Disclaimer: The X-Files belong to Chris Carter and Fox, Californication belongs to Tom Kapinos and Showtime. David Duchovny is just the common factor, and more importantly, the inspiration!

A/N: Here it is, an update! See, told you it would be faster than last time. ;) This chapter sheds some light on Becca's disappearance. I hope you like it.

Ch. 6: Clues

With Hank driving, it wasn't long before they pulled up in front of Karen's house. Karen leapt out of the car and raced to open the garage door so that Mulder and Scully could look at Becca's room as quickly as possible. Karen and Hank showed the former FBI agents to Becca's bedroom on the first floor and hung back while they let the professionals begin their investigation.

"Hank, what if they don't find any clues?" Karen worried, sounding a tad hysterical. "What then!?"

"They will," Hank reassured her, taking full advantage of the situation to pull his ex in for a hug. Not that Karen would ever admit it, but she really appreciated Hank's comforting presence at the moment. "I have full confidence in my cousin Fox."

"I thought you said years ago that the guy was an idiot," Karen reminded him with a frown. Hank winced.

"I heard thad," Mulder growled, but continued with his search for anything that would tell him what happened to poor Becca.

"I was wrong, Karen," sighed Hank. "He may have spent half his life chasing after aliens, but Mulder is an extremely intelligent guy." He then added an "I hope" under his breath. Hank wanted to believe that Mulder and Scully would be able to lead him to his daughter, but at the moment he wasn't feeling very optimistic. Ten minutes later, Mulder and Scully turned around to face the frightened parents.

"I'm sorry, but our preliminary efforts haven't turned up hardly anything, other than the fact that she left through the window," Scully announced.

"Bud don'd be discouraged," Mulder added, seeing their faces fall. "We're going to check outside and see if we can find oud andything helpful." Walking past the parents, the former agents went back the way they came and out the front door.

"Scully, I don't know if we'll be able to find anything," Mulder said in a low voice, as not to be overheard by Hank and Karen who were right on their tail. "We could be dealing with a very clever kidnapper. Maybe she was even abducted by-"

"Please don't say it," Scully whispered fiercely. "Mulder, I know this circumstance reminds you of your sister, but I really don't think this has anything to do with aliens, or even kidnappers for that matter. More than likely Becca snuck out of the house, possibly to go somewhere with someone she trusted."

"But why would anyond sneak out of the house in the middle of the night?" Mulder wondered. "She's twelve, dot some love sick high-schooler."

"Mulder, didn't you ever sneak out of your parents' house to meet your friends at night when you were young?" Scully asked. Mulder shook his head, bewildered.

"Never mind," she sighed.

"You did?" Mulder asked, surprised.

"Not me," Scully admitted with a bit of a blush. "That was all Melissa and Bill. If you recall, I was the goody two shoes of the family."

"I'm sorry I broke you of thad habit, Scully," said her partner with a bit of a devilish smirk.

"Shut up, Mulder," she muttered, not really meaning it. Their banter came to a halt when they approached the ground outside Becca's bedroom window. Mulder bent down to examine the ground, being careful not to step anywhere near the indentations in the grass that could only mean footprints.

"Look at this, Scully," he said quietly, pointing out what was most likely their biggest clue yet. "There are two sets of footprints here."

"The smaller set must be Becca's," she concluded, bending down to take a closer look.

"You were right, Scully," Mulder admitted. "There's no side of a struggle. She must've gond with someond she knew."

"Now hold it right there," Hank growled. "I know my daughter. She wouldn't go sneaking off with just anyone. Are you sure she wasn't taken by force? What if the person had a weapon? She would've complied with their wishes then." Karen sniffled at the thought of her daughter being threatened.

"I'm positive," said Mulder. "Even if she was threatened, there would've been at least some sign of thad. These foot patterns are completely normal.

"Karen, are you positive you've called every one of her friends?" Scully asked.

"Yes, I've called everyone I can think of," Karen fretted.

"Is there someone else she looks up to?" Mulder asked. "A boy perhaps, or an older girl thad would be able to coerce her into going with her?"

"I don't think she's into boys just yet," said Karen, prompting Hank to heave a sigh of relief. "And the only older girl she ever hangs out with is Mia…" Hank's eyes grew wide at this.

"You don't think Mia has anything to do with this, do you?" Mulder prompted him after noticing his reaction.

"With Mia, you never can tell," Hank muttered.

"Hank, Mia wouldn't hurt Becca," said Karen. "They're like sisters now."

"I wouldn't be so sure about that, if there was something in it for Mia," Hank cautioned.

"But if it was Mia, why would she have bothered coming over to your house today?" Scully asked.

"Unless she was taunting him," Mulder mused. Scully raised her eyebrows at him. "What?" He cried. "Scully, we've seen sick shit like this before."

"Mulder, Mia may be many things, but I don't know. That makes no sense! But I wouldn't be surprised if Mia was involved somehow-"

"Wait a minute, Mia was over at your place today?" Karen asked, glaring at Hank.

"She may have stopped by for a bit," said Hank with a wince.

"May I ask why?" Karen had pulled away from Hank by this point.

"She tried to seduce Mulder," Hank offered.

"Only because she thought I was him," Mulder insisted, pointing at his cousin. Karen frowned.

"What?!"

"Shut up, all of you!" Scully interrupted them, before this turned into a yelling match. "Someone's pulling into the drive."

"It's Runkle!" Hank said with a small smile.

"And Marce," Karen added. "Thank God." They all watched as a bald man and an attractive brunette got out of their yellow van.

"Hank, Karen, we have a lead on what happened to Becca!" Charlie Runkle announced as he and his wife ran up to meet Hank.

"What are you talking about?" Hank asked, watching as Karen hugged her best friend Marce.

"Who are they?" Marce asked in her nasally voice, glancing over at Scully and Mulder in particular with interest.

"We're Special Agents Mulder and Scully, formerly with the FBI," Mulder said quickly.

"Nice to meet you, Mr. and Mrs. Runkle," Scully added.

"Former? Whew," sighed Marce. "That's good because any weed you may find in the car is not mine."

"Can we get back to Becca now?" Karen yelled. "What did you find out, Charlie?" The bald man winced.

"When I went to my boss to ask him if it was alright for me to cut out early, he gave me a piece of mail that was delivered to my work. I thought it was odd, but I didn't open it until I picked up Marce. It turns out it was a ransom note for Becca!"

"What?" The foursome just stared at Runkle.

"Why the hell would the kidnapper give you the note and not me?" Hank cried. "Unless, they are connected to both you and me somehow." The two best buds shared a worried look. Mulder wished he knew what they were thinking.

"Can we see the note?" Scully asked. Wordlessly, Charlie handed it to her. It read:

If you ever want to see young Miss Moody again, come to this address at noon, sharp. If you're not there, we're not responsible for our actions.

110 Gregory Dr.

Hollywood Hills, CA 90069

"Oh my God, Mulder," Scully whispered as she read the ransom note. "It looks like you were right all along!"

"No, we both were," Mulder concluded grimly. "Becca was kidnapped, but she went voluntarily because she believed she was going somewhere with someone she trusted." Just then Karen spoke up.

"Charlie, is there any one you can think of that knows both you and Hank who has something to gain by taking Becca?" Hank and Charlie shared a miserable look.

"I'm afraid so," sighed Runkle. "Hop in, everyone. I'll explain along the way."

"But where are we going?" Karen and Marce wanted to know as they all piled into the Runkles' van. Charlie sighed grimly.

"It's time we paid my little bitch of a secretary a visit."

333

"Hey Scully, this Runkle guy reminds me of Skinner," Mulder deadpanned as they sat in traffic on the freeway. "They both could star in Rogaine commercials together!"

"Shut up, Mulder," Scully said wearily, hoping they couldn't hear them up front. "I don't get why we're going to the secretary's house, though. I could swear that Mia has her hand in this."

"I think we'll find out that Mia has more to do with this than we realize," Mulder predicted, his voice low with worry. Scully leaned into his embrace, praying that they would both live through this experience. She didn't know what they would find once they reached the address but she had a feeling things were going to get worse before they got better. Little did she know, but Scully was right.

End Ch. 6

A/N: There you have it! Let me know what you think.