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

I like

[bmerb.livejournal.com]

This was a fun one. I enjoyed going back to the season 3/4 era, although I can't remember enough about the episodes it references to entirely slot it in. Mulder and his behavior through Scully's lens was aggravating and frustrating, which was a pleasure since Scully rarely voiced such frustrations on screen (well, minus one famous episode of course) yet it remained in character. I particularly like the UST to which Scully gives a resounding "no", followed by the fountain scene.

I still haven't puzzled out the actual vs perceived allegiances of the introduced characters, which feels right in line with the uncertainties in the show. I also like the wrap up of the smallpox tagging data, which I don't remember being addressed at all in the show but certainly needed some follow through. Oh! And that moment of recognition for the woman who came in with a scraped knee! That was perfectly creepy/anxiety producing and then frustrating as we lose her.

Yep, all in all I like this one. I'm sure time to ruminate might bring on actual critical thought at some point but I can stand by that for now.

Re: I like

[wendelah1]

I think I'm going to rewatch the episodes before I comment on the fic and comment on your comment. Back soon.

"That's where the hope is" part 1

[wendelah1]

I had to split this into two comments.

SCULLY: Nothing happens in contradiction to nature, only in contradiction to what we know of it. And that's a place to start. That's where the hope is.

Having read the fic before rewatching the episodes and again afterward, my conclusion is that this story might work better if you don't know the canon. Now that my knowledge has been refreshed, I can see how carefully Segretti has placed this story within the final events of "Herrenvolk," in German, "master race," and actual current events.

In 2001, Segretti's unstated goal was to address and weave together the dropped plot threads from "Paper Clip" and "Talitha Cumi/Herenvolk." She does a fine job of that, especially given what she had to work with. She has Scully continuing to work that case even while she's temporarily reassigned to Atlanta. I like seeing Scully be a scientist, in the company of other scientists.

In the story's critical scene, she proposes to Mulder that they return to the Strughold Mine from "Paper Clip" to re-examine the miles of files in light of the new information the FBI pulled from Jeremiah Smith's data base. That is such a great idea, and it would have made for terrific television.

She and Mulder have a fight about it (when don't they?). He wants to return to Alberta to look for another Samantha clone, and says as much to her. She has what she believes is hard evidence, something that can lead to the people behind the human experiments. Here's the problem, and it's not Segretti's fault, but it kind of undermines her story.

"Okay," he said, his face dangerously blank. "Then if those files are so critical, why didn't we re-examine them a year ago?"

"Because it was dangerous? Because I'd been suspended and you were officially dead? Because my sister was dying and I wanted to go home? You ought to know what that feels like."

His flinch made her feel gratified, and then mean, but she was too angry to care. He recovered and whirled on her.

"So what makes it less dangerous now?" His voice headed lower as hers went higher.

"We have something to link them to now," she exclaimed. "Facts, Mulder."

The miles of files weren't "facts"? Come on. Of course they were. This was a huge breakthrough. It never made sense that Mulder and Scully didn't go back to those mines once they'd been reinstated to the X-Files. In this story, Mulder's explanation that they were unimportant is baloney and so is Scully's excuse--that it was dangerous and she was grieving for her sister. Everything they do is dangerous. And at the very end of "Paper Clip," in that moving scene in front of Melissa's empty bed, they reaffirmed their commitment to searching for the answers. They don't follow through because Chris Carter never cared about the credibility of his characters or the continuity of his fictional universe. He still doesn't! Witness season ten!

Sorry. I'm still steamed about his ridiculous retcon of the first nine seasons and two movies of XF canon.

RE: "That's where the hope is" part 1

[bmerb.livejournal.com]

They don't follow through because Chris Carter never cared about the credibility of his characters or the continuity of his fictional universe. He still doesn't! Witness season ten!

Oh yeah, PREACH!! Ugh...

"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.