This time the wince is a visible one. She isn't upset-- it's true, and she deserves that-- but it's part of why she's so hesitant. He has every right to still be angry, but if that's where they are, it's no foundation to build a new relationship of any sort.

But it means something that he catches himself that he so obviously regrets the barb. It doesn't mean it doesn't sting, or that he didn't mean it, but it's a step in the right direction.

"Okay." It sounds a little more sure than she really is, but not by much. But she misses him; she worries about him more than she should, and it's not like Scully has ever been good at relinquishing control over anything in her life, Mulder's well- being included.

"You can keep me up to date on your hunt for Bigfoot," she adds.