Gangland

East Los Angeles, California

(Later after the kidnapping, 2:10 am)

The howls of the creatures of the night, mostly human instead of animal, are interrupted by the rolling of the black Escalade. Despite being a luxury SUV, the inhabitants are well aware and scared enough of who it belonged to. None even dared to follow the passing with the SUV with their eyes, quickly returning to their business after they recognized it. Hustling, enforcing, dealing, or shooting up. That's all there was in this area, the area that proper society forgot, the area that the police care little about, the hell-hole of the city.

The SUV finally pulled into a hidden alleyway on the side of a decrepit and dilapidated crack house full of junkies.

Just before getting out, Theo carefully takes off his counterfeit police badges and places it in a paper bag. He places the paper bag in the glove compartment and locks it.

"Ok, you stick with me and do as I say and you'll be safe."

Miley just responds with a whimper through the hood she's still wearing. Theo puts on a balaclava and gets out of the car.

He scans his surroundings carefully like a hawk, while fingering his gun in his stolen police holster. He sees an oil barrel improvised as a fireplace, he sees a half dressed teenage girl half passed out on the opposite lawn, openly lying on her back, in the middle of putting out for an older man- probably her dealer, and finally he sees three men huddled- making a sale.

"Nothing out of the ordinary," Theo muttered to himself with a small sense of pity for the life unfolding around him.

His time with the family business had hardened him to all this. But again unlike his family, he had no desire to be amused or feel superior to them, and he especially had no desire to use or take advantage of them in any way.

Theo sighs in a cautious relief, yet still on a heightened sense of suspicious alert. The kind of alert was made second nature in the Middle East and the type he needs now. He sees no signs of law enforcement, nor does he see signs of undercover cops overacting to maintain cover.

Theo quickly makes his way to the passenger side door and exchanges Miley's bag for a blindfold, but not before putting on a balaclava. He then handcuffs Miley's wrists and leads her to the house. The stench of despair, along with the crack cocaine, was evident to both of them, and indeed both were in no short supply in the main and second floor of this house.

Luckily for Miley, Theo leads her to the basement apartment, which is segregated from the rest of the house and well hidden to the passer-by. He locks the 5 deadbolt locks on the door before continuing to guide Miley from the inside doorway to further inside.

"Here," said Theo as he gently guides her to the sofa.

"Let's get a few things straight," began Theo.

Miley wearily shot her head towards Theo's voice ready to listen…

FBI National Academy

Behavioral Science Graduate Course Lecture

Continued

"However it is in kidnapping and hostage scenario in which we see the full effects of Stockholm syndrome. Let us begin, ja?

"In order for Stockholm syndrome to occur in any given situation, three traits must be present:

A severely uneven power relationship in which the captor dictates what the prisoner can and cannot do

The threat of death or physical injury to the prisoner at the hands of her captor

A self-preservation instinct on the part of the prisoner"

Back with Miley and Theo

"Who are you?..." began Miley.

"Don't interrupt me," Theo retorted.

This had abruptly shut up Miley. Miley sat up straight and gulped at that and nodded her head, trying to subconsciously assure her obedience.

For Theo's words, although not especially harsh, were said in a way that resembled the abusive Jake way too much. Miley's self-conscious fear for her life was heightened and crippled Miley out of habit because of the experiences learned while living with Jake. She noticeably cringes in fright.

Theo noticed it too.

"Relax," continued Theo, "just listen. First of all, I have no interest in you whatsoever other than the money. Second, all I do care about is that your father pays me the money. Your safety and well-being are a distant afterthought. Thirdly, if you dare to test my patience, you'll find that I have none. If you do anything that puts my payment in jeopardy, the suffering I'll inflict on you will make you envy the abuse that Ryan could ever doled out."

At the idea of an abuse worse than Ryan, Miley nodded while biting her lip. Theo took this as acknowledgement.

"And one last thing," Theo said as he removes Miley's blindfold for her.

Miley rubbed her eyes and shook herself alert. What she saw surprised her. She had felt and smelled the odour of the house from outside and swore it would be a crack house. And indeed it was. But Theo had lead her to a relatively furnished and warm apartment seemingly a class higher than everything immediately outside the house. It was actually liveable, being up to a shared university dormitory building. Only without any unobstructed windows and only one exit, the entrance they just came in through. Most importantly it was completely segregated from narcotics.

"Look around and recognize… we've been driving for hours and we're here. You have no idea where we are and you have no link to the outside world. There's only one door in and out, and when I'm home I'm in front of it. Otherwise, you're in the closet…"

Theo motions to the closet across the door. Then he gets Miley's attention back on him.

"And if somehow you make it outside, you won't find any fences or guards, 'cause neither are necessary. You're in a wasteland. This place is full of people who would kill you for your bootlaces…or in your case, for your hair clip," Theo stated referring to the butterfly hair clip in Miley's flowing brown locks as well as Miley's designer high heels, "you'd be marked fresh meat by gangs in two blocks time and be dead in three."

Miley nodded in acknowledgement and lowered her head. Theo concludes.

"The only way you can leave this hell is through me, and by being a good little girl and hopefully your father will do the right thing you'll go to back to him alive, and you'll never hear from me again. Understand?...You Understand?"

Miley looks up when Theo repeats louder.

"Did my father really get you to do this?" asked Miley as she cautiously wondered to Theo with scepticism.

"I'm asking the f-g questions here!" boomed Theo with his military enhanced vocal retort.

Miley sprung back in terrible fear and surprise. She experiences a hundred negative emotions, all in her mind, imprinted in her memory because of years with Jake. She meekly replies.

"Yes, yes, I understand," surrendered Miley stuttering.

Theo calmed down and turned to fetch something. Unbeknownst to Miley, Theo's face had fallen and let out a sign. He felt bad, really bad, at what he just did. His empathetic heart seemed to be in a struggle with his duty bound head. But he nevertheless continued, and pulled out his iPad.

He sat down next to Miley and set it up in front of her. He set up the video recording program and adjusts the built in webcam.

"Now, it's time for you to say hello to daddy, it's probably been awhile anyways" Theo stated, surprisingly correct to Miley.

Theo continued to work with Miley.

After Miley had recorded her message, Theo put away the laptop and led Miley to the apartment's sole washroom. Much to the surprise of Miley and to the agreement of Theo, the sink was already laid out for Miley. Jet black hair dye and other hair colour paraphernalia. Probably from one of the family's controlled Chinatown barbershop Theo figured as he inspected part of the "welcome mat" left for him.

"Ok, doll, time for a new look," Theo announced referring to the tools in front of her.

Miley looked at what was in front of her as Theo un-cuffed her. Amazingly Miley was thinking about…

"Maybe I can use these, I mean Theo doesn't look that big. I mean he's kinda like a wannabe Usher, but not an Arnold Schwarzenegger. Miley shakes her mind further into escape mode. Maybe's he's not that strong. And maybe I can use these…"

As if Theo had just read her mind he speaks up

"Oh and don't test me," Theo said firmly as he draw his police handgun and jams it into Miley's side, "You're nothing, even with the scissors."

Theo finished this threat firmly. But the reality was that he may have looked stone cold on the outside, yet he was emotionally fatigued on the inside. You see, his life may have hardened himself to the whole situation, but when put into a context outside of the defense of his country, his killer instinct had been waning and waned at best.

"So what is it you want to me to do?" Miley asked softly while shaking uncontrollably.

Theo knew the shakes came from the handgun he jammed into her side. He withdrew it a little and stepped back.

"Just style your own hair, that's all, ok?" Theo replied with a new found softness in his voice.

Miley obeyed as she began to pick up the scissors. She was very grateful that he had let her style her hair herself. While frantically trying the scissors she slowed when she noticed Theo, whose face was also with her facing the large mirror in front of both of them. She noticed the eyes she could clearly see through the open visor hole of the balaclava. Theo had squinted, then shut his eyes in stress and shook his head awake. Miley began to notice them. She begins to think to herself, evaluating Theo. She was trying to find out about him, at the very least just so she could make herself safer.

"Maybe he won't be so bad. I mean look at him, He looks weary…I mean maybe he didn't mean to be so harsh. He's not like Jake, he's not like Jake at all. In fact, he might actually meant it when he said he doesn't want to hurt me"

At that point, Theo squinted his eyes yet again and gently shook his head alert. At that point something happened. Their eyes were both fixed on the mirror.

But unlike the other times, this time Miley's eyes were fixed on Theo's. And Theo's eyes were fixed on Miley's.

Their eyes met.

The effect was the same as they would have been had they been facing each other. Miley caught a first glimpse of the eyes of the man who had taken her.

"Oh…Lord have mercy", thought an astonished Miley (in her signature accent).

What Theo's eyes had betrayed to her, surprised her. From what she could gather from what she saw, he wasn't what she expected him to be. Up to this point she had never seen any part his face, either because of the bag or because of the darkness of the alleyway. But now she had made eye contact, mainly because the balaclava prevented any other facial recognition.

"His eyes, his eyes are so different. It's not like Jake at all."

To Miley's, Jake's eyes we're like ice daggers which like his words were constantly and mercilessly directed towards her, like a finger pointing down at her, condemning her to a state of perpetual inferiority.

But Miley had noticed the eyes of her captor. To Miley, she saw a pair of chocolate brown nestled in a pair of slanted eyes, distinguished further by Theo's mentally fatigued state. Like those sported by those whose actions did not match their spirit. Had Miley not been so broken by Jake, or terrified by Theo she would notice Theo's absence of desire for this and his distaste for the actions he was forced to do.

"Teddy's eyes are nothing like his. They're absolutely confident. Yet why do they seem weary. Weary of what? His life? Him being here? This? It's like he doesn't want…wait he's Asian?…"

At the same time Theo was pondering…

"Look at her, she doesn't need this. Poor girl. Look at her…she shouldn't be in Gangland. Hell, she should be on some farm ranch in Tennessee tending the..."

Both Miley and Theo at the same time snapped out of their thoughts. Theo took charge.

"Hey, hey, hey," prodded Theo, "Keep on going, keep on going"

Snapped back to the task at hand, Miley began to feel different while trimming. With every snip here and balancing snip there, here and there, it was as if each release of hair had been like the release of a single chain which had bound her to the despair that she always knew during her life after Hannah. She didn't know why. She knew that this wasn't the reason for Theo's insistence on a self-made amateur haircut. Yet despite this she just couldn't stop feeling this way. That she had been snipping her way to something, changing her look through hair was the first step in changing her outlook on life. At first, it may seem ironic that she would feel so liberated only feel this way after being forced into captivity. Yet, at the same time, it made perfect sense because getting rid of Jake Ryan and changing her look was all at the behest of Theo.

After Miley had shortened her chestnut brown hair, she held the scissors and while admiring her new look and outlook on life, the liberated feeling had led her to do something that she had rarely done after Jake.

Smile

The funny thing was that Theo noticed and resisted the urge to sympathetic smirk like he had inside. After all he wasn't made of stone and any person who was informed of the abuse like Theo was would feel the same way. Too premature for anything more, a small part of him had made him happy he had gotten rid of Jake Ryan, if only for that smile she shone. He also knew it was the smile of a liberated soul. Luckily this time, Miley didn't catch it. All she saw was him barking the next order…

"Now dye it," ordered Theo.

Miley's face and soul dropped. Miley didn't mind when she had to cut her hair. But dye? She loved her chestnut brown colour. Her liberated feeling had made her forget the presence of the colouring dye. And now just as quickly as she had felt being free of chains, to Miley somehow it was like the dye would be a like a new set of chains were shackled to her.

She hesitated and she tried to give Theo a look, silently pleading not to make her dye her hair.

This time Theo was having none of it.

"No, Not this time. Semper Fi. To the goal! Stay strong" Theo thought to himself.

That motivational thought didn't make much sense to Theo either. But then nothing about this kidnap job did.

"You heard me. Do it! DO IT!," Theo ordered harshly.

(Theo's voice's ascends throughout)

Miley was shaking and struggled to steady her hand as she clutched the bottle, trying to apply it.

For some Theo was getting impatient.

"Do it!"

Still Miley was going too slow

"Well, what are you waiting for?"

Miley's desperately shut her eyes, as if trying to wake up from a nightmare. Theo believed he had to regain complete obedience from Miley.

"HURRY UP!"

Miley then clinched her teeth, but this time she brought up the wrong hand a little too swiftly, the left one clutching the scissors and started shaking it

Theo saw this as a threat.

"Hey! What the f-k did I just say before huh?" (Theo)

But still held the scissors in the left hand too tightly.

"HEY!" (Theo)

No response from Miley still.

"DROP IT!" (Theo)

Theo had lost his cool he gripped Miley's left wrist and slammed it on the counter in front of them.

"NOW!" (Theo)

Then truly out of nowhere

"STOP IT!, STOP IT!"

screamed Miley with the conviction and terror of an atrocity victim.