Seasons with Orpheus

By: gianduja

Disclaimer: Obviously the characters are not mine. Credit to Hiromu Arakawa and fma.

Summary: After losing his wife to a series of kidnappings and murders, Hughes dedicated his love and time to his young daughter. However once his daughter finds a stranger she dubs as a 'kitten' for their family to adopt, Hughes finds himself feeling odd and unexpected feelings of déjà vu. While trying to solve the mystery of his wife's death, Hughes must figure out when and where he once knew this other man.

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Havoc could barely keep up with Hughes as he rushed back to the café where Roy was supposedly waiting. When they arrived the stranger in the photographs was missing and the place had turned into a crime scene. The owner watched the slightly bewildered looks on their faces as they entered with a similar expression. Fellow officers from the same precinct were busy examining the area. Havoc recognized all of the men and waved over a short, bespectacled young man with dark hair.

"What in the world happened here, Officer Fuery?" the tall blond muttered while looking at the mess of shattered cups on the floor and overturned tables.

"The lady called in a disturbance. She described it as a band of crude thugs beating up some innocent wanderer." he read off his clipboard.

"Do you think this 'wanderer' could have been the date you dropped off here earlier?" Havoc turned to look at Hughes with a grin. As expected Maes was certainly not amused by his friend's attempts at joking.

"He was NOT my date. You know I have better taste than that," he rolled his eyes in response before walking off in the direction where the lady was being interviewed. "I intend to show the shopkeeper the photograph to see if it was indeed him."

She let out a long, unburdened sigh of relief when Hughes smiled and greeted her. Despite the small crowd of police that had gathered around, the shopkeeper was still frightened and unwilling to open up entirely to anyone but Hughes and Havoc.

"Ma'am, what seems to be the problem?" Havoc prompted her. She leaned in close to the pair.

"These horrible, horrible men came in and hurt that poor young man you brought in earlier," She spoke to Hughes, ignoring the blond officer. It was obvious that the lady was scared for Roy. "I was worried for myself as well so I called for reinforcements. I was mostly hoping you would come back for him. Thank goodness you two arrived... but I hope you aren't too late."

"Hurt him?" the blond officer frowned and the lady nodded. Fuery rushed over and began scribbling down quietly what she relayed.

"So you were saying the person I left here was being attacked? If you saw him again would you be able to recognize him?" Hughes asked then showed her the picture of Gracia and the missing perpetrator or victim in this case, otherwise known as Roy the Mustang at this point. "Can you confirm that he matches the person in this photograph?"

"Ah yes! That is him! Please tell me that you will help him?"

"Yes we plan on it. Do you happen to know where he went?" Havoc asked, feeling a tad bit annoyed that Hughes was not worried about Roy's welfare. He took a deep breath and tried not to let his feelings show. There was no reason to blame his friend because Hughes' mind was dedicated to solving Gracia's disappearance. Not Roy's...

"If you two want to go it'd be okay." Fuery added meekly. "The two other officers and I should be able to clean this scene up."

"Thanks!" Havoc said, reaching over to ruffle Officer Fuery's hair as though were an obedient pup. Meanwhile Maes was grilling the owner for more details.

"Any direction would be of great use!" Hughes gripped the photograph in his hands and tried to act as calmly as he could. With the most winsome smile he could manage Hughes tried to coax the worried shopkeeper. "Did he go out the door left towards the park or right to the train station?"

"I... I'm not sure. I ran into the backroom to get away from them. They were beating him up pretty badly... but I'll try." she wrung her hands together. Then her eyes lit up with faint recognition, "I remember vaguely... that their footsteps seemed to sound as though they were trailing off left."

This vague and insignificant lead was more than enough for him. In a frenzied need to find the man beside his wife in the photograph and divulge any information about Gracia, Hughes ran off before his friend could follow. Normally one for more concrete information the bereft man was set off into full investigation mode by an aged photograph. To him this haggard pseudo-streetwalker could be his only hope for avenging his dearly departed wife.

"Thanks again for your help, ma'am!" the blond officer yelled as he hurried to catch up with his irritatingly fast colleague. He grumbled and did not bother to light up the cigarette that he desperately craved. "Hey!! Wait up!! You know I can't keep up with you sometimes!"

"Who's fault is it but your own for smoking?" Hughes gritted looking every direction to see where Roy could have disappeared off to. He hated to admit it but Roy was shaping up to be just like Elysia had dubbed him to be...a crafty kitten.

"I can't believe you'd just run out without verifying for sure that she was right!"

"I believe her. I go to that café often and she's never lied before. Why start now? Besides, she looked downright unnerved to be asked. Obviously that scoundrel left with men that with made her feel uncomfortable."

"Scoundrel? That word is still used in conversations? You sound like an old man..."

"It's a appropriate word for that-- that-- I can't be bothered with this right now. Where is he?!" Hughes slowed down at an intersection by the park. It was very late at night and hardly anyone was around. It would be easy to locate a group of men wandering about.

"Well, at the rate you're running we may just catch him! He couldn't have gotten too far if he just walked out." Havoc rested his arm on Hughes' shoulder. His lungs were heaving from running too fast and far.

They were in luck for Havoc's intuition was indeed correct. Shivering despite the coat given to him, Roy walked back slowly to the seedier part of town accompanied by a group of men. The streets were quieter around this time of night with few people out. A few blocks prior, Hughes slowed down his pace as to not alert the rather large group while Havoc followed his steps. The mob had the shorter and exhausted man surrounded. Roy was clutching at a wounded shoulder.

A man dressed in a vest with a white fur lined collar was speaking quietly to Roy. The response must not have been the desire one because he received another harsh beating after speaking. Hughes dragged his friend behind a brick building, planning how to ambush these men.

"We need back up but I'm sure we can take them out. I'm armed and ready." Hughes muttered with an almost maniacal glint in his sharp, golden eyes. His hands were on his holster already. The blond was seeing another side of his friend and partner, one that was quite bloodthirsty and brainless.

"I'm not sure this is one of your finer ideas, Mr. Strategy. We better head back and at least get Fuery or Breda or someone else to help us." Havoc responded with a worried expression. His eyes narrowed as he spotted something glowing in both Roy's hands. It looked as though he was clutching a bomb that was about to detonate. Some of the men figured what was coming next and ran off. The remaining few were not as fortunate. Havoc was one of the men that anticipated what was about to happen. "Oh NO. Not now... Hughes, get down!"

Before they could detain anyone in the group, a huge explosion occurred in the direction where Roy and the others stood. Fortunately the two officers were a safe distance away and sheltered by an aged but sturdy structure. It was an astonishing sight to see when the smoke slowly cleared by where Roy stood.

"Damnit! He's gotta be dea--" Hughes growled but stopped when he saw Roy and whatever was left of the group on the ground passed out but not burnt to death. The two investigators calmly and cautiously approached. "It must have been a poorly constructed bomb. Could he be the arsonist we've been searching for?"

"I doubt it..." Havoc knelt beside Roy with a sad expression on his face. The man coughed and let out a pained groan. Behind them police cars were rushing to the scene. Lights were on in the windows surrounding the area. Strangers peered out from open shutters watching the scene unfold. Someone amongst the group must have called for help.

"L-let go of me..." Roy attempted to sit up and get away from the unfamiliar blond man.

Watching this silently from the side, Hughes could barely contain himself. Without giving his partner a second thought the man bereft of a wife charged at Roy. Angrily he grabbed Roy up from the ground. The shorter man gasped, barely able to speak. He was shocked at receiving such violent actions from the man who had yet to raise a hand to him despite how irritating he'd been earlier.

"Look carefully at these photos! You are in them!! Do you recognize this lady?"

The photographs were shoved in Roy's face. Pulling them back and away, Hughes gave him a chance to look over them carefully before answering. No recognition flashed in Roy's dark eyes. He did look thoroughly haunted at seeing his very likeness, though his alter ego was sharply dressed in a military uniform, reflected back at him in the slightly burnt pictures.

"N-no. While that person may look like me, you truly are mistaken. That couldn't be me and most importantly... I swear that I don't know her!!"

"Don't lie to me!" he roughly shook Roy. The man who was usually full of flirts and smirks looked unnerved and slightly terrified at the enraged officer. He weakly tried to get away from Hughes.

"Hey! Calm down!" Havoc attempted to pull his normally level-headed colleague off of Roy. At the sight of the blond, Roy recoiled and slunk back to the ground. Hughes stepped back with an angry snort when the police sirens stopped and the cars were parked nearby. The same officers that handled the crime scene at the café had arrived.

They each handcuffed and hauled away the unconscious men that bothered the shopkeeper and attacked Roy. The victim in this case was also taken to the station for questioning in a separate car. Hughes watched from the side as this happened. Tomorrow he would find out more about this man referred to as 'Mustang.' Beside him Havoc stood quietly and nervously shuffled his nearly empty box of cigarettes.

To be continued...

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A MASSIVE Thanks goes to Ranma Matsuri for being the beta reader!!

I finally managed to create an outline for the story and how it shall end. Approximately six or more chapters to go! As always, thanks for tuning in!! I notice there are people from all over the world coming to read! That makes me super elated! Probably bc I've read/watched too much Hetalia. The creator is a MAD GENIUS for slashing countries together!!