4 Blocks and 20 minutes later

Miley slows down as she runs out of breath. Her adrenaline which had pushed her thus far had faded away and her body was begging her to stop so she could recover. For the first time since the sprint, her eyes began to focus to try to make out her surroundings. She looked back and saw no sign of Theo.

Relief.

But that relief was very short lived.

Miley looked around and gasped at what surrounded her.

Miley had always believed that she lived in a first world country.

But seeing the third world conditions before her stunned her.

More importantly, she was frightened. She knew she had to get help here, but where?

What Miley didn't know was that she was lucky to make it that far unscathed. But Theo's words were almost prophetic as Miley's luck would run out as she turned the corner into an alley she thought was a street.

"Where am I," Miley asked herself clutching her own cramped abdomen.

She walks until she is halfway inside the alley way. The only source of light is a poorly funded City of L.A. "safety" light. And the streets noises are filled with dogs howling, distant yelling and screaming, as well as the occasional firearm bang from not so far off.

She stops to look around, but looks forward when she is confronted.

Like creatures of the night, 4 women emerge from the shadows ready in front of her.

"Excuse me?" Miley speaks up as she tries to address them.

Miley is poorly conditioned and woefully ignorant for the environment she was in.

The leader stepped forward

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, hold up. Who…the f-k…are you?"

Miley unwisely ignores her question.

"Can you help me? I really need your help, you see there's this man…"

The gang of 4 look at each other. They give each other and Miley incredulous looks.

"Did I ask for a story, little girl?"

Miley stops and her face drops

"No."

"When I ask for something. You'll know," barked the other girl.

"Go get her, Corretta," said one of the followers.

The thing that scared Miley more than anything else was what the tortuous light revealed as the gang stepped forward. What scared Miley was not the fact that they were African American. Not at all. What scared her was that the leader, Corretta was brandishing a 50 cent made in China machete in front of her. The followers were also fingering their own blades in their pockets.

"Does it look like I care. Pshaww, you must be outta your mind bring your white girl, country bamma ,a-s here" replied Corretta in a mock accent.

Corretta was referring to Miley's unmistakable Tennessee accent. The rest of the girls join in snickering. The sheer sound of it was triggering the bad mood in Corretta.

"LOOK, some man's after me and please I need your help."

Corretta's bad attitude is aided by anger at Miley's supposed defiance.

"You come into my street and bother me and my girls. And you still wanna…Oh no, no, hell no, I'm asking you…"

Miley was now in fear.

But Miley was also tearing herself up inside whispering a silent scream.

"WHY ME? WHY ME? WHY ME? FIRST JAKE, NOW TEDDY, NOW THEM, WHY? WHAT DID I DO? WHAT DID I DO?"

Miley couldn't fathom why she of all people was in this situation. She couldn't imagine what she had done in a previous life to make her deserve such continued turmoil. Just one rip here and one tear there of her security. All this had to have been taking a huge toll on her psyche. It was like she was drowning over and over again yet never dying…

"A toll, a toll, can't you f-king hear?"

Miley snapped back.

"A toll?" Miley asked.

"That's right, you're on our turf, you cross it, you pay"

"That's right," piped up one of her followers.

"But I have no money," Miley said.

"I'll start with that clip on your head," Corretta said referring to Miley's butterfly hair clip.

"NO!" Miley instinctively yelped.

"B-s-t! Grab her! Jack her a-!" exclaimed Corretta.

The three followers rushed to Miley. They got their hands on Miley. Miley did her best to struggle away, thinking they wouldn't be as bad because they were girls. After a few minutes of struggling, the 3 get Miley under control and drag her to Corretta. Miley was fighting yet only half-heartedly. After all she's been through, not many people could blame her.

Miley was now being groped by the 3 in an attempt to disprove her claim that she had nothing.

But she really didn't have anything else. Her purse had everything and she left that at Grauman's Chinese.

Angered, Corretta stepped forward and began to search Miley's struggling body herself. She shoved Miley's head down, and started groping Miley herself.

Exceptionally hard and uncaring, as Corretta wanted it.

Miley squirmed and squirmed while squealing until she couldn't take it anymore…

Wham

Miley had swiftly swung her head up and broke Corretta's nose in one swing with the top of her head.

(a distant vroom can be heard in the background)

Corretta had yelp in pain and stumbled back across the double road alleyway in pain. The other three, in retaliation slammed her to the garage on the opposite side.

Now Corretta was angry.

vroom (close)

Her gang was holding Miley's against a wall on one side, perpendicular to the alley. Corretta picked herself up on the other side and glared at Miley direct across from her. All she had to do was cross the road to get to her. She rolled up her machete sleeve and lunged forward with machete raised.

vroom (closer)

"YOU'RE…DEAD!"

VROOM (too close)

Corretta is right in front of Miley within stabbing distance.

"What the…" (Corretta turning her head toward the now enlarging field of light illuminating her left face)…

VROO-WHAM (CRUNCH)

was the last thing Corretta said before being swept off her feet courtesy of a large vehicle intent on inflicting severe and instantaneous 30 mph punishment. The vehicle had, from blocks away to the right of them, gunned straight for her body with full intent and had with one swipe unmercifully hit and carried Corretta to a world of hurt. The oversized front of the Black SUV was devastating and crushing to the bones of Corretta's body. Not one bone from her neck to her knees was left uncrushed as the SUV continued to speed with Corretta stuck to it like a fly on a windshield. The Black SUV took a few seconds to stop and skidded left while braking. Only when it stopped did gravity release the body from the grill and allowed it to slide agonizingly slowly off it to the ground in front of the driver's tire.

Both Miley, as well as the gang were shocked by the force and dumbfounded at the sheer brutality. The SUV was to their right and now the driver's seat was facing them.

For all full second nothing happened on either end. The gang was in shock and awe and their mouths were opened to the sight. Miley hadn't nearly overcome her fright of the car just yet (since it had only narrowly missed her and the gang) and opened her eyes when she saw it more clearly, recognizing the...

Black Escalade.

The gang regained composure and after pumping themselves up ran after the SUV. The SUV driver's door opened and out came Theo, wearing his now dye stained balaclava to confront them.

By now the gang was rushing towards him, with switchblades drawn, and only thirty yards away.

But before Theo comes out to meet them, he reaches in and pulls out something with one hand.

A silenced Streyr TMP (Handheld submachine gun like an Uzi)

But the gang frantically tries to stop and turn back to run away.

But it's no use. With a look of true grit and a revitalized determination, Theo, with solely his right, hand opened fire.

Rat, Tat, tat, tat

Miley cringes in empathetic pain as she saw the whole thing from behind the first victim. Unlike Jake, where she was only able to catch the last muzzle flash in the overly dark alley outside Grauman's, thanks to the precariously place street light, she sees the effect of the closest follower's head, face, and throat being perforated by a burst of four bullets, blood being splattered away from the closest follower's face, in what looked to her like puffs of red.

Rat, Tat, tat, tat

Theo then permanently imprinted both the look of horror and bullet holes in the face of the second closest follower trying to reach him.

Rat, Tat, tat

That last spray was for the last one, who ran with futility away from Theo. Theo had impaled her spinal cord as well as the back of her head with a burst of bullets.

ping rip

As the last act she would do, Corretta had grunted and swiftly used all of what was left of her body and channelling all her strength stumbled up and took a single machete swing at Theo right elbow. She sliced his arm, but in response Theo dodged away and kicked her down with a swift footprint to the chest. Apparently Miley was too shocked to think of escape despite the fact that Theo was preoccupied. Theo figured it was because of his gun.

Not being able to take anymore (after the gunshots started), Miley snapped her head the other way and shut her eyes, keeled over and crawled into a strained foetal position. After all she had seen, she knew Theo was here to take her back. She just felt that all she had, even if only for a few minutes, was to retreat to the foetal position, rocking herself, as if her (late) mother would somehow come back to take her away from all this.

Rat, Tat, tat, tat, tat… Rat, Tat, tat, tat, tat, tat, tat

Theo made quick work of Corretta with two bursts, one to the head, the other to the chest.

Theo had then paused and relieved his silenced gun hadn't attracted enough attention but more relieved that he and Miley were relatively unharmed, began the walk to meet Miley.

Miley continued to rock herself until she felt Theo crouching and nudging her.

"You ok, kid?" Theo asked plainly.

Miley couldn't tell whether or not Theo was angry. But what she could tell was that he was still hurting. His eyes had visible blood veins, flowing like a volcanic eruption. But his right eye had received the worst. So much so, that he couldn't keep it open for long without frequently blinking.

Knowing she has to answer. She turns, looks up, and nods.

"Now do you believe me?"

Miley quickly nods twice.

"You gonna pull a stunt like that, again?"

Miley frantically shakes her head, while tears, formed in her eyes throughout the whole time, were starting to slip.

Theo pulls the familiar red blindfold from his pocket, but not before pulling out a black bandana. He hands it to Miley.

"For your tears (sniff). They'll never hurt you again. I promise."

Miley is stunned and dumbfounded. He was giving her a handkerchief. He was the one who had almost been blinded because of her. And the promise, why on earth would Theo...

But why was he was giving her a tissue?

Miley was too tired to pursue those questions.

You see Theo secretly understood what Miley did. He was more stunned than angry she was able to do it. A rebellious part of him was impressed and maybe proud she disproved what Tom had found out about her on the USB key.

After taking it and thanking him for it. He blindfolded her from behind and began to lead her to the SUV. But since shock had overcame Miley, Theo willingly scooped her into his arms and carried her to the SUV, firefighter style.

But not before saying.

"You've been through enough. I won't put you through anymore…I give you my word to that. Just stay with me and this will all be over soon...I promise."

He was reneging on his earlier promise of punishment. Theo had surprised both Miley and himself. But Theo didn't care. It was his fault she was even here in the first place. Theo wanted to just do what he absolutely had to and stop this. He just wanted Miley to be gone. If her father didn't pay, he would end her clean and painless.

That much he promised.

He was pretty sure he could end Miley's life if he had.

"Could I?" Theo asked himself, the first time any self-doubt had crept into his mind since the beginning.

At this point, Miley didn't know what to think anymore. She didn't care either. It was then she began to fathom…

"Teddy…saved…my…life?"

"Teddy probably just saved me for the money," sighed Miley.

"But he did…save my life."

A/N: Please review.