"No," she agrees. She can dismiss this as cold-reading and chance all she wants, but it's impossible not to look at this row of cards and tell a simple story; one that makes her feel impossibly fond of her partner. There's no clear reason for it, but it makes her picture him as a gangly teenager trying to take on the world.

"Think of this row as before, or maybe-- what you had at hand. If this were the present I might read that as representing the Gunmen-- three friends. But with your father, and the Knight-- I think this is an older story." She shifts so she can watch him, which is maybe cheating; Mulder has a magnificent poker face but she's better than most at reading him.

"Reversed, the Hierophant indicates some sort of rebellion-- the way it's positioned makes me think it's linked to the conflicting viewpoints, so I'm going to guess you were a teenager, maybe. With-- three friends? No-- two friends, and you're the third. Fearless, a little reckless. You shouldn't have been involved-- the Emperor wouldn't have wanted you diving into chaos-- but you couldn't be dissuaded. You wanted to seek the truth, in... perhaps unorthodox ways."

It's not magic, after all. It's just Mulder. Anyone who knew him could come up with that.