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Equus	By : Deb Category: Gundam Wing/AC > Yaoi - Male/Male Views: 2855 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 1
Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing, it belongs to Bandai, Sotsu and associated parties. I do own the equines though, please do not take them without permission. Written for pleasure not profit.

Chapter List
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“Equus”

Chapter 21

Not knowing how the bay mare traveled in a float, Duo made sure to take it very slowly with her. He eased out the clutch and let the car roll gently forward, following Heero and Drumstick. Carl had gone back to the car park to fetch his car and would follow behind Duo.

The two vehicles made their way across the grassed area of the show grounds and out onto the road. Turning onto the road, Duo was on a knife edge, ears straining for any sounds coming from the float that would indicate a problem with his charge. There was nothing at all unusual to be heard and Duo heaved a sigh of relief. If the mare was a problem floater it usually showed up when turning a corner.

Heero continued to check his mirrors for any sign from Duo that he needed to pull over. Carl was similarly glued to the back of the 'convoy', eyes monitoring the back of the float to see if there was a problem with the bay. So far the top of the rump he could see above the tail gate had barely moved.

Once they were on the open road, the three began to move a little faster, still remaining around five kilometers below the speed limit though. Duo was a careful driver when floating a horse, understanding the difficulties the animal had with retaining its balance and adjusting to the various movements the float made as it traveled along. He always took his corners at a crawl, accelerated slowly and decreased his speed in plenty of of time to make whatever maneuver he had to.

It took another hour before they reached the familiar road that would take them to the practice and stables. Dusk had settled in and the light was rapidly fading, all vehicles had their head lights blazing as they negotiated the small road to the practice and stables. Duo turned off into the driveway that would lead him to the surgery stables, Heero continuing on a little further to the one that would lead to the showjumping stables. Carl followed Heero.

Pulling into the parking area behind the cottage, Duo slowed down and brought the car to a stop. Cutting the engine he breathed a deep sigh of relief and closed his eyes for a moment. His nerves were almost shot, the drive home had been made on the edge of his seat, not knowing if the horse was going to suddenly start scrambling around, fall over or do any one of many other things a horse could possibly do in a float. He hadn't felt the float moving any more than what it usually did with a horse in it and assumed that the bay must have been okay in there. Carl hadn't flashed him or indicated for him to pull over either so all things pointed to the bay still standing and in one piece.

Opening the door, Duo shivered as the cool air hit his sweaty skin. He rubbed his bare arms for a moment and then ventured towards the small door on the front of the float. Preparing himself for the worst, he opened the small door and eased his head in.

The mare gave a snort and flinched at his appearance. Duo ignored it for the moment in favor of running his eyes over what he could see of the mare. As far as he could tell in the dim interior, she was still in one piece. The hay net was still half full and the mare appeared to be okay so Duo didn't think she would come to any harm by staying in the float for a little while longer. “I'll be back soon,” he said to the horse in a soft tone.

The mare snorted again and shifted slightly backwards. Duo removed himself from within and shut the door carefully. Knowing June would have most of the horses in for Heero and with Carl giving his lover a hand, Duo decided to open up the surgery stables and get things ready there for the mare.

The door slid across, the lights were turned on and Duo set about fetching a water bucket and filling it up. Putting it into a stable, he unlocked the drug room and gathered together the items he though he would most likely need to treat the mare. With the items on the bench, he opened both ends of the crush. Other than making up a feed for the mare, he'd done all he could for the moment. Pulling the door closed again, Duo jogged down the raceway towards the other stables.

*

Heero was relieved to see the driveway come into the sweep of the headlights. He noted Duo turning off into the surgery driveway and moments later he pulled into the one that would take him to his own stable block. Bringing the goose-neck to a stop, he noted the stable lights were on and June's car still parked off to the side. As he cut the engine, June appeared.

“Everything is ready for you, Heero,” June informed him as Heero got out of the cab. “All the others are in, eating and I've changed their rugs. I've also put the feeds in for these four.”

“Thanks, June,” Heero replied with a smile. “I guess we should get these four off and settled then.”

“Where's the new horse?”

“Duo's taken her directly to the surgery stables. He'll join us shortly,” Heero replied and turned to help Carl who was getting the ramp ready to lower.

June took Orion and led him into his stable, removing his float boots, changing his rug and settling him for the night. Carl took charge of Lunar, popping the mare into her stable and leaving her for a moment so he could go back and lead Wing in for Heero who had taken charge of Shini.

Duo arrived when the three were about half way through settling the horses and immediately went into Wing's stable to sort the youngster out. All four horses were more than happy to be home and in their comfortable stables again. The day had been a long one for them all and they were tired.

Zero hung his head over his stable door and wuffled at Heero. He knew there was something going on, other than the fact that his master and several of the other horses had been gone all day. He could scent another horse on his master and was curious as to whom it belonged. Having finished settling Shinigami and giving the gray a couple more carrots for being a good boy, Heero exited the stable and bolted the door. He detoured to the feed shed and grabbed a few more carrots, aiming for Zero's stable next to check his stallion over.

“How are you, boy?” Heero said softly as he held out his palm with a carrot on it for the gray. Zero lipped the orange treat up and crunched it happily. Heero slipped inside and straightened the rug, petting the strong neck and feeding the horse several more carrots. Zero snuffled over his master's form, noting the new scent as that of a mare. Zero was a little puzzled though, he hadn't seen another horse anywhere.

Having an idea of what his horse was thinking, Heero chuckled quietly and rubbed the gray between the eyes. “Don't worry, Zero, your nose isn't lying to you. We do have a new horse and she is a mare. She will be staying at the other stables for a little while though. Duo needs to look after her and once she's well we will be bringing her down here to join in with the rest of you.”

Zero snorted and nudged his master. He knew there was another carrot hiding somewhere.

“Zero okay?”

Heero turned to see Duo walking up behind him. “Hai, he's fine.”

“Wing is all settled and I've done up both bolts on his door. If that's everything done here, I'd like to get back up to the surgery stables and treat this mare.”

“I'll just lock up the tack room and slide the door across. That will only leave the goose-neck to lock. I'll unpack it all and clean it out in the morning,” Heero said.

“Okay. I'm going to head back up then.” Duo gave his lover a warm smile.

The pair turned, Heero to close up everywhere for the night and Duo to make his way back to Nataku. June and Carl waited by the tack room door.

“You need a hand with anything else?” Carl asked. “I'm happy to stay and help you with the new mare if you need another pair of hands.”

“Thanks for the offer, Carl, but I think we should be fine to take it from here. Besides, you've already done more than enough today and I'm really grateful for all your help. Yours too, June,” Heero added as he smiled at the pair.

“My pleasure, Heero. I will get going now though otherwise I think my husband will be sending out a search party for me,” June chuckled. “I'll stop over tomorrow and see how the new acquisition is.”

“Thanks, June. I really do appreciate all your assistance.”

With a wave, June left.

“I'll get going too, Heero. You sure you and Duo will be okay with that new mare?”

Heero nodded. “Hai, Duo is a very skilled vet and once the mare is in the crush he'll be able to treat her without any fuss. Thanks for all your help today, you and June. I'm sorry for all the inconvenience, after all, you're paying me to educate and ride your horses, not help out as grooms.”

“Don't sweat it, Heero. It's what friends do for each other and I'd like to think of you and Duo as friends.”

“Thanks, that means a lot to me.” Heero shook hands with Carl and the pair walked out of the stable block, Heero turning off the lights and Carl sliding the door across.

“I'll see you sometime tomorrow, Heero.” With a wave, Carl got into his car and drove off into the night. Heero waved and set off for the surgery stables.

*

Duo pushed the door open and double checked the items he'd put on the bench. Everything was as he'd left it. Now all he needed was his patient and he could start. Duo headed back out to the float and spotted Heero walking up the raceway.

“Everyone gone?” Duo asked with a glance around.

“Hai, June and Carl have both left,” Heero replied and without wasting any more time, he reached for Duo and wrapped the vet up in his strong arms. Lips gravitated together and a tender kiss was shared.

“Now that's much better,” Duo sighed.

“You have no idea just how much I've wanted to hold and kiss you all day,” Heero said and stole another kiss.

“Almost as much as I've been wanting you too?” Duo questioned with a smirk. “You know, whilst it's great to have the help with the horses at a show, I miss being able to sneak a few minutes alone with you.”

“I know exactly what you mean,” Heero muttered. “I thought the goose-neck might have given us the chance to share a little alone time at shows, but if we're going to have the help with us, I think it's going to be a case of ducking into the gents again.”

Duo snorted. “We'll worry about that later. Right now we need to get this mare off and into the crush so I can get a good look at any injuries she has.”

“I'll lead her off if you like?”

“I think that would be best. She seems to be a bit better with you handling her, not as skittish,” Duo said.

“You okay with the tail gate and chain then?”

“Yup, I'm fine. You just let me know when and I'll release the chain.” Duo moved to the back of the float and prepared to let the tail gate down, Heero opened up the small front door and cautiously slipped inside.

Nataku was standing patiently, still nibbling on the hay net. She started when Heero appeared in the doorway and tried to move back. Heero spoke in a soothing tone, taking his time to reassure the mare that he wasn't about to try and hurt her. After a few minutes the bay relaxed enough for Heero to enter the front of the float completely.

Still talking in soft tones, Heero undid the lead rope. “Okay, Duo. I'm ready whenever you are,” he said, still in the quiet tone.

“Tail chain is free,” Duo returned in a similar, quiet tone.

“Okay, girl. Time to back up,” Heero said and applied a gentle pressure to the lead rope. Nataku stood there for a brief moment, unsure of what to do. Heero began to move a little closer and Nataku took a step back. “Easy, that's it, one step at a time,” Heero cajoled, still applying a firm, backward pull on the lead rope.

Nataku took another step back and felt the brush of the cool air. Seconds later she rocketed back out of the float with a clatter of hooves. Heero's instincts kicked in and he ducked under the chest bar, following the mare and keeping a light pressure on the lead rope.

Duo had ducked to the side, he didn't fancy being run over by a bay express train. He was quite relieved to see Heero still on the other end of the rope.

Once all four feet were on solid ground, Nataku stopped her backing and stood, trembling in the moonlight. Her eyes darted about, fear still lodged in them and waiting for the beating that usually came when she shot off the float so quick.

“Steady, girl,” Heero soothed and stood still, letting the mare get her bearings first. He could see how terrified she was and noted how she flinched when he attempted to move closer to her. Taking his time, Heero slowly inched forward, all the while keeping up a steady, soothing monologue. The mare stood still, watching him but letting him approach. Once he was by her shoulder, Heero slowly raised his hand and rested it against her neck. Nataku shivered and shook, cowering slightly as if awaiting the blow that was sure to come.

“It's okay, I'm not going to hurt you,” Heero crooned. He gently ran his hand along her neck, careful to keep the movement slow. “See, nothing but nice pats,” Heero said as he continued to run his hand lightly up and down her neck. Gradually the bay relaxed a little.

“See if you can get her into the crush, Heero,” Duo said softly, not wanting to upset the apple cart, especially when Heero had managed to get this far with the mare.

“Okay.” Heero turned and picked up a little more contact with the lead rope. “Come on, girl, let's go get you checked out and then you can have some dinner.” Heero began to move, pulling lightly on the halter. Nataku kept a wary eye on the man, but followed.

Leading the bay into the stable block, Heero walked her towards the end and turned her around, moving towards the crush and stepping into it. He continued to walk through it as if it wasn't there, Nataku following. Once the bay was in the crush, Heero began to close the front gate, Duo moving from the side to close the back one and effectively restrain Nataku inside.

“Good,” Duo said with a sigh of relief.

“What do you want me to do?” Heero asked.

“I'll need her rug off so I can get a good look at her. Whilst I'm examining her I want you to stay by her head and talk to her. I want to try and keep her as calm as possible,” Duo replied. “Here.” Duo shoved a handful of something at Heero.

Looking down at what Duo had given him, Heero chuckled. “Carrots?”

“Yeah, well, they always seem to work,” Duo grinned.

It took Heero a couple of minutes to get the rug off Nataku, the bay cowering and flinching each time he raised a hand. It tore at both men to see just how frightened the mare was. Once the rug was removed, Heero went back to the mare's head and began to talk to her again.

With the bay hide now exposed to him, Duo wasted no time in checking out the mare. He deliberately kept his movements slow, noting that even with Heero talking to her, she still had most of her attention on him and what he was doing. She cowered and tried to move away when Duo approached, but the crush was solid and there was no where for her to go. In the end she gave up and stood there, her body shaking from time to time as a tremor of fear went through her.

“Poor girl,” Duo soothed. “You have been through a rough time of it, haven't you?” Duo started at the mare's shoulders, only finding a couple of welts there and no broken skin. His eyes moved back over the shoulders to the girth and back, noting nothing wrong there. When he got to the mare's flanks, his earlier suspicions of possible blood being there were confirmed. The skin had been broken in a few places, the blood having dried and congealed, matting the hair. From what he could gather, they looked like spur marks. Moving further back to the rest of the flank and rump area, there were several more welts, one or two looking like the hide may be broken underneath. Duo would know for sure when he got the chance to bathe the welts.

Experienced eyes traversed the legs of the mare and noted a little puffiness in the cannon bone of the off fore, the left fore had a small gash just above the knee. Duo thought it most likely they had happened when the mare had either slid into the jump, or when she'd knocked it down and stumbled in her landing. Moving towards the mare's head, Duo studied her mouth carefully. There was a little dried blood around her muzzle. “Heero, can you hold onto her for a second? I want to try and look or feel inside her mouth.”

“Okay, I'll do my best.” Heero took a firm hold on the halter, Nataku trying to pull her head away but not succeeding. “It's okay, Duo's just going to check your mouth,” Heero said quietly.

Doing his best to be gentle, Duo brought his hand towards the mare's lips and carefully felt around her mouth. When he got to the corner of her lips, she flinched. “I'm sorry, girl,” Duo said and removed his hand. “She's got a bit of tearing there on the corners of her mouth, most likely from the way that brute was holding onto her whilst riding. They will take a few days to heal and settle down. There's nothing much medically I can do for them as they're not too bad, but I'd suggest keeping her feed soft for now until that mouth heals.”

“Okay. What about the rest of her?”

“She's got some swelling on the right fore, a small cut on the left knee, several welts of which a couple appear to have broken the skin. There's also damage on her flanks from where the spurs have cut into her.”

“I see. What can we do to help her?”

Duo gave a soft chuckle. “I'll bathe the wounds with betadine and see if the knee one needs stitching. I don't think it will though. The rest will probably heal by themselves, but she will be getting a course of antibiotics and they will need to be dressed daily with penicillin powder and cleaned if necessary.”

“You're the vet so you should know.”

“Yes I am and you'd better not forget it,” Duo replied with a grin. “I'll get started. She's not going to like it much as it will probably sting when I wash the wounds. Just keep talking to her and see if she will eat those carrots.” Duo disappeared back into the dispensary to fetch a bowl of warm water. With the water, betadine and swabs in hand, Duo approached the mare again, sighing when she flinched away from him. Knowing there was nothing he could do to alleviate her fear, he decided to just get on with treating her. The trauma she'd suffered for who knew how long would take a lot longer than a couple of hours to undo.

With Duo working diligently cleaning the wounds, Heero did his best to keep the mare calm. No easy feat. He soothed and stroked, keeping his voice low and his movements slow. Gradually, Nataku settled a bit more. She seemed to have realized she couldn't go anywhere and had given in, accepting her fate. That saddened Heero as she was a lovely mare, nice conformation and from what he could tell, she should have a calm nature.

It would be a long road to recovery for her and not in the physical injury side either. Heero knew he would have his work cut out for him in winning the mare's trust. But like Duo had said earlier; he liked a challenge. Heero offered the mare a carrot, unsure if she would be able to eat it with her sore mouth; that's if she even knew what a carrot was.

Nataku scented something under her nose and she lipped listlessly at it. Having played with the item for a moment, she lipped it into her mouth and rolled it around. Her teeth found it and she began to chew. The taste hit her tongue and it was unlike anything she'd had in her life before. It was crunchy, juicy and slightly sweet. She decided she liked it – very much.

Seeing the softening in the mare's eyes as she chewed the carrot, Heero smiled to himself. “You like that, girl? I'll bet you've never had a carrot before, have you? Here, there's lots more if you want them.” Heero pulled out another carrot slice and lay it on his palm, offering it to the mare who took it a little hesitantly.

Nataku was lost and confused. She didn't know what to make of her situation. She was used to being forced to do things she didn't understand and when she didn't do whatever it was her master had wanted, she'd been beaten and whipped. She didn't know how long she had spent with that master, it seemed like forever to her. There was a long forgotten memory in the back of her mind, another place where the sun shone and the master that had broken her in had been kind and gentle. There had been no beatings there when she'd made a mistake, her master had patiently tried to explain to her through his legs, seat, hands and voice what he wanted her to do, and when she'd managed to figure it out and done what was wanted, she was given lots of praise and pats.

Then it had all changed.

The new master wasn't a patient or kind man. He had pushed her to her limits of education, forcing her to try and do more and more things that were beyond her capabilities at the time – and when she didn’t do what he wanted, the beatings had started. Over time she had gotten used to them and tried to fight back several times – but it was useless. If she showed so much as any form of defiance, the whip came out and she would hurt for days after.

After a while she stopped trying to fight back and gave in – to a point. No, she no longer tried to bite or kick her master when he got too savage, she tried in different ways to avoid being hurt. Those big obstacles she was expected to jump used to be a pleasure to her, now they only made her tremble in fear. She would try to gallop around and get over them as fast as possible just to make the torment on her sensitive mouth and flanks stop. Whenever the float was hitched up she would shake in fear, knowing it meant more pain for her as the float meant another of those jumping things. She would dig her toes in, refuse to walk on the float, try anything she could think of to avoid getting inside. But the master always won in the end and she had several new sore spots to try and recover from for her trouble.

Crunching on another of those orange things, she thought about where she was now. It was confusing. She'd been doing her best to avoid going back on that float when this other master had stepped in. Before she knew what was happening, the whipping had stopped and she was tied up amongst new horses. They seemed calm enough and quite happy with the fussing that these new humans made of them, but she was wary. When one of the humans had tried to hold her, she automatically went on the defensive and was surprised when the man stopped and went away.

Not long after she was again being handled by this new man, the one who smelt of horse, hay and saddle soap and the scent of one of the other humans. He radiated a feeling of calm about him and certainly knew how to deal with a skittish horse. Her attempts to avoid the float had resulted in soft words and gently coaxing, not the whip and beatings, the master didn't give up easily – and he didn't lose his temper either. The combination of the gentle persistence and rope around her rump had persuaded her to walk into the float.

Now she was here in this strange place with these two humans and not sure what to make of it all. So far, nothing bad had happened – well nothing like a beating or flogging. She wasn't too sure what the other human was doing. He'd been as gentle as he could in his exploration of her body, but even so, she'd flinched when he'd touched a sore spot. Whatever it was he was using to wash her wounds with stung a little, but once he'd finished they did feel a lot better. Something firm was wrapped around her front legs and she stamped one hoof in annoyance. She had to admit to herself that whatever it was, it helped her sore legs a lot.

Scenting another of those orange things, she turned her muzzle and lipped it up. The master before her was still murmuring in a soft tone and the steady sound was lulling her to the point where she could have fallen asleep.

“That's all I can do for the wounds for the moment. I'll give her that shot of antibiotic now and then it's up to nature,” Duo said softly as he straightened up from bandaging the mare's front legs.

“Thanks, Duo. She seems a lot calmer now,” Heero replied as he continued to gently stroke the bay neck.

Returning with the antibiotic, Duo swabbed the spot he wanted and inserted the needle. Moments later he was capping it and rubbing the spot to soothe away any sting. “If you ask me, I'd say she's so used to being beaten and abused she thinks it's all a part of everyday life. I swear, some people don't deserve to have an animal.”

“I can't help but agree with you. I'm hoping we can overcome her fear with gentle handing, lots of praise and rewards of the petting and carrot kind. It's not going to be easy and it will take a while before she will ever trust us, but I'm sure going to try.”

“Me too, Heero. Okay, she's all finished with so I'd suggest we put her rug on and make her up a nice feed, something soft and damp that won't irritate her mouth.”

“I'll make up a bran mash for her and put some molasses in it.”

“That would be perfect for her Heero.”

Heero fetched a rug from the 'old' tack room and aside from some cowering and a few flinches from the mare, he managed to get it on her without any fuss. The other rug he'd take back to the stables in the morning as it was Lunar's rug and Carl had been kind enough to loan it to them. Leaving the mare in the crush for the moment, Heero went into Duo's feed room and began to make the mare up her dinner. He added some warm water to a bucket and put a dipper of molasses in it. The rich, treacle like substance soon dissolved and Heero poured it over the feed he'd made up. Carrying it out, he located the stable Duo had set aside for Nataku and put the feed in, mixing it up thoroughly. Next step was to get the mare and put her in for the night.

Stepping back out of the stable, Heero paused and watched for a moment. Duo was standing by the mare's head and talking to her in a low voice, one hand was feeding the bay carrots whilst the other one was gently stroking her ears. What was even more surprising to Heero was that Nataku was not only allowing Duo to touch her without her flinching, but she seemed to be enjoying the attention. He stood and watched for a few moments longer, a small smile on his face.

Eventually Duo felt the prickle to the back of his neck and turned his eyes to see Heero watching him. He gave a smile. “It's going to take some time, Heero, but I think we will be able to turn this mare's life around.”

“I think so too, Duo.”

~ * ~

tbc...
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Equus