Rival Riders Chapter 39, a gundam wing/ac fanfic

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 for the kind reviews and sorry for leaving the last part where I did. To those of you worried about Angel - I do promise not to let the muse kill her off... I think I'd be hunted down and tortured if I were to do anything like that to Shini, Zero or Angel...

Yukki-chan: The virus is moving fast, very fast. This fic is based partially on fact, that fact being the outbreak of the Equine Influenza virus here in Aussie. As none of our equines were vaccinated against the disease it spread like wildfire through the horse population. In the space of a couple of days there were several hundred horses down with it and many more followed.

And now on to the next part...

"Rival Riders"

Chapter 39

Duo wasn't too sure what to expect when he entered Angel's stable. The mare was sick with the virus, running a temperature, runny nose and the harsh barking of a cough – all symptoms of the virus Duo knew she had. Pausing inside the door, he let his eyes rake over the mare and felt the knot of fear grow in his gut.

Seeing the slight change in his husband's features immediately put Heero on alert. "What is it?" he asked.

"Not sure," Duo replied honestly. "I'll need to examine her thoroughly to make a proper diagnosis." There was a small bell jingling in the back of his mind, but Duo really didn't want to acknowledge it. "I'll go grab my bag." Stepping out of the stable, Duo made a beeline for the tack shed. Since Heero's horses had started coming down with the virus, Duo had set up a temporary bag of things he would need and left them at Heero's stables. It saved a lot of time having to fetch items from the surgery stables and then return them after autoclaving.

"It's going to be okay, girl," Heero whispered to the mare whilst he waited for Duo to return. "Duo will take care of you,he'll make you all better, you'll see." Gently running a hand along the warm neck, Heero couldn't help but notice how damp that neck was. He frowned and ran his eye over her. She appeared to be sweating a bit more than normal, well, more than the other sick horses seemed to be anyway. Before his thoughts could run too wild on him, Duo returned with his bag of gear.

"Just hold her steady, Heero," Duo instructed and removed the stethoscope from around his neck.

Doing as he was asked, Heero kept a light but firm hold on the mare's halter, still petting her and talking softly to her.

Listening carefully to Angel's lungs, Duo wasn't surprised to hear the rattling and wheezing sounds. He'd expected that considering the virus. Moving the stethoscope under her girth area, he listened to the thudding of her heart beat, noting it was strong but a little fast. Dropping the stethoscope, he pressed his fingers against the pulse point and timed the heartbeats. Frowning he rummaged in his bag and withdrew the thermometer. While he waited for the temperature to register he took another look over the mare. His eyes narrowed as he discerned a slight tremble in her frame.

Pulling the thermometer free, he checked the reading. "Crap."

"Crap? What does that mean?" Heero asked, the worry evident in his voice.

"She's running a higher temperature than she should, even with the virus," Duo replied.

"How high?"

"Normal temperature is around thirty-seven Celsius to thirty-eight Celsius With the virus, most horses are around the thirty-nine Celsius mark. Angel's temperature is forty point five Celsius, and that's too high for my liking."

"That is high," Heero agreed.

"Could you remove her rug for me, I want to examine her further," Duo asked.

"Sure," Heero replied and began to remove the light rug he'd put on the mare.

With the rug removed, Duo was able to see the mare's condition much clearer. She was sweating quite a bit, damp patches evident around her flanks and elbows. Another tremor passed through the gray body, just a slight shudder but Duo picked up on it. He grabbed the stethoscope from around his neck again and began to listen to Angel's insides.

"Do you think it could be colic?" Heero questioned, his husband's silence was starting to make him really nervous.

"No, it's not colic..."

Heero gave a sigh of relief. "Then what is it?"

"I'm still not completely sure. I have a theory, but I'd like to take a blood sample to test to see if I'm correct in my thinking." Duo looked to his lover, the question in his eyes.

"Go ahead, take whatever samples you need if it will help her. What is this theory you have?"

"I'd prefer to take my sample and run some tests first, Heero, just to be sure." Duo didn't want to say what he thought was wrong with Angel and he sincerely hoped he was wrong, but the jingling bell in the back of his mind was starting to ring a hell of a lot louder.

"Okay." Heero wasn't happy at all, but he knew he would need to be patient and let Duo do his tests. No point in assuming something when it could be totally wrong. Didn't make things any easier though.

Duo fetched a small needle and syringe, swabbing a place on Angel's neck and taking his blood sample. "I'll need to go up to the surgery to do the tests and it will take about an hour," he informed his partner.

"Okay. Is it alright for me to feed her?"

"Yeah, see if she will eat something. You might as well carry on here with your usual routine, I'll be back down as soon as I have the results of the tests."

"Thanks, Duo." Heero leaned in close and stole a kiss from his lover before Duo had the chance to leave.

The vet returned the kiss and once they broke apart he patted Heero's shoulder. "I'll be back soon." Slipping the vial of blood into his pocket, Duo exited the stables to dispose of the used items, wash his hands and shoes and head back to the surgery to do his tests.

Heero stepped out of Angel's stable and continued on with his stable routine, doing his best to distract himself from the many different diseases his horse could possibly have from running rampant through his mind.

# # #

"Finally," Ron sighed and removed his glasses to rub his tired eyes.

Benson and Jens both looked up from their respective places in the lab at the technician's sigh. "Success?" Benson asked.

"Yes. Gentlemen, we finally have a vaccine we can use to try and combat this disease," Ron replied and stretched, groaning a little as the aches made themselves known. He'd been working on cultivating the virus for the past few days, the blood samples he'd been sent through from Doctor Maxwell having aided his cause tremendously. With the cultures growing rapidly, he'd managed to isolate the actual virus cells themselves and neutralize them. Now he was starting to reap the rewards of his labor.

"How soon before we can start to distribute it and begin vaccinating?" Benson questioned. Along with Wayne Jens, the vet had been working tirelessly to help Ron all they could to bring the vaccine to fruition. Now it seemed they had succeeded.

"We just need to work out the dosage rate per kilogram of horse and then I'd say we're safe to start distribution."

"Clinical trials?" Wayne queried.

"We don't have the time to mess around with clinical trials, Wayne. We need to get this vaccine out there and into the vets' hands as quickly as we can," Ron said tiredly.

"But the legal implications..." Wayne began before he was interrupted by Benson.

"I know what you're saying and where you're coming from, Wayne, but Ron is right. By the time we have conducted clinical trials a lot more horses are going to get sick. Look at it from this point. If we don't give the horses the vaccine chances are they will catch the virus and get ill. We vaccinate those that we can and it either works and they don't get sick or it doesn't work and they still get sick. Either way the end result will be one or the other so we haven't got anything to lose," Benson supplied.

Wayne chewed over that for a minute before nodding his head. "You do raise a valid point, however, I would suggest that the department does include a memo with the bottles of vaccine that are distributed to the effect that this hasn't been tested and is used at the owner's and vet's risk and discretion."

Both Ron and Benson could see the logic in that statement and agreed.

"I'll let Coleman and Eric know we're pretty much set to go then. I'll also let them know about the clause to include in the packaging," Wayne stated and prepared to leave the labs.

"Thanks, Wayne," Ron said.

"No problem. I'll be back shortly." Wayne left the labs to hunt down the director and chief of Biosecurity.

"I'll start to get this vaccine ready to be packaged," Ron stated.

"While you're doing that I'll figure out the dosage rate," Benson replied.

"That would be great and save me a lot of time," Ron agreed with a smile.

"No problem."

Both men bent to their tasks with renewed vigor now that they could see a light at the end of the tunnel.

# # #

Peering down the sights of the microscope, Duo's eyes took in the microscopic world of cells. He placed a couple of drops of chemical onto the slide, adjusted the focus slightly and took another look. Straightening himself up moments later, he closed his eyes and let out a long puff of air.

The bell that had jingled before was now at full pitch and Duo couldn't deny the diagnosis any longer. The proof was right there before him.

Angel was going into premature labor.

And there was no way the foal would survive if it was born this early.

Rubbing his face, Duo drew on all his knowledge of pregnant mares and how he could possibly stop the labor. A glance at the clock told him he didn't have much time before morning consults started and he needed to make a decision now. Mind made up, he picked up the phone and called Hilde. With Hilde agreeing to come in and cover the morning consults, Duo made his second call.

"Zechs?"

"Hey, Duo. I was just about to leave and head on up to get ready for morning consults," Zechs said.

"Look, I have a problem."

"Oh?"

"I'm pretty certain that Angel is going into premature labor..."

"The foal won't survive if it's born now," Zechs interrupted.

"I know. I've arranged for Hilde to come in and cover morning consults. I'd really appreciate your help with this, Zechs."

"Of course, you know I'll do everything I can. What does Heero have to say?"

"He doesn't know yet."

"Ah."

"I've just finished doing some blood tests and they all point to Angel aborting that foal. If you wouldn't mind double checking for me though I'd appreciate it. I'd also prefer to do an ultrasound on her, that should confirm beyond doubt if she is or isn't about to abort the foal, but you've had a bit more experience in that area than me and I'd be more reassured if you would join me to do one. If you agree with my diagnosis we can figure out what we're going to try and do to stop it and then I can let Heero know what's going on."

"Okay. Are you still at the surgery?"

"Yes, I am."

"I'll be there within the next five minutes."

"Thanks, Zechs." Placing the phone back into the cradle, Duo leaned back in his chair, his heart heavy in his chest. Of all the things to happen, he thought. He knew the Equine Influenza virus was most likely the cause for Angel's premature labor and he felt frustrated with his inability to do much in the way to stop it. There were drugs he could use to try and stop the labor, but given the mare's weakened state from the virus, he wasn't too confident that they would work. It also depended on what the ultra sound showed.

The sound of footsteps drew him from his thoughts and he looked up as Zechs entered the consulting room. 'Thanks for coming up, Zechs."

"No problem, Duo. Now, where is this blood sample and why do you think Angel is aborting the foal?"

Duo vacated his seat and waved the other vet to sit and peer down the microscope. While Zechs took stock of the slide and its contents, Duo filled him in on Angel's condition. "She didn't look right to me, she's sweating more than she should and her temperature is up high. I also noticed a few, small trembles passing through her body. The blood sample I took shows prostaglandin present, and we know what that means."

Having gazed at the microscopic world for long enough, Zechs straightened up and turned to face his colleague. "There's no denying the fact that there's prostaglandin present, but it's not a large amount from what I can tell. You said you wanted to do an ultrasound and see what that shows?"

"Yeah. I think we would have a much clearer idea of what exactly is going on with an ultrasound."

"If the ultrasound comes back reasonably clear, we might be able to stop this by just using some phenylbutazone. Failing that we can try Altrenogest."

"That's what I was thinking too, Zechs."

"Okay. Come on then, we'd better get down to the stables and see what we can do."

"I'll need to get the ultrasound from the surgery stables. Angel's at Heero's stables."

"No worries. I'll give you a hand."

Hearing the sound of approaching footsteps, Heero exited Shini's stable where he'd been cleaning the stallion's nose and glanced out the sliding doors. He frowned when he noted Duo and Zechs approaching, the portable Ultrasound machine between them. Pulling his gloves off, he waited for the pair to join him. "What's that for?" he asked in his usual, blunt tone.

"Heero, I need to do an ultrasound on Angel to confirm my suspected diagnosis," Duo replied keeping his voice steady and reassuring. Seeing Heero's eyes narrowing and tracking towards Zechs, he quickly continued. "Zechs is here to assist me as he's had a bit more experience in the equine side than I have and I want to be completely sure and certain of my diagnosis."

"I see. What do you think is wrong with her?"

"I'd rather do the ultrasound first, then I'll let you know what I suspect," Duo replied.

Heero didn't look at all happy with that response. "Duo, there's something serious going on and I think I have the right to know," he stated.

Duo sighed. He knew exactly how stubborn his husband could get at times and given the circumstances, he really couldn't blame him. Zechs stepped in though.

"Heero, we have reason to believe that the Equine Influenza virus could be affecting Angel's foal. The blood tests that Duo did are inconclusive and that's why we need to do an ultrasound, to determine one way or the other exactly what is going on."

Heero paled. "There could be something wrong with Angel's foal?" His eyes turned from Zechs to Duo and back to Zechs.

"We aren't sure, hence the need to do the ultrasound," Zechs replied.

Having chewed on that bit of information, Heero nodded his head. "Okay, do what it is you have to do, but I want to know exactly what is wrong with her and what we can do to make her better as soon as you've finished," he said, his tone brooking no argument.

"I promise you we will tell you everything we find, Heero," Duo soothed.

"Shall I fetch her out for you?"

"Actually, it would be easier if we were to do the exam inside her stable. Ideally we should have her in the crush, but you don't have one on the property and we can't move her up to the surgery stables either given the infection and the ban on movement," Zechs said softly.

"Fine. I'll catch her now." Heero moved towards Angel's stable once more and picked up the lead rope from outside the door. Entering the stable he easily caught the mare. "Ready when you are," Heero called out.

Both vets entered the stable, the ultrasound machine between them. Duo had also had the fore thought to bring the twitch, although whether they would need it or not remained to be seen.

Spotting the twitch, Heero raised an eyebrow at his husband. "Why do you need that?"

"It's just in case, Heero. We will do an ultrasound of her abdomen, but it may still be inconclusive and if that's the case, we will need to go in rectally and do an ultrasound from inside," Duo replied.

Heero didn't like the sound of that at all. "I've never seen or heard of that before," he said.

"It's not a common practice, Heero," Zechs interjected from where he stood, getting the machine ready. "We only do this type of exam if we can't get clear enough pictures from the outside. Don't worry, it won't hurt Angel at all."

"Okay." Heero still looked doubtful.

With the machine now up and running, Duo took over the sound head side of things whilst Zechs waited to study the pictures on the monitor. A little gel was applied to Angel's abdomen and Duo began to run the sound head around, keeping an eye on the monitor as well.

Standing at the mare's head, Heero gently petted Angel and spoke in soft, soothing tones. He was worried, no doubt about that and he hoped that whatever the two vets found could be easily fixed.

"Can you move it slightly lower and to the left?" Zechs asked, eyes scrunched as he did his best to try and make out the images appearing on the screen.

"They're not coming out too clear," Duo commented as he made the requested adjustments.

"We really need to try and locate the placenta," Zechs informed.

"Yeah, I know, but from what I can make out it's probably sitting up higher in the uterus and the foal is lying in such a way that I can't get the sound head to pick up on it," Duo stated.

"I thought that might be a problem," Zechs sighed. "I think we will have to go in rectally after all."

"Damn. I had hoped we could avoid that," Duo replied. Neither vet really wanted to have to do the internal ultrasound, not because of the procedure itself, but they didn't want to cause any more discomfort to the mare if they could avoid it.

"What's happening?" Heero asked. He'd caught snatches of the quiet conversation between the two vets but not enough to know exactly what was going on.

"The ultrasound isn't coming through clear enough," Zechs said. "We will need to do that internal one to be certain of what is going on."

"Ah, I see."

"I promise you, Heero, Angel will be fine with the procedure. It's pretty much the same as when Duo did the pregnancy test on her, the only difference is he will have the small, sound head in his hand," Zechs told the rider.

While Zechs was letting Heero know of the procedure, Duo had slipped on a glove that went from his fingers to his arm pit and applied a thick coating of lube to it. The sound head on the ultrasound machine was swapped over for a smaller version, one that was attached to a very thin cable and Duo was all set to go.

"Can you push Angel slightly up against the side partition of the stable, Heero?" Duo asked.

"No problem." Heero managed to get Angel to step sideways a little, lining her left side against the wood.

"I know she's a quiet mare with exceptional manners, Heero, but with Duo doing the exam without a crush to restrain her I think for his safety and Angel's – not to mention yours and mine – we should twitch her just to be safe," Zechs said.

Knowing what Zechs said to be true and as much as he disliked using a twitch on a horse, he could see that logic behind it. He didn't want his lover to be injured, Duo would be in a very hazardous position as it was. Angel may not be a nasty horse by nature, but sick horses could be unpredictable. "Pass me the twitch," he said.

Handing over the item, Zechs watched and waited while Heero placed it on the mare's upper lip and twisted it until it was tight enough to restrain her without any pain.

"Okay, she's ready," Heero announced.

"Thanks, Heero." Duo gave his lover a warm smile before taking up position behind Angel and preparing to insert his arm and sound head into her body. Zechs moved closer, grasping the mare's tail and holding it out of the way.

Slowly but steadily Duo worked his hand and arm into the mare, the monitor showing fuzzy pictures as he inched forward until he could feel the uterus and enclosed foal. "I'm at the uterus," he informed quietly.

"Okay. Just hold it there for a moment whilst I check the screen." Zechs twiddled a couple of dials, doing his best to get a clearer picture. The screen did focus better after a few moments, allowing Zechs to roughly pinpoint where Duo's hand was in relation to the placenta.

"We need to move slightly to the right," Zechs said, Duo doing his best to move gently so as not to stress Angel.

"There, that's the bottom of the placenta," Zechs told the other two. "Try to draw back a bit, slowly though and slide further right as you do so."

Duo followed the other vet's instructions. From where he was situated he couldn't see the monitor and had no clue other than what his fingers were telling him as to his exact location on the uterine wall.

"Stop there for a moment." With the sound head paused, Zechs studied the screen intently, pressing a couple of buttons to save the images as he looked them over. The more he looked, the more he felt his heart drop. "I think we have enough pictures to draw our conclusions from," he told Duo.

"Okay." Duo began to slowly remove his arm and the sound head from inside Angel. Once he was clear, he dropped the sound head into a waiting bucket and peeled the glove from his arm. Zechs passed him over a towel to wipe his arm down with.

"You can release the twitch now, Heero. Duo's finished," Zechs said.

Heero removed the twitch and rubbed the end of angel's nose to make sure the circulation wasn't compromised. "Good girl," he said as he petted her. Turning his attention to the vets, he spoke again. "What did you find? Can I let her go now or do you need to do further tests?"

"You can let her go for the moment, Heero. I just want to have a look at the pictures and then we should have an answer for you," Duo replied. Leaving his husband to his horse, Duo rounded on Zechs and the screen. "Did the pictures show up clear enough?"

"Yes. They came through fine. Unfortunately though, the resulting images appear to confirm what you thought. Here, take a look." Zechs went over the images he'd saved with Duo, the braided vet's mouth settling into a grim line as he took in the evidence before him. Heero appeared at his side and gazed at the pictures – unfortunately for him, he couldn't make head nor tail of the images.

"What is wrong with Angel?" he asked quietly.

Turning to face his husband, Duo fought to find the words he needed. Swallowing roughly, he began to speak. "The Equine Influenza virus has caused what we call placentitis..."

"Placent what?"

"Placentitis. Put simply it's an infection of the placenta which causes the placenta to become inflamed, stimulating the tissue to produce prostaglandin, a hormone that may cause the uterus to contract, leading to premature labor. The blood sample I took earlier does show an increase in the amount of prostaglandin in Angel's blood stream which is why I wanted to do the ultra sound."

"What does all this mean for Angel and the foal?" Heero had gone pale with Duo's information.

"It could mean several different things, all depending on the placenta and the response we get to the treatments I'd like to try," Duo said.

"I'd like to know the possible outcomes first, Duo."

"Okay. If our treatment is successful Angel could go on to deliver a healthy foal. The other possibilities are, as more of the placenta becomes inflamed it will thicken and can pull away from the uterine wall. This would lead to a decrease in oxygen and nutrients to the foal which in turn would retard the growth of the foal or even the death of the foal. The virus could also extend across the placenta to the foal which could result in abortion or, depending on the strength of the virus passing across, the birth of a weak, infected foal. There's also the possibility of Angel going into premature labor which I mentioned before, and if that's the case, the foal won't survive if it's born now. A horse fetus, unlike many other species, matures in the final 5-7 days of pregnancy, and if removed from the mare before this time will usually die." Duo gave his husband a sad look. "Sorry to dump all of that on you, Heero, but those are the facts and there's no getting away from them."

"I understand and thanks for being straight with me," Heero replied

"We aren't defeated yet, Heero," Zechs stated. "There are a couple of things we can try to stop this from happening. We can give Angel some phenylbutazone; it can reduce the production of prostaglandin and also bring down any inflammation of the placenta."

"I'd also like to give her a shot of Altrenogest which is a synthetic progesterone which has had some success in also decreasing the production of prostaglandin," Duo added.

"But you don't know if it will work, do you?" Heero questioned. "Look, I'm not trying to be difficult, but given what you've both told me, things are looking pretty grim for the foal, aren't they?"

"I won't lie to you, Heero. Angel's placenta is slightly inflamed and the odds are not in our favor. I can't give you any guarantees, the treatment may work, or it may not, but ultimately it's your call." Duo did his best to give his lover a reassuring smile.

Having thought about his options for a moment, Heero looked squarely at both vets. "As you always say, Duo; 'where there's life, there's hope'. I want you both to do all you can to help Angel and the foal."

Duo stepped close to his husband and wrapped his arms around Heero, whispering into his ear as he held him close. "We will do everything we can, Heero."

"I know you will, Duo. I know you will."

tbc...

AN: Information on abortion/placentitis in equines was researched from the following sites (just remove the spaces) :

www .petmd com/horse /conditions /reproductive /c_hr_ abortion