SUVs have become so common that it doesn't even occur to him that it'd seem weird. Definitely a change from his old station wagon, but the MPG isn't that bad, and the ability to haul things still has a certain appeal. Maybe someday.

"I'll allow it," he says, and there's a little of his old humor in the comment. "But I'm swearing you to secrecy. The less the Bureau knows about my whereabouts, the happier we all are."

When they drive right past his old building without slowing, that'll be the nail in the coffin: this is a new Mulder. They're heading away from D.C., out toward the country.