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 everyone for reading and for the kind reviews!
"Rival Riders"
Chapter 46
"The department expects to be able to lift the ban on all equine movement within a few days and all scheduled race meets and other equestrian activities will then be free to resume whenever their respective committees decide to. I would suggest that equine owners keep an eye on the papers, news reports or contact the committee in charge of their respective sport to confirm when activity will be resuming." Coleman looked up from the piece of paper he'd been reading from and glanced at the assembled media. "That concludes the Department's report. I will now take a few questions." Coleman added a glare to his face as he spoke, leaving the media without any doubt that he'd only answer serious and proper questions.
"Does this mean the Melbourne Cup will go ahead as planned?" asked a young man at the back of the media group.
"I cannot answer that for certain as the Cup is run by the Victorian Racing Committee. You would need to speak with them directly for an answer. I would expect it will still be held though given that Victoria has also vaccinated many of their horses and it appears that they are also having the same success as we are here in New South Wales."
"Do you think the equine economy will recover?"
"I can't see why not." Coleman gave the reporter a dirty look. "I am well aware of the monetary loss for the equine business sector and I have no illusions as to how many people have been affected. However, the virus is now under control, we have a viable vaccine that works to combat it and whilst I do understand that it will take a couple of years for the equine industry to fully recover, I do expect it to do so."
"What is the government doing in regards to the quarantine laws? If a disease like this can get into the country, what's to say it can't happen again?"
"Hear, hear," called several other journalists.
Coleman grit his teeth, beside him he could feel Eric practically vibrating with anger. "The Government has been in talks with the Department and several experts in the field of contagious diseases and they are currently looking at several options available to work out what would be best to implement to ensure nothing like this happens again."
"What sort of measures?"
"I'm not at liberty to say at this point in time," Coleman gritted out.
Eric made a show of looking at his watch and before any further questions could be asked, he stepped forward and took the microphone from Coleman. "That is all we have time for, gentlemen. I'm afraid Mr. Coleman has another, pressing engagement to attend. Thank you." Eric replaced the microphone, took a confused Coleman by the elbow and steered him out the side door of the conference room.
"I don't have another engagement until later this afternoon," Coleman hissed once they were clear of the room.
"I know that and so do you, but they don't," Eric replied with a grin. "It was time to start winding it up anyway, the questions were starting to stray into areas they shouldn't."
"You do have a point."
"Besides, I could see your blood pressure starting to rise and if it's still up when you go to the meeting with the Government then you're likely to end up in cardiac arrest." Eric gave a wry grin.
Coleman visibly deflated. "You're right," he snickered. "I'd rather be dealing with a room full of kindergarten kids than the politicians."
"At least you can bribe the kids."
"You can bribe politicians too!"
"Point conceded," Eric laughed. "Come on, let's get a coffee and wind down a bit."
"I'd rather have a stiff drink," Coleman muttered.
"I'll buy you an Irish coffee then."
# # #
"I'd say this virus has just about run its course," Heero commented as they watched the news that evening.
"It certainly looks like it," Duo replied. "It will be nice to be able to move horses around again."
"I wonder how long it will be before the shows start to get back to normal?"
"Hard to say," Duo stated. "Given how many horses have been sick with this virus and the time it will take for them to regain fitness, it could be a while."
"Most likely the shows will start off again as a trickle, although those that are already planned for the coming months can now go ahead. It will be interesting to see how many entries shows get given the effect the virus has had on so many horses," Heero mused.
"I don't think there will be a lot of entries at all for a few months. It's going to take at least a couple of months to get horses back to the level of fitness they will require to compete," Duo said.
"Amen to that. But there are still a lot of horses out there that didn't contract the virus so they will still be ready to compete."
"True. I guess we really should be thinking ourselves lucky," Duo said, his brow furrowed in thought.
"How do you mean?" Heero questioned.
"This virus could have been a lot worse. Thanks to the Government's quick thinking and banning all equine movement, it's only infected horses in the states of Victoria, Queensland and New South Wales. The rest of the country has managed to remain EI free so at least there are still those other states' stud farms, racing industries and pleasure horses to boost the equine economy and hold up those three states that were infected."
"I never thought about that." Heero let his mind wander over Duo's words. What the vet had said made a lot of sense. Many of the competition horses, racehorses and studs had been seriously affected by the EI in the three States that had been unfortunate enough to have contracted the disease. With the other States and Territories remaining EI free, they would at least be able to prop up the equine business sector until the East coast got back on its feet – or hooves – again. Then another thought occurred to Heero. "Are the other States and Territories going to vaccinate against the EI virus too?"
Duo frowned as he thought on that question. "I'm not completely sure, Heero, but I assume they would. Given how the virus has spread so rapidly here and the devastation it's caused, I'd say the other States and Territories will be vaccinating their animals too. Now we know that the vaccine is viable and has worked in the cases here on the east coast that it's been given to, I'm betting the Ag Department will be sending samples to all the other States and Territories so they can cultivate their own and start to vaccinate all equines there. Most likely they already have samples and are in the process of cultivating and vaccinating."
"Then that's certainly going to be a huge relief."
"That it will." Duo snuggled a little closer. "Now come here and let me kiss you senseless."
#
June had been understandably concerned and worried about Orion when Heero and Duo gave her the news on his current state of health. While she was pleased that the horses were all starting to recover and that the vaccine had worked with Zero, Missy and Wing, she couldn't help but feel cheated somehow that her own horse was still suffering.
Duo had explained about the secondary infection and that he was treating it with antibiotics as it was bacterial; he'd also explained what the possible outcomes could be too. June could only hope the antibiotics would work and Orion would come out of this okay.
"How's he looking this morning? Duo asked, leaning on the top of Orion's stable door.
"He seems a bit brighter to me," June replied. "I'll be finished in just a moment," she added and shook the poop scoop into the manure bucket.
"No rush," Duo said with a grin. "I've got all the others to check so I'll start with them whilst you finish up."
"Do you need a hand?"
"Nah, Heero's on his way so he can hold them for me. Thanks for the offer though."
"No problem, just call out if you do need any help."
"Will do." Duo left the woman to finish off her stable work and met Heero who had just entered the stable block.
One by one they worked their way through the horses that were recovering from the EI virus, Duo taking temperatures, listening to lungs and palpitating throats. Charts were filled in, Duo pleased with each horse's rate of recovery.
"I'd give them a couple more days, Heero and then I think they will be over the virus enough that they can start to go back out into their paddocks again," Duo said as they exited Shini's stable.
"That will be a relief," Heero said with a sigh. "I'm sure they must all be getting quite bored by now."
"The sunshine and fresh air will do them the world of good, help them to recover a bit faster too," Duo replied with a grin. "Although I wouldn't be apt to start putting any of them back into work for around another week or two yet," he added.
"I was thinking more along the lines of a month," Heero replied. "That way I know for sure that they're over the worst of it."
"I think that's a very sound idea, Heero."
"I look at it this way, Duo. The shows will be starting up again soon, but I'd much rather have my horses come back into work slowly and be completely fit and healthy before I start jumping them again. There will always be lots more shows to attend. Qualifying for the Olympics with Shini again isn't as important to me as his health and well-being."
"Very sensible, Heero." Duo gave his lover a warm smile. "Now for Orion."
The mood sobered a little as both men approached Orion's stable. June was still inside, gently brushing the black coat and murmuring softly to her horse. She turned her head at the approaching footsteps. "You ready to check him, Duo?" she asked.
"Yeah. I've done all the others so he's the last."
"No problem." June put the brush down and clipped the lead rope to the black's halter. "Ready when you are," she said.
Duo approached the black, the gelding seeming to be a bit brighter. The stethoscope was deployed, heart and breathing rates along with temperature taken and noted down. Duo paid particular attention to the sounds he was getting from Orion's lungs.. Finishing his examination, he stepped back and pulled the syringe with the antibiotic in it from his pocket. "Just hold him a little tighter, June," he said as he produced a swab.
Doing as she was asked, June spoke softly to the horse as Duo gave him the shot of antibiotic.
"There, all done," Duo said, rubbing the spot to ease any sting away before capping the needle to dispose of afterwards.
"How is he doing?" June asked, unclipping the lead rope and letting the black move to where his feed bin sat.
"There's a definite improvement, June," Duo began with a smile. "His temperature is almost back to normal, his heart and breathing rates are well within the usual range and he's looking much brighter in himself. There's still a lot of congestion in his lungs, but the antibiotics appear to be clearing that up. He's still got another three days of the course to go and once he's finished we should have a much clearer idea of if there's any lung damage or not a couple of days after that."
"And if there is?"
"We'll worry about that when the time comes," Duo replied with a smile, doing his best to look confident. "The other horses are all recovering well enough to be able to start going back out in their paddocks from the day after tomorrow; I'd suggest putting Orion out for a few hours too. The weather is warm enough now and the fresh air will help to clear his lungs."
"Okay, if you think it will help."
"I'm sure it will. Now, I'd best be off, I've got a couple of call outs to attend." Disposing of his gloves and giving his hands a quick wash in betadine, Duo left the stables to attend his call outs, Heero and June settling back into their familiar stable routine.
"How are things at Treize's?" Duo asked, slipping into his white coat in the reception area of the practice.
"A lot better," Zechs replied and grabbed his own coat from the hook on the back of the door. "Romeo is pretty much back to normal and most of the others aren't far behind him. There's a couple of youngsters still a bit ill with it but they didn't start with the virus until a few days after the others."
"I'm happy to report that Zero, Missy and Wing are all still EI free. I also visited a couple of other horses I'd vaccinated whilst on a call out earlier and they're also EI free."
"That's great news. What about Orion?" Zechs leaned back against the reception desk.
"There does seem to be some improvement, although his lungs are still quite congested. The antibiotics appear to be working, he's happier in himself, eating much better and starting to take more of an interest in what's going on around him." Duo picked up his stethoscope and draped it around his neck.
"It could take a few days for that congestion to completely clear up."
"Yeah, I know. I've advised both Heero and June to start putting the horses back out in the paddocks for a bit in a couple of days."
"Good idea, the fresh air will do them all the world of good. I've told Treize pretty much the same."
"Did you watch the news last night?" Duo asked.
"Some of it," Zechs replied with a hint of a blush.
Noting the blush, Duo didn't press any further, he already had a pretty good idea of what had distracted Zechs, especially as Heero said he'd seen Treize's car parked out back of the farmhouse when he'd done his last checks of the horses that evening. "There was a bit in there regarding the virus. The guy from the Ag department was saying how they're looking at lifting the ban on horse movement..." Duo gave Zechs a run down on the previous evening's bulletin.
"Then I think it's a safe bet to say this virus has run its course," Zechs replied with a smile.
"Providing all the horses within the country have been vaccinated then there's no reason why they can't start moving around again."
"It will be good to get back to normal," Zechs mused.
"Speaking of normal, we'd better get ready, consults start in about fifteen minutes and Cathy will be here to open up and admit the hordes any tick of the clock," Duo chuckled and left the reception area to check his consulting room.
With a smile of his own, Zechs headed for the other consulting room to do his own preparations. Yes, it would be good to get back to the usual routine.
# # #
A couple of days later Heero started to put the recovering horses back out into their paddocks for a little while each day. The weather was warm, but not overly hot and the horses all seemed to appreciate the change of scenery. As Duo had said, the fresh air and sunshine did help a lot in their convalescence. Heero also found it much easier to cope with the stable work.
Having all stables full with sick equines not only meant he was cleaning noses and dispensing medicine every three to four hours, but the stables needed to be cleaned anything up to three times a day too.
Duo's vegetable garden didn't complain though with the extra manure.
The Department of Agriculture released another press statement three days later which lifted the ban on horse movement throughout the State. With the vaccine now readily available and the majority of horses that had caught the virus well on the road to recovery, the Department decided it was safe enough to allow equines to once again move freely around the State. It had been several weeks since the initial outbreak and another two weeks since the last reported cases and the Department wasn't expecting much in the way of any new cases being reported.
The other States and Territories that had remained EI free continued to uphold a ban on any horse from the affected States being allowed to cross the borders. Whilst it may have seemed a bit extreme, it also made sense. The vaccine had been distributed to the EI free States and Territories, but vaccination was still taking place there and it would take some time before it would be effective. Given the east coast would now be reliant in a large part on the other States to prop up the equine economy, it was the logical thing to do to prevent the disease from getting a hoof hold in those areas.
The Victorian Racing committee had met and decided that the Melbourne cup would be run as usual – much to the relief of the bookies. Unfortunately, several of the International horses that were originally coming into the country for the cup had canceled; none of the owners or trainers wished to put their horses at risk of catching the EI virus. A few did still make the trip, but only horses that had already been vaccinated against the virus in their own countries.
The Government held several more crisis meetings with the Department of Agriculture and between them managed to come up with an improved quarantine system. The entire quarantine system was completely overhauled, all aspects looked at to determine what would be the best way to prevent anything like this from happening ever again. The changes were put before parliament, voted on and passed; the changes being brought in immediately.
Any equine that came into the country still had to have all the previously required vaccinations and records of those vaccinations, but the new laws now also required them to be fully vaccinated against the Equine Influenza virus type 1 and type 2. No vaccination meant no entry to the country.
The length of time spent in quarantine was also extended. Previously horses would spend between four and six weeks in quarantine; now they were quarantined for eight weeks at the quarantine station and only released after a full veterinary inspection. If an animal showed any sign whatsoever that it wasn't 100% healthy, it could be detained in quarantine at the owner's expense until the vets determined it was okay to release it.
To many the changes seemed a little harsh, but after the losses to the equine industry from the EI outbreak, the Government was taking no chances on having history repeat itself any time soon.
Orion finished his course of antibiotics and seemed to be recovering quite well. A lot of the congestion was now gone from his lungs and he seemed happy enough in himself. Duo still had a slight unease with the black's overall health, but he kept his thoughts to himself for now, once Orion was put back into work Duo would know for sure one way or the other if his thoughts had any merit to them.
As the sick equines began to recover, Heero started to put them back into work. He planned out a slow but steady work regime tailored to each individual horse depending on what shows or qualifying events Heero had planned for them.
Frank decided to turn Jester out for a bit of a spell, the bay had done well in his first, big competition and Frank thought the stallion had earned a few weeks off. Heero agreed with him and Jester spent four weeks lazing around and doing nothing much other than eat and get his strength back after the virus.
Lunar and Shini were brought back into light work, Heero not worrying too much about either horse as Lunar's season was almost over anyway and Shini wouldn't need to be at the top of his game until mid-way through the following season if Heero still wanted to try and gain selection for the next Olympics. Hyperion and Sandfire resumed light work too, Heero not too worried about either of them for now. He was content to bring their fitness back up steadily and take the time to improve on their flat work too.
Missy and Wing were the only two 'in work' horses that had escaped the virus; Zero also having remained EI free but he was also retired to stud so he didn't need to resume any sort of work. With the end of the show season just a couple of months off, Heero decided to concentrate mainly on Wing, keeping the young stallion fit and planning a couple of shows for him to finish the season off with. Missy was still in the early stages of her ground work in preparation for breaking in so Heero decided to continue along that vein with her and probably advance things a little.
The shows had slowly started up again. Attendances were down, but people expected that given the effects the virus had had on the equine population. Race meetings were also starting again and whilst fields were smaller than usual, there were still quite a few horses that had managed to stay virus free and fit at the same time.
Slowly but surely the equine economy was starting to make a recovery.
June had also started to put Orion back in to work and had discussed at length with Heero just what his program should be. Heero had explained how he intended to bring the others back into work and suggested that June use the same program he had planned out for Hyperion and Sandfire. With Orion not competing again until the following season it made a lot of sense to June.
The stable routine soon got back into its usual groove, Heero feeding up in the morning and putting the horses out before returning to the cottage to share breakfast with his husband. Duo would head off to consults or if it was his day off, begin the many chores that awaited. Heero would head back to the stables where June would already be half way through the stable chores. The two of them would finish up with the cleaning, making up of feeds and then start on working the horses.
Heero kept a close eye on each of the equines, monitored them closely and gave Duo a report on how they were progressing. The virus had taken quite a lot out of each horse so it was essential that they be monitored regularly and anything unusual reported to Duo immediately. With the virus not having been present in the country before, no one knew for sure how the recovering equines would respond when put back into work.
So far all appeared well with the horses at Heero's stable and Heero intended to keep it that way.
Orion was slowly building back up the muscle tone he'd lost during his illness. The black seemed happy enough in his work, June being sure to take things slow and steady with him. After three weeks of work on the flat, Orion had built up enough muscle to start jumping again. June wasn't about to take him out and start putting him over four foot fences though, no, that would be asking for trouble.
Small grids were decided upon, not only would they strengthen and improve the muscles in Orion's hindquarters, but they would also go a long way to improving the horse's stride, timing and sense of judgment.
The grid was set up at two foot in height with two strides between each fence and a total of five fences in all. Orion seemed pleased and eager to be jumping again, listening carefully to his mistress and doing his best to do exactly what she asked of him.
Heero was standing just off to the side as June worked her horse, offering advice and encouragement as the pair successfully negotiated the line of jumps. Having cleared the grid six times, Heero called a break to the lesson, giving both Orion and June the chance to catch their breath before the next part of their lesson.
With June walking the black around, Heero altered the grid slightly. He didn't bother with raising the height, he already knew Orion was capable of jumping the higher fences and to raise them now would only cause unnecessary stress and strain on still recovering muscles. No, the purpose of this exercise aside from building those muscles was to have the gelding alert and listening completely to his mistress.
Heero carefully altered the distances between the jumps, leaving the current two strides between the first and second jumps. From there he changed the distance to one stride between the second and third jumps, two strides between three and four and then deliberately set the final one a stride and a half. June would have to get Orion to either take one, long stride or two very short ones. With the distances changed he went back to June and explained what he'd done and what she would need to do with her aids to ensure Orion would clear the jumps.
The first time they went back down the grid, Orion wasn't listening as much as he should have been and found himself standing way off the last jump and having to put in a huge leap to try and gain the distance. Somehow he managed to scramble over it and leave it standing.
When June brought her horse back to a trot, Heero called out to her. "Now try that again and this time make sure he's listening to you."
With a look of determination on her face, June shortened her reins and turned the gelding to canter a circle before trying the grid again. "This time listen to me," she growled softly.
Orion wasn't about to take any chances. The change had taken him by surprise and he thought he'd better start listening to his mistress or he could find himself in a bit of a bother. Warily he approached the grid again.
This time the pair managed to complete the grid with more smoothness. Orion listened carefully to the signals he was getting and as he lifted off over the fourth fence and landed, he lengthened out his stride quite a bit, that brought him a lot closer to the final jump than his previous effort and he was able to clear it in style.
"Much better," Heero praised, June patting her horse enthusiastically for his efforts.
They put Orion back over the grid another three times before Heero called it a day. He frowned a little as June brought the gelding back to a walk and let him stretch out and cool off. Carefully Heero watched the black as he moved around in a circle. He could see the sweat beginning to dry on the black hide and overall the horse wasn't sweating any more than Heero would have expected given the workout he'd done. Watching the black breathe though had Heero frowning a little more. Orion seemed to be taking longer than usual to catch his breath, the effort laboring a little.
June brought the horse to a halt by the paddock gate and dismounted, running her stirrups up and loosening the girth. She smiled as Heero approached, the smile faltering a little when she spotted the concerned look on Heero's face. "What is it?" she asked. She hadn't noticed anything different with her horse and immediately began to run her eyes over the black frame searching for injuries.
"It's okay, June," Heero said doing his best to reassure the woman. "He just looks as though he's having a spot of bother getting the air back into his lungs."
June immediately fixated on Orion's rib cage, watching and listening as the horse drew breath. After a minute she turned back to Heero. "I agree, he does seem to be short of breath."
"I'll get Duo to come down and check him over."
"Would you? I'd feel much better if he did," June replied.
"I'll go get him now. Take Orion back to the stables and unsaddle. I'll be back down as soon as I can." Heero gave what he hoped was a reassuring smile and crossed the paddock, aiming for the raceway that would lead him back to the rear of the cottage and ultimately Duo's surgery.
Unable to squash the worried feeling curling in her gut, June led her horse back to the stables to unsaddle and await Duo's presence.
tbc...