"It seems worth a shot before we turn to crime," she says, shrugging, trying to sound casual about it. What the rift is between Mulder and Skinner, she can't guess; somehow, it seems less intense than whatever's happened with his Scully.

"Tomorrow," she hedges. "We'll try him tomorrow, if we don't find anything else."

J.C. Penney's looms ahead, the most sensible of department stores; even here everything seems terribly young.

"Jeans first," she decides, because it feels like the simplest goal. "Then some shirts, I guess, and a pair of pyjamas." She'll let him pick out blouses while she grabs underwear, because anything else seems awkward. How much does she need? Surely he has some way of doing laundry, even if he... doesn't. A couple days' worth of outfits to cycle can't be a bad idea.