Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Going For Gold ❯ Chapter 46 ( Chapter 46 )

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 46

 

True to his word, Heero decided to start halter breaking Wing the following day when he got home from work. Duo was doing morning consults so would be free to assist him in the afternoon. With everything set, Heero headed off to work whilst Duo aimed for the practice and consults.

 

Duo took Smokey with him, Catherine only too happy to keep an eye on the kitten while Duo attended to his patients.

 

The kitten was a natural charmer and soon had all the clients eating out of her 'paw'. Catherine kept a careful watch on the small bundle, making sure she didn't get under anyone's feet or annoy any of the 'patients'. Smokey had the time of her life, running around the reception, playing with her 'toys' and investigating all the new sights, sounds and smells. When she grew tired from all her exertions, she curled up on the spare chair in the reception and went to sleep.

 

With the morning consults finished, Catherine logged everything onto the computer whilst Duo cleaned the consulting room. When he emerged a few minutes later it was to find Catherine in fits of laughter. He leaned against the door frame to the waiting room and crossed his arms over his chest. He wore an amused smile as he watched.

 

Catherine was trying to sweep the floor of the waiting room, Smokey deciding this was a new game. With each sweep of the broom the little kitten would make a flying leap and attack, only to run off again and hide underneath one of the chairs. Once the broom came close enough again, the kitten would charge out of her hiding spot, back arched as she pounced sideways towards the unsuspecting broom. Then she would throw herself at it, leap on top and try to wrestle the broom with her teeth and claws. Catherine would stop pushing the broom and watch, laughing at the kitten's antics until the small animal would jump up and run off to hide, then the process started all over again.

 

“I think she has the wrong name,” Duo mused, snickering as the kitten skidded past the broom and then turned.

 

“Really?” Catherine questioned, her eyes watching where the kitten now lay in wait, hind legs drawing up underneath as her bottom wriggled ready to attack.

 

“Yeah. I think Heero should have caller her 'Killer'.”

 

The kitten exploded into a flurry of fur and limbs, jumping on the broom and wrestling it into submission.

 

“Might have been more apt,” Catherine mused. “You want to take her for a moment so I can finish sweeping? At this rate I won't be done in time for evening consults.”

 

“Sure,” Duo replied and scooped up the kitten. The small animal snuggled into Duo's arms and began to purr. “Are you okay to finish up here? I'll head down to the theater and start setting everything up for the two ops we have booked in.”

 

“No problem. I'll be done in a few minutes and join you.”

 

“Fine.” Duo turned and began to walk down the hallway, gently stroking the gray head. The purring increased in volume. Duo couldn't help himself. “Get your motor runnin'... Head out on the highway...” Duo started to sing as he disappeared in the direction of the operating theater. [1] Back in the waiting room, Catherine chuckled to herself.

 

* * *

 

Heero finished up his day at Treize's and was soon on his way home, thoughts of halter breaking his colt foremost on his mind. He ran a mental check on the items he would need; halter, lead rope, tail rope and rewards. He hoped the youngster would be good and not resist too much. Shinigami had been easy to halter break, the stallion only having two lessons before he understood what it was Heero was asking.

 

Pulling into the parking area behind the house, Heero cut the engine and decided to find his lover and say hello to the kitten before going down to the stables. He walked into the house only to find it completely empty of occupants. There was only one other place that Duo could be since his car was still parked outside, and that was the surgery. Heero closed the back door and went in the direction of the practice.

 

“Hey, Heero. That was good timing,” Duo said as he looked up from writing his notes on the dog's chart. "We've just finished surgery and I was about to come back to the house.”

 

Heero stepped into the operating theater, noting it had already been cleaned up and the patients back in their kennels to recover. “Catherine gone?” Heero asked as he walked across to his lover and placed a gentle kiss to those sweet lips.

 

“She left about ten minutes ago. Mmm... nice.”

 

“You still okay to give me a hand with Wing?”

 

“Sure. Just let me put this chart back in the reception, find Smokey and I'm all set.”

 

Whilst Duo put the chart in reception, Heero found the kitten. She was curled up fast asleep on the pile of blankets Duo used in the kennels. “Come on, girl, time to go back to the house,” Heero said as he picked her up.

 

The kitten yawned and then began to purr again, snuggling deep into Heero's arms.

 

“I see she's got her motor running again,” Duo commented with a chuckle as he walked up behind Heero. “For such a small thing she's got a loud purr.”

 

“Yeah, she does at that,” Heero snickered.

 

* * *

 

After a quick drink and settling Smokey with a fresh bowl of food, Heero and Duo set off for the stables to collect the gear Heero would need to halter break Wing. Heero began to locate the items and hand them to Duo.

 

“What the hell was this for again, Heero?” Duo asked as he held up a length of rope with loop and knot in it.

 

“It's a tail rope,” Heero replied absently as he dug around, searching for the small, foal halter.

 

“Hmmm... Interesting,” Duo mused as he played around with the rope for a moment. “Wonder if I could get your butt all tied up in this,” he thought aloud.

 

“Pardon?”

 

“Ah.” Duo went an interesting shade of red as he realized he'd spoken his thoughts and Heero had heard him. “Ummm... Nothing,” he muttered.

 

Having located the foal halter, Heero sidled up alongside his partner and spoke in a low, husky tone. “You need a different sort of rope if you want to tie me up. This one's too coarse and thick, you need something a little softer.”

 

“Ohhh, now there's a thought.” Duo's eyes began to glaze over as the thought of Heero all tied up and awaiting his pleasure sprang to mind.

 

“Hentai,” Heero whispered.

 

“Tease,” Duo shot back.

 

“Then why am I the one with the rope?”

 

Duo's eyes widened as he spotted a different rope in Heero's hands. This one was softer and thinner. “I think we should go start on Wing now,” he said, his voice a little hoarse and pants a little on the tight side.

 

“Good idea,” Heero purred. “I'll sort you out later.” With a quick, gentle squeeze to Duo's crotch, Heero left the stables.

 

Duo moaned softly. “One of these days...” he muttered and followed his lover.

 

* * *

 

“Okay, what do you want me to do?” Duo asked as he leaned on the gate to the paddock watching Heero sort out the ropes and halter. The walk to the paddock had cooled his ardor a touch, but he wasn't forgetting all that easily.

 

“I'll need you to lead Angel for me,” Heero replied. “I'll catch her first and hopefully, be able to get a hold of Wing. Once I have him I'll get you to put the halter on him. Once that's done, I'll take over the lead rope and get you to pass me the tail rope. Once that's secured it becomes a simple case of you leading Angel and I'll encourage Wing to follow.”

 

“Ah, okay.” His mind began to recall some of what he'd done with Heero when halter breaking Shinigami. It had been quite some time ago and the memory was a little hazy. Duo trusted that Heero would keep him informed of what he needed him to do.

 

With the gear all set out and hanging from the gate, Heero set out across the paddock to get Angel. The mare saw him coming and raised her head from where she was grazing. As Heero drew closer, Angel began to walk towards him.

 

“Good girl,” Heero said as he slipped the halter on her head and buckled it up. He gave her a carrot and then began to lead her back towards the gate and Duo. Wing watched his mother and the human walking away for a moment before deciding he'd better follow.

 

Duo watched as Heero caught the mare and began to lead her back. He noted Wing following and hoped the colt wouldn't give them too much trouble learning his lessons.

 

With Angel now back at the gate, Heero quickly tied her up and gave her another carrot. Wing stood slightly to the side watching the proceedings with interest. He had no reason to fear as the humans hadn't done anything to hurt him in the past and he couldn't sense any danger. His mother seemed calm and relaxed which went a long way to reassuring the colt that everything was all right.

 

“Now I need to get a hold of Wing,” Heero said.

 

“And how do you propose to do that?” Duo asked.

 

“I'll just do what I always do with him. I'll approach him quietly, offer him some treats and then start to pat him. Once I'm next to him I'll put my arms around his chest and hindquarters to restrain him. Once I have him I'll need you to be quick in bringing the halter over and putting it on.”

 

“Okay.” Duo picked up the foal halter and studied it for a moment. “It's tiny,” he said.

 

“Of course it is. Wing's head isn't big enough for an adult halter,” Heero snickered.

 

“Yeah, I see your point,” Duo replied sheepishly. Having figured out the intricacies of the foal halter, Duo was ready for action. “I'm ready when you are.”

 

“Great. I'll see if I can get hold of him.” Heero patted Angel and gave her another carrot. Moving around the mare, Heero put himself in line of sight of the foal, inching forward and making sure he had a treat in his hand. He'd handled the foal quite a bit so it wasn't anything new to Wing.

 

The colt watched as the human approached. He sniffed the air and caught the scent of the carrot. His eyes roamed over the human and spotted the treat. He stood his ground and let the human come up to him, muzzle reaching out to take the offered carrot when the human was within range.

 

Heero let the colt chew on the carrot and quietly extended a hand to pat along the short neck. Wing seemed quite happy with Heero standing beside him and was soon asking for another carrot which Heero provided. Heero did exactly what he'd always done when handling the colt, simply remained calm and ran his hands over the foal's neck and body, inching closer as he did so.

 

Finally, Heero was in the position he needed to be and carefully slipped his arms around the colt, effectively restraining him.

 

When the arm closed around his chest and another around his hocks, grasping his tail, Wing tried to move away, only to find he couldn't. He tried to struggle free, but it didn't get him anywhere, the arms holding him continued to do just that, restraining him without hurting him. The human that had hold of him remained calm and spoke soothingly to him and after a couple more tries to free himself, Wing gave up and stood quietly.

 

“Okay, Duo. You can come over now and put the halter on him. Just be careful not to move suddenly.”

 

“Right ho,” Duo replied and began to approach. He kept his movements slow, talking in a low tone and reassuring the colt as he moved. Once he was by Wing's head, Duo reached out with the halter and let the colt sniff it, showing the foal that it was nothing to be frightened of.

 

Sniffing over the object, Wing could smell other horses' scents on it. He calmed a little, sensing this object wouldn't harm him.

 

Duo managed to slip the nose band over the colt's nose, holding one cheek strap in his left hand and passing the other cheek strap up the side of Wing's face and then behind his ears so he could do up the buckle and secure the halter on the colt's head.

 

“All done, Heero,” Duo said and patted the colt.

 

“Good, now see if you can clip the lead rope to the ring under his chin,” Heero replied, still holding onto the colt around the chest and hindquarters.

 

Duo pulled the lead rope from his back pocket and clipped it in place. “Lead rope's on,” he informed Heero and passed the end of it to Heero who slipped it into the palm of the hand around Wing's chest.

 

“Thanks. Can you fetch the tail rope next, please?”

 

“Sure.” Duo trotted off back to the gate and picked up the tail rope. He brought it back to Heero. “Now what?”

 

“Thread the end through the small loop so we have a big loop, sort of like a lasso. Then I'll need you to place it over his hind end. Once that's done, I'll take it from there.”

 

Duo busied himself with the rope, setting it up as Heero had requested. With the rope now in place, Duo passed the loose end to Heero's other hand.

 

“Thanks. I'm going to let go of him now and take up the rope. Can you get Angel and bring her to stand by his side please?”

 

Whilst Heero arranged the ropes in his hands, Duo fetched Angel and led her over. “Now what?”

 

“Now I need you to lead her around. Just go towards that tree over there and then turn to come back to the gate. The idea is that I'll pull on the halter rope to encourage Wing to walk forward. I'll use the pull on the tail rope to re-enforce the forward movement. Hopefully he will follow his mother and begin to put the tug to the rope with the walk forward bit.”

 

“Okay,” Duo replied. “Just tell me if you want me to stop, change direction or anything else.”

 

“Right. I'm all set so lead on.”

 

Duo walked forward, Angel following at his side. He kept one eye on Angel and one on Heero.

 

Wing felt the pressure to the halter behind his ears and shook his head. He didn't like that! He watched his mother walking away, the pressure increased and the nice human spoke softly to him. There was a light pressure around his hocks too and nervously, Wing took a step forward. He was immediately rewarded when the pressure vanished and words of praise came from the human.

 

Heero was pleased with the first step Wing took. He applied the pressure again, coaxing the colt to start to walk and follow his mother. Wing seemed to understand and took a few steps forward, Heero praising him as he did so.

 

Duo glanced back and saw Wing walking forward. “Looking good, Heero,” he said with a touch of excitement.

 

“Yeah. He's pretty smart so I didn't think it would take much to teach him.”

 

Wing was walking docilely beside him, the lead rope only just keeping contact and the tail rope loose.

 

Then the fun began.

 

Duo had reached the tree and was turning Angel around to walk back to the gate, Wing and Heero were following just a few feet behind and all appeared to be going well. Suddenly, Wing decided he didn't like this new game anymore and wanted to go off by himself.

 

He stopped walking.

 

Heero frowned and applied a gentle pressure to the halter. Wing stood firm. Heero pulled the tail rope tighter putting pressure on Wing's back legs in an attempt to encourage the colt to walk forward but Wing ignored it.

 

“Having a spot of trouble?” Duo asked. “Do you want me to stop Angel?”

 

“Just walk her on a few more paces and I'll see if I can't get Wing to move again,” Heero replied.

 

“Okay.” Duo led the mare forward, stopping once they were a short distance away from Wing and Heero. Duo turned to watch.

 

“Come on, Wing. Walk on,” Heero said firmly and pulled on both ropes.

 

Wing wasn't having any of it. He dug his hooves firmly in the ground and began to lean back against the pull of the halter and tail rope.

 

“Walk on,” Heero repeated and put even more pressure on the ropes.

 

The colt began to move backwards.

 

“I thought he was supposed to go forwards,” Duo said helpfully. He couldn't help the smile that was tugging at his lips.

 

“He is,” growled Heero. “I knew he'd try to test this out, Shinigami did the same when we halter broke him, only Wing seems to be more stubborn.” Heero clenched his jaw and put even more strength into the pull on the ropes. “Walk on,” he said even more firmly.

 

It began to appear to Duo that it was a test of wills and strength. Whilst Wing was still only a foal, Duo had no doubts that the colt would be stronger than Heero. He could only hope that Heero knew what he was doing. If Wing managed to evade Heero now, then anything Heero tried to teach him further down the track could be difficult.

 

Duo recalled what Heero had once said to him about the equine animal. 'A horse will always choose the easy option. When you try to teach them something the idea is to make what it is you want the easy option and anything else they try, difficult.' It made sense to Duo. He turned a little to watch the scene a little better.

 

Digging his hooves even deeper, Wing began to lean back with all his strength, fighting the increasing pressure on his hind legs and the back of his head.

 

“Would you like me to bring Angel back a little closer? Might encourage him to move forwards,” Duo questioned.

 

“No, thank you. He has to learn.”

 

Duo wondered then just who was going to be the most stubborn; Heero or Wing? “Okay. I'll just wait here then. Don't forget it gets dark in another two hours and there's still the other horses to bring in and feed.”

 

Heero opted not to reply to the sarcasm. His muscles protested the strain they were being put under, but Heero daren't back off now. If he did, Wing would have won and that was only teaching the colt bad habits.

 

“Walk on,” Heero insisted and put all his strength into pulling against the stubborn colt.

 

Resisting even further, Wing was almost sitting down by now.

 

Hearing a noise at the paddock gate, Duo turned to see Quatre and Trowa standing there. He waved and motioned them to come over.

 

“What's happening?” Trowa asked with an inclination of his head in Heero's direction.

 

“Heero's trying to teach Wing to lead,” Duo said.

 

“Really?” Quatre mused. “It doesn't look like he's having much luck.”

 

“I thought he was playing a game of tug-of-war,” Trowa snickered.

 

“It kinda looks that way, doesn't it?” Duo laughed. “I'm sure he will start to get some results shortly though.”

 

“Could be interesting to see who is the most stubborn,” Quatre said with a grin.

 

“If I'd known we were going to be treated to this sort of entertainment, I'd have brought some drinks and snacks.” Trowa couldn't help the chuckle.

 

Heero noticed he had an audience and it only served to make him even more determined that Wing would give in. “Walk on!” he repeated and put everything he had into the pull on the ropes, making sure that the pull on the tail rope was stronger than the one on the halter.

 

Wing pulled back until his haunches were practically on the ground, the ropes straining tight as foal and human pitted themselves against each other. The pressure behind his ears and around his hocks increased, Wing not liking the sensation at all. Suddenly, Wing gave in and moved forward, taking Heero completely by surprise.

 

With the sudden slackness in the ropes, Heero began to lose his balance, legs stumbling as arms flailed, trying to right himself and still keep a contact with the ropes. The last thing he needed was to fall flat on his face and let Wing win.

 

“Five bucks says Heero hits the dirt,” Trowa said.

 

“Trowa!” Quatre exclaimed

 

“I'll take that bet. Five bucks says he doesn't,” Duo was quick to reply.

 

“Duo!” The blonde seemed appalled that they would bet on Heero.

 

Both Trowa and Duo looked at the blonde, innocence radiating off them both. Quatre shook his head in disbelief.

 

Meanwhile, Heero had managed to prevent his demise by doing some fancy footwork, somehow keeping himself from falling and managing to keep the tautness on the ropes, albeit a little tighter than he would have liked. Having regained his footing, Heero managed to release the pressure and keep Wing walking forward.

 

“You owe me five bucks,” Duo crowed.

 

Trowa huffed and dipped his hands into his pocket to pull out his wallet. He checked the contents, frowned, closed the wallet and dipped his hands into his other pockets. After a moment of searching, he turned to Quatre. “Could you lend me five bucks?” he asked rather sheepishly. “I seem to be a touch broke right now.”

 

Quatre scowled but produced the note in question. “I want you to know that I don't approve of gambling; and I expect it to be repaid - preferably before Christmas.”

 

“I know,” Trowa replied. “Thanks.” He took the offered note and passed it over to a grinning Duo.

 

Duo took the fiver and pocketed it. “Thanks Trowa.” He turned his gaze to Quatre. “I'd be charging him interest if he doesn't pay it back soon.”

 

“I just might,” Quatre replied and gave Trowa a meaningful look.

 

Their conversation was brought to a halt then by the arrival of Heero and Wing, the foal giving a piercing whinny, Angel answering in kind.

 

“I see you're halter breaking him then, Heero.” Trowa stated.

 

“Trying to,” came Heero's response.

 

“He seems to be a bit stubborn,” Quatre said as he approached the foal and gently patted the neck.

 

“You have no idea,” said Heero with a roll of his eyes. “Duo? If you could lead Angel back to the tree, around it and then back to the gate, I'll see if I can get Wing to follow. Hopefully he's now learnt that the best way to ease the pressure is to move forward.”

 

“Okay. Be right back, guys. Don't go away.” Duo turned Angel and began to lead her towards the tree.

 

“Wouldn't dream of leaving and missing all the fun,” Trowa deadpanned, shifting to stand beside the gate where he had an uninterrupted view. Quatre opted to remain silent and followed his partner.

 

Heero took up the slack in the ropes and pulled gently. “Walk on,” he said firmly, keeping the pressure on the lead rope and tail rope.

 

Seeing his mother walking away and feeling the pressure return, Wing gave in and took a few steps forward. He was immediately rewarded by the removal of the pressure and lots of praise from the nice human. Wing decided that maybe it was easier to just move forward when there was pressure; if he went backwards, the pressure only increased. He took several more steps forward.

 

After three successful trips around the tree, Heero decided to call it a day and had Duo lead Angel back to the stables whilst he led Wing. Quatre kindly caught Scythe and led her in. Once they were back at the stables, Trowa gave Duo a hand to fill up the water buckets and place all the feeds in the stables whilst Heero and Quatre went back out to fetch Zero and Shinigami.

 

With the horses all settled for the evening, thoughts turned to dinner. Trowa and Quatre were invited to stay and after much coaxing from Duo, accepted the invitation. Heero went to take a quick shower while Duo did an inventory of the pantry and 'fridge to figure out what to cook.

 

In the end he decided on a stir fry. Duo chopped up the chicken, Quatre helped out by peeling, washing and chopping vegetables, Trowa took on the role of kitten watcher. Smokey was quite happy for the tall man to 'kitten sit' her, curling up in his lap and purring loudly. Once everything was prepared, Duo fetched the large wok out.

 

Heero finished his shower and returned to the kitchen. Duo needed to go up to the surgery to pick up the mail and check that Hilde was okay so Heero took over the cooking. Trowa handed Smokey over to Quatre and prepared the kitten's dinner.

 

Duo entered the surgery and headed directly for the reception area. Hilde was in the consulting room with a client, Catherine busy with the computer. She looked up when Duo entered and smiled.

 

“Everything okay?” Duo asked.

 

“All going fine,” replied Catherine. “There's another four clients after the current one and we should be finished.”

 

“Good. I just came up to get the mail.” The mail was delivered to the surgery during the afternoon, but it was anyone's guess as to what time. The postie usually made it somewhere between one and three, but on occasion it was closer to five before he got there. It all depended on the volume of mail he had to deliver and the conditions. Some of the tracks he had to traverse to deliver to the farms took a serious toll on his moped.

 

“It's all over there, Duo,” Catherine said and nodded in the direction of a stack of envelopes.

 

“Thanks. I'll see you tomorrow.” Duo picked up the mail and began to walk back to the house. The smell of dinner caught his nostrils and made his mouth water. Walking along the path to the back door, he flipped through the mail and then froze.

 

There was an official looking letter in the pile. It was addressed to Heero and had the E.F.A. logo on the top left corner. Feeling his mouth go dry and his stomach twist in anticipation, Duo opened the back door and stepped back into the house.

 

~ * ~

 

tbc...

 

 

[1] These are the opening lyrics to Steppenwolf's 'Born To Be Wild'