Wish me luck for this chapter!

Stuck in the middle of nowhere

Chapter 4

Duo groaned and hid his head under his pillow. Trowa was outside, riding another wild horse and he was making more noise then possible as the horse desperately tried to throw the persistent cowboy off his back. And ad to that that Bob and his second oldest son WuFei were having a fight about something RIGHT under his bedroom window! In frustration he picked the pillow up and threw it with as much force as he could muster at his door... right when it opened.

Lee ducked her head, showing an amazing demonstration of her reflexes and the pillow hit the wall of the hallway behind her. She turned to Duo and raised her eyebrow. If Duo was an anime character, he would have sweatdropped. Sheepishly he scratched the back of his head and apologised while looking at the floor.

'That's okay, sometime I also feel like throwing with something. Only usually I pick a vase.' She said with a wink and threw some clothes in his direction.

Thick jeans for protection and a cowboy button-up shirt. He grimaced, he could just NOT picture himself wearing this and looking sexy. He looked up at her but she just left the room, closing the door softly behind her. He wondered what Bob had in store for him this time.

With difficulty he left the itchy but warm covers and got dressed. He wanted to take a hot shower but didn't feel like one turning cold within two minutes. He'll shower tonight.

Downstairs Bob was waiting for him at the dinner table. WuFei stood beside him, arms crossed, looking grumpy. Bob threw him a bag of sandwiches and water bottles and without a word went outside, silently, he followed.

The air outside was still chilly, the sun, that was rising from the mountains tried it's best to warm it up as soon as possible but thick clouds made her job difficult.

'What uh... What are we gonna do?'

Bob pointed towards the meadow where the mares, that furiously attacked him a few days ago, belonged. But he noticed that the wooden fence had broken and the horses were gone. Oh dear god, he knew exactly what they were gonna do.

'We have to get them back.' Bob said and they walked towards the stables.

Duo was mildly surprised to find Heero there, just finishing saddling his fathers horse, Deathscythe and Nataku were also ready to go. He smiled as he saw Bo, lying on the ground, looking at the horses, while Swift was trying to get him to play with him. Pulling at his pointed ear. But the old shepherd didn't budge. Speaking of shepherds, he wondered where Heather was, he hadn't taken care of her since he was here. Oops...

'Quint, that filthy, slimy, son of a...' Bob calmed himself, 'Told us he saw the horses in the valley.'

'A three hour ride away from here.' WuFei added.

'Three? We normally do it in two!'

'Yeah, but now we have Duo with us.' WuFei said with a smug grin.

Duo grumbled but already felt sorry for his butt and subconsciously he rubbed it, earning a chuckle from Heero who handed him the reins of Deathscythe.

'Thanks.'

'Try to move up and down with the movements of the horse, that will save you some bruises.' Heero explained, doing a last check on the saddle, to see if it was secure. Duo raised his eyebrow in question.

'I saw you coming home the day before yesterday, I've seen bags of potatoes ride horses better then you.'

Duo blushed, feeling really stupid now. An all saying, impatient, cough from WuFei, who had already mounted his horse, told him they were waiting for him.

'Thanks for the tip.' He hoisted himself up on the horse and blushed a furious red as he felt Heero's hands on his leg, helping him as he struggled to get on.

WuFei and bob whistled, immediately Bo stood up and Farah came running towards them. Both came to stand beside their masters horses.

'Pick the strawberries and make sure your mother doesn't strain herself doing hard work.' Bob ordered and they sped off.

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The horseback riding did went a lot better now that he lifted his ass up in the rythmen of the movements of the horse, but it made him blush as it reminded him of sex and sice Heero gave him the tip... Well, you do the math. It was all he could think about for the entire three ours to the valley, but when they got there, sex was no longer on his mind.

He never could have realised that the way down into the valley would be so steep! The three of them got off their horses and looked down. The ten mares were below, peacefully grazing.

'Duo, you stay here, you are not a good enough rider to make it down there. Don't do anything stupid while we go after the mares.' WuFei strictly said, reminding Duo of a teacher in kindergarten. Already at his young age they discovered his troublesome personality. He rolled his eyes when WuFei turned away from him. Why did the man had to treat him like a baby? He could have just said he couldn't come in a normal manner, right? Yeah, right. If his large ego didn't got stuck in his throat. He watched WuFei and Bob mount their horses and carefully guided them down. He felt himself grow dizzy and anxious as sometimes rocks slipped away from under the horses hooves, almost making them lose their balance. He let out a sigh of relief when they were finally down in the valley, unscathed.

He yelped when Deathscythe nudge him in his back with her muzzle. 'what are you looking at?' He demanded as she turned her head towards rustling bushes a few yards away from them. He followed her gaze and frowned as the leaves of the plants moved again. And it was not done by the wind. He swallowed as he remembered Bob telling him about the wildlife here. Boars, Puma's, foxes, wolves. It was not a happy foresight.

He looked down into the valley, hoping that they were almost done. But of course they weren't. It took a while to get down there, it would take a long time before they got up with ten stubborn mares with them. The bushes rustled again, this time a low growl accompanied it. Deathscythe gave a soft whiny and took a step back. Duo quickly grabbed her reins before she could take off. He could already see the look on WuFei's face if he told him he let Deathscythe escape because there was a bunny playing in the bushes. Yeah right, Duo thought, a bunny. A sweet, small, white, bunny... That growls...

The barks from the dogs in the valley startled him and Deathscythe took up on his nervousness and she started to fight against his hold on her.

'Shh... Shhhh, be quiet horsie... shhh... Damn, stand still animal!' He yanked at the reins, not the best things he did while being here. The anxiety of the horse rose and reached it's peak as a clearer, louder growl was heard.

Duo's eyes widened and he slowly turned to look, hoping to find a bunny. Yeah, in his dreams. He whimpered as a Puma climbed out of the low bushes. Stalking them hungrily. Hmmm, horse, with a bit of human on the side. It suddenly leaped and in a split second Duo feared the Puma would claim his life. But the large cat was the last thing he should worry about. Deathscythe would not give up without a fight and she raised her front legs high in fear, trying to somewhat intimidate the cat. But as she pranced her front legs hit Duo hard in the chest, sending him tumbling backwards. Down the steep valley wall...

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His whole world tolled before his eyes as he rolled of the side with bone crushing speed. He groaned as his right arm connected with a rock. He rolled down further and further till suddenly his fall met a dead stop. His vision soon blurred, he could vaguely see the valley side and a the top the outlines of his horse, but all sense was leaving him. The last thing he registered were footsteps nearing him and a killing pain on the back of his head and his neck.

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It felt like his head would explode. Like he had a major hangover or something. Yeah, but if you have a hangover you don't have a swelling the size of mount everest on the back of your head that was digging into your pillow.

He opened his eyes and was not surprised to find Lee sitting on a chair next to his bed, guarding over him. Only she had fallen asleep. If it wouldn't hurt his face so much he would have laughed. His right arm and head were bandaged up tightly and as he rose in a sitting position he could feel his sore back protest. That roll down into the valley was not something worth to repeat. Rubbing his forehead he stood up and quickly grabbed the back of the chair Lee occupied to regain his balance as he was suddenly attacked by a wave of dizziness, flooding his head. His vision went black and he vaguely saw purple and yellow sparkles in the darkness. He took a deep breath and slowly his vision returned and he didn't feel like toppling over any second so he let go of the chair and fully stood up right. His head still felt like a balloon with to many air it, ready to pop. But what use did it have to stay in bed and feel sorry for himself?

Carefully he made it downstairs but had to stop again before opening the door, dizziness and darkness returning once again. Really, purple and yellow sparkles were only nice at new years eve. He opened the door and the first thing he noticed was Heero sitting on the couch with Swift. But he didn't remain seated for long, he stood up as soon as he saw Duo in the doorway and ushered him to the couch. 'Duo! You shouldn't be out of bed! Sit down!' He gathered the pillows from the other couch and the chairs and lay them behind Duo for support and comfort.

Duo laughed, it still hurt, but he laughed. 'Okay Mother!'

Heero friendly smacked him and then laughed himself, for no reason at all. But it was a good outlet for tension.

Duo grabbed his head and winced 'What happened?'

'Scythe pushed you over the edge, you have an ugly cut and bruise on your arm and a nasty bump on your head. You made quite a smack.'

Wow, lots of words for such a small and quiet guy.

'You are lucky that that's all on you're injure list.'

'Yeah, good thing that massive rock at the bottom broke my fall.' Duo said sarcastically, smiling at his own joke.

'How did you get past my mother?'

'She was sleeping, I didn't want to wake her and I didn't want to stay in bed.'

Heero sighed dramatically 'You are more stubborn to be healthy.'

'What uh... What did WuFei and your dad say about my accident?'

Heero raised his eyebrow, he probably didn't have a clue to why he wanted to know. 'They didn't say anything, my father was just worried.'

'And WuFei?'

'WuFei doesn't say anything about everything!' Heero said with a laugh 'He made sure the horses made it back home. As soon as you fell my father rushed you back here.'

'Most people go to hospitals when someone is injured.'

'They is no hospital for miles around.' Heero commented as he covered Duo with a blanket that lay rolled up on the armrest.

'Thanks...' He grounded out as his back screamed when he moved just the tiniest bit. 'Have any painkillers?'

Heero shook his head remorsefully. The stmping of feet shifted their attention to Bob who entered the living room. Baffled, he looked at Duo. Duo just smiled, not sure what to do. 'Duo, you're awake!' He said, still surprised to the point where his mouth hung open and all he could do was stare.

'Yeah? So?' It was three o'clock so he had only been out for an hour or four. He had done worse.

'Well, since you been out for almost two days...'

'Two days!' Duo yelled in surprise and shot upright, groaning when his head and back reminded him that he was in pain and shouldn't move like that.

'The accident happened the day before yesterday.' Heero explained.

No wonder he was so hungy. As if on cue his stomach rumbled and Heero chuckled.

'How'bout some soup?'

'That would be wonderful.' He wistfully watched Heero walk away, his tight jeans really left nothing to the imagination. He blushed and quickly looked someplace else, anywhere but at Heero's ass, when he noticed Bob was staring at him. His fingers played with the blanket and he tried to look as innocent as possible.

'You sure you okay?' Bob asked.

He just nodded and was relieved Bob took off. He could hear him walk up the stairs and then the faint sound of water running in the bathroom. He could already predict what would happen if he found out Duo lusted after his son. He could picture Bob chasing him around with a broom. But then he saw the hunting rifle hanging on the wall and the mental picture changed drastically.

Fifteen minutes later Heero returned in sight holding a bowl of steaming hot soup. But before he carefully handed it to Duo, he blew over it, trying to cool the soup, but it had a heating effect on Duo.

'Is Deathscythe okay?' He asked halfway through his soup. He felt uncomfortable with Heero just sitting at the edge of the couch in total silence, looking around the room.

'You know, we were attacked by a puma so I just wondered...'

'She's fine.' Heero quickly answered.

Duo smiled sadly 'You don't believe there was a puma, do you?'

'Oh, I believe you, it are my brothers you should worry about. They tend to be a lot more talkative in these kind of situations.'

'Like they have anything to talk about.'

'Word spreads faster then you might think.' Heero said with a sad smile and duo wondered why he looked the way he did when he said that. Heero noticed his frown and looked at his hands, ashamed of something. His curiosity was fuelled.

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He stayed in bed for two days straight, slowly regaining more of his balance and his back finally stopped complaining. It was a godsent, he could finally sleep normally again. But he did began to wonder how long he had to stay here. He was not made for this and almost got killed four days ago, not a good foresight. Still three weeks to go before the Cowboy contests started and he started to think that he shouldn't stay here for Heero, he couldn't do that to Bob, he felt way to uncomfortable with it. And though Heero had taken good care for him when he was down, it didn't feel like he was making passes at him. All he did was show his concern, something others couldn't. Like that have-a-stick-up-my-ass-WuFei and cat-got-my-tongue-Trowa.

He decided to come down and have dinner with the entire family for the first time since days. But he had to endure WuFei making a total ass out of himself as he didn't stay quiet long and he talked about Duo's 'accident'. Never forgetting to mention in every sentence how foolish and stupid his was. Duo also found out no one, except Heero maybe, believed his Puma story and that made him angry.

Regretting the fact that he came down for dinner he jumped under the shower, the water was a blessing, he was finally clean again, he could swear he smelled like dirt and grass before.