The Gift of an Enemy by Sylvia (NC-17)
I've been waiting for over a year to rec this story for Supernatural/Horror week (we plan our theme weeks waaaaay out:) and I'm so thrilled that I'm finally getting a chance to share this with ya'll!
Title: The Gift of an Enemy by Sylvia (NC-17)
Fandom: The X-Files
Pairing: Mulder/Krycek
Categories: supernatural, mystery, casefile, h/c, angst, Harlequin
Length: Very Epic
Warnings: n/a
Author on LJ: rheasilvia
Website: http://www.sylvia.15th-moon.net
Review:
A new alien race appears on the block, this one aiming to make a deal with Mulder for information. To show that they mean business, they bring a gift to the table: Alex Krycek, pre-possessed by an alien for all of Mulder's questioning needs. Yeah, you can imagine how well that goes over. Turns out, though, that Krycek has a deep-seated fear of alien possession (tragically so, considering some nearby intergalactic bathroom stall clearly has 'Looking for a good time? Check out the body on Alex Krycek! (Usually found on Earth.)' scrawled on the side). This leads to a temporary alliance wherein Krycek agrees to tell the truth and not escape and Mulder keeps the alien possessions down to a minimum.
Oh, and then they get called in to investigate some potential witches in Pennsylvania.
I have two minor quibbles with this story, namely that the ending is more of the 'hopeful for a future happy ending' than of the 'happy ending with rainbows! and sunsets! and puppies and fluffy bunnies!' variety, and that there are a lot of loose threads at the end of the story that I wish had been tied up a bit more neatly. (Of course a sequel would handily take care of both issues. *cough*)
Those issues are minor, however, compared to the sheer awesomeness that is the rest of the story. First and foremost you have the best interpretation of Krycek backstory I've ever seen before or since, one that explains Krycek's behavior through the series and makes him far more sympathetic than I'd ever imagined he could be, yet also shows him to be the most ruthlessly competent character in the entire mythos. This Krycek may be hurting and he may be damaged, but he can hold his own against advesaries that would break most humans and even come out on top more times than not. I've pretty much decided that this version of Krycek is now my own personal canon for the character.
Secondly, you have a great version of Mulder: always thinking, truly brilliant, and yet so focused that his genius is often clouded by what he wants to believe, rather than what is actually there. He's likeable and yet a jerk, intelligent but fucked-up, and quite possibly the only person capable of bringing down the Consortium even if he is so reckless that if he didn't have someone watching his back at all times, he'd be dead within a week.
You also have both Krycek and Mulder demonstrating some (perfectly reasonable, all things considered) psychological issues that help speed up the development of their relationship (which is quite fast, but I can't really quibble about that considering the fact that 99.9% of all fanfic from that era had improbably-paced relationship development). This results in bucket-loads of particularly affecting and well-done hurt/comfort, which always makes me happy.
Finally, you have something that is far more rare than good characterization or effective hurt/comfort: this story has a *fantastic* plot. The whole witch mystery is layered, well-paced, and beautifully drawn, with intriguing bad guys, complex motivations, and fascinating details that are revealed just quickly enough to keep you interested and still guessing, right up to the end. The ending itself (with regards to the mystery, at any rate) is extremely satisfying, and one that I didn't think was possible and yet was brilliant. Frankly, I think the casefile in this fic is better than about 90% than those that actually appeared on the show, and the resolution is better than nearly all.
The Gift of an Enemy was the first Mulder/Krycek fic I'd ever read and even after reading nearly every M/K fic I could get my hands on, Enemy remains my favorite of the pairing. A fascinating, engrossing, and vastly entertaining novel.
The Gift of an Enemy
Title: The Gift of an Enemy by Sylvia (NC-17)
Fandom: The X-Files
Pairing: Mulder/Krycek
Categories: supernatural, mystery, casefile, h/c, angst, Harlequin
Length: Very Epic
Warnings: n/a
Author on LJ: rheasilvia
Website: http://www.sylvia.15th-moon.net
Review:
A new alien race appears on the block, this one aiming to make a deal with Mulder for information. To show that they mean business, they bring a gift to the table: Alex Krycek, pre-possessed by an alien for all of Mulder's questioning needs. Yeah, you can imagine how well that goes over. Turns out, though, that Krycek has a deep-seated fear of alien possession (tragically so, considering some nearby intergalactic bathroom stall clearly has 'Looking for a good time? Check out the body on Alex Krycek! (Usually found on Earth.)' scrawled on the side). This leads to a temporary alliance wherein Krycek agrees to tell the truth and not escape and Mulder keeps the alien possessions down to a minimum.
Oh, and then they get called in to investigate some potential witches in Pennsylvania.
I have two minor quibbles with this story, namely that the ending is more of the 'hopeful for a future happy ending' than of the 'happy ending with rainbows! and sunsets! and puppies and fluffy bunnies!' variety, and that there are a lot of loose threads at the end of the story that I wish had been tied up a bit more neatly. (Of course a sequel would handily take care of both issues. *cough*)
Those issues are minor, however, compared to the sheer awesomeness that is the rest of the story. First and foremost you have the best interpretation of Krycek backstory I've ever seen before or since, one that explains Krycek's behavior through the series and makes him far more sympathetic than I'd ever imagined he could be, yet also shows him to be the most ruthlessly competent character in the entire mythos. This Krycek may be hurting and he may be damaged, but he can hold his own against advesaries that would break most humans and even come out on top more times than not. I've pretty much decided that this version of Krycek is now my own personal canon for the character.
Secondly, you have a great version of Mulder: always thinking, truly brilliant, and yet so focused that his genius is often clouded by what he wants to believe, rather than what is actually there. He's likeable and yet a jerk, intelligent but fucked-up, and quite possibly the only person capable of bringing down the Consortium even if he is so reckless that if he didn't have someone watching his back at all times, he'd be dead within a week.
You also have both Krycek and Mulder demonstrating some (perfectly reasonable, all things considered) psychological issues that help speed up the development of their relationship (which is quite fast, but I can't really quibble about that considering the fact that 99.9% of all fanfic from that era had improbably-paced relationship development). This results in bucket-loads of particularly affecting and well-done hurt/comfort, which always makes me happy.
Finally, you have something that is far more rare than good characterization or effective hurt/comfort: this story has a *fantastic* plot. The whole witch mystery is layered, well-paced, and beautifully drawn, with intriguing bad guys, complex motivations, and fascinating details that are revealed just quickly enough to keep you interested and still guessing, right up to the end. The ending itself (with regards to the mystery, at any rate) is extremely satisfying, and one that I didn't think was possible and yet was brilliant. Frankly, I think the casefile in this fic is better than about 90% than those that actually appeared on the show, and the resolution is better than nearly all.
The Gift of an Enemy was the first Mulder/Krycek fic I'd ever read and even after reading nearly every M/K fic I could get my hands on, Enemy remains my favorite of the pairing. A fascinating, engrossing, and vastly entertaining novel.
The Gift of an Enemy