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
Thank you to all for the kind reviews and sorry for leaving you all hanging on the last chapter. More will be revealed in regards to the horse's death over these next couple of chapters.
"Rival Riders"
Chapter 31
Heero stared at the screen, his ears taking in what was being said whilst his mind tried to process the words.
"The rider sustained minor bruising and is expected to make a full recovery. Cause of the horse's death is as yet unknown. To further news..."
"I think I have an idea now as to Mandy's condition. Could you print that information out for me please, Heero?" When no response was forthcoming, Duo turned to look at his partner. "Heero?"
"Uh?" Heero turned to the sound of the voice calling him and blinked. "Pardon?"
"I asked if you could print that information out for me, please. I'd say the problem with Mandy is that she's a Pseudohermaphrodite." [1]
"A what?"
"Pseudohermaphrodite. Heero, is something wrong?" Duo was a little concerned at Heero's distracted state.
"Um, no, I don't think so."
"Something has distracted you."
"Oh. Did you hear that last bit on the news?"
"News? No, I wasn't watching it," Duo replied. "Why? What was it?" Duo turned to look at the television where the weather forecast was now on.
"They said something in the sporting bit about a horse collapsing and dying during a showjumping round at the Royal show."
"That doesn't sound good at all," Duo said with a frown. "Did they say what happened?"
Heero shook his head. "All they said was that a horse had collapsed and died during a round of showjumping, that the cause of death was unknown at this stage."
"Ah. It could be anything, Heero. Showjumping is a very strenuous sport as you know. It puts a lot of stress and strain on not just the muscular and skeletal system of a horse, but the vascular as well. Sometimes the stress and strain is just too much for the horse's heart to cope with and it gives out. Although it's not all that common, it does happen. I don't think I've ever heard of a showjumper having suffered from a heart attack during competition, it's more related to racehorses."
"That would make sense," Heero stated.
"I'm sure they will be doing an autopsy to find the cause of death."
"I would hope so." Heero thought for a moment before continuing. "I doubt though they will let the general public know of the result."
"Sometimes they do, it all depends on their findings."
"Duo? Do you think you could find out what happened?" Heero asked, turning his blue eyes to his partner, a hopeful look in them.
Duo sighed. "Look, how about we wait and see if they give out any further information on the news or through the horse circles as to what happened. If they don't then I'll see if I can find out anything through the vet network."
"Thanks, Duo."
"No problem. Now, if we're finished on that topic, can you please print out this information for me? I'm going to need it for Zechs tomorrow."
"No problem." Heero turned his face and tilted it slightly in invitation. Duo lowered his own and connected their lips in a soft kiss.
# # #
The following morning saw Duo in the surgery and going through the information Heero had printed out for him. He wondered if Zechs had managed to find out anything and if so, was it along the same lines as what Duo had found? He'd purposely left Mandy alone as technically she wasn't his case, even if he'd been called in for a second opinion so to speak.
There were several tests they could do to determine if Mandy suffered from the condition Duo suspected from his Internet research, but until he spoke with Zechs he would just have to be patient and wait.
Fifteen minutes before consults started, Zechs entered the practice and strolled along the corridor to the reception area and his boss. "Morning, Duo," he greeted and reached for a lab coat on the back of the door.
"Morning, Zechs. Did you manage to do any research last night in regards to Mandy's unusual condition?"
Shrugging into his coat, Zechs turned to face his boss. "Actually I did. I found a few sites and lots of information on various things it could possibly be, but there's one that seemed to stick out more than anything else."
Duo gave an eager smile. "And that would be?" He had a pretty good idea that given what they already knew of Mandy's condition, Zechs would most likely have come to the same conclusions that he had.
"I think she could be something called a Pseudohermaphrodite," Zechs replied. "What about you? Did you find out anything?"
"Funny you should say that, Zechs. I came to the same conclusion. All the research I did also seemed to point to that as being the most logical explanation."
"From what I recall from the article I was reading, we would be able to determine one way or another by doing some scans - ultra sounds of her insides. That way we will know if she does have the internal organs of a female or male dog and plan the action to take from there. What do you think, Duo?"
"I agree with you. Doing scans would be the best way to determine if she is or isn't a pseudohermaphrodite. If she isn't, then we need to research further. If she is... I guess we notify the owner and go from there. But ultimately it's your case and therefore your call, Zechs."
"It might be my case, but I'd really appreciate the assistance on this one, Duo. I've never seen or dealt with a case like this before."
"Me either so we'd both be exploring new territory. But, I'm game if you are?"
"Always," came the reply.
"Good." Duo stood up as Catherine entered the practice and headed in their direction. "I suggest we get started on morning consults then. The sooner we finish those, the sooner we can start investigating Mandy's insides."
Zechs chuckled. "Right with you, Duo."
#
Once morning consults were finished, Duo prepped the operating theater as a precaution. They would do their scans on Mandy and notify the owner of their findings and recommendations in relation to the findings. Depending on what Mandy's owner wished to do would see them either operating or not.
Zechs brought the dog into the operating theater and sat her on the table. "I'll hold her if you want to give her a sedative," he said to Duo.
"No problem." Duo picked up the needle and syringe he'd already prepared and after clipping away a small section of hair on Mandy's front leg, he raised the vein and slipped the needle in. It only took a couple of minutes for the sedative to work, Mandy's head beginning to nod as she slumped a little in Zechs' arms.
"I'll hold her still if you want to do the ultra sound, Zechs?" Although Zechs had asked Duo to come in on the case, Zechs was still the consulting vet and Duo wasn't about to take over from him.
"Thanks."
The pair traded places, Duo stretching the dog out on her side and gently resting a hand over her shoulders to keep her from moving. Zechs pulled the ultra sound machine to the side of the table and turned it on. While the machine warmed up, he spread some gel over the dog's side and underbelly.
Picking up the sound head, Zechs poised it over the dog's abdomen. "Guess this is the moment of truth," he said with an eager grin.
"Let's see what this little girl has hidden away inside," Duo replied with just as much enthusiasm.
Lowering the sound head, Zechs began to run it over the dog's abdomen, two sets of eyes watched the monitor with rapt attention. The light and shadows began to form on the screen, both vet's studying the pictures with interest.
"Could you roll her onto her back a little bit please? I think I need to get a bit lower," Zechs asked.
"No problem." Duo shifted the dog a touch.
"Thanks, that's much better." The sound head continued in its journey, mapping out the insides of the dog.
"That's the kidney there," Duo said helpfully.
"If I follow that down a bit we should be able to find the uterus," Zechs replied.
Both men wore looks of concentration on their faces as they followed the pictures.
"I can see the stomach and intestines... there's the bladder, but I don't see any sign of a uterus, do you?" Duo said.
"No, I don't," Zechs replied with a frown. "I'll try sliding back a little bit, see if we can spot the ovaries or the vaginal passage."
"Good idea."
Once again the head passed over the abdomen.
"Stop there, Zechs," Duo said and moved a little closer to the monitor.
Doing as he was requested, Zechs stopped and also moved closer. "What is it?"
Placing his hand over Zechs', Duo guided the other vet's hand around a little. "Look here, Zechs and see if you're seeing what I think I'm seeing."
"Well shit." Zechs paused to study a little more. "You can see the urethra traveling from the bladder and joining up with the vulva, but there's no evidence of a vagina there."
"That's what I thought too," Duo said. "Move the sound head along as if you were following the line where the vagina should be and see if we can locate the uterus or ovaries."
Once again the sound head was carefully passed along the dog's abdomen. "I don't see either ovaries or a uterus, but I think those could be testicles." Zechs' brow crinkled as he did his best to work out exactly what it was he was seeing.
"I'd say you're right with that deduction. Looks to me like Mandy has the external bits, but no female internal parts."
"I agree." After hitting the button on the ultra sound machine and taking several 'still' shots, Zechs put the sound head back and pressed a few more buttons, getting the machine to print out the pictures.
With the pictures in hand, both vets took the time to fully appreciate the pictures and what they meant for Mandy.
"Those testicles can't stay inside her, she could get cancer or one of any other numerous problems."
"That small, deformed penis needs to be removed too," Duo stated, studying the pictures with Zechs.
"I'll go give Mrs. Jones a call and let her know what we've found."
"What are you going to recommend?"
"I'll suggest that we perform surgery to remove the testicles and that penis. Mrs. Jones did bring her in for a checkup and the intent of booking her in for spaying; I suppose this is a similar procedure, although the dog wouldn't need spaying as she's sterile anyway without ovaries and a uterus. Those testicles wouldn't produce sperm either after being inside the abdominal cavity for so long."
"I agree with you, Zechs. Best to remove those extras and let the dog have a normal, happy life."
"I'll make the call now."
"I'll wait here with Mandy and keep an eye on her. If Mrs. Jones gives the go ahead we can do the surgery now if you want? I'll stay and give you a hand with it."
"Thanks, Duo, I'd appreciate that."
Zechs left to call the client, Duo picked up the pictures once more and with one hand fondling the dog's ears, he went over them again.
# # #
"Shorten his stride a little more, Frank," Heero called out.
Frank turned Jester and sat deeper into his saddle, taking a slightly firmer contact with the stallion's mouth and using his seat and leg as Heero had taught him. Jester pulled hard for a few strides, not wanting to listen to his master's aids.
"Drop your weight a little more and circle him around. Don't bring him in to the grid until he's listening properly to you," Heero instructed.
"Settle down you lump," Frank growled, sitting as deep as he could.
Jester continued to fight for his head for another two circles before finally giving up and shortening his stride.
"Much better. Circle him another three times and then bring him in to the grid."
Doing as Heero asked, Frank continued to ride his horse together, keeping a firm but light hand on the reins. Jester softened through his back, lowered his nose and allowed his master to dictate what he was to do. Satisfied, Frank brought the bay around and lined him up for the first of the five jumps in the grid.
"Keep the contact and let him stride out a little in the last three strides," Heero advised. "Once you land over the first jump, sit deep and collect him up again. Repeat that for all five fences."
Concentrating hard, Frank did his best to ride the stallion as Heero wanted. He came forward in his saddle, eased off a touch on the contact and let Jester stride out. The bay took the first jump easily, landing well out on the other side and wanting to continue to stretch out. Frank had other ideas though. He dropped his weight and took back the firm contact. Using his legs he shortened the stride again, building the impulsion without letting the horse get away from him.
The remaining four fences were all cleared easily by the stallion, Frank managing to keep the impulsion there whilst restricting the length of the stallion's stride. Landing over the last jump, Frank brought the horse back to a trot and patting the bay neck, he rode over to where Heero was standing, a smile on his face.
"That was much better," Heero praised. "Could you feel the difference, Frank?"
"Yes, I could. He was a lot more forward going, but still had the impulsion there."
"Good, that's exactly what we want from him. He's really improving, Frank. All he needs now is to listen better to you - and that will come given time. These grids are a good exercise for him. I'd suggest we keep using them a couple of times a week for now and as he settles and listens more, then we'll see how he goes over a tight course."
"Thanks, Heero."
"No problem. I'd call it a day for him and finish on a good note. He did that last run perfectly so let him know that by stopping the work now."
"I'll walk him around for a few minutes to cool off before I take him in."
"No problem. I'd better shift too, I've got Nataku to work yet before bringing the rest of them in for their dinners. I'll catch you before you go." With a pat to the stallion's neck, Heero left the pair to cool off and walked across the schooling paddock to fetch Nataku in.
Leading the bay mare into the stable block, Heero smiled to June who was busy saddling up Orion. "Are you going to work him here or take him for a bush ride?" Heero asked as he tied Nataku up.
"I thought I'd do some flat work with him. He could do with some work on his shortening and lengthening of stride," June replied. "I won't be in your way if I'm in the schooling paddock will I?"
"No, the paddock's more than big enough for us both to work on the flat," Heero said and disappeared into the tack room to fetch his grooming kit.
By the time Heero was saddled up and leading Nataku out, June had already been working the black around for ten minutes. Taking a moment to watch, Heero noted the gelding was slowly starting to listen to his mistress.
Mounting up, Heero let Nataku stretch out and walk across the paddock to the far corner, away from June so that his horse wouldn't be distracted and they wouldn't interfere with Orion's work either.
# # #
"What did Mrs. Jones say?" Duo asked when Zechs returned from making his phone call.
"Scrub up, we're going into surgery," Zechs replied with a grin.
"Right on!" Duo crowed.
"I explained as best I could to Mrs. Jones what we'd found about Mandy's condition. She was quite surprised to hear the dog had both male and female organs to a point," Zechs explained as they scrubbed up. "She wanted to know what would happen if we did nothing and if we did operate, what exactly would we be doing. I told her of the possible complications should the testicles remain inside and other problems that could arise should we leave that deformed penis too. I also explained what surgery would be involved and the associated risks there. After she thought about it for a couple of minutes, she gave me the go ahead to operate."
"I didn't realize you'd managed to remember all those complications after one read over the information," Duo said. "You must have a pretty good memory."
"Actually, I cheated."
Duo raised an eyebrow. "How?"
"I took the paperwork I'd printed out with me to reception so I could read off it if I needed to," Zechs confessed.
Duo snickered. "Oh well, either way it doesn't matter. The client got the information she needed and made the call. Now, let's go operate."
# # #
Nataku had worked well and Heero was pleased with the mare. He patted the bay neck as she walked out, stretching her head and neck, catching her breath and making the most of the breather. As they walked around, Heero again turned his attention to where June and Orion were working. He studied the pair intently, June asking Orion to lengthen out his trot. The black started to increase the length of his strides, but not by much. Heero could see June working hard with her seat and leg, but the gelding didn't seem to be as cooperative as usual. With Nataku's breathing having returned to normal, Heero decided to call it quits for the mare and rode over towards June to see if he could offer any advice.
Spotting her boss watching from the side, June redoubled her efforts to get Orion to listen and work for her. The gelding didn't seem as responsive as usual and June didn't know why. After a few more minutes of trying, she gave up, brought Orion back to a walk and rode over to where Heero stood. Maybe he could offer her some advice or insight into what she was doing wrong. Bringing the black to a halt, she patted the sweating neck. "Have you been watching long?" she asked Heero.
"Only a few minutes, but I have been keeping an eye on the pair of you from time to time whilst I was working Nataku. If you don't mind me saying so, he doesn't seem to be working properly for you today."
June sighed. "I don't know what's wrong with him. Usually he's very responsive and tries hard to do what I'm asking, but today... I don't know, he seems off. Not much of an explanation I know, but that's about the best I can offer."
"I agree with you. From watching him, he isn't his usual self. Bring him around on a circle at the trot and we'll try a couple of things before taking him in," Heero suggested.
Only too happy to comply if it meant sorting out what was amiss with her horse, June turned the gelding and headed back out onto a circle to do as Heero asked.
They worked for another ten minutes, Heero calling out instructions and June doing her best to implement them. Orion still wasn't working as well as normal, but he wasn't trying to evade his work completely either.
"Bring him to a walk and come over here," Heero called out. He frowned as he watched the pair walking towards him. Once June had halted, Heero gave voice to his thoughts. "There's definitely something not quite right, but what that is, I'm not sure. Let's take him into the stables and get a better look at him."
"Okay." June dismounted and loosened her girth. Running the stirrups up she led her horse back to the stables, Heero walking alongside her with Nataku. "He could be having an off day," June suggested, trying to come up with an explanation for her horse's lack of interest in his work.
"Yes, he could," Heero replied. "I'd like to go over him though once he's unsaddled and eliminate anything physical or the like."
"You think his saddle could be pinching him, or the girth, or something along those lines?"
"It's possible," Heero replied.
"But he's had this saddle for a couple of years now and I've never had a problem with it or him before."
"When was the last time you had the stuffing checked?"
"Oh."
Heero smiled. "You do need to have the stuffing checked every couple of years as the padding does tend to flatten out after a while and become compact. If that's the case then the saddle won't fit as well and could pinch his withers."
"That's a good point."
Arriving back at the stables, Heero tied Nataku up for a moment and went to check the fit of June's saddle. He could see daylight along the channel, even when June was sitting in it which meant it wasn't putting any pressure on the spine at all. It also didn't look like it was pinching in any spots.
"Leave him saddled for a moment, June whilst I put Nataku away; there's a couple of other tricks I'd like to try to check the saddle fit before we eliminate that as a cause."
"Okay."
Once Nataku was safely in her stable, Heero set about trying to determine what was causing Orion discomfort. He tried a couple of things, such as putting talcum powder on the underside of the saddle then placing it back on Orion and having June sit on him. Once the saddle was removed again they could see from where the talcum powder remained on Orion's back exactly where the saddle was putting pressure. Everything was as it was supposed to be so they eliminated the saddle as a cause.
The bridle was checked next along with the inside of Orion's mouth – much to his disgust. Heero knew that Orion's teeth had been filed by Duo only a couple of months ago, but there was always that chance that a tooth could be loose or the gelding's gums could be sore for whatever reason. Everything was fine there too.
With the saddlery and Orion's mouth discounted, the pair went over the horse from the tips of his ears to the tips of his hooves, looking for any lumps, bumps, cuts, scrapes or injury of any kind. They found nothing.
Heero scratched his head. "I can't find anything at all, June," he stated.
"Me either," the woman replied.
"Look, it's getting late so I'd suggest we put him away for the evening, feed him and see how he is in the morning. If he's still the same I'll get Duo to come and check him over for you, maybe he will be able to find something we've missed."
"Thanks, Heero, I'd appreciate that. It could be he's just having an off day, but I'd feel a lot happier having Duo look over him if he's no different tomorrow."
"No problem. Now, if you want to finish up with him, I'll start putting in the feeds and then bring the others in for their dinners."
"I'll give you a hand just as soon as I've settled him," June replied.
Between the two of them it didn't take long to bring all the horses in for the night, change their rugs and check each one over. June gave Heero a hand to feed those that were outside in either the paddocks or walk in – walk out stables and yards.
Now that they were back from the Nations Cup competition, Heero had stabled Comet and Angel again, leaving Sandfire and Hyperion out in the yards. Happy that all was well with the two stabled outside, Heero returned to the main stable block to make up the morning feeds and fill the haynets. June was busy tying up haynets for the two horses outside.
"That everything?" she asked, returning to the feed shed where Heero was just finishing up.
"Hai, that's the lot." They stepped back outside, June waiting whilst Heero locked the feed shed door. Together they walked along the breezeway, Heero's eyes checking each door as they passed and making sure they were all bolted correctly. He paused at Wing's door to double check both bolts. The youngster hadn't escaped for a while now and Heero had no intentions of giving the gray any opportunity to let himself out either.
June paused at Orion's stable and looked at her horse. All the others were busily feeding their faces, muzzles buried in their respective feed bins, but Orion was standing with his back to his feed bin and lipping at his haynet. June frowned, but didn't give it much more thought. Maybe Orion wanted his hay more than his hard feed at this point. Still musing over that thought, June stepped outside so Heero could pull the sliding door across and secure the stables for the evening.
"I'll see you in the morning, Heero."
"Okay, drive carefully. Don't worry too much about Orion, June. I'm sure he's just having an off day like you thought. If there's no change tomorrow I'll get Duo to check him over like I said earlier."
"Thanks, Heero. Have a good night."
"You too, June."
With the stables secured, Heero began the trek back between the paddocks to the cottage. June got into her car and started it up, driving home through the twilight of early evening.
tbc...
[1] Pseudohermaphrodites: Hermaphroditism in dogs does occur and can be diagnosed through several ways. All information on Mandy's 'case' is taken from the following web site: www .petplace dogs /hermaphrodite-and-pseudohermaphrodite-in-dogs/ page1 .aspx