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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 59

Anderson stared at the mangled and melted piece of technology in his hands. “I'm positive it's a camera.”

“Yes, it is,” Treize said. “I'd forgotten all about them. Heero installed a few some time ago when one of the horses kept getting out of his paddock and stable. He thought someone was letting the horses out so he installed the cameras so he could keep an eye on the horses and catch whomever was responsible. Turns out it was the horse himself, he'd figured out how to undo the door latch.”

“Do you know if he still had them activated?” Anderson asked.

“I honestly don't know.”

“If he did, then the chances are whoever started this fire could well be caught on that tape.”

“There's one sure way to find out and that's to ask Heero. I'm on my way to the hospital now to visit Heero and Duo. I can ask him when I get there and let you know if you like, detective?”

“Thanks, but don't worry about it, we're coming with you to the hospital. I'd like to ask him myself.”

Treize smiled, knowing that the detective was eager to do his job and knowing Heero would be just as relieved to know that progress was being made towards finding out who or what had started the fire in the first place.

* * *

“I still say it's not fair,” Duo grumbled.

“Don't worry, I'm sure you will be able to take a shower in a couple of days,” Heero stated, doing his best to soothe his partner's ruffled feathers. The oxygen masks had been removed that afternoon and Heero had been allowed to take a shower once special covers had been placed over the bandages on his hands. It hadn't been easy to wash himself, but he'd persevered and somehow managed. Unfortunately, Duo wasn't so lucky, given his calves were bandaged as well as his hands, he'd had to suffer through the indignities of being given a bed bath. “At least the nurse wasn't one of those old battle axe types,” Heero tried again to ease his partner's annoyance.

“Maybe not, but she wasn't all that old either.” He blushed to the roots of his hair when he recalled the young nurse that had efficiently bathed him. “I'm fed up, tired and I want to go home. I've had enough of being in here.”

“I'm sure the doctors will release you within a couple of days.”

Duo pouted. “I want to go home with you. I have a practice to run and we need to sort out the horses, figure out the damage and get the insurance people out so we can get an idea of what the rebuilding costs are going to be.”

Heero sighed, he'd already had this conversation several times with his partner. “I know we do, Duo, but your health and safety is more important. Besides, with both of us limited in what we can do, we need to have someone stay with us to help out.”

“I'm sure we can persuade one of our friends to do that.” Duo, it appeared, had an answer for everything.

“It could be a bit tricky. Trowa and Quatre are both busy with their own jobs and the kennels.”

“Quatre is too much of a mother hen anyway,” Duo replied. “There's Hilde or Catherine?”

“You seriously think you could have Hilde or Catherine give you a bed bath?” Heero teased.

“Okay, maybe not those two,” Duo muttered and blushed again. “What about Zechs?”

“What about him?”

Duo's eyes lit up as his brain tossed the thoughts around. Heero wasn't too sure he was going to like whatever it was his partner was cooking up in that devious mind of his.

“Well...” Duo drawled. “Zechs already lives on the property so it wouldn't be too difficult for him to keep an eye on us. Most things we would be able to do for ourselves around the house and all, simple things like feeding ourselves. Laundry and cleaning could be a bit of a problem but I think I could persuade Catherine or Hilde to lend a hand there. Zechs could stay with us during the evening until we've eaten and showered, then he could go back to his place for the night. If we do need assistance during the night for whatever reason all we would need to do is call him and he can be there within five minutes. I could get Quatre to do some shopping for us, get in a load of instant meals and such, you know, stuff that can be done in Martha?”

“Martha?” Heero questioned.

“Yeah, the microwave,” Duo replied without skipping a beat. “All we need to do is get something out of the freezer, nuke it in Martha and we have an instant meal.”

“Could work, I suppose,” Heero reluctantly agreed.

“We wouldn't need a babysitter during the day as I'd be up at the practice for most of it; just supervising and catching up on stuff that we never seem to get the time to do,” he added hastily when he saw Heero frown. “You'd be out with the horses for most of the day and then we'd also have the insurance company to deal with regarding getting the stables rebuilt and all the lost gear replaced. We'd have a ton of stuff to keep us occupied that we can do even with our injuries and there would be people around all the time so I can't see a problem,” Duo trailed off.

Heero shook his head. He had to give his partner credit, he'd really thought about their problem. Heero still had serious doubts about how they would be able to manage by themselves with their bandaged hands and Duo in a wheelchair for a while as his calves recovered, but he was game to give it a shot. He really didn't want to stay in hospital any longer than he had to. Besides, he was worried sick over the horses, not having heard anything at all in regards to what state the equines were in. “I guess you could be right, but we have to wait and see what the doctor says tomorrow.”

“Don't you worry about Devlin,” Duo said in a firm tone. “I'll be making sure we're both released tomorrow.”

Heero had no doubt about that. When Duo had his mind set on something he could be a tenacious bastard. He didn't envy Devlin if he tried to keep Duo in hospital for too much longer, the vet would end up signing himself out. He glanced at his watch that had been returned to him. “The nurse said that Treize had rung earlier to say he would be calling in tonight to visit and bring us up to speed with what happened, what's going on now and how the horses are. Visiting hours started fifteen minutes ago, I wonder when he'll get here?” he said, trying to change the subject.

“Knowing Treize, it won't be too much longer,” Duo replied and leaned back into his pillows with a sigh. “I'm bored.”

“I can put the television on if you want?”

“Might as well, there's nothing else to do around here.”

“Just as long as you don't start playing tunes on the bed pans or urine bottles I'll be happy,” Heero replied dryly and located the remote.

“Now there's an idea,” Duo said with an evil grin.

“Don't you dare!”

“Don't you dare what?” came an amused voice from the doorway.

Both men turned to see who had spoken. “Treize!” Heero stated.

The ginger haired man walked into the two bed ward with a grin on his face, two men following behind him. “How are you both feeling?” Treize asked as he stood between the two beds.

“Not too bad,” Heero replied.

“Pretty good all things considered, but we'll both be a lot better when we can get out of here,” Duo stated and looked curiously at the two men that had entered behind Treize. “Who are your friends?”

Treize turned to the two men. “This is fire chief O'Hallahan and Detective Anderson from the police Arson squad,” Treize introduced. “Gentlemen, this is Mr. Heero Yuy, the owner of the stables and Doctor Duo Maxwell, the owner of the vet practice and partner with Mr. Yuy in the stables.”

The fire chief and detective moved to the beds and went to shake hands with Heero and Duo only to be brought up short when they spotted the bandages they both sported.

“Pleased to meet you both. We would shake your hands but as you can see, we're both slightly incapacitated at the moment,” Duo said with a grin.

“I take it you have either questions for us or some news in regards to the fire?” Heero said, getting right to the point.

“Actually, yes, yes we do,” Anderson replied. “Mind if we take a seat?”

“Feel free,” Heero said and waved a bandaged hand towards the corner where a couple of chairs sat. Treize perched himself on the side of Duo's bed whilst the other two fetched the chairs and sat so they could all see each other. Treize knew from the subtle twitching of Heero's hands and arms that the man wanted to know how his beloved horses were, but was also curious as to what information the detective had as well. Treize decided to leave discussing the horses until after the detective and fire chief had left.

“Mr. Yuy, we have reason to believe that this fire is a case of arson.”

“You mean someone deliberately set fire to the stables?!” Duo interrupted.

“Yes, that is exactly what I'm saying. O'Hallahan and I have begun to go over the remains of the stable complex to try and determine where the fire started and how. At this point in time we know it did start in the feed room and spread out from there. It could have been an electrical fault and I have the remains of the electrical box bagged up to go into the lab for further testing.”

“But you don't think that's what started it?” Heero questioned.

“No, no I don't. Mr. Yuy, do you or anyone who is a regular attendee at the stables smoke?”

“No, I don't and none of the agisters or clients smoke. I won't allow smoking anywhere near the stables for obvious reasons,” Heero replied with a frown.

“I've never seen anyone smoking around the stables or out buildings at all either,” Duo added.

“That's what I was told by Mr. Khushrenada which is why I believe this to be a case of arson. Mr. Yuy, I have found the remains of a match in the area which was the feed room. It's just a stub, but I don't think it belonged there at all.”

Heero shook his head. “I've never had any matches at all anywhere in the stables.”

“I'm hoping we may be able to get traces of DNA from the stub. If we can and can match that DNA then we have our suspect.”

“Excuse me for saying so, but isn't that a long shot?” Duo asked.

“Yes, it is, but you never know in this game. I've seen some funny things happen over the years being in the arson squad. Now, Mr. Yuy, that brings me to my next question. We found the remains of a camera amongst the ruins. Mr. Khushrenada said you had a form of closed circuit television cameras set up in the stables, correct?”

Understanding suddenly dawned on Heero. In the next bed, Duo's face also lit up. “I did have cameras installed. I put them in a while ago now as Wing kept getting out of his paddock and stable. I thought at first someone was maybe trying to steal him as he's quite a valuable animal, or letting him loose in the hope he might hurt himself or something, so I installed the cameras to keep watch. Turns out he had figured out how to open the latch on the gate and also the bolt on his stable door. I'd forgotten the cameras were still there.”

“Mr. Yuy, would those cameras by chance still have been working and recording?”

“I – I really don't know. I think so. I don't recall having ever turned them off so it's a good chance they still were working.”

“I never turned them off either, I'm afraid I steer clear of anything electrical, for some reason electrical things seems to hate me and go a little haywire if I so much as look at them,” Duo said. “You think they may have recorded whoever it was that lit that match?”

“There's a very good possibility that they did record something, providing they were still turned on and working.”

“Detective, the doctor did say I should be released from hospital tomorrow, if that’s the case then as soon as I get home I will check the computer. The cameras are linked to that and it records directly onto the hard drive. If they were still on and working, then the recording should be on the computer hard drive.” Heero was even more determined now to be released as soon as possible.

“I was hoping you'd say they were still on. Look, I'll leave you my card and as soon as you get home can you please call me? I'd like to take a look at whatever you may have on that hard drive.” Anderson handed over a card.

“Of course I will, detective. I'll call you as soon as I'm home.”

“Thank you. We will leave you in peace now, I've still got to get this other evidence back to the lab for testing and report on my findings so far. Have a good evening, Mr. Yuy, Doctor Maxwell.” Anderson stood and with O'Hallahan behind him they left the pair to talk amongst themselves.

Once the detective and fire chief had left, Treize took up residence in one of the vacated chairs, positioning it between the two beds so he could see both men easily. Before he had a chance to say anything, Heero was bombarding him with questions, and when he wasn't, Duo was. “Whoa! Hold up there a minute you two,” Treize chuckled and held up his hands in defense. “I know you want to know everything that's happened so if you sit back and shut up for a minute, I'll tell you.”

Both Heero and Duo muttered apologies and with sheepish grins, they reclined back in their beds to allow Treize to speak.

Treize began the tale from when he'd first heard the noises from the stables and gone to investigate only to find them on fire. “I never heard anyone around outside, no car pulled into the parking area and Zechs said the horses were all fine when he checked them and closed the main stable doors on his way back from evening consults. That would have been around seven-fifteen. I arrived about seven-forty and there wasn't any sign of anyone around then and nothing looked out of the ordinary. We noticed the fire about eight thirty.”

“That means whoever started it had about forty-five minutes to get onto the property, into the stables and back out again,” Heero surmised.

“Pretty much. Zechs and I have given statements to the police earlier this afternoon which is why I haven't gotten in sooner to see you. The police will want to speak with you two as well.”

“Don't know how much help we will be,” Duo muttered, “We only got there when the place was fully alight.”

“After you two had left in the ambulance, the firemen managed to get the blaze under control and put it out. I'm sorry to say though it was too late to save anything. The stables are completely ruined and will need to be rebuilt from scratch.”

“I gathered as much. I'll need to contact my insurance company when I get home and start to get things rolling in that department. I need to rebuild and get back in business as quickly as possible,” Heero mumbled.

“The horses can all stay at the surgery stables for now, Heero,” Duo said softly.

“I know and whilst I don't wish to appear ungrateful, you need those stables for any patients you may get come in.”

“We've managed before. Besides, you still have the few yards with the walk in walk out stables attached that you could use for two or three of the horses if I need the surgery ones for a client.” Duo turned to Treize. “They are still standing, aren't they?”

“Yes, Duo. The only building that was destroyed in the fire was the stable complex, all the other buildings, paddocks and yards are perfectly fine.”

“At least I've still got a stock pile of feed then,” Heero sighed. One of the out buildings, namely the old barn, had been turned into a storage area to allow Heero to purchase his feed in bulk and that's where he stored it all, bringing down bags of feed and hay to the stable feed room to replace feed stuffs as required.

“Most of the gear should be okay too as the majority of it is kept in the larger shed to the side of the stables, although I will have lost some tack as it was in the smaller tack room within the stables,” Heero said sadly.

“Don't worry, the insurance will cover the cost of replacing it all,” Duo said with a smile, trying to cheer his partner up.

“The horses, Treize. You haven't said anything about how the horses are. Are they all okay? What about Zero and Shini? How is Nataku? Did any of the client's horses get injured? Have they been treated?” Heero fired off the questions in rapid succession.

Treize chuckled slightly. “Don't panic, the horses are all okay. Lunar, Orion and Jester are fine, not a mark on them. Angel is okay too. Wing suffered a little shock, but he's okay now. Zechs put him on a drip for a few hours to help combat the shock and it worked just fine.”

“The others?” Heero asked feeling his stomach drop to his feet.

Duo was just as anxious to hear how the other horses were too, and equally interested to know what injuries had been sustained and what Zechs had done in regards to treatment.

“Shini sustained some minor burns to his back and flanks plus a slightly deeper burn to his rump. Zechs and Hilde have treated him and are still doing so. They expect him to make a full recovery. Zero also has some minor burns to his back, rump and flanks, nothing serious though and he will be back to normal within a week or two.”

“Nataku?” Heero whispered. Duo worried his bottom lip with his teeth. He desperately wanted to know how the bay mare was, after all, if it wasn’t for her, Duo may well have perished in that fire.

“Nataku is the worst of them all,” Treize began slowly. “I'm not too sure of the exact terms one would use, but I'll do my best to explain her injuries. She also has several small burns over her back, rump and flanks, but she sustained a couple of deep lacerations and burns to her shoulder and ribs.”

“The beam,” Duo whispered. “Those injuries would have been from the burning beam that fell. Nataku pushed me out of the way of it, if she hadn't it would have hit me square on the head. She took the blow instead. How is she now? What did Zechs and Hilde do for her?”

“Like I said, I don't know the proper terms and all, but they have stitched her shoulder and ribs and treated the burns. I don't know exactly how bad the burns and lacerations are, Zechs or Hilde will be able to tell you more on that. Heero, at this stage they aren't sure if there is any permanent damage to the muscles. They don't know if she will be able to be ridden and compete.”

Heero nodded, his mind already formulating a plan of action. If Nataku's career as a show jumper was over, he would offer to buy her back from Wufei. It was only fair to Wufei, the man wanted a horse that could compete and Nataku had injured herself helping his lover, it wouldn't be fair to Wufei to expect him to continue to pay for her when she couldn't be ridden. “Have the owners all been contacted?”

“Yes.” Treize went on to explain about June, Carl and Frank, how June had taken charge and set up a roster system that had them all helping out to look after the equines until Heero was able to do it himself again. He also let Heero know that none of his clients wanted to move their horses, they were all very happy to have them stay with Heero. That went a long way to reassuring Heero that his business would continue to survive. He was touched that they thought enough of him and his business to want to keep their animals with him.

“What about Wufei?” Heero asked, not sure if he wanted to hear the answer. He couldn't blame Wufei if he decided to move his horse or wanted to give Heero an earful for allowing his horse to be injured in the first place.

“Wufei has no intention of moving Nataku. In fact, he specifically requested she remain with you and continue to be treated by Hilde and Zechs,” Treize told him.

That left Heero a little stunned. Duo's eyes softened when he heard the words. He knew Wufei had a deep seated sense of honor and justice and would in no way hold Heero responsible for what had happened. He wasn't surprised to learn that Wufei still wanted the mare to remain with them.

“That's... very kind of him,” Heero managed to whisper out.

“Wufei also asked me to pass on his and Meiran's best wishes to you both for a speedy recovery. I'm sure he will be around to see you both once he knows you are back home again.”

“Thank you, Treize, not just for coming in to see us and let us know what's going on, but for looking after the horses in my absence and for getting them out of the stables in the first place. I'm indebted to you, both you and Zechs.”

Treize waved his hand in the air. “No thanks needed, Heero. We're friends and it's what friends do for each other. I just wish we'd been a little more alert, managed to see who the hell it was that did this in the first place. My only regret is I wasn't able to stop this fire before it started,” Treize said quietly.

Deciding to break the somber mood, Duo piped up with a question of his own. “Who is running the practice?”

Grateful to have a change in topic, Treize replied, “Catherine has taken over the running of the practice, Hilde and Zechs are coping just fine with the consults between them.”

“Could you please thank them all for me, not just for the handling of the practice, but for their treating of the horses too. I will thank them myself once I'm home, but in the meantime...”

“Don't worry, Duo. I'll pass that on to them, but they're more than happy to help out when the going gets tough.”

“Yeah, they are. I'm very lucky to have such wonderful staff.”

“It works both ways, Duo. They're just as happy to have such a good boss,” Treize said with a chuckle. That caused Duo to blush and pick at the blanket.

“Hopefully we will both be back home tomorrow,” Heero said.

“Really?” Treize replied. “I knew that you would probably be released tomorrow after what you'd said earlier, but I thought they would be keeping Duo in for a couple more days yet.”

“Not if I have my way,” Duo growled. “I'm fed up with being in here when there is so much to be done back home.”

“But you won't be able to do much with your injuries. I know how awkward it can be,” Treize said with a glance at his own, lightly bandaged hands.

“We can still do quite a bit, even with our injuries,” Duo said on behalf of them both. “There is one problem though, the doc won't release us unless we have someone at home to 'look after us', or so he says.”

“That would make sense.”

“And that brings me to an idea I had earlier...” Duo went on to explain what he'd been thinking about before Treize arrived. “Do you think Zechs would mind? I know he's probably suffered some form of injury himself having been inside the stables as well to get the horses out.”

“True, Zechs has some minor burns to his hands, but they aren't too bad at all as he wasn't in the stables much. He did visit his own doctor earlier today and he should have his bandages off within a couple of days. If you wish, I can speak to him about it when I drop around there on my way home?”

“If you could, that would be wonderful,” Duo beamed. “The rest of it I can sort out with the others once we're home.”

“I promise I'll ask Zechs as soon as I see him. I can call you in the morning to let you know what he said if you wish?”

“That would be perfect.”

“Do you still have your cell phone with you or should I call the hospital?”

“I've got my cell here somewhere,” Duo replied.

“I have mine too,” Heero stated.

“Okay, I'll call either later tonight or first thing in the morning.”

“Thanks, Treize.”

They discussed a few more things until the nurse came in and ushered Treize out, stating that visiting times were now over. Treize left, promising the pair he would be in touch regarding Zechs' reply to helping them out and would also ring the hospital in the morning to find out what the doctor had said in regards to them being released. If they were allowed home, he would come in and pick them both up.

“See, Heero. I told you it would all work out,” Duo said with a smug grin.

“So far it is,” Heero had to agree. “But we still have to persuade the doctor to release us.”

“Like I said earlier, you leave Devlin to me.”

Shaking his head, Heero decided to let the subject drop. He knew Duo would be giving Devlin hell tomorrow if the doc so much as hinted he wouldn't let Duo go home.

~ * ~

tbc...
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Equus