Story 267: "America's Games" by Sarah Segretti

[wendelah1]

I love angst and fix-it fics (and the writing of prufrock's love) but I'm ready to take a break from the post-series, post-IWTB setting, and read something set earlier in the series. This rec comes from last year's The Ten Greatest XF Fics You've Ever Read. Read what zinnia03 had to say about "America's Games":

America’s Games by Sarah Segretti. Author’s synopsis: “Assigned to the bioterrorism squad at the 1996 Summer Olympics, Scully tries to make sense of confusing evidence, her baffling partner and her uncertain place in a world where the X-Files don't matter.” Set just post-Talitha Cumi and Herrenvolk. Sort of a fish-out-of-water story with Scully temporarily assigned away from Mulder and the X-Files, though of course Mulder can’t stay away long. Scully tries to puzzle out the information from files they found at Strughold Mining, and Mulder wants to investigate ginseng farms in Canada. Both are frustrated by their lack of progress, plus there's an undercurrent that is making them snipe at each other. High tension story that fits the mid-series tone.

Read America's Games.

I'd love to know what you thought of the story. The nomination post is always open for your suggestions and I will get back to posting them soon. You can also read this fic at Sarah Segretti's Author Page at Gossamer.

Comments

"That's where the hope is" part 2

[wendelah1]

Back to the story.

So my problem here is that while Mulder's question to her is a good one, Scully's answer to him doesn't satisfy me. Segretti is a great writer. All credit to her for giving it a go but there is nothing anyone can say or do—or write—to put this mess to rights, short of a complete AU, and that's not what she intended.

The jetliner that went down near New York was a real event; of course, the Olympics really were held in Atlanta in 1996. Segretti has Scully relieved of her duties and reassigned to investigating the ginseng operation in Alberta (How? It's in Canada. They have no jurisdiction.) just before the bombing took place on July 27.

The radio was broadcasting the latest news from Atlanta in counterpoint to her thoughts. They'd missed the bomb at Centennial Olympic Park by just hours. If Mulder had shown up at the CDC later, or their flight had been delayed, both of them no doubt would have been drafted into the manhunt. She could have done something useful for the Atlanta team, been of real help to someone.

This is all true. It makes sense that Scully is frustrated with their lack of progress, with the meaninglessness of it all. Why then does she keep going?

She stood under a glorious blue sky, mountains visible in the distance, the gentle rolling prairies around her easy on the eye. And she was watching her partner roam around an abandoned farm that meant nothing any more. Her head still ached, and she rubbed the space between her eyebrows again. Science had provided them a place to start, but there was nowhere to finish.

There are no answers to be found here. Scully has rejected Mulder's tentative advances--so she's not hanging around hoping that something happens in that department, at least not consciously. However, her nagging headache reminds us that she's a few months shy of being diagnosed with a terminal cancer that's a result of the experimentation she was subjected to by the Consortium. That certainly gets her reinvested in the X-Files.

One more thing I want to mention is the clever way she subverted the one-bed trope. Mulder shows up unexpectedly and there's no room at the inn because Olympics. They have to share her room. Even with with two beds, there is some sexual tension. Mulder even hints at his interest in a sexual relationship, but she rejects him--in words yet. How often does that happen in fanfic?

"Yes, but the civilizations that built them are still gone." Now he did turn to look at her, his eyes dark. "Who remembers us, if our civilization meets the same fate? How do you prevent that?"

"It won't happen, Mulder," Scully said. "We won't let it." Without thinking, she put a hand on Mulder's knee. Immediately his eyes changed, focused completely on her. She caught her breath, felt herself lean forward, lean into him -- No. No, no, no. And she drew back. She understood him now, understood why he'd come to Atlanta, why they were here tonight, but it was wrong. The motive was wrong, the timing was wrong.

"So we need to keep our focus," she continued, gently removing her hand. "We're so close, Mulder, I can feel it. We can't let anything get in our way, not now."

Here she's reaffirming her commitment to their mutual quest, which clearly disappoints him. And then the bottom falls out again, when they discover that the files are gone, the smallpox data is lost (unclear how that happened but okay) and the farms in Alberta have been cleared and plowed under, putting them right back where they started. I'm as frustrated about it as Scully, especially since Chris Carter has no intention of ever giving us closure. I might have liked a hint of regret at the end about rejecting Mulder in addition to her work woes but that's just me.

I enjoyed this well-crafted story. I recommend this story despite it working better if I don't think about the series itself too hard.