The disappointment is writ large in his face - for someone who knows him, anyway. Scully should see it. Even back then, she'd always understood what was happening, and when she didn't, she'd been willing to figure it out. There's a bitter taste in his mouth at the thought, but there's no time to waste pondering it. What now-Scully thinks of him is irrelevant; she's missing, and he has to find her.

"I couldn't tell you," he answers, "but I don't see a more likely explanation from the information I have right now. "Unless I need to worry about shapeshifters, and it shouldn't be hard to prove you are who you say you are. Scully, what'd I give you for your birthday? And why?"