xf_book_club | Story 124: "Bait and Switch" by Syntax6

We are still talking about "Butterflies All Tied Up." Discussion is being moderated by

amyhit, who bravely agreed to post the story. Please jump in, as I love to be told when I'm wrong. Come on, long-time lurkers, you know you want to.

Throughout our little first time sex scene series, I've continued to puzzle over what makes a sex scene -- sexy -- to me. This story isn't exactly a "guilty pleasure" story, since those mostly involve Mulder/Scully/Krycek and/or paddling (giving a whole new meaning to the term "crackfic"), but I will say I found the sex scene really hot. The first time I read it, I thought I was going into ventricular fibrillation, my heart was beating so rapidly. As always, sexy is in the eye of the beholder, so no guarantees you'll require resuscitation. It's also a great noir mystery story, full of twists and turns.

From the author's note:

Q. So what's this story about, anyway?
A. It's a noir-ish tale where good people may do bad things, bad people may do good things, and sometimes it might not be possible to tell the difference. The lucky ones live to tell about it.
Q. Yeah, but do Mulder and Scully get to have sex and stuff?
A. Yes.
Q. Wait, that was too easy. This sex, do they have it with each other?
A. Totally possible.
Q. When they're not having sex, what are they doing?
A. They're caught up in a murder that cuts very close to home. The investigation reveals truths about each other that they may never have wanted to know.

Read "Bait and Switch", then come back for discussion.

Since all of her stories are not at Gossamer, here is her website: home of the slugslayer.

Never fear, someday I will resume recs from the nomination post, so keep them coming.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

The sex is poorly timed, and that *is* what makes it kind of hot.

It certainly worked for me. Bad timing and misunderstanding are also key elements in "A Bitter Taste on the Tongue." Then just throw a little unrehearsed bondage into the mix, and wheeee! But that's just me.

The misunderstandings surrounding the sex make it even more heart wrenching, however. Scully believing she has just given up her last mystery, and therefore, made herself less interesting, made me ache a little bit. It was believable Scully POV for me, which I sometimes think is harder to pin down than Mulder POV. On the other side of it, Mulder wondering whether the chip had somehow brought her to his bedroom and whether she remembered it at all--gah! That slayed me.

Oh, me, too. But I think that emotional disconnect and the resulting heartache were also part of what was a turn-on for me. It's very hard to be analytical about sex.

It ends happily enough (except for the threat of cancer and Mulder's disappearance) with them together, so we know this was all resolved, but I also would have been happy had we not known that some of these aspects were tied up between the two of them. We have ample evidence that these two leave a lot unspoken, so unresolved would have been fine with me. Maybe I just enjoy the angst and delayed payoff too much.

I wouldn't say this ends happily, not really, not at all. What I would say is that Syntax6 is really good at writing AU scenarios that fit seamlessly into canon without fundamentally altering the outcome. Even without the chip, Scully doesn't die of cancer, although we don't ever find out why. Diana still dies as a result of her efforts to try to save Mulder. Yeah, Mulder and Scully end up together a little sooner, but Scully still ends up inexplicably pregnant (maybe due to something done to her while she was still under the influence of the chip, who knows?). Because Scully's memory of what Diana told her gets lost when the chip is removed, Mulder still gets abducted, and then rest of seasons eight and nine and IWTB presumably proceed without interruption.

I know from experience how difficult it is to work a new story into and around existing canon. Damn, she makes it look so easy, and what's more, she's done it over and over again with the same excellent results. I really admire her writing.

edited: for tense issues. I did not sleep much last night.

Edited 2010-08-17 17:50 (UTC)

Fitting in AU into the canon is incredibly impressive. This is an amazing fic. I was hooked in a way I haven't been by an X-Files fic in quite some time, especially a case file. I'm beyond impressed.

If you haven't read the rest of her fic, do go read the AU she wrote for season one, "Universal Invariants". It has a sequel, too, "Laws of Motion". Oh, and you must read "Isometry", her AU for the cancer arc.

Edit: I almost forgot. "Overnight Sensation"

Here's her site: http://www.omniscribe.com/

Edited 2010-08-18 16:14 (UTC)

This is the thing that REALLY excites me when Syntax stories show up - not just the well-written casefile and interesting emotional conflicts, but more than anything the sheer fun of seeing her fit the story right into canon. Theoretically these are stories that could have been happening right offscreen, and they usually add a completely plausible and really intriguing twist to the interpretation of the real episodes.

I'll echo Wendy and say that, for me at least, this is not a happy ending. But as Scully realizes during the story, there is not likely to be a happy ending for her. Either she keeps the chip in and remains a pawn in the game, or removes it and takes the very real risk that the cancer returns. We gather it doesn't by the end of the series, but who knows what happens in the future? She may yet go the way of Penny Northern. In addition, by 'saving herself' through the chip removal, Scully dooms Mulder. Diana finally does right by Mulder, but her actions end up being for naught.

On a positive note, neither Mulder or Scully go to jail for murder. That's something! :-)

Cheers, syntax6

Story 124: "Bait and Switch" by Syntax6

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it's XF; there are no happy endings ;-)