It took 2 weeks for them to track down all of the fighters from the fight club and no one would talk about any death matches so either they didn't know anything or they were all lying. Since they found everyone except Roman, Seth was inclined to believe that they didn't know anything. After all he had seen them fight and most of them wouldn't survive a death match.
He asked all of them if they knew anything about Roman and they all said pretty much the same thing. He showed up with three to four guys, didn't talk to anyone and never lost a fight.
Seth couldn't stop thinking about Roman. He would look at the school picture of Roman and he would feel worry and fear, fear for Roman and he was sure something was wrong. He made it his personal mission to find Roman and save him from whatever was wrong. He couldn't stop thinking of the look of torment on his face and he would do anything to take that look away.
Their informant had given them the date of the next death match and they were making plans to infiltrate the match with the help of the building plans. It wouldn't be easy and it was probably dangerous but they needed to do this. Seth needed to save Roman, even if he had to go behind Cesaro's back to do it.
Roman stood against the chain link fence waiting for the his match to start. His handlers were talking and laughing with the host a few yards away. His first match of the night would be easy but the second match would end in death again. He almost wished that it would be his.
"Psst." A voice whispered from behind him.
Roman jumped and started to turn around.
"Don't turn around." The voice whispered. "My name is Seth and I want to help you."
He glanced at the man out of the corner of his eye. It was the pretty guy from the last match, the one with the soulful brown eyes.
"Are you doing this against your will?" Seth asked.
Roman thought. What if this was a trap set by his handlers? What if they wanted him to get his hopes up just so they could break him again? But what if it was real? What if someone wanted to help him? What if he could get away? Should he take the chance?
"Yes." He whispered.
"Okay." Seth whispered. "Something's going to happen tonight and when it does, I need you to run like your life depends on it."
Roman felt something move against his thigh and into his pocket.
"That is a license plate number, get to the van and hide in the back under the blanket. I'll join you as soon as I can and we can get out of here." Seth whispered quickly.
Roman wasn't sure that he would be able to run fast enough to elude his handlers, there were only two exits in the room. The one behind him that all the fighters used was always locked and the other one was blocked by all the spectators watching, he would never get through them fast enough.
"Won't work." He whispered trying to hide his mouth so they wouldn't see him talking.
"I broke the lock on the back door, just get there and run straight, the van is parked close by." Seth whispered. "It will work."
"Okay." Roman said wanting to smile. The little guy was pretty resourceful but he couldn't get his hopes up about this working but he would do his part.
"I gotta go." Seth whispered. "See you soon."
He waited until Seth left and his handlers weren't looking before digging in his pocket for the license plate number which he committed to memory. He rolled up the small piece of paper and quickly put it in his mouth and swallowed it down. If something went wrong, he didn't want anything to be traceable back to Seth.
He was the final match of the night like usual and as soon as his opponent entered the cage, the lights went out. He took that as his cue and luckily, he was right by the door. He opened it and ran for all he was worth into the crisp, dark night. He heard something behind him and turned to see a bald man block the door that he had just left with a dumpster. He kept running and almost missed the black van. He turned, opened the door and launched himself into the back, shutting the door behind him.
Seconds later, someone flew into the front seat and started the ignition.
"Seth?" He whispered.
"Told you it would work." Seth said, voice smug.
He lay down and curled up under the blanket.
It worked! It actually worked. Seth had managed to get Roman out safe and sound. Cesaro had been angry that they were blowing all their hard work on the story to get Roman out, but like a good partner, he had helped anyway.
He drove the speed limit and kept watching behind them to see if anyone was following but the street behind him looked clear. They drove for 10 more minutes in silence before they changed to another rental, this time a car and Roman once again lay down in the back. He wasn't going to take any chances that they would be able to find them.
20 minutes later they changed cars again into his personal one and he drove the 5 minutes to his apartment. He parked in the underground parking lot and he lead Roman into the elevator leading to his apartment. He was desperate to talk to Roman but he wanted to wait until they were safe in his apartment. He watched Roman out of the corner of his eye and saw that he was following almost robotically. His head was down, his long hair covering most of his face and his body was so tense that he walked stiffly. He looked like a man that was expecting to be attacked and that made Seth sad.
Finally they were at his apartment and he unlocked the door and lead Roman in. He bolted the door and let out a sigh of relief, he felt much safer in his apartment. He turned around and almost slammed right into Roman.
"Why?" Roman whispered softly.
Seth gulped. "Have a seat and I'll tell you everything."
He walked over to the sofa but Roman chose the chair opposite of him. "I'm an investigative reporter and I went to that last fight because I heard rumors about death matches occurring there. I saw you there and you looked... like you didn't want to be there. You looked desperate and I wanted to help you."
Roman sat and listened but didn't move or react in any way.
"I couldn't stop thinking about it so I did some research and I couldn't find any information on you in the last 17 years so I thought that something funny was going on, so I..." He trailed off when he saw the way Roman was looking at him.
"Tell me the truth." Roman said quietly.
Seth sighed. "I couldn't stop thinking about the haunted look in your eyes. I wanted to save you."
Roman nodded. "You saved me, so now what?"
There was a knock on the door and they both jumped. Seth smiled apologetically and got up to answer the door. He looked through the peep hole and saw his three friends.
"Hey guys," He said, opening the door. "Come in."
The three men came in and Seth turned to introduce them to Roman but he noticed panic in Roman's eyes. "Roman, these are my friends." He gestured to Cesaro. "This is my partner, Antonio Cesaro, but you can call him Cesaro." He gestured to a tall brunette and the shorter blonde. "This is Johnny Curtis and Tyler Breeze or as they like to be called Dango and Breeze. We all want to help you."
"Help me what?" Roman asked, sinking further into his chair.
The men all sat down in the living room, leaving Seth to sit in a chair a little further away.
"What Seth didn't mention when he was introducing us is that Dango and I are Police Detectives." Breeze said, looking kindly at Roman. "We want to shut this fighting ring down but we need evidence to do so."
"I don't have any evidence." Roman said, still looking uncomfortable. "I go there, I fight and people die."
Seth winced. He had hoped that Roman hadn't actually participated in the killing.
"Why do you do it?" Cesaro asked, crossing his legs.
Roman was silent for a moment. "Because I have to. If I don't the men that watch me will kill me."
"Tell us about these men, please." Seth asked, desperate to know the truth.
"Yes, please tell everything." Dango said, "We want to help."
Roman sighed and started fidgeting. "Okay, but it's not a pretty story." And Roman told them everything. About the men coming to the orphanage and taking him away when he was 15, the men beating and starving him for a year before they started training him to fight, the men raping him on his 16th birthday, him losing his first fight because he didn't want to hurt anyone, the beating and torture that followed. The first fight he won and the fact that he never lost again, his first death match and the 85 men he killed. He told of a lonely, painful, scared life and his endless thoughts of killing himself and how he didn't because he was scared that they would do it to someone else. By the time he was finished his story, everyone was shocked into silence and there were tears streaming down Seth's face.
The men all left shortly after, promising to come back tomorrow and Seth was glad. He wanted everyone away from Roman. He trusted them all but he wanted to protect Roman from the world. He turned and walked back to Roman. "How do you feel?"
"Confused." Roman said.
Seth nodded. "Do you want anything to eat or drink?"
"No thanks." Roman answered. "What do I do now?"
"What do you mean?"
"Am I free now, or are you my new handler?" Roman asked, worriedly.
Seth's legs gave out on him and he sank to the floor at Roman's feet. "You are free, Roman and I promise that no one will ever hurt you again. You can stay here with me for as long as you want, I have a spare bedroom for you and you can have a new life. I'll help you as much or as little as you want. I just... I want you to be happy."
"I can't even remember what happy feels like." Roman said sadly.
"That's okay, I'll help you." Seth said, lightly laying his hand on Romans.
Roman lay in bed that night thinking. He was in a bed, a real, comfortable bed with clean smelling sheets and the softest, warmest comforter that he could ever remember feeling. Not only that but he was actually clean and wearing clean clothes.
Seth had shown him to his own bedroom that had a huge bed and it's own private bathroom. The first thing he did was go into the bathroom and run a hot, bubbly bath. He hadn't taken a bath in 17 years and and it felt like heaven to be in the warm suds and lounge for as long as he wanted. It sure beat the cold showers that he had been taking all these years. Seth had left him a set of jogging pants and a t-shirt that were a little tight on him, but must have been pretty baggy on Seth. Maybe they belonged to Cesaro since Seth said they were partners. He may have been living a sheltered life, but he knew what 'partners' meant.
And Seth. He didn't know what to make of him but he did instinctively trust him. He radiated kindness and innocence and he had cried when he had told his story but even after hearing about all the men he killed and everything that happened to him, he didn't seem disgusted or leery of him.
He turned over and tried to sleep, he just hoped that when he woke up, this wouldn't have all been a dream.