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"Rival Riders"Written By: ShenLong 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 Archive: www.gundam-wing-diaries.foreverfandom.net & gundam-wing-diaries.150m.com Anyone else please ask. 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 11
Having worked his horse and settled him for the evening, Frank left, promising to let Heero know the next day if he would be able to get a couple of days off and if so he would take Heero up on his kind offer of taking Jester in the goose-neck. He also made Heero promise to take fuel money towards the trip as the goose-neck would use more transporting an extra horse. Heero had accepted the offer with grace. He'd already had that argument with both Wufei and June and had given in when both had stated if Heero didn't let them contribute to the 'gas' fund then they wouldn't allow their horses to go. Duo had thought the whole thing hilarious, for once his partner had been shot down in flames by his client and pupil. Heero kept quiet, knowing when he was beaten and didn't need to give Duo any further ammunition to tease him with. Frank did call with the news that he'd secured the Thursday and Friday off work and would travel to Werribee on the Wednesday night. He confirmed that Heero was still willing to take Jester with him and that Heero wouldn't mind looking after the stallion until he arrived. He'd sent off the entry form and gotten straight onto the phone to arrange accommodation for himself. Once he arrived he'd catch up with Heero on the Thursday. With everything arranged in that department, it now came down to arranging the trip to Victoria. Heero spent several hours on his computer figuring out the best route to take from Salsbury to Werribee and trying to find places they would be able to stop at overnight. The trip would take longer than the one they'd taken to Sydney as Werribee was in another state and Heero wanted to allow plenty of time to get there safely. Having looked at the maps, checked and double checked things, he decided it would be best to arrive at Werribee on the Wednesday morning if possible. To do that it would mean they needed to leave Salsbury on the Sunday. Giving a frustrated sigh, Heero ran his hands through his hair and growled at the computer screen. “What's up?” Duo asked, looking up from the crossword he was doing in the local paper. “I'm trying to work out the best route to take to Werribee, the shortest one so the horses are in the goose-neck for the least amount of time possible.” “What's so difficult about that? When we took Zero to Sydney for the cup it didn't take much for you to work things out,” Duo stated. “Hai, I know; but then it was just us two and Zero. This time it will be us two and four horses. Although you and I can sleep in the goose-neck, it's not fair to keep the horses in there overnight as well. They really need somewhere to be able to stretch their legs and lie down if they wish.” “Ah...” “It's difficult enough to try and find someone willing to put up one horse for a night, never mind four and we will need to find places to stay for the Sunday, Monday and Tuesday nights.” Heero gave another groan. “Maybe I should just take Nataku and Orion, let Frank take Jester by himself and leave Shini at home.” “I don't think that would be a good idea. You've already promised Frank you will take Jester for him and why should Shini miss out?” Duo replied firmly. “I know, but I can't think of anywhere we can stay overnight for the three nights,” Heero complained. “Shame that Trowa's friend Albert Weeks is in the opposite direction,” Duo mused. Heero raised an eyebrow and shook his head. “You have the route all picked out?” Duo asked. “Pretty much,” Heero replied. “What about the areas in general that you hope to arrive at each evening?” “Those too.” “Show me, please?” Duo moved across to crouch beside Heero. “I'll keep a bit of distance though, just point out to me where you plan on going and which towns or villages you hope to stop at each night.” “The laptop won't go on the fritz just because you're next to me, Duo,” Heero said in amusement and turned the computer around so Duo could see the screen. “Don't be too sure about that,” Duo responded. “Nrobbuts always beeps or glows whenever I step into the reception area. Ah, I take it the blue line is the intended route?” “Hai, that's the way I plan on going. The red 'circles' are the towns in which I hope to stay at overnight on the way.” “Hmmm...” Duo studied the map, tilting his head one way and then the other. Without thinking he reached forward to run his finger along the planned route on the screen. The screen suddenly went blank, the laptop made a humming noise and then the picture returned – five times its original size and with only a portion of the original map still there. Duo shot backwards, landing on his ass and threw his arms up in the air. “I swear I only touched the screen!” he yelled in his defense, eyes wide and heart hammering in his chest. Heero couldn't help it – he burst out into hearty laughter. The sight of his lover sprawled on the kitchen floor in an undignified heap, claiming innocence was just too much. “I don't think it's that funny,” Duo huffed and righted himself, rubbing his sore backside as he did. “I've probably fried the damn thing's circuits just by touching it.” “Duo, it's a touch screen.” “I know I touched the screen and I'm sorry if I've done irreparable damage to it...” “No, Duo, you haven't broken it. The screen is meant to be touched.” “I promise, I'll buy you another – huh?” Duo looked into the amused blue of his partner. “Pardon?” “The screen, it's meant to be touched. You can do things without having to use a mouse just by touching the icons on the screen,” Heero explained. “It just so happens that when you touched the screen you happened to touch the zoom feature and that's why the picture is now bigger.” “Ah.” Duo rubbed his neck sheepishly. “Um, I knew that,” he muttered. Still snickering to himself, Heero reduced the map back to its original size. “Getting back to the problem at hand,” Duo stated and looked at the screen again, this time he made sure to keep his fingers to himself. “I'm not sure about the Sunday night or the Tuesday night, but if we can make it to Seymore on the Monday night I have an old college buddy who has a practice there. I'm sure if I gave him a call and asked if we could put the horses out in a couple of his paddocks at his practice he'd be happy to accommodate them.” “You think he would? It's an awful lot to ask,” Heero replied. “Only one way to find out. I'll give him a call now and see what he says if you want?” “Thanks, Duo, that would be great if he could, then I only need to find somewhere for the Sunday and Tuesday nights.” “I'll be back soon.” Duo stood up and went through to the lounge room to make his call. Half an hour later Duo was back in the kitchen with good news. “Simon said he would be more than happy to have the horses stay at his practice overnight and we can park the goose-neck in his yard too. He'd have us stay in his house but it's only a two bedroom place and the second bedroom is currently being used by a vet student.” “That's great,” Heero grinned. “I don't mind sleeping in the goose-neck at all, I'm just grateful he will put the horses up.” “Yeah, he's a nice guy and his wife is lovely too. It will be fun to catch up with him again,” Duo mused. “Well, that's one night taken care of, now all I need to do is sort out the other two.” “Why don't you mention the problem we're having to June, Carl, Frank and Treize? I can speak to Zechs, Catherine, Hilde and the others tomorrow. Who knows, they might be able to suggest somewhere we can park the horses overnight?” “Good idea, Duo. I'll do that and failing everything else, I can always give Noin a ring as a last resort and see if she knows of any showgrounds or has people along the way that wouldn't mind putting up the horses overnight.” “Sounds like a plan to me, Heero.” Duo wiggled his way into Heero's lap and wrapped his arms around his husband's neck. Sealing their lips in a sensuous kiss his eyes closed and he lost himself to the sensations. “I think you need to rub my backside better,” he murmured when they broke for air. Heero let his hands wander down Duo's back and gently cupped his cheeks, running his thumbs up and down. “Did you bruise yourself?” he teased. “Yeah,” came the breathy reply. “Maybe I should kiss it better for you.” “I won't complain.” Duo shifted, his elbow catching Heero's laptop and knocking it off to the side. The computer whirred and emitted a long, drawn out whining noise which caught both men by surprise. Duo almost jumped out of his skin. “What?! What did I do now?!” he demanded and shot out of Heero's lap. Pulling the laptop back over to himself, Heero scratched his head. “What did you do, Duo?” “Nothing that I'm aware of. I only caught it with my elbow,” Duo replied, a hitch to his voice. “Why? What's wrong with it?” Heero shrugged his shoulders. “I don't know. Obviously something has happened, but I'm damned if I know what.” Heero turned the laptop so Duo could see. The blue screen shone brightly, tormenting the vet. “I give up!” Duo stalked out of the kitchen and into the lounge. * * * It took Heero another two days, a few phone calls and speaking with his friends and accommodations for the horses were finally sorted out for the remaining two nights. Heero had to adjust his travel plans slightly as the overnight stops were in towns he hadn’t originally planned on stopping at, but it would all work out in the long run. Treize had let Heero know that the Town of Corowa had its own showgrounds and often allowed riders to utilize the stables and camping facilities there on their way through. He passed on the contact details and Heero gave them a call. The secretary was most helpful and arranged for Heero to stay overnight and use four of the stables on the showgrounds. The secretary refused any form of payment for the use of the facilities from Heero, just asking that they leave the stables and grounds clean when they left. Heero was grateful and offered the use of his own facilities for the future in return should any riders from down that way wish to stay overnight somewhere safe. The problem of the third night's accommodations was solved for them by Frank. He had a sister that lived in Sunbury and after contacting her she was more than happy to have the horses stay on her property. With the trip now planned out and the horses all sorted out as far as accommodations went, all that remained was for Heero to figure out what gear he intended to take, feeds and so on. Duo was left to sort out their own, personal things, clothing and such, plus he was delegated the job of stocking up the small kitchen in the goose-neck. Duo had his lists of items worked out within half an hour. Heero still hadn't figured his out after two days. * * * “That's the last of the bags,” June said as she dumped two paper sacks on the small table top inside the goose-neck. “Thanks, June,” Duo replied from where he was unpacking the grocery bags and putting things away in the small cupboards. “Do you need a hand to put anything away?” “Nah, I'll be fine, but thanks for the offer. I think Heero is the one who could do with the help.” June snickered. “I was trying to avoid that.” Duo looked up and gave the woman a grin. “He's still not sorted out everything?” “Not when I last looked into the tack room,” June replied with a shake of her head. “He did have his list with him, but there seemed to be an awful lot of gear in the pile.” “That's my Heero, always making sure he's got spares for the spares,” Duo chuckled. “I had come to notice that,” June mused. “You sure he wasn't a boy scout at some stage?” “I'm beginning to think he might have been the scout leader the way he's over prepared!” June let fly with a loud burst of laughter. “You could be right about that.” “Look, I'm almost finished here, how about you go back and start to sort through whatever pile Heero has already and I'll join you once I'm done. Between the two of us we should be able to reduce the amount of gear to a more manageable pile.” “Sounds like a plan. I'll see you soon then?” “Yeah, I promise to come and rescue you.” “Thanks, Duo.” * “Bloody hell, Heero. I thought you were only taking four horses, not forty!” Duo exclaimed when he walked into the tack room and saw the pile in the middle of the floor. Heero gave the pile on the floor a sheepish look. “This time I did follow my list,” he said in defense. “I'll take Orion's gear with me so you won't need to worry about that and I'm sure Frank is planning on taking Jester's stuff in his car so you only need to pack for Nataku and Shinigami,” June said in an effort to smooth the situation. Duo looked like he was about to burst a blood vessel given the amount of gear Heero had piled up and that wasn't something she really wanted to see. “In that case...” Duo rolled the sleeves of his shirt up and eyed the pile. “I suggest we get started on weeding this lot out a bit otherwise we will still be here at midnight.” “I have an idea,” June said and looked from one man to the other. “Why don't you go and start getting the bags of feed ready and load them into the goose-neck, Heero? Duo and I can sort through the gear and put Frank's and mine to the side then start to pack the rest of it into the tack compartment.” “Ah, that sounds like a good idea. You sure you two will be okay to do that? I mean, it's not really fair on you both to sort out stuff for horses that aren't even yours...” “It's not fair on Drumstick either to expect it to cart all this lot as well as the four horses and feed too. I'll be surprised if it doesn't have several flat tires on the way,” Duo muttered. “Duo?” Heero questioned his partner. “Nothing.” Duo tried to look innocent – and failed. “I just said I hope we don’t have a flat on the way.” “That's a point,” Heero mused. “I hadn't given any thought to a flat tire. I know I have one spare on board; maybe I should see if I can pick up a couple of spares from the local garage?” Duo rolled his eyes. June simply sighed. * * * “Are you sure you put in the jumping boots?” Heero asked. “Yes, I did.” “Hay-nets?” “All hanging up in the goose-neck.” “Water buckets?” “One for each horse. And before you ask saddles, bridles, spare girth, spare bridle, extra rugs and grooming kit are all in there to. Heero, will you just shut up and relax?” Duo was starting to get a little frustrated with his husband. “Sorry.” Heero leaned across the couch and stole a kiss. “I don't mean to second guess you, I know you will have packed everything.” He stole a second kiss. “Mmm... nice,” Duo murmured when his lips were released. Idly he let his lips trail across Heero's jaw and down his neck. A warmth began to flood his system and he could feel himself starting to harden in his jeans. Closing his eyes he continued to feather kisses and nibble his way down Heero's throat. “I bet you forgot my spare helmet...” “Arrrggghhhh!” * * * Heero woke five minutes before the alarm went off on the Sunday morning. He turned the contraption off so it wouldn't wake his still slumbering partner and lay beneath the covers for a couple of minutes. Once he felt fully awake, he slipped out of the bed, drawing the covers up and tucking his husband back in. He smiled to himself as Duo's nose twitched and he snuggled deeper into the mattress. Keeping his movements as quiet as possible, Heero picked up his sweat pants, t-shirt and sweater from the chair at the side and snuck out of the room. Closing the door softly behind him he turned to head for the bathroom and tripped over the cat. “Shit! Smokey, get out from under my feet,” Heero muttered, doing some fancy footwork to stop himself from falling. Smokey didn't care, she continued to try and wind herself around her master's legs. She'd heard movement from the room and knew one of her humans was up and about and she wanted her breakfast. “I'll feed you in a moment,” Heero whispered and dodging the cat's repeated attempts to get under his feet, he made it to the bathroom and closed the door. Smokey wasn't too pleased with being shut out and having her breakfast request ignored so she sat by the door and began to miaow – loudly. “For fuck's sake, Smokey, keep it down a bit, you'll wake Duo up,” Heero growled but let the cat into the bathroom anyway. With a smug look on her face, Smokey strolled into the bathroom and proceeded to make getting dressed as difficult for Heero as possible. Finally having gotten his clothes on, Heero padded out to the kitchen to put the kettle on and fetched the cat her breakfast. “There you are, you rogue,” he said, setting the bowl on the mat in the laundry. Smokey ignored him and buried her face in the bowl, a soft purr coming from her chest as she ate. Heero shook his head at the cat and returned to the kitchen to make himself a cup of tea before heading down to the stables and starting on the stable work. * Duo yawned widely as he shuffled into the kitchen. He stretched, his boxers sliding dangerously low on his hips and scratched at his belly. “Thanks,” he mumbled and took the offered cup of coffee. “I thought I smelt food,” he continued as he slid onto one of the kitchen chairs and sipped at the hot beverage. “I was going to come and wake you once it was all ready,” Heero stated, turning back to the pan and checking the bacon he had frying away. “How long have you been up for?” The caffeine was starting to hit his system, bringing Duo slowly to full alertness. “A couple of hours. Stables are all done and the horses are out in the yards or paddocks. I've made up the night feeds and left the list of each horse's feed on the blackboard in the feed shed. Carl, Trowa and Quatre shouldn't have any problem with them.” “What time is June coming in?” June would be traveling to Werribee on the Tuesday; she and Geoff sharing the driving so they would travel non stop and arrive late on the Tuesday night. Carl had offered to look after the horses in Heero's absence, June would also continue to look after those remaining behind until she left on the Tuesday. Trowa and Quatre had also offered, along with Zechs to help Carl out. Heero had gratefully taken them up on the offer and the 'volunteers' had worked out a roster system between themselves to see that all the stable work was done and the horses looked after properly whilst Heero, June and Frank were away. Duo had managed to rearrange consults somewhat so Zechs would be able to attend the Cup event and offer support for Treize. He would travel down on the Thursday after evening consults and planned to be there by late Friday afternoon. Hilde had assured everyone she would be fine to handle all the Friday consults by herself and anything that cropped up over the weekend. Catherine had deliberately taken less bookings for the Friday consults so that Hilde wouldn't be run off her feet. “Guess I should shift this ass,” Duo said as he rose to take his empty plate to the sink. “I'll do the dishes while you get ready,” Heero offered. “Once they're done all that's left is to put my jumping attire into the goose-neck, load the horses and we're away.” “Okay, I'll go take a quick shower.” * “You sure we have everything?” Heero asked as he secured the ramp to the goose-neck. “Yes, we have enough food for us, clothing for the time we're away, food for the nags and all their gear. I can't think of anything else so we really should be hitting the road,” Duo replied. Doing a quick mental check, Heero conceded that everything they would need seemed to be packed, and if it wasn't then they would either have to buy whatever it was they needed or do without. He turned to June, Carl and the others. “There's a list of the feeds on the blackboard in the feed shed. If an accident should happen, get either Zechs or Hilde to treat the injured animal. You have my cell number and Duo's so don't hesitate to call us if there's something wrong...” “Heero, everything will be fine. We've all looked after the horses for you before and nothing went wrong so stop worrying,” Quatre said with a smile. “I know.” Heero sighed. “I'll call you tonight and let you know we've arrived at Corowa and see that everything is okay.” Trowa rolled his eyes. “Come on, Heero. We need to get a wriggle on if you want to make it to the Cup in time to compete,” Duo called out from where he stood at the passenger door to Drumstick. “Remember to call...” “Heero, get going and do what you do best, bring that Cup home for your country. Don't worry about the horses, they will all be perfectly fine,” Quatre stated firmly. “Now go, shoo.” Knowing he was beaten, Heero gave his friends one last smile. “We will do our best.” Turning, he joined Duo in the goose-neck, closing the door and starting the engine. The goose-neck rolled out of the driveway and onto the small road, Heero gradually gaining speed. “Werribee, here we come!” Duo stated with a grin and slipped Heero's CD into the player. With the familiar sounds of the violins and drums coming from the speakers, Heero relaxed back and settled in for the first leg of their journey to Werribee. ~ * ~ tbc...
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