Story 266: "Dr. Scully's School for Exceptional Boys" by prufrock's love

[wendelah1]

A couple of months back on the "Silver Cornet" post, I asked members if anyone was still reading here. Would you believe I'm still getting comments on that post? Well, I am, most recently just a couple of days ago. A kind anon replied: "Yes! I'm new, and I'm HERE! Love this place! Don't ever quit. 😄" It was sweet, it cheered me up, and it reminded

Comments

loved this!

[bmerb]

Oh wow, I loved this. LOVED this. So well written, so engaging! Don't usually love Mulder POV stories, since I'm a diehard Scullyist, but this was so good, and captured him through and through (asshole behavior and all). I think this is the only kind of WillFic I can read, complex, challenging, and tied into mytharc to keep the tension (although Fathoms Five does great with that and it ties to canon but not mytharc).

I did have some frustration with trying to follow exactly what was going on with the decisions being made towards the end there. **SPOILER ALERT**

Did anyone else follow more closely that I did? How is it that Mulder suddenly decided to NOT go with Mason/Will and Mera across the country to keep them safe? What changed that plan exactly? What happened in the fancy hotel when he suddenly says "change of plan" did anyone know? Sorry, feeling stupid a bit on this, can't tell if its because I read it craaaazy late at night during stolen hours, or if it was just written a little confusingly. I think that was about my only issue with this fic though. Others have noted the overly passive Scully, but honestly she doesn't seem passive to me so much as heartbroken, guilt-ridden, and incredibly conflicted. Given the circumstances, I imagine I'd be a wreck too, plus of course we aren't getting into her POV at all, and Mulder will assume what he assumes...

Re: loved this!

[wendelah1]

Did anyone else follow more closely that I did? How is it that Mulder suddenly decided to NOT go with Mason/Will and Mera across the country to keep them safe? What changed that plan exactly? What happened in the fancy hotel when he suddenly says "change of plan" did anyone know? Sorry, feeling stupid a bit on this, can't tell if its because I read it craaaazy late at night during stolen hours, or if it was just written a little confusingly. I think that was about my only issue with this fic though. Others have noted the overly passive Scully, but honestly she doesn't seem passive to me so much as heartbroken, guilt-ridden, and incredibly conflicted. Given the circumstances, I imagine I'd be a wreck too, plus of course we aren't getting into her POV at all, and Mulder will assume what he assumes...

I agree. She doesn't seem passive to me either. Your description of her in this fic seems dead on. And as noted elsewhere, this Mulder is the most unreliable narrator prufrock's love has ever written.

What changed Mulder's mind about running with Mera and Mason?

It's the suit.

The garment bag's zipper parted to reveal a two-button, charcoal gray Armani wool suit, along with a dark blue dress shirt and a conservative blue tie. A box inside the bag held black dress socks and wingtip shoes and a folded piece of copy paper. He opened the paper. FBI letterhead. A timestamp and telephone number along the top indicated a fax from the
Hoover Building to the Dallas Bureau a few hours earlier. In handwriting blurred by a fax machine, the note read 'See if it still fits. Skinner.'

The entire cup of caffeine kicked in all at once. Heart thudding inside his chest, Mulder stared at the badge. The note. The suit. The badge again. If Skinner really sent the suit, this Kobayashi Maru had a cheat code. Don't run. Don't ask Mera to forfeit her life. Use the resources of the FBI to stop the creatures chasing Mason and whoever was behind them.

Skinner wants him back in the FBI, and is offering the resources of the federal government. FINALLY.

And then his father speaks to him from beyond the grave--the same words that Mason's father keeps saying to him: From nowhere in particular, a man rasped, "You can stop them."

I love it, too.