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 43
"I see. Thank you, Doctor Maxwell and please, pass on my condolences to the owner." Eric Shaw hung up the phone and stared at the wall for a moment as his mind processed the information it had just received. With a deep sigh, he scrubbed his face and got up. He needed to speak with Benson first, then let Coleman know of this latest development.
Stepping into the veterinary lab a few minutes later after putting on a face mask, he found Benson and Cornes hard at work with petri dishes, test tubes and a whole pile of other equipment.
"Eric," Benson greeted and stepped back from his work. "If you're after more of the vaccine I'm afraid the next batch won't be ready for another twenty-four hours at least."
"No, no, that's okay, I'm not here for the vaccine; although it's good to know you have more on the way so quickly," Eric replied. "No, what I'm here for has nothing to do with the vaccine."
"Okay, then what is it?" Benson asked as he removed his mask and latex gloves, indicating for Eric to follow him out of the lab.
The pair tossed their masks and the gloves into the hazardous waste bin just outside the door to the lab.
"I've just gotten off the phone to Doctor Maxwell," Eric began.
"Maxwell?" Benson's brow furrowed in thought for a moment.
"He's the vet that contacted us first with a suspected case of the EI and also sent through blood for you to culture the virus from," Eric explained.
"Ah, yes. Now I remember," Benson stated. "What's wrong?"
"It seems that one of the EI infected horses he's been treating was a pregnant mare. The foal died in-utero. A Doctor Merquise, who is also employed at his practice and Maxwell induced the mare today. The foal was delivered and they've done a complete autopsy on it including tissue and blood samples. From what he said on the phone, the autopsy showed a placental abruption caused the death of the foal. The abruption itself was caused by the EI virus."
"I see." Benson thought for a moment. "He's positive that the EI was the cause of the placenta separating from the uterine wall?"
"Look, I'm no vet so I'm not clued up on all this medical stuff, but he was very sure of his results and he's filed all the necessary paperwork which will be faxed through to both us and the Veterinary Board. He's also sending through samples taken for the autopsy so both ourselves and the Veterinary Board can do our own tests to confirm his findings."
"Good. Not that I'm doubting his word or his findings, but if we can also run our own tests then it can be confirmed or discounted."
"I can see your point," Eric replied, although he didn't think for one moment that Benson would be able to draw any other conclusion from doing his own tests. Doctor Maxwell seemed to be a very conscientious and thorough vet.
"When will he be sending through the samples?"
"He said he'd do his best to get a courier to bring them today. Failing that it will be tomorrow. I've asked him to send them direct to me and as soon as I have them I'll contact you so you can start your own testing."
"Thanks, Eric."
"No problem," Eric sighed. He rubbed his tired face with his hands. "Is there ever going to be an end to this nightmare?"
"I hope so, Eric. We're doing everything we can to try and stop it from spreading any further."
"I know. It just seems that for every step forward we manage to take, something else crops up to make things worse and we're pushed back two steps."
"We really can't do anything more, Eric. We're making the vaccine as quickly as we can, all movement of equines has been banned until further notice, infected properties are quarantined and all race meets, horse shows, rodeos and anything else equine related have been cancelled."
"I know, you don't have to remind me. Meanwhile the entire industry is slowly coming to its knees. If it goes on for too much longer then I hate to think what will happen." Eric gave a shudder. If they didn't start to turn this around soon then there would be a lot of people out of work and the cost to the industry was steadily climbing through the millions to the billions of dollars lost.
"With the vaccine out there now we should start to see some sort of improvement to the situation. Plus, those horses that were the first to become infected should be starting to shake off the virus very soon," Benson stated in an attempt to put a positive light on the situation.
"But we still don't know if the vaccine will work," Eric pointed out.
"No, we don't, but try to have a little faith. Although we haven't had the chance to conduct clinical trials with the vaccine, all the theory side points to it being viable."
"Guess we will know soon enough," Eric muttered.
"Yes, we will. I'm expecting the veterinary practices that we've already sent the vaccine out to, to begin to send in their reports and results somewhere in the next seven days. Meanwhile we will continue to culture the vaccine and distribute it in the hope that it will at least do some good," Benson replied.
Eric sighed. "Yeah, you're right. I guess it will help our cause with the public, to be seen as doing our best to stop this disease."
"It will. Now, if there's nothing more I'd best be getting back to this vaccine."
"No problem. I'll let you know as soon as I have those samples from Doctor Maxwell."
"Thanks."
"I'd better shift too, I still need to let Coleman know of this latest development, and I don't think he's going to be too happy."
"Probably not, but unfortunately, that's something we can't do much about. Good luck." Benson turned and grabbing another mask and set of gloves, he stepped back into the lab.
Eric remained standing for a moment, trying to draw on his inner strength to face his boss with this latest development.
# # #
Catherine looked up as a shadow fell across her desk in the reception area of the surgery. "Can I help you?" she asked the young man on the other side. He didn't have an animal with him that Catherine could tell so she wasn't sure if he was a client or not.
"This is the Maxwell Veterinary Practice, isn't it?" the young man asked.
"Yes, it is," Catherine replied.
"I have a delivery for you." The man placed a small, styrofoam box on the counter and produced a clipboard. "I'll need a signature, please."
"Just a moment," Catherine stated with a frown. She didn't recall having placed an order for anything recently. Usually Duo did the stock-take on their drugs and the like and gave Catherine the list of things to order and she did just that. As far as she could remember, the last order they'd put through had been delivered last week. She took the clipboard to read over it.
"I don't know who put the order in, all I got told was to deliver this to the Maxwell Vet place," the courier stated.
Catherine scanned the paperwork and took note of the sender's address. She recognized the logo and address as that of the Department of Agriculture. Maybe this is something Duo's arranged and forgot to tell me about, she thought. "Okay, just give me a second. I need to clarify with my boss," she told the courier.
"That's fine, no problem for me. I get paid by the hour, not the delivery," the man grinned.
Unsure of exactly where Duo would be, Catherine stepped to the back of the office and dialed Duo's cell number.
"Doctor Maxwell speaking."
"Duo, it's Catherine. I have a courier here with a delivery from the Department of Agriculture. Did you place an order for something?"
"Department of Agriculture?"
"Yes. Said he was given this delivery for the practice."
"I haven't ordered anything. Cathy, ask him to wait there and I'll be up in a minute."
"Okay." Catherine cut the call and went back to the reception desk. "My boss is on his way here now if you don't mind waiting a couple of minutes?" she said to the courier.
"No problem for me," the man replied. "Is it okay for me to take a seat?"
"Sure. Doctor Maxwell won't be long."
"Thanks." The man picked up the box and sat with it on his lap. He picked up a magazine and began to flip through it.
Within five minutes Duo was striding along the hallway to the reception area. "Catherine?"
"Ah, Doctor Maxwell. The courier is just in the waiting room."
"Thanks." Duo opened the door to the waiting room and spotted the young man. Walking across to him he greeted, "I'm Doctor Maxwell, owner of this practice. My receptionist said you have a delivery for me?"
The man stood up, tossing the magazine to a chair and holding onto the box and clipboard. "Pleased to meet you, Doctor Maxwell and yes, I have a delivery here for the practice." The young man held out the box and clipboard, Duo taking it and setting the clipboard down on the reception desk for the moment.
"Please bear with me for a moment, not that I'm distrusting you or anything, but I haven't placed an order for anything in the past week and I'd like to double check before I accept the package," Duo told the courier.
"No problem. I have no idea what it is either, I just got told to deliver the thing," the courier replied.
Turning back to the box, Duo scrutinized the package and read the details on the box. Then a light bulb went off in his head when he saw the signature of the sender on the box. "Ah, I think I know what this could be," he said and placed the box back on the desk to pick up the clipboard and sign it. "Here," he said, handing the clipboard back to the courier.
"Thanks," the courier replied and turned to leave.
"Oh, before you go, do you have any further deliveries today?" Duo asked.
"One more to go, why?"
"I've got some things I need couriering to the Department of Agriculture and also the State Veterinary Board. Any chance I can book you to take them?"
The courier thought for a moment. "I can take them both and deliver the one to the Agricultural Department for you, but the one to the Vet Board is out of my area. I can take it back to base though and have one of the other drivers deliver it for you if that's any help?"
"That would be perfect," Duo replied. "Is your other delivery close by?"
"Yeah, a place called Oakford Equine hospital."
"Good. If it's no trouble, could you do your delivery to them and then call back here? That will give me enough time to get the items sorted and packed for you to take."
"Sounds good to me. I'll be back in about an hour then?"
"Thanks. I'll go get the packages ready and have them here for you in an hour." Duo accompanied the courier to the door and saw him off before returning to where an amused Catherine sat. "What?" he said when he saw the look the woman was giving him.
"Oh, nothing," she replied. "Just that you seem to be wrapped up in something the rest of us are unaware of."
"Ah." Duo scratched the back of his neck. "If I'm correct in my assumptions, that package should be the vaccine from the Department for the EI virus."
"Really? That's great news; heaven knows we need some right now given the state of the equine economy."
"That we do. Look, could you pop that box into the 'fridge for the moment? I'll look at it shortly. I need to get back to the surgery stables and get these samples all sealed up for transport." Seeing Catherine about to ask, 'what samples', Duo quickly continued. "I'll explain later, time is of the essence here." Words said, he pivoted on his heel and left the surgery.
#
Zechs gave Duo a hand to label and seal all the tissue and blood samples into vials and small specimen containers. A report of their findings along with all relevant details of the mare, foal and owner were printed out and placed with the samples before said samples were placed into styrofoam boxes and sealed up ready to be transported to the Department of Agriculture and the Veterinary Board.
"The courier should be back any tick of the clock," Duo said as he glanced at his watch to note the time.
"I'll come with you if that's okay?" Zechs said. "If that is the vaccine for the EI I'll be interested to see what information they have included with it."
"If memory serves me correct, there isn't a whole lot according to the information they gave me before," Duo replied, "But I'd prefer it if you did check it over with me, between the two of us we should be able to work it out okay."
"Thanks, Duo."
The pair picked up the boxes and carrying one each, headed up to the surgery.
#
"Thank you," Duo said and signed the paperwork for the courier to take the packages. Seeing the young man off, Duo was quick to return to the reception area and fetch the earlier delivered box from the fridge. He took it through to the consulting room, Zechs right behind him.
Setting the box down on the counter, he used a scalpel blade to slit through the tape and open the box. Inside, nestled amongst protective bubble wrap sat six large bottles of clear fluid and an envelope. Duo removed the envelope and opened it. Pulling free a piece of paper with all the information on it that they would need. With Zechs leaning over his shoulder, Duo began to read.
"Sounds simple enough," Zechs commented.
"Yeah, it does. Five millilitres to every hundred kilos of body weight. That's going to be roughly twenty to twenty-five millilitres per horse."
"How much does each bottle contain?"
Duo pulled a bottle free and turned it around to read the label. "Five hundred milliliters per bottle and there's six bottles in total. At twenty-five milliliters per dose – on average – that means we should get twenty doses to each bottle."
"That's a hundred and twenty horses all up we can vaccinate. It's not a lot," Zechs stated.
"No, it isn't, but better than nothing. I just hope it works."
"Have they included a disclaimer?"
"Just a small one at the bottom of the page. I think I'll get Heero to type a proper one up for us like we suggested before; that way the practice can't be held accountable if it doesn't work or has any sort of side effects."
"Couldn't be any worse than the horses catching the EI virus."
"I agree with you there. I'll let Eric Shaw know the vaccine has arrived and that we will be starting to vaccinate as soon as possible."
"Who shall we start with? There hasn't been anything on the news or in the media at all regarding a vaccine as yet." Zechs picked up a bottle and began to study it.
"I noticed that too, I'll ask Eric when I call in a moment. I'm going to see if Heero's willing for me to give Zero, Wing and Missy the vaccine, none of them have come down with the virus as yet."
"Good idea. Would you like me to inform Heero of its arrival whilst you call the Department?" Zechs offered.
"Actually, that would be good. I'll come down to the stables once I've made my call."
"Okay. I'll see you shortly then."
"Thanks, Zechs."
After making his call to Eric Shaw, Duo was cornered by Catherine who demanded to know what was going on. Duo gave her a brief run down on the loss of Angel's foal, the resulting autopsy and the samples he'd had to send through to the Department. Whilst Catherine was already aware that Angel was having problems with her pregnancy due to the EI virus, she hadn't known the foal had passed away.
"Oh, Duo. That's terrible, poor Angel, she must be so sad," Catherine said. "How is Heero taking it?"
"Pretty hard," Duo replied, biting his lower lip to keep his own emotions in check. It was still a raw wound with him and would remain so for a while yet.
Catherine shook her head, tears evident in her eyes as she faced her boss. "Please, pass on my condolences to Heero. I'll speak with him myself soon, but knowing Heero and how he loves his horses, it's probably better to let him come to terms with it a little first."
"I think so too, Catherine. Not that he wouldn't appreciate your condolences, but it would be better to wait a little while."
"I'll let Hilde know if you like?"
"Thanks, I'd appreciate that. Now, I need to take this vaccine and see if Heero's willing to let me vaccinate Zero, Wing and Missy."
"I'm sure he will be more than happy for them to be vaccinated, even more so after Angel's unfortunate incident," Catherine replied.
With a smile, Duo picked up a bottle of vaccine from the fridge, grabbed a couple of needles and syringes and left the practice for Heero's stables.
# # #
Heero had spent the past hour working Wing in the paddock. Angel had seemed to have settled down and accepted the loss of her baby; Heero was finding it a little harder to come to terms with. Working with Wing had helped to soothe his troubled mind for a while as he'd needed all his concentration on the young stallion to make him work properly.
Finished with his work, Heero had walked Wing around for a few minutes to cool off before bringing the gray back to his current stable and yard. With Wing, Missy and Zero being the only horses not to have contracted the EI virus at this stage, Heero had moved them out to the walk-in walk-out stables in an attempt to keep it that way.
Exchanging Wing's bridle for his halter, Heero caught movement from the corner of his eye and turned his head. Spotting Zechs coming towards him his mind went into overdrive, wondering just what could go wrong next.
Having greeted the rider, Zechs explained about the arrival of the vaccine and Duo's wish to vaccinate Heero's horses that were not infected. By the time Zechs had finished, Heero had Wing unsaddled, brushed down and rugged up.
Just as Heero was about to start asking his questions, Duo came walking up to the stables.
"Heero, has Zechs filled you in on the vaccine?" Duo asked, stepping alongside his partner.
"Hai, he has," Heero replied. "He also said that it hasn't been trialed so the vaccination would be at my own risk."
"That's correct, Heero." Duo went on to explain what he'd read on the paperwork that had accompanied the vaccine. "Going on what I know of the development of vaccines these days, it should be perfectly fine, I can't see the Department releasing and distributing it if they weren't pretty secure in their knowledge that it will work. Ultimately though, it's your call."
Heero thought through the information for a moment before making up his mind. What did he have to lose? If the vaccine didn't work, then it didn't. If it did work then hopefully those horses currently EI free would remain that way. Turning his eyes to lock with his partner's, he spoke. "Okay, Duo. Give Wing, Zero and Missy the vaccinations."
"Thanks, Heero. I can't give you any guarantees that it will work, but at least we know we tried."
"Do you want to do them now?"
"No time like the present." Duo reached into his pocket and withdrew the bottle, syringes and needles. With Zechs' assistance they gave all three horses the recommended dose. "Now all we can do is monitor them and wait," Duo stated as he capped the last needle.
"Thanks, Duo; you too, Zechs."
"Anytime, Heero." Zechs moved to whisper briefly in Duo's ear.
"Ah, yes," Duo said with a nod of his head. Turning back to Heero, his eyes took on a pained look as he cleared his throat to speak. "I've notified the Department of the results of the autopsy and sent through samples for them to test themselves. Eric Shaw also asked me to pass on my condolences to you."
Heero dropped his eyes as the ache began to build in his chest once more.
"We've also finished with the medical side of things. What... would you..." Duo struggled to find the words.
"Heero?" Zechs took over from his boss. "Where would you like to have the foal buried?" he said softly.
The ache in his chest intensified, but Heero knew he had to face this problem. "I think I'd like to bury the foal in Angel's paddock," he whispered.
"Okay. Do you want me to arrange to have a bobcat come in and dig the grave?" Zechs asked.
Heero nodded, unable to speak for the moment.
Placing a hand on Heero's arm, Zechs gave it a light squeeze. "Leave everything to me. I'll arrange it all and let you know as soon as I have everything organized."
"Thank you, Zechs."
"None needed, Heero."
"Yeah, thanks, Zechs," Duo said quietly, having a hard time keeping his composure too.
"I'll talk to you both soon." Zechs headed off towards the farm house, leaving the pair alone.
# # #
Duo wrapped an arm around Heero's waist and pulled the rider closer to him, Heero leaning into the offered comfort.
"It's never easy, is it?" Heero whispered and wiped a stray tear from his cheek.
"No, it isn't and despite the pain now, it will get better with the passage of time," Duo replied.
"I just can't help but think how unfair this is. By that I mean, this foal didn't even have a chance to experience life."
"No, it didn't, but they say that all things happen for a reason, Heero."
"Yeah, I know, but right now I'm having a hard time trying to think what possible reason there could be for this foal having to pass away without even being able to feel the sun on its back, the wind in its mane or the grass under its feet. Sappy and stupid, I know." Heero sighed.
"Not at all, Heero. I happen to agree with you, but obviously the powers above have decided that they wanted this foal." Spotting the look Heero was giving him, Duo shrugged. "They say that there's a higher force up there, something far greater than us and despite whether you believe in a God or not I'd like to think that this foal was something so special that God himself decided he wanted it."
Heero thought on that for a moment and found the words did give him a measure of comfort. "When you put it that way, I guess you could be right." Looking at the fresh mound of dirt that signified the foal's resting place, Heero turned and gave his lover a warm kiss. "As you say, the foal is in a better place and at least there will be other foals for Angel so I have at least that to look forward to."
"That you do."
"It could be a lot worse." Heero sighed again. "I suppose I should start to put this behind me now and concentrate on the rest of the horses."
"That's a good idea. Let's take what we've experienced from this, learn from it and move on."
Heero turned to walk away, Duo paused for a moment longer and sent a silent prayer to the heavens above.
tbc...