Disclaimer: hahahahahahaha… I'm so old. You know the score.

Notes: Wufei takes a shower. Trowa keeps using a word but I'm not sure he knows what it means.

Song: Celldweller – Stay With Me (Unlikely)

There's so much on my mind, we're given so little time

there's no way to hold on as it passes by

so lead me into denial, help me forget for awhile

stay with me, please please don't go

Stay with me, please don't go

I don't want to be alone

Eldritch Holiday

By Doctor Megalomania

Whatever words they say (me who said it)

whomever they betray (me who did it)

whenever they're awake it makes me die

Chapter 10 – Lead me into denial

Wufei sat with a cup of tea, staring out the window. The hotel's small dining room was well appointed with a number of breakfast tables, and constant coffee and tea available. Unlike his room which overlooked the surprisingly nice garden, the dining room overlooked the street and the car park. The staff at the hotel seemed to prefer to remain out of sight.

With the others tucked away in their rooms, Wufei had found himself settling quickly into his room. A refreshing shower later, Wufei wandered down stairs for a small breakfast. His tablet only picked up a single bar of network, so he picked up a local newspaper and sat near a window. He ate while flicking through the newspaper, and then sat watching the street while sipping his tea. There was a billboard advertisement, not fully in view. From what he could read of the slogan - it seemed to say 'looking for purpose?' - the woman on the left side of the board faced away, hands on her hips facing a sunset. He was lost in the detail of the red flowers in the grass below her feet.

There was a loud noise, like a car misfiring.

He jumped, jostling his tea. He grabbed a napkin to dab it up.

A pick-up truck pulled up and a woman jumped down. Her hood was familiar. Wufei sat forward, tea forgotten. Grabbing her rucksack, and waving at the driver as they moved on, she turned. She seemed to look up at the vacancies sign on the hotel's main signage and then looked at her phone. Her lips twisted into a disappointed look and she stood for a moment, looking around. Pulling the straps on her rucksack tighter, she seemed to consider the hotel before shaking her head and walking off.

Wufei got up and sprinted to the door as it looked she was walking away.

"Riko!" He raised his hand and waved as he burst through the door. He slowed to a jog as he approached her in the car park. She was frowning deeply as she got closer to him. He smiled nervously, "What's wrong?"

"You..." She frowned again, and brought out her phone. Looking over her shoulder, Riko seemed to search the street. Looking back at him, she moved a little closer and looked him up and down, "I mean... I knew your Gundams were fast but..." She suddenly shook her head and jabbed him in the shoulder with her fist. Her eyes widened and she stumbled backward in surprise. "Oh shit! You are real!"

Rocking only slightly, Wufei found himself impressed with the strength in the punch. "Do you punch all the new people you meet?" Smiling, he tilted his head in confusion, "Are you ok?"

"I just left you behind in the services."

He looked at her with bemusement, "That was yesterday."

She looked horrified. "No, that was this morning. I mean, I left you behind." She gestured down the street. "You- you were there this morning. I..." She raised a hand to push her hood down. "I swear - I left you there this morning. Like-like two hours ago…!"

Wufei took a quick breath, looking her over. Her hoodie was damp, dazzling sunset hair still the same.

"We drove through..." He glanced over his shoulder at their vehicle. "Or at least we think we drove through the night." He nodded, making his mind up. "Come on. We should talk to the others." He looked back for a moment, to explain to her. "We lost time yesterday." He turned away and started walking toward the hotel, "Have you already got a place to stay?"

"No, I was going to stay at this hotel but—"

"There's still room."

She grimaced, "Not according to the vacancies sign."

Wufei rolled his eyes, pausing, "Of course, we took the last three rooms."

"Uh huh." Riko nodded, she kept going forward. "But let's figure out how the hell you got ahead of me." She paused and turned to him, sticking out her hand with determination. He took her hand and shook it; her hand was rough with use. "Riko Matsumi. I should have introduced myself properly, I've been thinking about it all morning! It's not often you meet your superhero and-"

"Matsumi?" Wufei repeated, uncertain he'd heard correctly. "What are you doing here?"

"Yeah," She pulled up her rucksack. "My auntie invited me to come join her; she said my degree might be useful."

"You... you've heard from your aunt?"

"Not directly, she's working with this guy called—"

"Professor Leighton?"

Riko stopped dead and took a half-step away from him. "Yeah, how'd you know?"

"It's... a complicated and stupid story. We're here to look for your aunt." Wufei raised a hand to pinch his nose; he could feel the onset of a headache. "Tell you what; if you're okay with me sleeping on the couch, you can have the bed in my room." He reached forward and grabbed her elbow, "We really need to talk."

"Whoa!" She said, but stumbled forward with him. "Wait, you know my aunt? Wait, my aunt knows famous Gundam Pilots and she didn't tell me!?" She pulled her arm out of his grasp, "What the hell is going on here?!"

As Wufei walked through into the dining room, he was surprised to find the room virtually full. Riko bumped into him, causing him to grasp her hand. "Are you ok?" She asked quietly.

Wufei glanced at her, "It was empty when I left." He looked past her, down the reception hall and saw that outside, it was getting dark.

"What's wrong?" She looked up at him, and turned to look the same way. "Wait… It wasn't evening when we walked in."

"It was not."

"What the shit is happening." It wasn't a question, she sounded almost angry. She looked up at him, holding his hand tighter.

He was unsettled, "I don't know. I don't know what's going on. Just… stay close." He turned and looked around the room. He saw Duo – stood by a table, surprise on his face mouthing something that looked like 'Holyforkingshirtballs'- wave at him, and made his way over to the table. The four other pilots were sat around a table for six. Trowa was staring at his soup like it would poison him. Wufei approached the table, bringing Riko's hand up with his to introduce her. "This is Riko. We just met outside, and it was early afternoon."

"It was morning. Quatre and I were just talking…" Trowa said, looking up. His face concerned. "Have we lost time again?"

"Time skips." Duo nodded, jabbing the table with a finger decisively. "Heero and I were just sitting at the table in our room. Now we're here." He looked around, "And I'm fairly sure it wasn't getting on to evening." As he turned back, his lips tugged into an unwilling smirk. "Oh yeah, we've gotten ourselves into some prime schmuck bait."

Quatre leant forward, shoving aside his soup. "Losing time is no small thing. There's technology out there that allows it to happen… but in small confined areas, like mobile suits… not whole towns." He shook his head, and stood holding a hand out to Riko. "Quatre—"

"Winner. I know." Riko gave his hand a brief shake. She looked around them and rolled her eyes at their confusion. "Shit, boys, it's not like you saved the earth sphere and the colonies in an epic battle twice. You're a little famous." She moved to sit down and Wufei sat opposite her. She glanced at him before looking at the rest of them. "I'm Riko Matsumi." She waited for the shock to ripple through all of them, "Yes. Wufei tells me you're looking for my Auntie. Professor Leighton emailed me to tell me that she'd asked me to come. I have a degree in astrophysics…"

"Did Professor Leighton sound out of sorts? Not quite like himself?" Duo asked, his strange coloured eyes bright. "Maybe a little deep voice evil guy…"

"I… what?" Riko said, turning her attention to Wufei, "What did he just say?"

"Don't even try," Wufei shook his head, waving Duo off. "The message Leighton sent, did it sound like him?"

"I don't know." Riko shrugged, she dug out her phone and tapped at it. "I've never met him. My Auntie sent me a few emails before, but then she lost connection. Leighton said she was finding it difficult, and that I should come as soon as possible. It was top secret, and I should hitch-hike… " Dropping her phone to the table, she clapped her hands over her eyes and groaned. "Oh my fucking god, I walked into a trap!"

"Shh." She opened her eyes as Duo touched her shoulder, "It's okay. We all walked into a trap."

"Did you know?"

"Yes."

"Then why did you come? You actively decided to walk into this trap." She asked, holding a hand out plaintively. "Is this, like, a preventer's mission?"

"Oh no." Duo sat down again, picking up a breadstick and chewing it. "I'm on holiday."

"I'm here to protect him." Heero gestured Duo.

Trowa gestured Quatre, "I'm here to protect him from him."

"I'm here because I'm not over breaking up with him and I wanted to do something incredibly stupid to distract myself." Quatre chuckled mirthlessly, gesturing Trowa.

Riko looked at Wufei; Wufei was slumped low in his chair, arms folded with annoyance. She smiled, brightly, becoming amused with his stubborn silence. "Why are you here?"

"I'm here because apparently I'm at danger of joining evil organisations when the others aren't with me."

Wufei rolled his eyes at her incredulous laughter.

Wufei opened his room's door, and gestured Riko to go in first. She slipped off her rucksack, and knelt to take off her boots. Wufei took his own shoes off, and walked into retrieve his bag from the bed. Riko moved around the room, pausing by the table. "You've brought guns?"

"We're prepared for a mission with multiple outcomes."

"I mean, like…" She gestured the table, he'd brought a small selection of weapons. "Are you expecting a war?"

"Heero's run multiple scenarios." Wufei cleared away his things and shook out the blanket. "The worst case we are prepared for is pirates."

Riko cocked her hips as she folded her arms, her expression unimpressed. "What do you have for time skips?"

"Don't underestimate how prepared Heero is." He shrugged; "I might not have it, but I'm sure he will have something." He held up a virtuous finger, reciting, "If a situation exists, Heero Yuy is prepared for it."

"You guys are so weird." Riko sat down on the bed, looking at him. He moved to prepare the sofa. "I mean, like I didn't know that those two guys had broken up… shit, I didn't even know they were dating. Mr Quatre Reberba Winner was my back-up plan – the most eligible bachelor in all the colonies, two years running."

"Your what now?"

"You know, everyone has a back-up plan for when their life doesn't pan out. Don't judge me."

Wufei straightened from fluffing a pillow. "I'm not sure I follow."

"Well, never mind. He's gay!" Riko threw herself on the bed. "Guess, if plan A doesn't work out now, I'll have to go with plan C – How's that Peacecraft woman doing?" She propped herself up on her elbows, tilting her head as she asked casually. "So, which one of them are you dating?"

He shook his head and sat down on the sofa, stretching himself out. After a long moment, he felt he should answer. "I'm not dating any of them." It was a hard thing, but he'd slept on worse. He felt the pain of a tension headache bloom in his head. Out on the street, there was a loud noise, like a car back-firing. Taking a deep breath, he focused on relaxing his body for sleep. He cracked open one eye, when he felt the woman lean over the back.

"You didn't need to do this for me." She said, her voice low. "Thank you."

"Don't worry; we've all slept on worse surfaces." He closed his eye again; "Just try to get some sleep. There's no rhyme or reason to the time skips."

When she didn't move, he opened his eyes again. Her dark eyes were momentarily sad; it looked like she wanted to say something before she blinked and nodded. "Good night, Wufei."

"Night, Riko."

When he opened his eyes again, he stared at the ceiling. His body certainly felt like he'd spent the night on a hard old sofa. It made him feel oddly relieved. Shifting to put his feet on the floor, Wufei got up in a fluid motion and picked up a fresh towel and his wash bag. He glanced at the bed; Riko was a messy sleeper. Her leg stuck out from under the blanket, her pillow bunched up under her neck. Sunset coloured hair fanned out over her face and arms were akimbo. He took a moment to appreciate the firm muscles he could see, mind quietly assessing her as an asset.

He shook his head at himself and went into the bathroom. Setting his towel down, he stripped off and stretched before getting into the shower. He washed himself, efficiently. Stood under the hot water for a while, washed his hair. Running his hands over himself, his fingers lingered on a scar on his elbow. Red flowers flashed in his mind's eye. He swallowed hard and pressed against the scar harder. He dashed his head under the shower's stream again, angrily turning the water to cold. Gritting his teeth, he focused on his breath. In. Hold. Out. Hold.

Forced his hands against the wall, spreading his fingers wide.

"Wufei?"

He gasped, and looked to his right. The shower stall's frosted window hid her features, but couldn't hide the brilliance of her hair. She wasn't facing him.

"Wufei, your phone's been ringing." Riko's voice was rough from sleep. She stretched to hold his phone up above the shower wall so he could see the screen. "Who do you hate so much to label them as 'that stupid bastard'?" There was amusement in her voice. "I mean, I didn't think Gundam Pilots were allowed to hate people…?"

"You'd be surprised." He replied, still tense.

"Sorry to barge in on you." She said, dropping her hand. "The phone's been ringing like every two minutes."

"Yes, I've failed to answer." Wufei shook his head, and reached to switch the shower off. "The stupid bastard will keep trying but he'll get the hint eventually. Just hang up."

"Is that…" She paused, "Was that a cold shower?"

"Yes."

"I mean, like, I totally read somewhere that you used to seek out waterfalls and stand under them but I just figured that was a racist caricature of your Asian warrior stereotype… Huh." She leaned against the shower stall, arms folded. "Now, I'm questioning was I adding in my own bias in my determination to fight the racial stereotypes on your interaction with the media…?"

A harsh bark of a laugh erupted from him, taking both him and Riko by surprise. He pushed the door open, leaning carefully out, "I did stand under at least one waterfall during my childhood."

"What was it like?" She stood straight, eyes clearly interested in the concept. "I mean, I've always wanted to! I can imagine it being wonderfully toning."

"Your shoulders ache." He reached out for a towel, and was pleasantly surprised when she stepped forward to help him, and then turned her back. Wufei stepped out, wrapping his lower body with a towel securely before reaching for something to dry his hair with.

She stepped out of the bathroom for a moment, before returning. "The phone's ringing again."

He looked at the screen, his attention wandering up her arm. Lime green painted nails. A single tattoo of a bright blue flower on her inside wrist. Worn leather and bead bracelet. Golden skin. Lightly muscled upper arm, hint of a tattoo on her upper shoulder. Ripped short t-shirt, a flash of defined abs, boxer style shorts, a vine like tattoo that peaked around from the back and curvy hips that cocked to one side when she put a fist impatiently on her hip. The gesture made his eyes snap up.

A knowing smirk was on her lips.

"The phone?"

He closed his eyes for a moment, loosely gesturing her. "Sorry. You're … very well-toned for someone who isn't a solider."

"I work out." She said, amusement in her voice. "Anyway. Right back at you, pilot. Nearly a decade since the war?" She made an obvious show of looking him right up and down, "Gundamn, boy. What's your routine?"

Smirking at her, he dried his hands, and took the phone. Securing his towel in one hand, he answered the phone as he walked past Riko. "Hello Jules. Why are you calling me? No, I'm Wufei. No, I'm the other one. No, that's Heero. Who the hell is Becky?"

While Riko got into the shower herself, Wufei carefully dressed. While he had not brought his preventer uniform, he had brought the basics of it. Suitable trousers for combat situations, a vest, and a coat that served the same function as his uniform jacket – many secure pockets and decent armour protection. He strapped on a holster and armed himself carefully. He took his preventer credentials and tucked it into his coat. While they were officially on holiday, he didn't want to take any chances in case this needed to become a mission. He walked over to his phone, and picked it up. Finally, he pulled on his watch.

"Whoa." Riko sounded surprisingly impressed, "Superhero action man."

He turned to find Riko, towel held tight about her body. He finished tightening his watch, allowing himself a moment to contemplate the bright forget-me-not tattooed curling up her left ankle. "I'll leave you to get dressed." He looked away and picked up his tablet. "I'll be just outside the door."

"Think something might happen?"

He shrugged, "I have no idea. I'd rather not take any chances. Shout if you need me." Dipping his head in a nod, he stepped out of the room, closing the door behind him. He leant against the door, and took a moment to breath. Seeing bright blue flowers. In and hold and out and hold and in…

A door opened opposite him with an unusually loud clack. Quatre stepped out in his dressing gown. He looked angry. Wufei caught a glimpse of Trowa sitting on the bed behind him. Quatre saw him and - for a moment - closed his eyes. When he opened his eyes, Wufei saw regret in them. "Hi."

"Morning." Wufei glanced past him at Trowa, the other man didn't move. "Are you ready to meet?"

Quatre pursed his lips, frowning. He shook his head once, "No. I." He straightened his shoulders, "Trowa and I need to talk first. We'll be out soon."

Wufei nodded, reaching forward to touch Quatre's elbow. "Are you okay?"

"No." Quatre replied honestly, "But I will be after we talk. If I want to get better, I need to make sure I stop doing the same things and expecting a different result." The smile he gave as he sharply closed the door was regretful. Wufei shook his head. Trowa and Quatre had not been able to be able to simply 'talk' about their problems in the past. He found himself almost bracing for the raised voices.

He was surprised when the door opened again almost immediately, and Trowa stepped out wearing fresh clothes. Behind him – yawning widely - was Quatre who was also dressed in fresh clothing.

Wufei flicked a look between the two of them, until Quatre stopped. His bright blue eyes widened.

Trowa paused as he looked between Wufei and Quatre. "What's wrong?"

"I just saw you like this yesterday." Quatre said, he looked over his shoulder as if he could see into the past. "Just before we talked it out."

"I just saw you today. You said you needed to talk to Trowa, and then a few seconds later you both walked out." Wufei reached up and rubbed his forehead. "This is going to get a bit frustrating." A thought occurred to him, and he turned to knock on his own door. A few moments later, Riko opened it, dressed and ready. He thought it was odd to feel very relieved at her look of confusion. "Are you ready?"

"Sure. Just trying to connect to the hotel internet."

"Don't bother," Wufei shook his head, "It's patchy at best." He glanced at the others, "Breakfast?"

"Sure," Trowa replied, patting his stomach. "I'm pretty hungry. I'm not sure we ate dinner last night."

"Hmm." Wufei hummed as they walked. Riko and Quatre fell in behind them. He glanced up at Trowa, "Jules seems to think I'm Duo now."

Trowa shrugged, "I don't know what to tell you. Jules is just sensitive."

"Sensitive?" Wufei asked frankly, "Are you using 'sensitive' as a euphemism for 'monumentally stupid' to make yourself feel better?"

"Who's Jules?" Riko asked Quatre quietly.

Quatre's smile was odd. "Trowa's new ex-boyfriend."

"Sure goes through 'em then." Riko jammed her hands into her pockets, uncertain how to take the odd smile on Quatre's face.

"Certainly does." Quatre's smile became more of a grimace. He paused and pulled a phone out of his coat pocket. He showed Riko the screen. "Speak of the devil…" He answered, "Good morning Jules. Yes? No. No. I'm the other one."

Riko glanced at Trowa, and wondered why Quatre had logged Trowa's ex-boyfriend in his contacts as a crying-with-laughter emoji, a broken heart emoji with a small dick gesture emoji.

They got into the lift, and Quatre was smiling broadly at Trowa.

"No, no. You're thinking about Becky. He's the one with the blue eyes."