Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Going For Gold ❯ Chapter 4 ( Chapter 4 )

Disclaimer: I don't own the G boys, they belong to Bandai, Sotsu etc. I just borrow them 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.150m.com Anyone else please ask.

Betaed by Yami_tai *snugs*

Summary: Eighteen months have passed since Heero was advised he was short listed for the Olympic games team. With Zero going well and young Shinigami almost ready to make his show jumping debut, Heero looks set to reach his goal. Life though doesn't always play by the rules.

Dedication: To Leslie who gave me the original idea for Equinity.

Fic 3 in the Equine Intervention Arc.

“Going for Gold”

January 2007 ShenLong

Chapter 4

 

The last rider had finished the course and it was now in the processes of being raised for the jump off. There were four clear rounds in total, Heero and Treize amongst them. Heero had already decided not to push Shinigami, he would take the best track for each jump and give the youngster every opportunity to clear the jumps again and not worry about the time.

 

The steward announced that the course was open for walking, Treize handed Romeo to Joe whilst Duo took charge of Shini. He led the gray to the rope barrier where he could see a little better into the arena as well as talk to the rest of their friends.

 

“What's the jump off course?” asked Hilde.

 

“I don't know,” Duo replied. “Heero will let us know when he comes back.”

 

“How do you think they will go?” Catherine said as she reached forward and petted Shini.

 

“Good question,” Duo muttered.

 

“It all depends on what sort of course the designer has set for them. Although with both horses being young and inexperienced I'd be betting that Treize and Heero won't be pushing them. There's only the four of them to jump off and with the placings going to sixth, they will both get a rosette out of it. Just what color that rosette is we will have to wait and see.” Joe turned back to the ring. “Here they come now.”

 

Treize and Heero approached the group, their faces unreadable. Both had agreed that the jump off course wasn't difficult and both their horses should have no problem with clearing all the fences. It would be a case of who has the fastest time. Neither man was sure about the other two horses in the jump off, both were completely new to the scene so in reality it could go anyone's way.

 

"What's it like?" Duo asked Heero as his partner began to tighten the girth on Shini's saddle.

 

"It flows quite well and there is the opportunity for you save time by taking a slightly shorter, inner track on a couple of the jumps, but I'm not going to push it. I'll take the longer route and not worry about the time side of it," Heero replied

 

"Don't you want to win?" Quatre asked, a little perplexed. Surely the whole reason for competing was to win?

 

"Of course I want to win, Quatre, but it's not that simple. Shinigami isn't experienced yet, he's only learning and right now I don't want to put him at risk by asking him to do things he's not ready or trained for. I'd rather take second placing and know my horse will jump again at the next show than push him beyond his capabilities and frighten him so that he won't jump again."

 

"That's sound advice," Trowa murmured.

 

"I see your point," Quatre replied.

 

"If I keep Shini going forward he should still end up with a reasonable time and hopefully go clear as well."

 

"What's Treize plan on doing?" Duo asked as he did up the chin strap to Heero's helmet wanting nothing more than to kiss those tempting lips that were mere inches from his own.

 

"He's going to do the same, take the longer track rather than push Romeo." Heero's eyes locked with his partner's and he mouthed 'I love you'.

 

Duo's eyes softened and he gave a gentle smile, holding Shini's reins whilst Heero mounted. Once Heero was in the saddle, Duo let go of the reins and rested his hand on Heero's knee where he squeezed gently. 'Love you too', he mouthed in reply.

 

“Did anyone find out what the jump off course is?” Hilde queried. “There seemed to be a lot of gum flapping going on, but nothing useful came out of it that I heard.”

 

“Hilde!” Catherine scolded.

 

“It's true! This lot are worse than a bunch of women and their gossiping. At least women usually have something worthwhile to say whilst exercising their jaws.”

 

Heero snorted and turned slightly in his saddle. “The jump off course is one, three, four, six A, six B and nine.”

 

“Thanks, at least now I'll know if someone jumps the wrong fence or not.” Hilde turned her attention back to the ring, scanning the course for the jumps Heero had said were the jump off ones.

 

“I'm going to loosen Shini up a little bit,” said Heero and collected his reins.

 

“I'll be waiting right here,” replied Duo with a smile.

 

* * *

 

The first rider to go in the jump off pushed their horse a little too hard and ended up with eight penalties.

 

“That's why I intend to take the longer route,” Heero said to his 'support crew'. “Better to take longer and go clear than come out with a fast time but penalties to go with it.”

 

“Treize is in,” Duo remarked and everyone's attention returned to the ring.

 

“Nice and easy, fella,” Treize soothed. “It's not a long course this time and we're not taking any risks.” Treize saluted the judge and began to ride towards the start flags. The bell rang and Treize sent Romeo into a smooth canter.

 

“So far, so good,” Trowa said, eyes following the big, bay stallion.

 

“He's keeping it together nicely,” commented Heero.

 

“All clear so far. I hope he can keep it up,” Joe muttered.

 

Romeo was enjoying himself, he sailed over the cross bar, made short work of the oxer and easily cleared what they'd dubbed the hay bales. Now he was on line for the double.

 

Romeo eyed the pot plants again. He really wasn't fond of those.

 

Feeling his horse tensing and preparing to shy away from the 'greenery', Treize sat down hard and collected the animal up. Using his seat he drove Romefeller's hocks under his body, hands light on the reins and keeping the horse in check.

 

Romefeller tried to shy away from the fancy plants but found himself thwarted. His master's legs were there and easily pushed him back. He had no choice but to listen to his rider and obey. Snorting at the geraniums, Romeo pushed his hindquarters underneath and propelled himself into the air and over the first element of the double.

 

“What's he doing?” Quatre asked, his eyes wide as he watched the bay try to go off to the side.

 

“He's shying at something,” Heero said and frowned as he tried to work out just what Romeo could have spotted that would cause him to shy.

 

“Shying?” Quatre asked and then wished he'd kept his mouth shut as a trio of eyes homed in on him. He really should have learnt by now not to ask, it was far easier to remain ignorant than have the walking encyclopedias confuse him even more.

 

“Shying means the horse has seen something he doesn't like or has scared him, thus he tries to move away from said object - usually rather abruptly.” Heero turned his attention back to the ring.

 

Quatre gave a sigh of relief. At least he'd been spared the long winded explanation this time.

 

Romeo landed over the first element and quickly gathered himself together for the second. The course designer had been generous and given them two strides between the elements, it was enough to settle and re-balance before needing to jump again.

 

Romefeller gathered himself together and pushed into the air, his body clearing the jump with inches to spare.

 

"Wow!" Duo gave a whistle between his teeth. "Romeo sure does have a huge jump on him."

 

"He's going to be a top horse once Treize has finished educating him. I wouldn't be surprised if he makes it into an Olympic team in the future," commented Heero.

 

"That good, huh?" Trowa asked.

 

"What about Shini? I think he's just as good as that Romeo creature," Quatre stated and patted the gray neck.

 

"He's got a long way to go before he'll be at International level, Quatre. Although, he does have the ability there to make it; or at least I think he does," Heero said quietly.

 

"Treize is approaching the last jump," Joe said and all eyes returned to the arena.

 

“Steady. That's it, Romeo. Just one more jump to go,” Treize said softly to his mount.

 

An ear twitched back, Romefeller listening to the tone of his master's voice and following the guiding legs and touch to his mouth. He could see the poles of the jump ahead of him and bounded forward, eager to jump.

 

Treize closed his fingers on the reins, steadied his horse and then pushed him on, upper body coming forward to follow the movement of the horse.

 

Picking his takeoff point, Romeo brought his hind legs under and pushed off into the air. He arched over the jump, tucking his forelegs up and clearing it with inches to spare. They landed and Romeo gave a buck as he felt his rider loosen the reins a little and urge him forward.

 

“Good round!” Joe cheered as he watched his boss and charge clear the last fence and gallop through the finish flags.

 

“You're next,” Duo said quietly and gave Shini a couple of pats. Looking up, his eyes met with Heero's and Heero leaned down towards his lover. “Please be careful and don't push it. I want you safe in my bed tonight.”

 

“I'm not about to take any risks, Duo,” Heero responded and leaned closer, bringing his lips to Duo's and brushing lightly over the vet's mouth. “I want more of that later,” he said with a smile and then straightened up in his saddle ready to enter the ring.

 

“Good luck, Heero. Take it steady and you'll have no problems,” Duo stated as Heero rode towards the entrance to the ring.

 

Treize exited the arena to applause and congratulations. He was clear with a time of 58.34, not bad for Romeo's first competition. As Treize rode out, Heero rode in. “Good luck, Heero,” Treize said in passing.

 

“Thanks and congratulations to you,” Heero replied, gathering himself and his horse together. Duo's words of encouragement still echoed in his ears and Heero was determined to give this his best shot without putting his horse or himself at risk.

 

The bell rang, Shini sprang forward and Heero was on his way.

 

They passed through the start flags and bore down on the first of the jump off fences; the cross bar. Shini sailed over it, eager to be jumping.

 

“Don't get too cocky,” Heero muttered as he sat down a little firmer and tried to collect his horse.

 

Shinigami was pulling hard, wanting to have his head and jump. His master though had other ideas and steadied the stallion. Shini soon realized that they weren't jumping the same as before and settled down, listening to his master.

 

The oxer greeted them and Shini pushed off hard, reaching and stretching to clear the jump with loads of room to spare.

 

“Wow! Look at him go,” Quatre enthused.

 

Duo remained silent, his hands holding his braid and fiddling with the end, eyes never leaving the pair in the arena.

 

“Good boy,” Heero praised.

 

Shini cocked back an ear feeling quite pleased with himself. Obviously what he was doing was making his master happy and Shini loved to jump. His eyes alighted on the next jump and he gave a snort, memories of the last time he jumped this flooding to the fore. Rather than risk another smack of the whip from his master, Shini eyed the hay bales warily. He still thought it was silly to be jumping his dinner, but then quite a few things that humans did didn't make much sense to the young stallion. He opted to simply keep going this time. Maybe if he was lucky he would get some of that hay.

 

Duo wasn't aware that he was holding his breath until Trowa reached over and poked him lightly in the ribs. Duo let the air escape with a loud sigh as Heero and Shinigami cleared the hay bales.

 

“You need to breathe, Duo.”

 

“Sorry, I just get, well - a little concerned,” Duo replied absently and sucked in another lung full of air.

 

Trowa didn't bother to argue, he knew what Duo meant.

 

“Take it easy, Shini. This one is a bit harder than the others,” Heero said to his horse and scratched softly at the horse's neck. “You need to listen to me.”

 

Shinigami felt the shift of his rider's weight and adjusted his stride accordingly. He could see the jump ahead and wanted to jump it, his master's hand on the reins kept his exuberance in check though.

 

Heero shortened his reins a little more and pushed his legs against Shini's sides, the stallion responding by shortening the stride but keeping the momentum. Three strides away, Heero leaned forward and gave Shini the rein he needed to stretch out and clear the jump. Hind legs came forward as forelegs left the ground, the stallion arching upwards. Heero leaned forward, allowing his hands to slide up the neck and follow the horse's movement over the jump. Hind legs left the ground and Shini was airborne.

 

Returning to earth, Shini's forelegs stretched out and hooves bit into the grass taking the horse's full weight. Heero sat down in his saddle, hands coming back down the neck and taking up the contact with Shini's mouth as his legs were applied to the stallion's sides, pushing the horse together. Hind legs touched down and then pushed the body forward for one stride before straining once more and providing the upward thrust needed to propel the gray over the second element of the double.

 

The soft thudding of hooves was heard and Quatre cracked open his eyes. He couldn't bear to watch and had closed them momentarily. “Yes!” he crowed. “Only one more to go.”

 

Trowa gave his partner a bemused look, Duo made a mental note to have a serious talk with Trowa about his partner's weird obsession with his horsey 'nephew'.

 

“Last one, Shini. Keep it up, one more to go and we're home.” Heero concentrated on bringing Shinigami in to the last fence on the right striding, doing all he could to ensure a clean jump.

 

The young stallion could feel the tension in his master and knew this was important. Following the guiding hand on the reins and the pressure to his sides from his master's legs, Shini came into the last fence on the perfect stride. He launched into the air, pulling his front legs up close to his body as the poles passed beneath him.

 

They landed clean and Heero immediately urged the horse forward, giving him his head and aiming for the finish flags. He had no idea what his time was, and frankly he didn't care. He was happy enough that they had gone clear. Shinigami shot forward, pleased to be able to stretch his legs out and galloped through the finish. He was more than a little reluctant to slow his pace though and Heero had quite the battle with him to bring him back to a canter and then trot to leave the ring.

 

“Clear round for Heero Yuy and Shinigami in a time of 56:47,” the commentator announced.

 

“Woot! Go, Heero!” Duo cheered as he watched his partner exit the ring and ride towards them. Once the gray came to a halt, Duo was quick to pet the horse and offer the carrot treats. “Good boy, Shini. Well done,” Duo praised.

 

“Way to go, Heero,” Quatre congratulated and climbed through the ropes to stand next to Duo and add to the carrot supply.

 

Heero patted the gray neck before him and then kicking his feet out of the stirrups, he threw his leg over and landed on the ground. "He was a good boy," Heero said calmly. "I'm very pleased with how he's performed today."

 

"Congratulations, Heero." Treize smiled warmly at his pupil and held out his hand. Heero took the hand and shook it.

 

"Thank you, Treize. I guess we now have to wait and see how the final competitor goes."

 

"That we do."

 

"They're all clear so far," Hilde reported as she watched the pair in the ring. "Oh, they're coming up to the hay bale jump, looks like they're gonna try for a short cut."

 

Treize, Heero and the rest of the group switched their attention back to the ring. Sure enough, the rider had elected to take the shorter route and save on time. The horse, whilst a nice enough animal, lacked the experience needed to alter his stride to accommodate the shorter run. Consequently he came into the jump on the wrong stride and had to take off early; it was either that or get right under the jump and try to jump it from there. The added half a stride was too much for the horse and despite its best attempts to stretch out and clear the jump, the hind legs caught the rail and sent it toppling to the ground.

 

"Yes!" Quatre yelled and punched the air, then he went silent as six heads all turned in his direction. "What?"

 

"Quatre, whilst you might be pleased that a rival has managed to score penalties, it's not polite to cheer about it so loudly." Heero made the announcement in a quiet tone.

 

Realizing his mistake, Quatre quickly lowered his voice. "Sorry, I didn't think."

 

Duo chuckled. "Don't sweat it too much, Quatre. We all feel the same way, we just don't announce it to the rest of the world."

 

Quatre's face went a deeper shade of red. Taking pity on the Inspector, Catherine changed the topic. "I don't think that rider is having much luck," she said softly.

 

Immediately all eyes turned back to the ring where the horse currently jumping was thoroughly upset by his mishap at the hay bales and showing his discomfort by slowing down and coming to a stop, refusing part A of the double.

 

"I don't fancy his chances of getting over that," Joe commented.

 

"Neither do I," said Treize.

 

"It's his own fault for pushing the horse when he's not ready for it," Heero added.

 

The horse gave a second refusal and the judge's bell rang indicating elimination. The pair turned and made their way out of the ring.

 

"Come on, Heero. You need to get mounted up. They will be calling you for the presentation in a minute." Duo began to fuss around Shini, checking the horse's girth and shoving Heero to the stallion's side.

 

"Okay, okay," Heero laughed. "I get the message." Taking hold of his reins, Heero slipped his foot into the stirrup and mounted.

 

Treize sat astride Romefeller and the two riders turned their mounts, heading for the ring entrance and the presentation.

 

* * *

 

“You know you have to go clear, Zero. You can't let your son take all the glory,” Duo said softly as he pulled gently on Zero's ears. The gray wuffled a little and began to nose Duo's pockets for carrots.

 

The rest of the group had gone to find some lunch before the open jumping competition was due to start. Duo had opted to return to the float and two horses, excusing himself on the pretense that he needed to check on the stallions, make sure they were okay and still tied up.

 

“Hey.”

 

Duo turned as the soft word was spoken and gave a smile. Heero stood before him, head cocked slightly to the side. "Passing on a few words of wisdom?"

 

Chuckling softly, Duo gave the gray a pat and then turned his full attention to his lover. "I guess you could say that, although I'm not sure you could call the words wise ones."

 

Stepping forward, Heero longed to put his arms around the vet and draw him into a warm embrace. He knew it wasn't easy for Duo to watch him compete, standing on the sidelines, praying and hoping that all would be well. "I'm going to ravish you silly when we get home," Heero murmured as he brushed shoulders with Duo.

 

"Please do," came the soft reply.

 

Heero was weighing up the risks of giving Duo a quick kiss when the sounds of their friends' voices floated on the air. With a sigh he resigned himself to having to wait.

 

"They have great timing, don't they?"

 

"Yeah, they do," Heero replied a little morosely.

 

"Can I take a rain check?"

 

"Of course."

 

"I'd better start to get Zero ready, they'll be starting the open jumping soon and you'll need to warm up," Duo said as he moved towards the back of the car to get out the grooming tools again.

 

Their friends all arrived and chatted enthusiastically, congratulating Heero again on his win with Shinigami. Duo had taken the extra precaution of removing all carrots from the car and hiding them in Treize's goose neck float, much to Joe's amusement. He didn't need to be treating Shini for carrot overdose and he had no doubts that Quatre would stuff his horsey nephew full of them if given the chance. Besides, Duo wanted to keep some of the orange treats for Zero, the big stallion deserved to have them too.

 

Quatre, Trowa, Hilde and Catherine all quizzed Heero on the open jumping competition, wanting to know if the rules were the same and what the difference would be between the open class and the one he'd just competed in with Shini.

 

Heero patiently explained that the rules were the same, the main differences between the two events were the type of course, course design and the height and difficulty of the fences. Duo remained silent, opting to let Heero, with Joe's occasional input, do all the explaining. Removing Zero's rug, Duo began to run the brush over Zero's silky coat.

 

"You're going to be a good boy out there today, aren't you, Zero?"

 

Zero wuffled and let his eyes partially close. He liked the brush on his body, it scratched all the itches away.

 

"No need to tell you that this one's important. Those selectors will be out there in the crowd and whilst you've really done well so far, there's just two more shows to go, only two more chances to impress the selectors and make it to the Olympic team, Zero."

 

Cocking back an ear, Zero listened to the steady drone of the nice human's voice. It was soothing in a way. Zero knew they were at a show, knew that he would be getting the chance to jump soon and that excited him. The calm voice of the human helped to keep his excitement from getting too much, combined with the steady pressure of the brush over his body, Zero began to relax even more.

 

Having finished brushing Zero's coat, Duo began to run the comb through Zero's mane and then his tail, the silky strands fanning out and reminding Duo of a silvery waterfall.

 

“Ready for me to start saddling up?”

 

Duo jumped as Heero's voice broke into his thoughts. “Sorry, I was miles away,” Duo said.

 

“I could see that,” Heero replied, an amused tone in his voice. “I hope they were happy thoughts.”

 

“I guess you could say that,” Duo snickered. “I was thinking about how much Zero's tail reminds me of a waterfall.”

 

“You mean you weren't thinking about me?” Heero tried to look hurt but the mischief in his eyes gave him away. “You'd rather be thinking about my horse? I never thought I'd see the day when I would have to compete against Zero for your affections.”

 

“Heero!” Duo blushed red to the roots of his hair.

 

Heero simply snickered and fetched the saddle.

 

* * *

 

“You sure can see a difference, can't you?' Quatre said as he watched Heero and Zero warming up. Even to the blonde's inexperienced eye, Zero was traveling much calmer than Shinigami had been. When Heero took the big gray over a couple of practice fences, the experience of the older horse shone through.

 

Watching his lover and 'charge' warming up, Duo's chest swelled with pride. Whilst he may not be able to express his feelings in the physical way due to society's inability to accept love in every form, he could still feel proud of his partner and let him know in other, subtle ways.

 

“That's my boy,” Heero praised as Zero relaxed and softened through his back. Shifting his body, Heero sat a little more forward in his saddle, raising himself slightly and taking his weight down through his knees and ankles to the stirrups. He was perfectly balanced, body poised and ready to move in whatever manner he needed. Similarly beneath him, Zero was also balanced, his body adjusting and compensating for his master's weight, ready to spring into action at the lightest touch from his rider.

 

With Zero now fully relaxed beneath him, Heero turned the stallion towards the practice fences. Zero felt completely different to ride than Shinigami, but that was to be expected. Shini was still learning while Zero was a seasoned horse. Heero had no doubts though that Shini would one day be like his sire, well trained to the point where they could almost 'read' each other's thoughts.

 

Zero cleared the practice jumps easily, tossing his head and snorting as if to say 'I know I'm good'.

 

"Don't get too cocky, Zero," Heero muttered. "The true test will be out in the ring with the selectors' eyes on us." After receiving notice that he was on the short list for the Olympic team and a list of the shows he would be expected to attend for the selectors to watch, observe and make their recommendations, Heero had done his best to give both himself and Zero every opportunity to impress those selectors. This would be the second last show the selectors would be attending and it was vitally important that Zero make a good impression. So far their performance had been consistent, Zero finishing in the top three at all the events he'd competed in thus far; Heero wanted to finish on a good note.

 

Treize was also on the short list and Goose had been performing exceptionally well. Between the two of them they regularly fought it out for first and second placings. Sometimes Goose took the win, other times Zero did. There wasn't much between the two stallions as far as ability went.

 

Treize was quietly confident that both of them would make the team. Heero wasn't so sure.

 

* * *

 

"How's the course look, Heero?" Duo asked as his lover and Treize exited the ring after walking the course for the open competition.

 

"Not too bad. There's a couple of tricky spots, the turn from the wall to the gate is one and when you land over the rustic hedge you need to gather your horse together pretty quick if you want any chance of clearing the triple. The course designer has really done a good job, it will test out the horse's obedience and training as well as its jumping ability," Heero replied as he checked Zero's girth and pulled the stirrups back down in preparation for mounting.

 

"How do you think Zero will go, Heero?" Trowa asked politely.

 

"He should go clear, providing he listens to me," Heero replied.

 

"He will, he's a good boy," Duo butted in, patting the gray and feeding him another carrot.

 

"I'm glad I'm not jumping it on Romeo," Treize chuckled. "He'd flatten pretty much everything!"

 

Heero snorted. "Shinigami probably would too."

 

"I hate to interrupt, but you guys better get mounted up, the first rider is going into the ring now," Hilde said, an amused tone in her voice.

 

"Good point," Heero said and checked his girth yet again.

 

Treize and Heero moved off to loosen up the horses again keeping one eye on the ring and the competitors before them.

 

The third competitor entered the ring and the steward began to call for Heero to be on stand by as he was next. Treize came over and brought Goose to a halt beside Zero and watched the current rider. So far no one had gone clear, the rustic hedge and succeeding turn to the triple proving to be the bug bear of the course.

 

The rider in the ring fared no better, her horse having two rails down over the triple, one at part B and the other at part C. She left the ring with a total of eight faults.

 

"Competitor number four; Heero Yuy and Zero," the commentator announced.

 

The crowd went wild, clapping and cheering as Heero entered the ring. Back in the collecting ring, Duo began to chew nervously on the end of his braid.

 

~ * ~

 

tbc...