Title: The chicken soup conspiracy

Author: Kidishcaresh

Pairing: 05xOC

Word count:

Theme: Sickness

Timeline: AU

Author notes: A series of short fics about being sick and/or injured. In which our beloved gundam wing characters have to deal with sickness and the age old cure of chicken soup. If you have any other household cures for fevers and or other illnesses let me know.

CHALLENGE: I'm utterly bored when I get home from work and with limited web-time until my internet connection is set up I will have plenty of offline evenings which I intend to spend writing! I saw someone else's fic series containing this idea and decided that it was the perfect solution to my problem! So I decided to let you; the readers to challenge me to writing you a story! How it works: Simple really, you send me a review or PM if you prefer that. In this review/PM you tell me the following:

1. The pairing or the two characters this fic will center on.

2. The condition or injury you want mentioned as well as which of the two has it.

3. The setting. Where will the story take place? Where are the characters going to be and do they eventually move somewhere else?

4. Genre. Romance? Comedy? Drama? Angst? ETC.?Or a combination thereof?

5. The challenge. Here you tell me what you wish to see, or a word(s) that must be used in the fic.

Challenge: This challenge is one I set myself as an example for you. ^^

1: 05xOC.

2: Common cold, the OC.

3: Starting out at a mission and moving to a hotel and then the OC's home.

4: Comedy.

5: Word: Chicken soup. Challenge: The OC's child being involved in the tending to the sick person.

Disclaimer: I own nothing except my OC's.

Chapter 1; Chicken soup and toddlers,

Wufei shook his head as he looked at her. He couldn't believe that he was really sitting in her bedroom feeding her chicken soup because a toddler told him to.

It shouldn't have ended up like this. It'd been just a simple recon mission, but missions were seldom simple and hardly ever went as Wufei wanted them to go. It should have been a smooth run; go in grab the info and get out before they realized. Too bad it wasn't.

Wufei and his partner had spent days observing the area to learn the pattern of the patrolling agents that were on the supposedly deserted military base. While normally this part of the mission didn't bother him or his partner at all, this time around it had rained the entire extended duration of their mission. When they finally figured out the pattern and set up a plan of approach he'd been ready to get it over with and go home. It was due to that fact that he'd missed the early signs. They managed to get into the base and get their information, but luck was against them very much and they were caught. The rebel faction that operated from this base wasn't too happy with them and so they found themselves soaked to the bone in a cell which wasn't exactly up to the latest health codes.

While Wufei, through years of training in all types of weather conditions, had built up an unbeatable immune system and hardly ever caught more than a simple case of the sniffles; his partner did not. When the rebel leader had his partner dragged out of the cell he should've really seen it already, but he'd not. Hours passed by as Wufei spend his time meditating and analyzing the cell waiting for them to either collect him or bring his partner back. He'd already found seven weaknesses in the small cell's structure when they finally brought her back. His partner was shoved in and immediately fell forward, but twisted so she'd land on her side.

Wufei had waited until he knew for sure they were gone and explained their escape plan. The rebels hadn't searched him thoroughly so the information they collected on the small data chip was still safe. Wufei had frowned then because his partner was slow to react and as they broke out and fled the base she'd continually lagged behind and even fallen four or five times. He hadn't had the time to think about it then, but he swore he'd find out what was up with his partner as soon as they reached a safe location.

They made it to the nearest town through the pouring rain and checked into the local hotel as a newlywed couple on a world tour. His partner and he had stumbled in, all but dead on their feet, so it hadn't been hard to convince the desk lady to give them a room for the night. Thinking back on it he realized the desk lady had warned him that his wife looked awful pale and he should've definitely realized then. The sad thing was…he hadn't. He'd just asked her if she was okay and she'd said she was fine; just tired. He'd dismissed everything right there and then and had her take a shower while he procured some clothes from a local tailor's shop.

He'd thought she'd be okay, but when he returned she was still in the shower. At first he'd thought she'd taken a long shower to rid herself of the chill from the rain, but when thirty minutes after his return she still hadn't come out; he'd gone and kicked the door in. That's when he realized something was horribly wrong. She lay slumped against the wall with the water half beating down on her. Luckily her body had slumped down in such a way that her face was not under the water or turned to the floor. He'd first panicked then blushed and finally pulled her out of the shower making his wet clothes even wetter. He'd dried her off and then himself before dressing both of them. He'd placed her on the bed once she was dry and tried to wake her. She woke briefly and apologized. She'd told him she was just tired and fell asleep again.

Wufei sighed. He'd been too happy that she had woken and his own tired mind supplied that neither of them had slept much if at all the past week so it was natural for her to be tired to the point of collapsing. When he woke up the next day though he realized it'd had nothing to do with exhaustion. She was sick. The first sign to that had been the hot, sweaty, shivering body that lied huddled against him, the second had been when she suddenly bolted for the bathroom and didn't come back out. Eventually he'd once again disregarded her privacy to ease his justified worry and gone in to find her slumped by the toilet. He'd cleaned her up once more and put on some of the clean clothes he'd gotten the other night.

Once he had his partner back in the hotel bed he'd contacted Sally who was their contact for trouble during missions. Quite cheerfully Sally had announced that Wufei should keep his partner warm, have her drink regularly and to use the old fashion way of getting a fever down as his partner was apparently allergic to most chemical medications. Wufei had found it odd, but had done so anyways. Sally used to be a doctor after all. She would know best. Once his partner's health had improved enough and Sally finally arranged them transport they'd returned to HQ got debriefed and were ordered to go home and rest up. In fact Une had personally ordered them both a week's worth of leave effective immediately and Wufei was to see to it that his sick partner got home safely. Needless to say Wufei was not happy then. Little did he know what was waiting for him at his partner Rin's house.

They arrived early that morning and Wufei attempted to get Rin to tell him where her keys were so he could unlock the door and bring her inside. During the ride home her fever had gone up again. To his surprise the door was opened and a girl of roughly 19 looked out.

"Oh uhm…I eh I'd stay, but I really can't I didn't know she'd come home sick from her work…mister Maxwell only told me that Mei-lin had to stay a little longer because something didn't go right and it all got dragged out horribly. I have a meeting at school in a few so I really can't babysit today and-…" the girl said with wide eyes.

"It's quite alright. I'll take care of her. You can go now. Thank you for your services." Wufei caught her off. He wasn't in the mood to deal with this now. Rin was beginning to lean heavily on him and he just wanted to get her to bed ASAP before her fever got worse again. The girl nodded and took off calling back a goodbye to Mei-lin.

Wufei didn't need to wonder who this Mei-lin was for long as not two minutes after he put Rin on her couch a whirl of black hair shot past him onto the couch. Wufei blinked and stared at the toddler that now clung to Rin's body talking a lot before suddenly frowning and looking at Wufei worriedly.

"Why's mama not waking up?" she asked her voice soft and sad.

"Because mama is sick." Wufei said uncertain. He'd never dealt with toddlers before. What was he supposed to do now? He'd promised the girl he believed to be her nanny he'd take care of the child and of Rin.

"Then mama should be in bed." the toddler announced seriously after some thought. Wufei smiled at this and picked Rin up again.

"Is that so?" he asked while walking after the toddler who apparently decided she should show him the way.

"Yes. When I'm sick mama has me stay in bed too. It's really warm, but that's okay cuz mama says it's needed to make the sickness go out of your body." the child said nodding to herself before jumping up a few times at a closed door before grabbing the handle and opening it. Wufei chuckled and waited for the child to push the door open. Then he walked in and put Rin in her bed. Mei-lin had by now climbed onto the bed and pulled back the blanket. After Wufei put Rin down she clumsily put it over her mother and patted it.

"So…you know all about being sick huh?" he said kneeling by the child's side after she slid off the bed again.

"Yep. I was sick a lot of times when I was littler." the child said nodding.

"I see so do you know what else to do to make mama better?" Wufei asked smiling. This child was very amusing.

"Let's see…hm…mama's got cold right?" the toddler asked seriously. Wufei nodded and couldn't help but softly chuckle at the sight.

"Well she's already sleeping n in bed so…drink lots of water an'…CHICKEN SOUP!" the child suddenly declared loudly.

"Chicken soup?" Wufei asked blinking.

"Yes. Mama says chicken soup is the best remedy for sick people!" the child said grabbing his sleeve and pulling him to the kitchen. Wufei followed amusedly and watched the three-year-old look around then point at a high cupboard.

"In there! behind the cereal!" she said jumping up and down.

And so Wufei found himself cooking chicken soup in his partner's house with a three-year-old bouncing around him. When the soup was almost ready he made her some cheese sandwiches to eat and told her to go play in her room once she was done eating.

Most of the afternoon was spend watching over the three-year-old while Rin slept. That evening she woke up again and Mei-lin insisted Wufei feed her mama the chicken soup. Wufei found that there was just no arguing with the child and as such he found himself doing just as the child had said; feeding his partner her soup.

Later that evening after he finally got Mei-lin to sleep when he promised her that he'd still be there when she woke up the next day Wufei checked up on Rin and found her looking much better as she sat up slightly and was reading a book.

"Sorry you had to play nurse and nanny for me." she said quietly.

"It's quite alright. I don't mind. She's a sweet child." Wufei said smiling.

"She is. She didn't cause you any trouble did she?" Rin asked.

"Not at all. She's been a great help. Why haven't you ever mentioned you had a daughter though?" Wufei said shaking his head and handing her a glass of water.

"It…just never came up." Rin said looking away. Wufei sighed.

"There's more to it than that woman I can tell. We're partners and I'd like to think we're also friends. Yet you're always distant and you avoid any personal questions and you didn't even mention you had a child. I think as your partner I should know about that in case something happens. Like this." Wufei said motioning to her to indicate her having gotten sick during the mission was qualified as 'something happens'.

"It's none of your business okay? Besides you don't tell me anything personal either…look, I appreciate the help, but I'm feeling much better so you can go home now." Rin said turning away. Wufei sighed. He should've known that she'd clam up as soon as he pushed for answers. It annoyed him to no end.

"You feel better now, but what if your fever returns overnight again? Mei-lin is too young to take care of herself let alone her sick mother. I'll stay the night. You should get some sleep." he said coolly.

"Fine…whatever." Rin said quietly.

"Goodnight, woman…" Wufei said quietly as he left the room.

Wufei slept little that night. Her words and her expression kept running through his head. She'd looked upset almost hurt when he asked about the child. It made him believe that there was definitely more behind it then she wanted him to know.

"Come to think of it…wonder where the father is…" he murmured tiredly as he stared at the ceiling. He didn't notice the small figure in the door frame until Mei-lin spoke.

"Papa is gone. Papa was a bad person so they put him in jail. Yeye told me." the toddler said her voice was surprisingly normal. He'd expected her to be sad about it.

"Is that so?" Wufei asked picking up the child and sitting her on his lap so they could watch TV together.

"Yes. Yeye says papa made mama do something she didn't like and it hurt her, a whole lot. That's why he had to go to jail. I think I don't like papa much. Mama always gets upset when I talk about him. I think mama needs someone new to be my papa. A nice person who won't hurt her. Maybe you can be papa!" the child said gasping before pointing at him as she said the last sentence. Wufei almost choked on the sip of tea he'd just drunken and looked at the child in shock.

"What?" he asked staring at the child with wide eyes.

"Maybe you can be my papa. Mama talks about you lots when she comes home from work. Mama thinks you're smart and funny and strong. If you marry mama she'll be happy I'm sure! I know you'll never hurt mama. You're nice and funny and you took good care of mama and me!" Mei-lin said nodding to herself. Wufei shook his head. What was he supposed to say to that?

'Hold on what did she just say?' he thought as his mind processed the rest of her words.

"Mama talks about me?" he asked the child.

"Yes. All the time. She always smiles and turns red when she does. I think mama loves you!" the child said giggling at the last part. From the door though the sound of choking came and Wufei looked up at Rin who held a glass of water and stared at him and Mei-lin in shock.

"MAMA!"Mei-lin cried running over and hugging her mother. Rin smiled at the child and whispered something to her before Mei-lin nodded and ran off.

"Sorry about that. I don't know where she gets all that from." Rin said sitting down next to Wufei on the couch.

"It's your child." Wufei said shrugging carelessly. He'd learned a great deal from the child just now and wondered if he should push his luck and approach Rin about this.

"Look, about last night…I'm…sorry I shouldn't have said those things…we're partners I know, but…well there are just some things I'd rather not talk about and…I had Une promise that my daughter stays out of the records…I don't want to have her involved in things…she's just a child she shouldn't have to worry about those things…she believes I work hard and that sometimes I need to stay at work for several days because I'm very busy…I want to keep it like that." Rin said quietly.

"I understand…I also have things I don't wish to talk about…it…just seemed strange that you have child and none of us at work know of her. She…told me about her…father…must've heard me thinking out loud or something…" he said quietly hoping she wouldn't start yelling or worse.

Rin tensed and looked away. Wufei stared at her suddenly what the child said hit him like a ton of bricks.

"Yes. Yeye says papa made mama do something she didn't like and it hurt her, a whole lot. That's why he had to go to jail." The words ran through his mind and Wufei felt his blood turn cold.

"It's been almost four years…I was engaged with him, but…things weren't going well…I…my parents weren't big fans of hugging, cuddling or any of those type of friendly touches…and…as I child and teenager I got picked upon a lot and beaten just as much…by classmates…I was…different I guess…anyways…I met him and…it was love at first sight I guess…I saw him and I couldn't stop looking." Rin began. Wufei nodded and waited for her to go on. Rin took a moment to collect her thoughts before going on.

"At first he was kind and sweet and understanding. I told him I was scared…not ready yet…he said it was okay and he'd wait until I was ready before…well you know… then four years ago…no…it was before that…we became lovers and…I don't know…I guess he got tired of waiting…he would push me…try and make me cave and…well I'd just push him away and remind him of his promise and he'd storm off to someplace and come home late at night drunk…then one night…he pushed again and I told him I wasn't ready yet…that I was still scared and…" Rin stopped she was shaking badly now.

"You don't have to go on…he never deserved you. You were right to send him to jail." Wufei whispered wrapping his arms around her clumsily hoping to comfort her.

"Mama?" Mei-lin whispered standing before them suddenly.

"Mama's okay baby…go play in your room a little longer please?" Rin said quietly.

"Okay mama…mama? Will Fei be my new papa now?" Mei-lin asked hopeful. Rin and Wufei looked at each other and laughed. Wufei let go of Rin when he noticed Mei-lin, but couldn't help but laugh at the question.

"Well…I don't know sweetie. We are partners at work after all; I'm not sure if it'd work out well and besides you don't even know if Wufei wants to be your daddy." Rin said smiling mischievously. She then whispered something in Mei-lin's ear and watched the girl happily skip off to her room.

"She's cute. Does she always do that?" Wufei chuckled watching the child leave.

"Only with every guy I bring home." Rin answered chuckling.

"You bring home many?"Wufei asked raising an eyebrow.

"So far? A grand total of two since she was born. Both of them I work with." Rin answered grabbing her glass of water and sitting back.

Okay that's where I leave you for now. I plan on getting a sequel on it up for chapter 5.