Seth couldn't sleep that night, all his thoughts were on the man in the other room. He didn't know how someone could survive 17 years of torture and not be a monster but even though Roman was a little quiet, he seemed to be more or less normal. He knew that Roman would probably need therapy and a lot of kindness before he would actually be normal though.

He got out of bed early and started making a large breakfast for them. He hated the reason for it, but he kind of liked the idea of taking care of Roman even by doing something as simple as cooking for him. He started whipping up some pancakes and bacon and was soon lost in his task. He was singing softly to the song on the radio when he turned around and saw Roman standing there with his hands clasped in front of him and his head down.

He abruptly stopped singing. "Good morning, I didn't hear you come in. Did you have a good sleep?"

"Yes, sir." Roman answered.

Seth frowned. "You don't have to call me sir, Roman. Call me Seth, we're the same after all. You're free now."

Roman relaxed slightly. "It's hard to remember that after so many years."

He nodded sympathetically. "I hope you like pancakes and bacon."

Roman shuffled to the island and sat down. "I don't remember. Most of the meals I got were oatmeal and protein shakes."

"Well we're both in for a treat then." He said as he flipped a pancake dramatically. "I like to cook but it feels like a waste to cook only for one person so I don't do it often."

"What about Cesaro?" Roman asked. "I thought that he's your boyfriend?"

Seth nearly flipped the next pancake into his own face. "Cesaro? No, he has a girlfriend, we're partners at work and good friends."

"Oh." Roman said, watching him.

"I'm single but I am gay." He thought back to the story Roman told him last night. "If that bothers you, I can find some place else for you to stay."

"What, because I was raped?" Roman asked bluntly.

Seth winced. "Yes."

"Those guys all went home to their girlfriends and wives when they were done." Roman said looking down. "Gay or straight had nothing to do with it, I was just a hole to them."

Seth looked down at the pancake that was currently burning in the pan and tried hard not to cry or scream at the horrors that had been done to Roman. He blinked the tears away and turned off the stove, throwing the burnt pancake in the garbage. "Breakfast is served." he said with a trembling smile.


After breakfast, Seth insisted on taking Roman to see another friend of his, this time a medical doctor. He was worried mostly about Roman's nutrition after his long captivity but he had also taken the doctor aside and told her all about Roman's sexual abuse and asked her to run tests for STDs he might have gotten from the men. The thought of Roman having endured all that he had, only to have an HIV diagnosis, made him sick. He had also called Cesaro and asked him to go shopping for some new clothes and other things Roman might need and to bring them by later.

After lunch, Dango and Breeze came by and asked for more information about the men that held Roman. Roman only knew their nicknames so he had to look through thousands of mug shots to try and find his captors.

Finally, after a dinner of takeout pizza, Seth sent everyone away. Roman's eyes were red from spending hours looking through mug shots and he was trying hard not to fall asleep.

Seth looked at Roman as his head started to fall back in his sleep and smiled fondly. Roman spent hours looking at the computer screen and never even complained, he'd done everything asked of him with no questions. But that wasn't a good thing especially if he wasn't listening to his body. Seth would have to step up and make sure Roman was taking care of himself.

He walked up to Roman and put a hand on his shoulder gently and Roman's eyes flew open in a panic. "It's time to go to bed, Roman."

"I'm okay, I can stay up." Roman said rubbing his eyes.

"No, you're tired and need your rest." He said quietly. "There's nothing else to do today anyway."

"Okay, Seth." Roman said easing off the sofa and heading to his bedroom.

Seth finished cleaning up and went to bed himself.


The next morning, Seth woke up determined to give Roman a nice day. He called Dango and Breeze and told them not to come over and he let Roman sleep in, he obviously needed the rest. When Roman woke up, he cooked them a large brunch.

"When are the fashion police getting here?" Roman asked after brunch.

"The fashion police?" Seth laughed. "Do you mean Dango and Breeze?"

"Well, they're always dressed in fancy clothes and they do work for the police." Roman said matter-of-factly.

"It is a good name for them." Seth grinned. "They've been like that for as long as I've known them. You should have seen them in high school."

Roman smiled a real smile and Seth's heart skipped a beat. He cleared his throat. "Anyway, I told them not to come today, I thought that we could use a break."

"Oh." Roman said.

"Is there anything you want to do today?" He asked hopefully.

"Whatever you want to do is fine." Roman said, sitting back in the arm chair.

Seth frowned. He had hoped that Roman would want to do something that he wanted to do but this was really only his second day of freedom and he probably still wasn't used to it. "Hey, do you like Batman?"

"Who doesn't?" Roman asked.

"Why don't we have a movie marathon, I bet there are a few that you haven't seen yet?" He asked turning on the TV.

"Sounds good." Roman said, moving to the chair closer to the TV. "How many are there now?"

"Hmm," Seth said, counting in his head. "About 7 I guess, depends on whether you count Batman vs. Superman."

"Wow, the last one I saw was Batman & Robin, and that was so long ago."

"Then you, my friend, are in for a treat." Seth said, flopping on the sofa and queuing up the first movie.

They watched movies all day and it was the first time that he saw Roman truly relax and enjoy himself. Seth went to sleep that night happy that he had managed to bring a little bit of happiness to Roman that day. All he wanted was for Roman to be happy.