Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Going For Gold ❯ Chapter 34 ( Chapter 34 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

Disclaimer: I don't own the G boys, 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 showjumping 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 34
 
Zero lifted his head from the rich grass and sniffed the wind. His ears cocked as he sniffed again. The gentle breeze carried a scent to him, a scent that set his blood heating. He turned his head and dilated his nostrils wide, trying to pick up more of that scent and exactly where it was coming from. Still sniffing the breeze, he began to follow his nose.
 
Heero walked between the paddocks, hands in his pockets and whistling softly to himself. He was planning on trying Shinigami over a higher and harder course than the young stallion was used to. Shini had been coming along well, Heero having taken him to a couple more shows where he'd placed in the top three, but the courses were only going to get tougher and thus he needed to work the horse a little bit harder.
 
It had been three days since his advert had appeared in Hoofbeats and he now had three mares booked to Zero and an inquiry regarding another. The first booking had actually come about in rather an interesting manner. Zoe had called to catch up with Heero and see how Zero was doing. During the course of their conversation, Heero mentioned that Zero would now be standing at stud as his showjumping career was certainly finished. Once Zoe heard that, she was full of questions for Heero regarding Zero's stud fee and many other details. By the time they had finished their conversation, Zero had his first mare booked: Periwinkle. Once the mare was out of quarantine, Zoe would contact Heero and make arrangements to bring the mare over as soon as she came into season. After continuing the conversation for a little while, they finally said their good byes and Heero realized he owed Duo a blow job.
 
The other two mares wouldn't be coming to Zero for another four weeks at least, the owner of one was still competing and wanted to finish off her last two shows before putting her mare in foal. The other had to transport his horse a fair distance as he lived close to the Victorian - New South Wales border. Still with his mind on Shinigami and the work he wanted to do, Heero didn't take a lot of notice as he walked between the paddocks. When he arrived at Shini's gate and stopped to call the youngster, he paused and frowned.
 
Shinigami wasn't grazing as Heero expected him to be, but walking along the fence line with his head turned towards the paddock further down. Heero scratched his head and looked in the same direction Shini was. He could see Scythe and Angel, then another movement out the corner of his eye caught his attention and he turned around slightly to see better. Zero was also walking along the fence line. Scratching his head, Heero wondered what exactly the pair were interested in. It had to be something intriguing for them both to be acting like this.
 
Intrigued himself, Heero headed towards the mares' paddock to see if he could figure out what was going on.
 
Scythe was grazing quietly, the rich grass being enjoyed to the full. Angel was also grazing, but she wasn't as focused on eating. She'd take a couple of bites then put her head up and gaze in the direction of the two stallions. After staring at them for a moment, she'd lower her head and snatch another couple of bites before staring again.
 
Heero watched for a couple of minutes, eyes flicking between the three paddocks, then he had a thought. Smiling to himself, he turned and quickly retraced his footsteps to the house.
 
Duo was in the lounge room sticking stamps onto the monthly accounts. Normally, Catherine would deal with the mail, but she had asked for the shift off as she had a dental appointment. Duo didn't mind, there wasn't anything booked for surgery and Hilde would be in later to do the evening consults and Duo had said he would fill in for Catherine and man the reception - just so long as he didn't have to deal with Nrobbuts. Catherine had agreed to leave all the files out ready so all Duo had to do was hand write out the receipts and leave Catherine a note with the paperwork and she would put it all onto the computer hard drive the following day.
 
“Duo?”
 
Duo looked up, stamp in his fingers and tongue sticking out ready to lick it when Heero called his name. “In here,” he replied and stuck the stamp to the envelope.
 
“Do you have a few minutes?” asked Heero as he appeared in the doorway.
 
“Sure. What's up?” Duo's face took on a worried look.
 
“No, nothing's wrong, I just want you to confirm something for me, that's all.”
 
“Ah, okay.” Duo was even more confused.
 
“Come on.” Heero took his lover by the hand and led him outside and towards the paddocks.
 
Stopping between the paddocks, Duo looked even more confused. “Heero?”
 
“Just watch the horses, Duo. Especially Angel, Zero and Shini.”
 
Frowning, Duo did as asked and watched the three animals. He looked from Zero to Angel, then to Shini and back to the other two. He scratched his head. “What's going on?”
 
“I think Angel might be coming into season.”
 
“Okay.” Duo watched more closely. Zero was completely focused on Angel, nostrils flaring from time to time as his eyes remained locked on the mare. Shini continued to walk the fence, striding up and down, head raised and pointed continuously at the mare.
 
“I think you may be right, but there's one way to tell for sure,” Duo replied with an amused smile.
 
“And that would be?” Heero asked with a raised eyebrow.
 
“Go fetch Angel. Lead her up to Zero's paddock and let them 'talk' to each other over the fence. If she is coming into season then she should be quite receptive to him. By that I mean she should start to cock her tail and try to swing her hind end towards him to entice him to mate with her.”
 
Heero blushed a little, talk of sex, even if it was between the animals, still had him slightly embarrassed. “Okay.”
 
Duo chuckled lightly to himself as Heero wandered off to fetch Angel and test the theory out. He found it rather cute that Heero still got flustered when discussing sex.
 
Angel came to the gate to greet her master and allowed herself to be caught. She followed amicably beside Heero, then her ears went up and she jogged a little as she spotted Zero.
 
“Just bring her alongside the fence, Heero.”
 
“What about Zero? Shouldn't someone be holding him or something?”
 
“He'll be fine, Heero. All we want to do is let them sniff each other and see what happens.”
 
“Okay then.” Heero led the mare alongside the paddock fence, Zero immediately joining them and reaching out to touch noses with the sweet creature.
 
Duo moved around until he was behind Angel and could see what was happening without being in any danger or disrupting the pair.
 
Two noses met and rubbed briefly, Zero wuffling deeply and Angel giving short, sharp squeals in reply. Heero let the lead rope slacken off, giving Angel more room to move and stretch her head and neck out. Zero shifted and began to scratch his teeth along the mare's neck to her withers and then nibble at the raised bump. Angel gave the stallion a couple of nips and tried to swing her rump towards him. Zero moved down the fence line a little and sniffed at the mare. When he reached her tail, he gave a low snort and curled his lip. Angel cocked her tail in response.
 
“I think it's safe to say she's in season, Heero,” Duo said from his position a short way off. “She's showing all the signs of wanting to mate.”
 
“What do we do then?” asked Heero.
 
“Next question is; are you ready to have her served and put in foal?”
 
“That's what I bought her for,” Heero replied.
 
“Good. I suggest you pop her back in the paddock then and we'll go back up to the house and give Zechs a call. He did say he would come out and give us a hand, show us the best way to hand serve a mare. Guess we should get the practice in now considering you have other mares coming to Zero soon.”
 
“Good idea.” Heero led a reluctant Angel back to her paddock. Zero watched, frustrated, from his own paddock. Shinigami gave a couple of squeals to let his disgust at the lack of attention to him be known.
 
The call was made and Zechs said he could make it around that evening to show the pair the best way to hand serve a mare. With the arrangements made, Heero went back out to catch Shinigami and work the young stallion as he'd originally intended.
 
* * *
 
By the time Heero had finished working Shini and cooled the youngster off, Duo had finished with his 'reception' duties and with just over an hour before evening consults, had reappeared in the stable block.
 
“Zechs should be here within the next half hour,” Duo said as he helped Heero to remove Shini's saddle.
 
“Okay. I'll brush Shini down and put him away before I go get the others,” replied Heero and picked up a body brush.
 
“I'll fetch Zero in now, if you like?”
 
“Thanks, that would be a big help.”
 
Duo went to fetch Zero, leaving Heero to finish up with the younger stallion.
 
When Zechs arrived twenty minutes later, all the horses were inside the stables, Shini and Scythe eating their dinners whilst Zero and Angel only had their hay nets to munch on and weren't too happy about it either.
 
Zechs took a moment to look at Angel and drew the same conclusions that the other two had. Angel definitely looked like she was in season to Zechs.
 
“Now for the practical bit. Heero?”
 
“Hai?”
 
“You have some support bandages?”
 
“Hai, I do.”
 
“Could you fetch them please? I think it would be best if we bandage Zero's front legs. The support bandages will help a lot with any strain on those limbs, especially his weak leg.”
 
Heero disappeared into the tack room to fetch a pair of bandages, reappearing a few moments later and going into Zero's stable to put them on the stallion. Zechs checked them over and was satisfied with the tightness of them.
 
“Okay. Here's what we do.” Zechs outlined the 'operation' to both Duo and Heero, explaining that he wanted Duo to hold Angel whilst Heero managed Zero. The safest place would be just outside the stable block by the fence that separated the stable block and parking area from the paddocks. The ground was reasonably soft, there was room to move and if a horse escaped, there wasn't far it could go.
 
Following Zechs' instructions, Duo led Angel outside and over to the fence. He was careful to stand just to the side of the mare, out of harm's way but still in control of the mare.
 
“Good,” said Zechs. “Now we bring Zero out and let him sniff around her for a moment.” Zechs went back into the stable block and walked out beside Heero and Zero.
 
Zero could scent the mare and his blood began to heat. He arched his neck, kinked his tail and did a couple of dancing steps.
 
“Steady,” Heero said calmly as he tried to slow Zero down and stop him from prancing. He didn't want the stallion to injure his leg, especially as it had healed as well as it had.
 
Zero slowed and stopped his prancing, but he kept his neck arched and blew loudly through his nostrils.
 
Angel could hear and smell him coming, she snorted in response and kinked her own tail, passing a little urine at the same time.
 
“She's certainly in season,” mused Zechs
 
Heero let Zero sniff at Angel, the mare turning her tail towards the stallion and practically shoving her rump in his face.
 
“Okay, time to move on,” Zechs said. “Heero, I want you to bring Zero just to the side of Angel, let him mount her from the side rather than directly behind. If she tries to kick out, she won't connect with him. It also puts less strain on his forelegs.”
 
Heero nodded and turned Zero around. He walked the stallion a little way and then brought Zero back up and to the side of Angel. Zero knew what was going on and was eager to get started. Zechs pulled Angel's tail to the side as the stallion went up on his hind legs and mounted Angel.
 
Once 'on board', he slipped inside and commenced what nature instructed him to do, gripping around Angel's shoulders with his front legs, powerful hind quarters thrusting his pelvis.
 
Feeding the extra rein out so Zero could 'do his duty', Heero kept a light hold of the long lead rope, unsure of whether to blush, keep watching or turn away.
 
Within a few seconds, it was over. Zero grunted, tensed and gave a sigh as his eyes glazed over momentarily. Then he slumped against Angel. The mare shifted a little and Zero began to slide off. Heero quickly reeled in the slack of the lead rope, coaxing Zero off the mare to the side and avoid any unpleasantness.
 
Zero slid to the side and landed safely back on all four feet, looking quite pleased with himself.
 
“Shit! That was quick,” muttered Duo.
 
“It didn't take long, did it?” Heero replied.
 
“I'm glad you're not like Zero in that department, Heero.”
 
“Huh?”
 
“At least you last for a good bit longer,” Duo snickered.
 
“Duo, that's way too much information,” Zechs said as he screwed up his face in a mock grimace.
 
“Errr, sorry,” Duo apologized but the humor was still in his voice.
 
Heero declined to comment further, he knew he would only end up embarrassing himself. “What now?” he asked.
 
“Now we can put them both back into their stables. I'd like to check Zero's leg and make sure everything is okay there,” replied Zechs.
 
“Right.” Heero turned the stallion and led him back into the stables. Duo followed along with Angel who seemed happy enough. With the feeds put in, the pair settled down to eat their dinners.
 
Zechs and Duo checked Zero's leg and found it to be perfectly okay, something that relieved both of them to no end. It looked like Zero's stud career would be fine.
 
Bolting the stable door, Duo leaned over the top next to Heero and watched the stallion eating.
 
“You know what? I reckon if Zero could talk he'd be saying 'Could I have that before my dinner every night?',” Duo snickered.
 
“Baka.” Heero gave his lover a light smack.
 
Zechs shook his head in amusement before speaking. “I'd give them both a break tomorrow and then serve Angel again the day after. She should stay in season for about another three or four days. Once she's been served the second time, give her another day and then try a third time. I doubt she will be receptive though on the third try so if she isn't, don't serve her. Oh, Heero, mark the dates of service on your calendar, that way you can calculate ahead when she should come into season again.”
 
Heero frowned. “I don't quite understand.”
 
“By marking the dates, you can calculate ahead another three to four weeks and see when she should be coming back into season. When that date rolls around you need to bring her to Zero and see if she is back in season. If she's not interested in Zero then it's a good bet she's in foal and Duo can do a proper pregnancy test on her sixty days after the service to be certain. If she is receptive to Zero then it means she didn't take the first time around and you will need to serve her again if you want a foal.”
 
“Aa. Now I follow you,” Heero said as he added up all the information.
 
“If she is in foal then you can pretty much work out when her due date will be. Just go forward eleven months from the last date of service and that will give you the predicted delivery date, give or take about a week.”
 
“Thanks, Zechs.”
 
“My pleasure,” Zechs replied. “Do you think you've grasped it all now? I'm pretty sure you're both capable of hand serving the mares you have booked, but if you have any problems, just give me a call.”
 
“I'm pretty sure we can manage on our own from here on,” Duo replied in Heero's stead, noticing that his lover appeared to be trying to do the math in his head. “Thanks for giving us a hand though, it's much appreciated.”
 
“No problem, Duo. I'd better get going though, I'm meeting Treize for dinner in an hour.”
 
“Okay, I'd better shift my ass too, I've got a reception to man in fifteen minutes,” Duo replied.
 
They said their good byes, Zechs disappearing to get ready for dinner, Duo heading for the surgery and evening consults whilst Heero finished up in the stables.
 
* * *
 
Angel was still receptive to Zero two days later and Heero and Duo managed to successfully handle the horses and have the mare served again. As Zechs had predicted, Angel didn't seem interested in Zero after that and so they left her alone. Heero duly marked the dates on the calendar along with the date he expected Angel to come back into season. When the date rolled around they brought the mare from her paddock every day for a week to 'talk' to Zero. She was polite, sniffing the stallion and accepting his interest, but she didn't cock her tail or show any other interest in him.
 
Duo thought it safe to say she was in foal.
 
Heero wouldn't let himself get his hopes up, he wanted to wait until Duo did a pregnancy test on Angel and either confirmed or denied the existence of any foal.
 
* * *
 
As the days passed, Heero was kept busy working the horses at Treize's and keeping up with Shinigami's education. The showjumping season was drawing to a close which meant most horses were being turned out for a break over the summer months. With the close of the competitive season so the breeding season began in earnest.
 
Heero had taken many calls from people interested in putting their mare to Zero and now had enough mares booked to ensure he could pay Duo back the money he'd loaned him to purchase Angel. He would also have a nice little sum left over.
 
With this being Zero's first season standing at stud, Heero had decided to accept only six mares to the stallion. Periwinkle would be the first of those mares to be served by Zero. Besides the two other calls he'd had when his advert first appeared, There were two mares from the friend of the Salsbury Pony Clubs' secretary and one other from another showjumping competitor. The latter five mares would be visiting Zero over the course of the following three weeks as they respectively came into season. Periwinkle had been released from quarantine and Zoe had arranged with Duo and Heero to send the mare directly to them to be put in foal.
 
Having worked out the mare's cycle, Zoe calculated that Periwinkle should be coming into season a few days after leaving quarantine. Duo had been fine with the request to have Periwinkle agisted at the vet practice for a week or two, even though they had decided not to have mares kept there but rather for the mares to visit, be served and then return to their owners. A lot less responsibility for the guys and less risky for the mares.
 
Zoe arrived with Periwinkle on the Sunday. Heero had been expecting her and already had a stable and paddock ready for the mare. Duo was busy with consults as it was Hilde's Sunday off but had left strict instructions that Zoe was not allowed to leave until Duo had at least had the chance to say hello.
 
Heero was busy in the stables when he heard the float and car pulling in. He quickly put down the bucket he was carrying, wiped his hands on his jeans and went out to greet the woman.
 
"Hey, Heero," said Zoe as she cut the engine and got out of the car. "Good to see you again." Ignoring the hand held out in greeting, Zoe enveloped the other rider in a warm hug.
 
A little stunned at first, Heero was quick to recover and hugged back. "It's nice to see you too, Zoe. You're looking well and congratulations again on your medal."
 
They exchanged pleasantries for a moment before Heero took the woman inside the stable block to show her where Periwinkle would be staying for the days she would be spending at the practice.
 
"Wow, this sure is some set up, Heero," Zoe commented as she took in the layout of the stable block.
 
"Duo's the one who should take the credit for it, he was the one that designed it and had it built," replied Heero.
 
"Speaking of Duo, where is he?"
 
"He's doing consults." Heero glanced at his watch. "Actually, he should be finished in about another fifteen minutes and then he'll be down to see you."
 
"Great!"
 
They spent the next few minutes chatting as Periwinkle was unloaded along with her feed bins and buckets, rugs and any other gear Zoe thought they might need. With the gear all stowed away in the tack room, Heero questioned Zoe on what the mare's feeding program was, pleased to note he had all the required feed stuffs in stock anyway so he wouldn't have to purchase anything extra. Zoe was like him, she liked to keep the mare's diet as simple and close to nature as possible.
 
Having discussed all they needed to, Heero suggested they take the mare out to the paddock and let her settle in. Zoe agreed, she was also eager to see Zero again, not to mention the new mare Heero had purchased and young Shinigami.
 
They had just put Periwinkle in the paddock when Duo arrived. More pleasantries were exchanged along with lots of laughter and friendly banter. Seeing that the mare had settled in well and seemed perfectly happy grazing, Heero took Zoe to see Zero, Duo explaining to the woman about Zero's injury and recovery.
 
Zero was happy to come up to the gate and receive lots of attention - especially when that attention was accompanied by lots of pats and carrots. Zoe fussed over the gray for a while before Heero took her to meet Angel.
 
"Oh, Heero, she's gorgeous," Zoe stated as she looked the mare over. "Lovely conformation on her and such a sweet face."
 
"I'm hoping she's in foal to Zero."
 
"Really? You've already served her?"
 
"Hai. She hasn't come back into season that we can tell so all we need to do now is have a pregnancy test done to either confirm or deny the pregnancy."
 
"Well, I really hope it's a positive result for you Heero. You deserve some good luck for a change."
 
"Thanks."
 
"It was such a shame you missed out on the Olympics. I'm sure that had you been in the team we would have finished higher than the bronze. Not taking anything away from the rest of the team, they were all good and gave it everything they had, but you, Heero... You seem to have that special something, I don't know what it is, but you always manage to pull something out of the bag when we need it."
 
Heero began to blush with the praise and mutter under his breath about women and embarrassment. Duo came to his rescue though. Although Heero wasn't sure if his lover's attempt at rescuing him wasn't a case of 'out of the frying pan and into the fire'.
 
"Come and see Heero's future Olympic horse, Zoe," Duo said and took the woman by the hand to lead her towards Shinigami's paddock.
 
Heero rolled his eyes and followed along.
 
* * *
 
Periwinkle came into season two days after her arrival at the practice. Heero and Duo managed to have Zero serve her without any problems. The stallion seemed to be enjoying his new role as stud horse, something Duo took great delight in teasing Heero about.
 
Heero suffered through the teasing with quiet dignity, determined to get his own back on his mischievous lover when the time was right.
 
Periwinkle was served by Zero three times in total and then went back to her home. Zoe had picked her up and signed the service contract with Heero. She paid half the service fee when collecting Periwinkle with the remainder of the balance due once Periwinkle was confirmed in foal.
 
Over the course of the next few weeks, Zero served all the mares that were booked to him, the deposits being paid and allowing Heero to pay Duo back for the loan. Now all they had to do was sit back and wait for those mares to be confirmed 'in foal'.
 
Duo didn't doubt that they would all be pregnant. He'd done a fertility test on Zero just to be sure and the stallion had passed with flying colors. Heero had been fascinated with the test and practically hung over Duo's shoulder whilst the vet was peering down the microscope at a sample of Zero's semen. He was curious to see what was on that slide and marveled at all the little 'tadpoles' swimming around.
 
Duo had offered to do a fertility test on Heero.
 
Heero suddenly lost all interest in the microscopic world.
 
* * *
 
Sixty days after Angel's last service, Heero waited with baited breath as Duo donned the long, plastic glove and prepared to give Angel an internal exam.
 
“I still say this is one of my least favorite parts of veterinary practice,” Duo muttered as he made sure the glove was fitted snugly right up to his armpit.
 
Heero couldn't help but snicker as he led Angel into the crush and secured the lead rope before shutting the back gate on the mare.
 
Duo bent over the bucket of warm soapy water and lathered his hand and arm in the stuff, making sure he was completely clean before applying a mix of betadine and lubrication to the glove surface. "Right, we're all set. Heero, could you hold her tail to the side for me please?"
 
Stepping forward, Heero grasped the mare's tail and pulled it to the side.
 
"Now for the yucky bit," Duo grumbled as he began to slowly insert his hand and then wrist into Angel's anus. Gradually his arm began to disappear inside, then his face grimaced and he began to pull his arm back out.
 
"What is it? What's wrong?" Heero asked in concern.
 
"Shit." Duo's arm came out and he dropped a few pieces manure to the floor right by Heero's boots.
 
"Hai, it's shit all right," Heero snickered and then yelped as Duo deposited another handful of manure - this time to Heero's boots.
 
Carefully, Duo began to insert his arm again, feeling his way along the passage, fingers searching the mare's insides whilst his mind supplied him with pictures of the internal anatomy of a mare. Finally he managed to locate the uterus, feeling gently over the organ and double checking he was in the right place. After a couple of minutes, he began to withdraw his arm, pulling a face as he noted the discoloration to the protective glove he wore.
 
Once he was free of the mare, Duo stripped the glove off and tossed it into the trash, then he gave his arms a vigorous scrubbing in the warm water and toweled himself dry.
 
Heero waited patiently at the mare's side, he was bursting with the need to know but held his tongue.
 
Finally finished with his ablutions, Duo rolled his sleeves down and turned to face his lover.
 
"Congratulations, Heero. Zero's going to be a daddy again."
 
"Yes!" Heero cried out and punched the air. Grabbing Duo, he swung the vet off his feet then dove in for a searing kiss. "Thank you."
 
"It's not me you should be thanking, Heero. Zero's the one that did the deed," Duo replied in an amused tone.
 
"You know what I meant," Heero replied and then kissed his partner again.
 
"I suggest you do what Zechs advised and mark the date on the calendar. In another nine months we should be hearing the patter of tiny hooves."
 
"I'll be sure to do that as soon as we go back in the house," replied Heero. "But first, I need to let Zero know he's going to be a father again." With another kiss to his partner's lips, Heero took off in the direction of the paddocks, pockets full of carrots to inform his horse of the future foal.
 
Duo watched him go and shook his head in amusement. Walking up to the front of the crush where Angel waited patiently, Duo gave the mare a pat and fed her a carrot. "Lucky for you, you have me, I guess," he said to the mare as he stroked the soft hide and offered another carrot. "Seems that Heero's forgotten about you for the moment."
 
Angel wuffled and gently lipped up the carrots.
 
~ * ~
 
tbc...