Story 34: "The Unfinished Universe" by Revely

[wendelah1]

This week's selection is The Unfinished Universe by Revely.

Classification: S/MSR/ This story wasn't AU when I started it,but now it is.
Spoilers: Through Badlaa
Feedback: revely_c@yahoo.com, or Revely@my-deja.com
A Note about the Timeline: This story contains spoilers for the first ten episodes of Season 8, but assumes that those episodes took place over the course of Scully's pregnancy (instead of just two or three months.) It also assumes that 'Requiem' took place in September, not May. Since this does not include spoilers for "Per Manum," it *really* doesn't include spoilers. Meaning, in this universe, the flashbacks from PM never happened.

Thanks to lightlack for the nomination.

As always, let the author know what you think; let us know what you think; and please, give us your suggestions for next time.

Comments

[emily-shore.livejournal.com]

While I might claim not to be fond of babyfic, I *am* really fond of this story. I read it for the first time before I saw season eight, so I was quite willing to believe that it was the authorized, "real" version of what happened. I still am, come to that.

It's well-observed and not sentimental. This Scully is neither a perfect mother nor a bad mother, but quite simply Scully with a baby and a fierce maternal love. It is fascinating to watch Mulder getting to know her all over again, and the baby as well. It's a small scale voyage of discovery, but a voyage nonetheless, with the cross-country trip providing the perfect parallel.

Mulder waits until the door of the bathroom sucks shut before nudging the baby-carrier on her seat with his toe. The motion jerks the baby out of his daze, and he blinks solemnly.

"So what's your story?" Mulder asks. "Or can't you remember either?"

The recapitulation of Scully's season eight cases is also very nicely done. It solves the problem of season eight--the lack of Mulder making for boring viewing--by in a way inserting his perspective ex post facto into the cases. I loved this bit:

He is very interested in bats in general, he says, and man-bats in particular. This file seems to intrigue him more than the slug case, and he reads it from front to back several times before questioning her as they shoot down the highway passing 18-wheelers and school buses.

And:

"Oh God, Mulder," she says, wiping her eyes, "I can't tell youhow long I've been waiting to hear you make that joke."

Beyond case files, the story recapitulates a lot of the time they spent apart, their back story, how the trip allows them to reflect on what has happened between them.

This piece of observation is just sweet:

The boy toys with his ear and makes desperate sooming noises, like she's the only oasis in the desert of his life. This is startlingly true, he realizes. He feels the same way.

It's interesting that the author has Scully breastfeeding. Is this true in the series? Because I only remember a bottle, and as much as I want to believe, somehow I see her as someone who would choose the bottle.

Very nice story, although I find myself wondering where they stashed the baby in the final scene.

[dictatorcari]

I find myself wondering where they stashed the baby in the final scene.

I thought of that, too. :)

[emily-shore.livejournal.com]

Because the baby was so nicely handled throughout all of the story, it annoyed me that he disappeared conveniently just in time for the oh-so-romantic sex scene...

[wendelah1]

But she has been staying there on and off with the baby- there is a baby tub in Mulder's bathroom and baby stuff all over the place. She obviously has to have somewhere set up for the baby to sleep. Scully does not seem like the family bed sort of person. (Not that there is anything wrong with the family bed.) I didn't give this a second thought. I don't think that Will(iam) was born when this story was conceived so I don't think that she knew whether or not Scully was breastfeeding. Often people do both breast and bottle, especially if they know they are going to go back to work and have daycare. It can be hard to get a breast-only baby to take a bottle. Anyone with a medical education should know the benefit to the baby to breastfeed. That doesn't mean that 1013 does, of course. . .this is a very odd discussion to be having here.

[emily-shore.livejournal.com]

But she has been staying there on and off with the baby- there is a baby tub in Mulder's bathroom and baby stuff all over the place. She obviously has to have somewhere set up for the baby to sleep.

Oh, I wasn't questioning that. Just that there's no mention of the baby being put down to sleep, or anything along those lines. William is so present in the whole of the story that this sudden absence seems a bit jarring to me.

I don't think that Will(iam) was born when this story was conceived so I don't think that she knew whether or not Scully was breastfeeding.

Oh, I forgot about that. Good point. Even though Scully is a doctor, I somehow can't see her choosing to breastfeed. But as you point out, this is an odd discussion to have here...

[memento1.livejournal.com]

*L* No WAY. I swear I read this on my own just a week or two ago. Small world. It was pretty good. I loved Mulder-as-father, an archetype that wasn't explored enough in the series, and for some reason I loved the poetry walk, with Scully's explanation for his name, but...I feel like I kind of missed the point. An excellent character study, but I found myself wanting some story to flesh it out. Then again, that probably is the point - that life is a journey.

[counterphobe.livejournal.com]

Chiming in even though I don't have anything significant to add:

I read this story a while ago and adored it. It went as far as anything could to redeem the last seasons. As far as I remember, I liked everything about it.

I was planning to reread it so I could participate here, but I don't think I'll actually get around to it. Nevertheless, great story. Great title, too.

[wendelah1]

I read it and enjoyed it, too, much more than I thought I would. Now I just have to think of something interesting to say.

[wendelah1]

I should be upfront about this from the get-go: I have a very hard time reading any story having to do with William. It just brings up all my bad feelings about the end of series and the pregnancy arc and the adoption and so on. I need to work on all that but not here.

I did enjoy reading this story. It is very well-crafted, effortlessly weaving in events from seasons one through eight into the story's framework. It moves back and forth in time and changes in point of view seamlessly. I am quite impressed. Revely makes this look so easy.

She wanted so much to set the clocks back that she was half-convinced it was possible. People claimed they found rifts in space and time, didn't they? Why couldn't she? She'd take them back to that morning and she'd grab his hand and head toward Ohio. Or she'd hold herself over him on his bed for much longer, drown him in their tidal coupling, make him forget the plane he had to catch with Skinner.

This road trip feels like a rift in space and time. It is a deliberate attempt on Scully's part to ease Mulder back into life, to give him time to read through the year's cases, and to read her of course, like the good profiler that he is. She keeps a very close eye on him as well. It is a rocky road back, full of little missteps. They keep stopping at rest stops with swing-sets even though Mulder doesn't like having his feet off the ground and Will can't even hold his own head up. Mulder keeps looking at Scully, but only when he thinks she won't notice. She keeps herself awake watching him sleep, filling herself with memories so that she will have something to hold onto when they get back to Washington. She can't bear the thought of a another night without him. He talks to Will but only when he thinks Scully is out of earshot. She thinks that if she will be diminished in his eyes if he sees her as a mother. Of course, she is unconsciously mothering Mulder.

"We've seen something like this before," he says, trying to capture his straw in his open mouth without looking.

"I know." She reaches across her plate and steadies his straw until he finds it, holding it while he drinks, letting his lips press against the edge of her fingers. He rests against her hand for a second and she closes her eyes.

On her part, it is just sweet nurturing gesture, but Mulder turns it into a sensual caress. He looks like a concentration camp victim so she keeps trying to stuff him full of pie. They are sleeping in different beds until Mulder has a nightmare that propels him out of bed, shedding clothing and inhibition, in his rush to try to shower away the dream. She can't just say, do you want to sleep with me so that I can comfort you, and he can't ask. Sex seems even more unlikely than sharing a bed which is funny, considering the evidence of their sexual history is sitting in the carseat or sleeping in the portacrib, right in front of them.

She is sure of one thing - they are past having a normal relationship. It was never going to be defined the way others' define things, as either good or bad. Instead, they were forced together by both circumstance and preference, and they moved toward one another in a slow tumble, like captured asteroids toward a black hole.

This might be my favorite season eight story. I recommend it without reservation.

[emily-shore.livejournal.com]

This road trip feels like a rift in space and time. It is a deliberate attempt on Scully's part to ease Mulder back into life, to give him time to read through the year's cases, and to read her of course, like the good profiler that he is.

In a sense I think it also reconciles us as viewers with the trauma of season eight. It places it all in the appropriate context--namely, firmly in a flashback--and begins with the work of reconciling both us and the characters to what happened. If you see what I mean.

Sex seems even more unlikely than sharing a bed which is funny, considering the evidence of their sexual history is sitting in the carseat or sleeping in the portacrib, right in front of them.

Good point. Very amusing.

[wendelah1]

If you see what I mean. I do, I do. Now, do you think we could kidnap revely and get her to write something that can reconcile us, or at least me, to season nine, if possible between now and July 25th? Just the thought of that is giving me a headache the size of Montana.

[emily-shore.livejournal.com]

I have to admit, the closer this movie gets, the less enthusiastic I get about it. But that's probably a topic for another time...

[revely.livejournal.com]

I don't think I have a novel that long in me. ;)

What sweet comments on my little story you guys! It really did my heart good to hear that people remember it and have read it again--you have no idea.

[emily-shore.livejournal.com]

Thank you for commenting! It's good to know that our little discussions have a positive impact. :)

[hooves.livejournal.com]

It took me a while to get around to reading this, mostly because I'm not a fan of babyfic (so many people write it poorly, after all), but also because I haven't gotten far enough in the series for all of this to make sense to me.

I still haven't gotten far enough in the series, but I just finished reading this one, and I have to say that it's not bad. I wouldn't classify it as a good babyfic: it's more like a character study kind of 'fic that just happens to have a baby in it. Will wasn't a big part of the story, not as much a part of it as I hoped he would be, but emotions were.

It had a lot of nice little bits in it, like Mulder talking to Will when Scully wasn't in the room; Scully naming him Will, not William (and her reasoning for it); Scully's fear that even now he can't see her as a mother. One thing I did like about this 'fic that might seem weird is: I liked this version of Scully-as-a-mother. She's still Scully: she just happens to also be a mother.

This ties into most babyfic being terrible, but I think a lot of authors, like people in general, buy into the fundamental idea that once you become a mother EVERYTHING CHANGES FOREVER, and by 'everything' I mean (general) you. I don't think this is the case; while motherhood (and the responsibilities that come with it!) do change things, I don't think your function as a person changes; I don't think your personality shifts. And I definitely think that in Scully's case, at her age, considering her situation, I can't imagine she'd just become a stereotypical mother: the kind you just assume everyone turns into once they pop out a baby or two.

I'm not sure how I feel about William in general, within the show's terrible mytharc or otherwise, but this story at least made what I assume was an honest effort to give us a piece that focused on all of the changes that Will's appearance along with Mulder's (re)appearance brought about--particularly emotionally. I mean, Scully "making room for Mulder" after he was gone? That honestly got to me a little. Of course she did. Of course she would. They're wrapped up tight.