Fathoms Five by Penumbra (R)

[wendelah1]

Fandom: THE X-FILES
Pairing/Characters: Fox Mulder/Dana Scully
Length: novella
Author on LJ: penumbra23
Author Website: Three stories at her journal, the rest are at Gossamer.
Why this must be read:

This is a major work by a major writer, and not only is it the best work she's ever done, I think it's one of the best stories written for the fandom. It is also one of the most disturbing stories I have ever read. I think I went into a fugue state after reading the first section. Seriously. "Fathoms Five" is a dark treatment of the possibility raised by the climax of "Tithonus": what if Scully was immortal?

The need to keep a low profile had grown with every passing year, and she'd learned to tone down her brightness. She had been groomed to be exceptional. Hardly anything was as important as standing out, making a name for herself in her selected field. But now as time awkwardly continued to pass, the need to keep a low profile grew, and she pursued this just as decisively. Scully could be low key; no longer a true authority, there were others who easily outshone her. She had learned to be mediocre.

Mulder had stopped what he was doing, and he had noticed the way the heel of her hand pressed against her pocket.

Scully swallowed. "You know those hermits who talk to themselves, but it's like there's two people inside them, two sides to the conversation? Well, I'm starting to feel like there's this me, the me that you know, who's out here in the world with you," she said, staring hard at his face.

The light was going out of him.

"...And there's this other me who has stopped."

The author chose not to warn, and I am honoring that here. If you need to know before you read this, PLEASE private message me. This story is dark.

Read Fathoms Five.