Seraphine

nine

Enzo

As soon as the door closes behind Seraphine, Enzo whirls around and fists Nico's shirt, shoving him against the wall.

"What the fuck was that?" He asks incredulously, pushing Nico further into the wall even as Damien and Luca voice their protests. Nico snarls back at him and pushes him off, straightening his button-up.

"I had an observation, and I spoke on it. I'm not sorry," he states matter-of-factly, and Enzo sighs harshly, running a hand through his dark hair. Luca steps up to Nico and places a large hand on his shoulder.

"What did you mean?" His voice is calm, ever the apparent leader, and Nico shakes his head.

"I meant exactly what I asked. She was wearing the same clothes as she did when she was in my class. That same Eeyore shirt, those same dark jean shorts...fuck," he suddenly grunts, tearing at his hair.

Damien raises an eyebrow, starting to put the pieces together. "She looked absolutely terrible when she walked into my class...late," he emphasizes, and his three partners look at him with surprised expressions. "Yeah," Damien confirms with a nod, rubbing his chin.

Enzo leans against the desk, folding his arms and running his tongue over his lips. He makes a pained noise that draws their attention, and drops his head to his chest.

"Yesterday...before my class, her boyfriend," he spits the word like poison, "told me straight up he was taking her for 'a quick one'. He tried to fist bump me," he continues even after Luca chokes on air and Damien gasps. Nico laughs dryly, fisting his hair more. "I told him that she needed to get to class. She showed up a minute later--was that wrong of me? Did I do something to set him off?" Enzo suddenly feels his chest fill up with a cold, dark feeling, and he clutches his heart.

Luca steps up to him, placing his hands on his shoulders and drawing the smaller man's gaze to his.

"No, Enzo. You can't think like that. If anything, I set him off." The words are harsh, and his partners know he's blaming himself for all of Seraphine's pain. Damien shakes his head.

"We're jumping to conclusions here. We still don't know for sure if she's being hurt by him." Ever the voice of reason, Damien stuffs his hands in his pockets and mulls over his thoughts, poking the side of his cheek with his tongue.

"I know she's hurting, I know she is," Enzo tries to argue, that same feeling threatening to drown his stomach. He feels sick, but he's certain that she's not safe.

"Think, boys. Was there anything else that could've shown us she's being...abused?" Luca has trouble saying the word, his own chest tightening at the thought of Seraphine being hurt intentionally.

Nico pauses, his whole figure freezing. His eyes dart back and forth before he turns to Damien, pointing a finger in his face.

"You got cameras in here?" Instantly, Damien's headed to the bookshelf behind his desk, waving Nico out of the way. He grabs a small golden statue of Atlas holding the world on his shoulders and sets it on his desk. He pushes on Atlas' head and it flings forward, revealing a small flash drive wedged in his neck.

"Damn, Damien." Enzo says, and Damien looks up at him with a shrug.

"Never know when it'll come in handy," is his only argument, and Enzo shakes his head in disbelief, before rounding the desk and taking his spot next to Nico.

Damien slides the flash drive into a port in his desktop, and they all wait impatiently as it loads in. Finally, a picture shows up on the screen, and they recognize themselves sitting, leaning against Damien's desk, and pacing the floor.

"It hasn't been edited, so it'll just play, but...here," Damien points to the door shown on the screen just as it opens, and Seraphine steps through.

Her gasp is still audible through the video, and Enzo smiles.

They sit and watch her every move, silently praising Damien for keeping the camera at eye level. Nico blocks it for a second when he moves in front of the camera and the other three grumble, but then he points to the screen as soon as he moves away.

"There. Right there! Do you see that?" His voice is angry, breathless, and Enzo squints at the screen for a moment.

Then, he sees it.

"Is that--"

"I've done enough torturing in my life to recognize fucking rope burns," Nico sneers at the screen, his anger flaring up in his chest and spreading to his partners.

"Jesus," Luca breathes, his eyes finding a matching set on Seraphine's other wrist. He wonders then if he'd find the same marks on her ankles.

"Okay, well...we know they're either having kinky sex or he's..." Damien shakes his head, not wanting to say it out loud. Enzo refuses to believe the first option, but he feels bile rise in his throat at the thought of the second option.

"We have to take this to the police." He says, jumping the gun. Damien looks up at him and narrows his eyes.

"Did you even hear what I just said? We don't know what's going on between them," he snaps, and Enzo glares back at him. Luca steps in between them, his hands raised to keep the peace.

"Guys, calm down. We can't do anything right now, so we need to just...take a breath," he says, looking from Enzo to Damien and slowly lowering his hands once he's decided they aren't going to kill each other.

"At least...at least she accepted the job," Enzo offers, looking to Damien. The taller, slightly older man stares him down before nodding. Enzo relaxes and runs a hand through his hair.

"She has to keep coming to class, she can't not graduate. So we'll have that, too. We just need to...get her to open up to us. It may take time, but we'll get her. Okay?" Nico reasons aloud, rubbing his chin. He looks to each of his partners, who nod, before nodding himself.

"Alright. Let's go home."