curled against him when they finish it. She feels good too. Happy, even.
Scully takes his hand again, as she had in the hospital. She laces their fingers together, because they are alive. He presses her knuckles to his lips in the silent dark.
She touches his cheek with the pads of her fingers. She walks out the door, she drives herself home.
The drive to Alexandria is so second nature to her that sheâs determined to watch out for changes, hints that might suggest how much time has passed. She scans her surroundings as she drives, her head darting left to right to see everything.
She notices a new, neon-bright exterior to a bar in Georgetown, as conspicuous as a tropical fish. On M Street there's a bike rental shop that she doesn't recognize. The bridge itself, the waters of the Potomac, the stone-lined George Washington Memorial parkway: these all look the same to her. Of course, itâs dark out, so she is limited by what she can see in the overlapping circles of streetlights.
A small billboard advertising a top 40 radio station catches her attention, but she canât be sure whether that was there before. Itâs amazing how much of oneâs surroundings one doesnât notice in everyday life, she thinks. However, the sign makes her realize she could give the radio a try.
Yes. She should turn on the car radio.
She fiddles with the console and tries a public radio station first, thinking there might be news of the day playing that could provide a date or other clues. That station seems to be running some kind of evening documentary program on the history of the Vietnam War memorial. Scully turns it up to listen more closely: ââŚand wanted to make something that allowed people to remember, but wanted to serve as a visual reminder that the dead did not come back.â Itâs an account of events from years ago: not especially helpful now.
She hits scan, moving through the ripping static noises to other stations, listening for a moment to each one. Classic rock. Latin. A commercial for car insurance.
She remembers the call number of the top 40 station from the billboard, and she tunes into that, her eyes periodically darting back up to the road.
ââŚYouâre listening to Washingtonâs hit music station, Z104.â
The deejayâs patter seems like it might reveal promising information. She turns it up, but the deejay quickly transitions into music. Itâs some sentimental pop ballad with piano.
She sighs. It shouldnât be so difficult to find out what the date is, should it?
Scully turns her attention to the song. Itâs completely unfamiliar to her, but itâs not like itâs entirely unusual for her to fail to recognize pop music. On the other hand, she did have the impression that teen music was edgier than this. This song seems very soft. She remembers those teenagers in Oklahoma, that lightning case, the kind of angst-ridden, angry music they liked. Their music reminded her a little of the punk music she admired in high school.
The male singer of the ballad on the radio is very emotional. As she drives into Alexandria, she listens, with mild curiosity, to the lyrics. He seems to be posing questions to a woman returning from a long, otherworldly absence.
Tell me, he challenges her. Did you sail across the sun? Did Venus blow your mind? Did you see that heaven is overrated? Did you miss me when you were looking for yourself out there?
A chill again trickles through her, running down her limbs.
Did you fall from a shooting star?
No. She doesnât like this song. Her heart has begun thumping again, so loudly she hears it in her head. She turns off the radio.
What she needs more than any half-ass clue hunting, more than this nerve-wracking guessing game, is to find her partner. He will tell her whatever she needs to know. She doesnât need to deduce it from radio stations.
That sounds enough like common sense to calm her down.
Hegal Place and his apartment building donât look any different to her, thank God. The interior still has that musty historical smell, with a dash of insecticide and Pine Sol. The numbers on the elevator buttons are still mostly worn off; the lighting in the halls is still tinged amber and curiously dim.
She moves quickly down his hallway, but hesitates at the spot where she remembers last speaking to him. When he was cupping her head with such tenderness. When he was leaning in with the most desperate, longing expression on his face. How long ago was that? she wonders? What happened next?
She examines the floor for evidence that she had landed there, unconscious, felled by a sting. But there is nothing to see there but dingy beige tile, worn and scuffed by too much foot traffic.
Scully swallows. She walks, determined, to #42 âand then stands there just staring at the closed door. Taking a fortifying breath. Steeling herself for the worst.
If it isnât him, if he doesnât live here any more, well, sheâs going to be upset, but sheâll just go to the Hoover building next. It will be okay. She will be okay. Sheâll figure it out. She can still find Mulder.
Thatâs all perfectly logical, and sheâs aware of that. But she isnât operating on pure logic here. Her heart just wants him to be here, in his pajamas, arms open, ready to order her some takeout. Please let him be here, she thinks, little tears springing in her eyes. Please let it be Mulder.
She knocks on the door. And waits, listening for any noise inside.
And then she tries again.
There is no response. She bites her lip, hoping sheâll still hear him any moment. What time it is shouldnât matter. Thereâs no time of night that Mulder wouldnât wake up hearing knocking on his door.
After a momentâs hesitation, she reaches into her pocket, fumbling a little, and she produces his key. All right. If itâs not his apartment, it wonât fit. And then she will know.
She notices the sound of her own shallow breathing as she pushes the key in.
It slides into the lock perfectly, same as it always has.
Scully presses her eyes closed and releases a long sigh. She turns the key, unlocks it, and pushes open his door.
The space inside is lit only by the mottled green glow of the fish tank, but sheâs greeted by the unmistakable sight of Mulderâs familiar apartment. The couch. The patterned Navajo blanket. The art on the walls. She would know it anywhere. Itâs as familiar as any place on earth to her.
Her knees almost buckle from relief. Whatever else happens, she is safe now, and at least has a place to sleep tonight. Not her own home, but nearly as close as she can imagine.
âMulder?â she calls. âHello?â
There's no answer, and the silence unnerves her. She flips on a switch, and the room is illuminated. She takes some tentative steps inside.
His place is very messy, even for Mulder. There are several mealsâ worth of dirty dishes stacked on the coffee table, which isnât typical for him. Papers and files are strewn over the desk, spilling haphazardly onto the floor. This paper chaos is more typical for him, although it seems especially out of hand.
She picks up a fast food wrapper off the floor and glances at some of the papers on his desk, which seem to be a mix of bills and old article clippings. Is he out of town? Or is he just out for the night, chasing down a source? She wonders why itâs gotten so messy.
The phone on his desk is peeking out from under a newspaper, but she's relieved to see it. Immediately she picks it up and dials his cell number. It goes straight to voicemail. She hangs it up and sighs heavily, standing still a moment. Taking in the information around her.
Where are you, Mulder?
She wanders into the kitchen. The clock over his stove top says 11:38, which answers one of her questions, although hardly the most important.
The kitchen is also in unhygienic disarray, with a heap of unwashed dishes resting in the sink, as though he hasnât been bothered with them in quite some time. The garbage can is overflowing, to-go containers piled precariously on top. She crumples up the fast food wrapper and sticks it in the side of the can as best she can.
The room doesnât smell particularly good, and this turns her already-vulnerable stomach. Whatâs more, Scully doesnât like what she sees here. Not any of this. It sets her on edge.
Mulder often comes across as disorganized and scattered, but he isnât dirty. He can actually be oddly fastidious, sometimes even more than her about select topics. She has never seen dirty dishes piling up in his kitchen before.
âMulder?â she calls out again, more loudly, her voice a little shrill. She doesnât know why sheâs calling his name when itâs clear heâs not here.
She decides to look in his refrigerator for evidence heâs been here recently, and she braces herself for seeing and smelling a landscape of rotting food. Holding her breath, she throws open the door of the fridge quickly.
Much to her relief, itâs inoffensive. Thereâs very little inside, in factâexcept a glass pan of lasagna covered in plastic wrap with a single square cut out. She slides the pan out a little to look at it, and sees a note taped to the top of the plastic.
Her breath catches.
The note is on familiar stationary, yellow paper decorated with little sunshines and daisies. The note has two sentences written in precise cursive in blue pen: âPlease eat at least half this time. Iâll check when I come back for the pan on Sunday. -Mâ
The word âhalfâ is underlined three times. Itâs unquestionably her motherâs handwriting.
Scully slides it back into the fridge and closes the door.
She thinks about the last time her mother and Mulder took care of one another. She thinks about how this might relate to her memory problemsâ what Mulder would call âlost time.â
Did you sail across the sun? Did Venus blow your mind?
No. She is not ready to face this possibility. Not again. She feels tears prickling the corners of her eyes.
No. Absolutely not.
She turns to the sink and looks around for Mulderâs dish soap and sponge.
With grim determination she begins to work on his pile of dirty dishes, holding her breath against the smell. The hot water scalds her hands, but strangely, she finds the sensation not unpleasant.
The soap and water makes her left hand sting a little, and she considers again the cut there. Itâs deeper than she first realized. She chooses to ignore it.
Because thatâs what sheâs doing right now. Sheâs ignoring things. And doing dishes.
Once she finishes the dishes in the sink, she goes into the living room and scoops up the dirty dishes off of his coffee table, and takes them into the sink next. It gives her a reassuring sense of control. At least Mulderâs goddamn dish problem is in hand.
When sheâs done with that, she has created so many clean dishes they donât even fit in his drying rack, so she spreads out some dish towels on his countertop and lets them rest there to dry out, too. Sheâll get his help to put them all up later. Hopefully.
Next she finds his garbage bags, and she empties his overflowing garbage, carrying it down the hall of his building to the garbage chute, holding it out away from her body so she canât smell it.
She returns to his kitchen to wash her hands. As she stands surveying her good work, she realizes she is starving.
Well. She knows thereâs at least one thing to eat, and she trusts her momâs cooking.
She pulls out her motherâs lasagna from the fridge, uncovers it, and slices herself off a giant slab of lasagna, much bigger than the tiny piece Mulder had apparently previously cut for himself. She places it on a freshly clean plate and heats it, watching it in the microwave.
Iâm sorry, Mom, she thinks. No doubt Mulder should be taking your sensible food advice and eating this, but your daughter needs food, too.
It comes out of the microwave appealingly gooey and bubbly. Her stomach rumbles, and she wonders again when she last ate.
She finds a clean fork and takes an eager bite, humming in immediate satisfaction as she stands there clutching the plate. Her motherâs lasagna. Ground sausage and ricotta, a smidge of basil and garlic, generous mozzarella. It tastes like childhood, nourishing and wholesome. Scully feels suddenly desperate with the need to see her mother. Soon, she promises herself. After she talks to Mulder.
She decides not to sit down to eat, feeling too antsy. Instead, she walks around curiously as she shovels hungry forkfuls from her plate to her mouth. She peers at the detritus around the apartment for any hint of what might be happening.
On his kitchen table she leans over to stare closely at a pair of glasses Mulder has left sitting precariously close to the edge, deciding they are the same pair he always wore. Next to his computer, she tries to read the content of a receipt sitting out prominently, but the type is smeared.
She notices the door to his bedroom is cracked open, which surprises her. Normally he uses his bedroom as some kind of disastrous storage facility, with boxes of files he doesnât keep at the office for whatever reason. As well as, no doubt, an impressive treasure trove of his pornography.
Hands full of her plate and fork, she nudges the door with her toe. To her surprise, it falls open easily. She sticks her head inside â and then lowers the plate, her eyes widening.
His bedroom is a normal bedroom. Cluttered, yes. Unmade bed. Clothes on the floor. But a normal bedroom, with a queen-sized bed.
She takes a step inside the room, aware that she is definitely snooping now. Itâs always struck her as profoundly strange and sad that Mulder didnât have a dedicated place to sleep. Or, if sheâs being honest, to have sex. She isnât sure how she feels to know that something about his life has changed this much. It should make her glad for him, but it also makes her uneasy.
Sheâs afraid to look too closely at the reading material piled around on the dresser and bedside table, but even a quick perfunctory glance tells her itâs not porn. A more systematic sweep of the room and she doesnât see any of his magazines, actually, and that surprises her, too.
His bed is tousled and looks like it hasnât been made for days, weeks, maybe ever. His pillow is slightly indented, and Scully has a very powerful impulse to go press her face down upon it, to inhale his scent, so familiar from routinely working in his aura: in motel rooms, in cars, on sojourns in the woods. From when they hold each other close after theyâve almost lost each other. The thought immediately embarrasses her. She should walk right out of this room right now. Itâs not her business to be in here.
But her eye is caught by something vivid green laying on his bed, near his pillow but slightly obscured by a fold in his comforter. She takes a few steps forward to see it more clearly, resisting the urge to go pick it up.
She can see it now. Itâs a sweater, a very small green sweater. She can make out its basic silhouette quite clearly. Way too small to be Mulderâs. Too small to be most menâs, truthfully, and cut rather slim.
She stands there unmoving, gripping the plate of her motherâs lasagna tightly, mouth gaping a little in disbelief, trying to take in the sight of that unfamiliar womanâs sweater on her partnerâs bed.
Maybe this is the reason for the bedroom. Maybe he has a girlfriend. Maybe thatâs where he is right now, somewhere out with his girlfriend. Maybe at his girlfriendâs apartment.
It gives Scully a sickening, vertigo feeling, like she possibly could throw up the lasagna. Is nothing what she expects now? Can she depend on anything? Does she even know this person â Mulder with a girlfriend? Is he the same man, the man she trusts and needs right now?
Immediately she shakes her head at herself in disgust. Sheâs being ridiculous; she knows she is. Mulder with a girlfriend is probably the same partner to her as Mulder without a girlfriend. Why shouldnât he be? Thereâs no reason to feel so devastated, so empty. Mulder isnât her boyfriend. He never has been.
Itâs just that so much of this is not what she remembers. What she most clearly remembers, in fact, is him trying to kiss her. But that was one little moment, one tiny blip in time, and she doesnât even know what happened after that.
She rotates around the bedroom, her eyes scanning his work shirts strewn on the floor. Truthfully, besides the sweater, nothing in the state of this apartment especially suggests to her a happy Mulder with a girlfriend.
Actually, thereâs nothing that seems clear here at all. Nothing that adds up to a straightforward picture. Itâs all contradictory and disorienting. She releases a quiet sigh.
Sheâs only eaten about half, but the lasagna has lost its appeal. She looks down at the plate wrinkling her forehead, deciding to throw it out. This thought process is interrupted when his phone begins ringing.
She follows the sound of the ring back into his living room, considering for a moment whether to pick it up. Probably not the wisest idea, given everything she doesnât understand here. Before she talks to anyone else, she wants to talk to Mulder.
Sitting carefully on his couch, setting her plate on the coffee table, she listens to the rings, letting his machine pick up. His message is exactly the same message she has heard a thousand times, which makes her want to weep.
After the beep, the callerâs message begins. âHey, Mulder.â
Itâs Byers. Scully straightens up, alert.
âWeâre just calling to make sure youâŚgot home okay. Because you, uh, seemed a little off. Itâs about 12:45 now, so it seems like you should be there by nowâŚbut perhaps you made another stop. Or something. Well. Just call when you get this.â
There is a scuffling sound, and then Frohikeâs voice: âWe worry, my friend. Please let us know youâre home okay. No more scares.â Beep.
Scully stares at the machine, processing this new information.
No more scares.
Seemed a little off.
Should be there by now.
She leans her head back on the leather of his couch, drained. She wonders if she should call the Gunmen back and try to extract more information from them. They could at least answer her most basic questions. Had Mulder been at their place? Where might he have gone from there? Should she be looking for him? What âscares?â Oh, and what year is it? And as far as they know, has she been anywhere unusual as of late?
Her eyes fall closed, and she is suddenly so unbelievably tired.
I could easily fall asleep, she realizes in surprise. Which seems preposterous, given the circumstances, the countless unanswered questions. But itâs just all so overwhelming, so impossible to parse. Her body and mind seem to have given up on her.
For a moment she lets herself drift, her limbs going slack.
The sound of a key scraping in the door startles her awake.
