Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing, it belongs to Bandai, Sotsu and associated parties. I just borrow the guys from time to time and return them a whole lot happier. I do own the plot and any other characters, especially the equines, that you will find in this fic. Please do not take them without permission. Written for pleasure not profit.
Pairing: 2x1x2, 3x4, 13x6, H+C
Warnings: Yaoi, lemon, sap, angst, vet themes, AU
Rating: NC 17
Betaed by Karina *snugs*
Summary: Set 2 years after Equus and Heero is doing so well in his own business that he's taken June on as a working pupil. The qualifying shows for the International teams are well underway and it looks like it will be a good year for Heero, his pupils and horses... until Mother Nature steps in.
AN: This fic, although a complete work of fiction is based partially on fact. I will add notes at the end of chapters where necessary to clarify events and provide links where needed.
Dedication: To Leslie and Karina. Leslie for giving me the original idea for Equinity and encouraging and supporting me through the writing of all the fics thus far in the arc. And Karina for not just taking over as my much needed beta, (poor woman needs a medal!), but for also poking and prodding Fred until he went on strike, refusing to work on anything at all until I let him start this. Needless to say, we managed to come to a compromise... Fred gets to write a chapter of this one week... the next week he has to write a chapter of 'Bound'... Did I ever tell you all I hate my muse? :-)
Fic 5 in the Equine Intervention Arc.
Commenced December 2013 – ShenLong
"Rival Riders"
December. 2013 ShenLong
Chapter 30
Unlocking the door, Duo nearly went flying as a gray missile launched itself at his legs, causing him to stumble and drop the bag or lose his balance. "Smokey!" Duo chastised as the cat began to wind herself around his ankles. Somehow, Duo managed to shuffle himself a little further inside the door and allow Heero to enter. Spotting her master, Smokey immediately changed direction and began to wind herself around Heero's ankles instead.
"I think someone missed us," Heero stated as he dropped his bag and picked up the cat. Smokey purred loudly and butted her head against Heero's chin.
"You think?" Duo chuckled and scratched the back of the cat's ears. Leaving Heero with the cat in his arms, Duo picked up both their bags and carried them through to the bedroom to start unpacking. Tossing the bags to the bed, he gave a soft sigh. It really was good to be home again.
Heero followed his husband through to the bedroom a moment later, Smokey still in his arms. "Leave mine and I'll unpack it after," Heero said, watching his husband starting to remove clothing from their bags.
"It's okay, Heero, I might as well unpack them both while I'm here. Most of it is laundry anyway," he replied, tossing a couple of pairs of boxers into the open laundry hamper. "Phew! These are a bit ripe," he muttered, pulling several pairs of socks from within the bag.
"I'll go feed Smokey and start getting us some dinner then," Heero said and hastily backed out of the bedroom and the offending odor of sweaty socks.
"Chicken," Duo snickered.
"And proud of it," Heero called back over his shoulder as he disappeared down the hall.
"Ah, yuk! Now that is just putrid." Duo's nose screwed up in disgust as he pulled free a pair of jeans that had gotten damp and been shoved back into the bag at some stage. "How come I always get stuck with the icky jobs?" he asked the stuffed animals on the bed. When no answer was forthcoming, Duo sighed to himself and grabbed the two duffle bags, aiming for the laundry and Gertrude. With any luck he could just pull out an armful of washing, shove it directly into Gertrude and close the lid.
#
The guys had just finished dinner when a loud knock came at the back door signaling the arrival of Hilde and Catherine; or at least they pair thought it was Hilde and Catherine – turned out that Trowa and Quatre were with them too.
Once the guys had suffered through the hugs and welcome home greetings from the four they sat down around the kitchen table with their beverage of choice to discuss the Cup competition, the A grade event and congratulate Heero on both his wins. Duo was filled in on the latest happenings with the practice and was pleased to note he still had a business. Heero admitted he'd been relieved to find his stables still standing and all the horses alive and well.
After a couple of hours of chatter, friendly teasing and generally catching up on things, Trowa and Quatre took their leave, Hilde and Catherine following moments behind them. Duo and Heero stood on the back step of the cottage and waved their friends off.
"Ahh, peace at last," Duo murmured as they walked back inside with their arms around each other's waists.
From the laundry came a whirring noise followed by a gurgling sound, high pitched screech and finally a very loud clunk.
Both men froze and looked at each other. Heero raised an eyebrow. "You were saying?"
"Shit, Gertrude," Duo swore and breaking from his partner he went into the laundry to check out the damage, Heero following a few steps behind.
Heero peered around the door to see his lover staring at the washing machine, a soulful look on his face. A small wisp of smoke rose in the air while the lights on the machine's program board were slowly fading. Walking up behind his partner, Heero wrapped his arms around the slender form and pressed a kiss to his lover's neck.
"I think it was those socks that finally did it," Duo sighed.
"Are you sure she's dead?" Heero asked.
The last of the lights on the program board flickered, fizzed and blinked out completely.
"Yeah, I think she is." Duo reached forth a hand and patted the old washing machine affectionately on the lid. "I'm going to miss you, Gertrude," he said softly.
Heero gave his partner a squeeze. "She might not be completely dead yet, Duo, just comatose for now. I'll take a look at her in the morning and see if there's anything I can do to resurrect her for you."
"Are you sure?" Duo asked, turning to look at his partner, eyes suspiciously bright.
"Rest assured, if there is anything I can do to bring her back, I will." Heero placed a tender kiss to his spouse's lips.
"Thanks, Heero. I know she's only an old washing machine, but..."
"Hush, Duo, you don't need to explain to me. Come on, I think we should go to bed, we've had a long day and there's a very busy one ahead of us tomorrow."
"Okay." Reluctantly Duo turned off the light to the laundry and left the machine in peace, following his husband back along the hall and to their bedroom.
# # #
The following morning saw both men enjoy a much needed sleep in. Duo didn't have to return to work until the evening consults, Hilde having offered to cover the morning ones with Zechs for him. Duo had accepted the offer but advised he would still do any call outs that afternoon whilst Zechs covered the surgery side of things. June had arrived for work at her usual time and after assuring Heero she was more than capable of feeding the horses and starting the morning routine, Heero had reluctantly accepted and made the most of the lie in opportunity.
Once both were up and motivated, Duo began the task of unpacking the rest of the goose-neck whilst Heero checked on the horses and sent June out on Sandfire for a bush ride. With Duo distracted unpacking the goose-neck, Heero located his tool box and began the task of pulling Gertrude to pieces.
Lifting the lid he noted the load that had been washing at the time of Gertrude's demise was still in the machine. "Just how the heck am I supposed to empty this when it's not working?" he muttered to himself and scratched his head. Studying the machine, eyes roving over the body work and hoses, the proverbial light bulb went off a moment later. "Of course; gravity," he stated. Eyeing off the end of the drain hose, Heero calculated the size and estimated that the garden hose should just about fit into it. Leaving his tool box on the floor, Heero dashed outside to grab the garden hose. Several minutes later he had the two hoses connected. "Now to see if this works."
Taking the end of the garden hose, Heero dragged it back outside and set it down on the lawn. Moving back into the laundry he lowered the drain hose to the floor, carefully watching the connection he'd rigged up. No water appeared to be leaking from it and with a grunt, he went back outside to see if his theory was working.
Sure enough, when he stepped out onto the lawn there was a steady trickle of dirty water coming from the end of the hose and onto the grass. Noting the state of the water, Heero grimaced. "I hope it doesn't kill the lawn," he said.
With the water now slowly draining from the machine, Heero made himself a coffee and waited until the level was low enough for him to start scooping out the clothes. "Ah, yuk. No wonder you gave up, Gertrude. I'd do the same if I was forced to swish this lot around inside me." Heero lifted out a handful of socks and dumped them into the laundry sink.
#
Packing the last of the food stuffs into the box he'd brought down to the stables with him, Duo did one last check of the small pantry and cupboards inside the goose-neck "Looks like that's the last of it." Sitting the box to one side, he quickly wiped down the shelves before tossing the dishrag into a plastic bag on top of the box. Picking the box up, he exited the goose-neck, closing the door behind him. Heero would lock it up later, once he'd cleaned the back section out from the horses.
Whistling softly to himself, Duo headed back to the house with the box, wondering how Heero was getting on with Gertrude. To be honest, he really thought Gertrude had finally bitten the big one, but it was nice of his husband to offer to try and fix her.
Stepping into the kitchen, Duo put the box down on the kitchen table, he could hear noises coming from the laundry and assumed his husband was still in there and doing his best to breathe new life into the ancient machine. He guessed he'd better go and see what the verdict was – if he should start arranging a funeral for the old girl.
Having emptied the machine, Heero managed to pull the back panel off it and locate all the bits that were Gertrude's inner workings. Methodically he began to work his way through the machinery, figuring out as he went what each part did and if it was still working or not. By the process of elimination, he managed to get closer to isolating the source and cause of the problem.
Duo cleared his throat as he entered the laundry so as not to startle his husband. He took note of the various bits and pieces scattered about the floor of the usually tidy laundry and raised an eyebrow. He could see Heero's backside sticking out from behind the machine. "Any progress?" he asked, stepping over a few bits to approach his husband.
"Actually, yes," Heero replied. "Just give me a sec." The sound of banging followed by a whirring greeted Duo's ears, followed by a muttered; "Ah, got you."
Carefully, Heero wriggled his way back out from Gertrude's innards, a triumphant smile on his face. Seeing his husband's raised eyebrow, Heero pushed himself back and sat on his haunches, something mangled in his hand. "I think I've found the problem."
"You have?" Duo's eyes lit up. "You mean I won't have to have a funeral service for Gertrude after all?"
Heero snickered. "A funeral service?" he questioned.
"Yeah, well, she is part of the family," Duo replied sheepishly. "But you think you've managed to fix her?" he asked again, changing the subject slightly.
"Hai, I think I can revive her."
"What was the problem?"
Heero held up the mangled item. "This."
"Eh?" Duo looked at the piece, it could have been anything at some stage of its life, but now it resembled nothing much other than a chewed up piece of cloth
"I found this wrapped around the drive shaft of the motor to the drum," Heero explained. Seeing the confused look on his husband's face and remembering that Duo was electronically challenged at the best of times, (seems that was now extending to mechanical things too), Heero figured he'd better explain in simple terms. "When the motor is running it has what's called a drive shaft that goes from the motor to the drum of the washing machine. The shaft turns which in turn rotates the spindle inside the drum and causes the clothes to swish around inside and wash. Follow me so far?"
Duo nodded.
"This was all caught up around the drive shaft and preventing it from turning. I'm guessing that the motor was doing its best to spin the shaft, but couldn't. That in turn caused the motor to stop and that sparked a short circuit in the power board. The power board is the thing up top with all the lights on it that faded out."
"Ah, I think I follow what you're saying. Can she be fixed?"
"Now that I've got this untangled from the shaft, the motor should run fine and the shaft turn again. The problem now is getting a replacement power board. If I can get one of those she should be up and running like a new one," Heero explained.
"Where would we get a power board?"
Heero scratched his head. "That's the big question. I can ring the manufacturer and see if they may have any, but bear in mind, Duo, Gertrude is about twenty years old and I'm betting they probably don't have anything at all now as there are much more improved models since she was built."
"I guess all we can do is try."
"That's about it. Look, can you grab a pen and paper to write down the model number and other details so when I ring I'll have all the information?"
"No problem." Duo disappeared to fetch the requested items, Heero sent a silent prayer to any god listening that they would be able to find a suitable part somewhere within a fifty mile radius.
# # #
It took Heero just over an hour and fifteen phone calls, but he finally managed to track down a power board for Gertrude. As he'd feared, given the length of time since Gertrude's model had been manufactured, parts were no longer available. He'd been given several numbers by the manufacturer for other washing machine places to try, including several repair shops. He was all but giving up hope when the second last number on his list was able to help him. As an added bonus, the repair company was only about an hour's drive away.
The pair had immediately set off to get the part.
"That's it," Heero said, tightening the last screw on the back panel. "Now for the real test."
Duo gave him a warm smile. "Fingers crossed she works then." Duo reached for the small knob on the top of the machine.
"Hang on a second, Duo. Set the water level to the lowest, that way if it doesn't work we don't have too much water to try and drain out."
"Good idea." Duo duly set the level to low before reaching for the knob again. He turned it around to the 'economy' cycle, gave his lover a grin and pulled the knob out.
The panel lit up, Gertrude made a couple of gurgling noises and then... silence.
"What the?" Duo said and pushed the knob back in, pulling it out again seconds later only to have the same result. The excited smile that had been on his face before suddenly fell and was replaced by a look of despair.
Watching the proceedings, Heero frowned, looked at the machine, listened to the noises and turned to Duo. Without saying a word, he stepped past his husband to the laundry trough and the taps that the hoses to the machine were connected to. He reached out and turned the taps on. "Try it again," he said softly.
"Ah, okay." Duo pulled out the knob again, this time Gertrude gurgled and then began to fill with water.
"It helps if you have the water turned on," Heero stated.
"Umm, yeah. I kinda forgot I'd turned them off after she had her cardiac arrest," Duo said sheepishly.
Heero shook his head. "At least she should work for a while longer."
"I hope so. Thanks, Heero." Duo wound his arms around his lover's shoulders and drew him in for a deep kiss. "What can I ever do to repay you for raising Gertrude from the dead?"
The grin that was on Duo's face was all the thanks Heero needed. "I'm just happy I was able to fix her for you. I'd suggest though that from now on, you check how many items go into the tub and how many come out once they're washed. If the numbers don't match, let me know so we don't have to go through all this again."
"I'll do that, Heero, I promise."
# # #
"Did you manage to fix the machine, Heero?" June asked as her boss appeared in the stable block.
"Hai, I did. Took a while to track down the part I needed, but she's all up and running again," Heero replied.
"That's good news, at least you have some breathing space to shop for a new machine." Seeing the look on Heero's face, June frowned. "Duo is going to get a new machine, isn't he?"
Heero shook his head.
"But, given how old that one is, it would make sense to buy a new one, it won't last forever."
"I know that and you know that, but you try telling Duo that," Heero snorted. "He's very attached to that old machine."
June rolled her eyes. "And they say us women are sentimental."
"How did Sandfire go?" Heero asked, changing the subject.
"Very well. I think the break from jumping and schooling has done him a lot of good. He's much more responsive and I did pop him over a couple of fallen logs which he cleared easily and with lots of enthusiasm."
"That's good to hear. I'll go get started on putting the feeds in so we can bring them all in for the evening." Heero turned and headed for the feed shed.
"I'll finish topping these water buckets up and start bringing them in if you like?"
"Thanks."
#
"You nearly finished, June?" Heero called out as he exited Shini's stable after putting the horse's rug on.
"Almost. Just got to do up the leg straps and I'm done." Moments later the woman stepped out of Orion's stable and bolted the door.
Heero walked along the breezeway, checking each stable door was bolted and casting his eye over each occupant. All the horses had their muzzles buried in their feed bins, munching away happily. Satisfied all was well with the stabled equines, Heero walked back down and turned the lights off, sliding the door across and securing it for the evening. June accompanied him outside to check on the horses that were in the walk-in, walk-out stables and yards.
With the last of the checks done, Heero bade the woman good night and began the trek between the paddocks and back to the cottage. Duo was still in evening consults and Heero didn't expect his husband back for another half an hour at least. Stepping into the cottage, Heero removed his boots and scooped Smokey up into his arms.
"You hungry, Smokey?' he asked the cat as he stroked over the gleaming fur. Smokey replied with a head butt to Heero's chin and a loud purr. "Come on, let's see what we have for your dinner tonight." Putting the cat back down, Heero moved to the 'fridge and sifted through the contents. Pulling out a packet of diced chicken he closed the door and turned to the cat. "Feel like some chicken for dinner?"
"Meow," was Smokey's reply as she eyed off the packet in her human's hand. She could smell the contents and her stomach rumbled.
Chuckling to himself as the cat shot ahead of him to her food bowl in the laundry, Heero mused over how easy it was to please the cat. He picked up the bowl and emptied the chicken into it. Setting it back down on the floor, he ran his hand along the back of the feline. "Enjoy," he murmured.
Back in the kitchen, Heero washed his hands and went back to the 'fridge to see what he could find for their own dinner. Dumping a handful of vegetables on the kitchen draining board, he fetched a piece of stewing steak and located the large pot. The steak was quickly cut up and placed in the pot with a drizzle of oil, burner turned on and the meat left to brown. With the steak sizzling away, Heero began to peel and chop the vegetables, rinsing them off and setting them to the side. With the steak browned, he added some stock to the pan, popped the chopped vegetables in and put the lid on. With the stew now simmering away, he padded through to the bedroom, fetched himself a pair of sweats from the closet and went to take his shower.
# # #
"All done, Mrs. Birtwick," Duo said and placed the cat back into the carrier.
"Thank you, Doctor Maxwell. You will send me out the reminder when her shots are due again?"
"Of course." Duo picked up the cat carrier and opened the door for the client. Once they were back at reception, he left the client in Catherine's capable hands.
"Duo? You got a minute?"
Duo turned to see Zechs with his head outside the other consulting room door.
"Sure, what's up?" Duo stepped towards the other vet who came out into the corridor, softly drawing the door to a close behind him.
"I'd like a second opinion on a dog I've got in here."
"Oh? What seems to be the problem?"
"That's just it," Zechs sighed. "I've never seen anything like this in all my years of vet practice." When Duo raised an eyebrow in question, Zechs elaborated further. "The dog came in for her shots and health check. The owner wants to have her neutered too. When I was doing the examination it appears that she isn't completely a she at all."
"Eh?" Duo was starting to get a little confused. "How do you mean, she's not a she? They either have a penis and testicles or a womb and vulva."
"I know that," Zechs stated, "but... Well, you come and take a look."
"Okay." Duo followed Zechs back into the consulting room and smiled at the client.
"Mrs. Jones, I'd like Doctor Maxwell to take a look at Mandy and see what he thinks if that's alright with you?"
"No problem, Doctor Merquise."
Duo moved to the side of the examination table where Mandy – a staffy cross – was patiently standing, tail wagging and mouth open in a 'smile'. Running his eye over the dog, Duo couldn't detect anything abnormal to start with.
"Take a look down this end," Zechs muttered.
Duo duly moved to the rear end of the dog. "Oh... Well crap. I see what you mean." Duo studied the area a little more closely. Where there would normally be a vulva, Mandy also had protruding what appeared to be a penis. Duo scratched his head. "I've never seen anything like that before," he stated.
"Me either," Zechs said, "that's why I wanted your opinion."
"Can you do anything about it?" asked the client. "And can she still be sterilized?"
Duo thought on that for a moment. "I can't see why she couldn't be fixed, in both senses of the word, but I'd need to do a little more research and a few tests before we do anything if that's okay with you, Mrs. Jones."
"That's fine with me. Do you want me to leave her here with you now, that way you can do your tests and let me know what you find and the best way to proceed from there?"
"Actually, that would be really good. Leave Mandy with us, Mrs. Jones and we will look into this further. Once I have some answers for you I'll give you a call and we can go from there." Duo looked at the dog again "I'll be interested to see just what we do find, she's a rather puzzling case."
"Okay, Doctors, I'll leave her with you. Please let me know when you have some answers, she's sweet dog and very much a part of the family so I'd like for you to do what you can for her."
"No problem, Mrs. Jones. I'll leave you in Doctor Merquise's capable hands and be in touch soon." Duo smiled at the client and left the room, still puzzling over the unusual condition of the dog.
#
"Just follow the instructions on the packet, Mr. Grisham and if there is no improvement after three days, give me a call; otherwise I'll see you in fourteen days and we can see how things are progressing." Duo handed over the packet to the middle aged gentleman and opened the door for him.
"Thanks, Doc."
"My pleasure."
"Come on, Scraps, time to go home and leave the good vet in peace." The small dog wagged his tail and happily followed his master out and back to the reception area.
Duo dropped the file to the counter for Catherine. "Has Zechs finished yet?" he asked as the woman took the file.
"Yes, he has. He's cleaning up the consulting room now."
"Thanks." Duo aimed for the consulting room and his fellow vet. "All done?" he asked as he entered.
"Yes, just finished."
Duo leaned against the consulting table and crossed his arms. "About this unusual case with Mandy the staffy cross," Duo began. "I think we should do some research on the Internet, see what we can find out regarding her case."
"I agree. Actually, I was going to suggest that to you too, but you beat me to it," Zechs replied, placing the bottle of antiseptic cleaner on the shelf. "I'll take a look tonight and see what I can find out."
"I'll do the same and tomorrow we can compare notes and go from there."
Zechs raised a pale eyebrow. "You sure you can handle Nrobbuts?" he asked, knowing Duo's hatred for the computer.
"I wasn't going to use Nrobbuts," Duo huffed.
"Really?"
"Yeah, I was gonna see if Heero can google it or something on his laptop."
Zechs snickered. "Good luck. Well, I'm off. I'll see you tomorrow morning, hopefully with some answers."
"See you tomorrow. Night, Zechs."
# # #
Dinner had been eaten and the pair were sitting on the couch in the lounge room with the laptop on the coffee table, Heero patiently 'googling' Mandy's unusual make-up with Duo hanging over his shoulder. The television droned on in the background showing the late night news but neither man was paying it much attention.
"I'll try a couple of these sites, they look promising," Heero said and clicked on a couple of links The pages opened up, Heero turning the laptop screen so Duo could read a little easier.
With Duo reading the information displayed, Heero let his mind wander to the television, only half concentrating. Seconds later he gave the news reader his full attention.
"And now for the latest in sporting news. There was a tragic end to the Open A grade showjumping event at the Sydney Royal show today when a competitor's horse collapsed and died half way through its round..."
~ # ~
tbc...