Another way to look at this story is as a kind of inside-out AU. Most AU stories (which I generally dislike, actually) operate on the premise of "let's take the exact same characters and make them have the exact same reactions they would ordinarily, but change the surroundings and see what happens." Iolokus is more like, "let's keep the external variables the same and see what happens if we take the essence of Mulder and Scully but let them come undone by all the horrific personal tragedy they've suffered and see what happens."
no subject
I agree with this.