Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Cowboy ❯ Chapter 4 ( Chapter 4 )

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

Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing, it belongs to Bandai, Sotsu and associated parties. I just borrow the guys from time to time and return them a whole lot happier. I don't own the song 'Rodeo' either. It belongs to Garth Brooks and as such all rights remain his. This fic is based loosely on the lyrics. Written for pleasure not profit.

Pairing: 2x1x2, past 1xR (sorry!) 3x4

Rating: NC 17

Warnings: Angst, fluff, sap, yaoi, Lemons, Lime, AU

Summary: Heero is a rodeo rider, the best on the circuit and looks set to remain there until an up and coming young cowboy appears on the scene.

AN: This fic is based loosely on the lyrics of 'Rodeo' by Garth Brooks - although it is not a song fic.

Dedication: To my lovely beta; Sakura for giving me the plot bunny and for all her hard work in editing my stuff. (No easy feat!) Thanks hun! You're the best!

“Cowboy”

October 2010 ShenLong

Chapter 4

[It's the white in his knuckles
The gold in the buckle
He'll win the next go round

Rodeo - Garth Brooks]

The dawn of the morning began to creep across the land, chasing the night away. Birds began to sing whilst here and there a horse neighed. Duo rolled over in the small bunk and blinked the sleep from his eyes. A glance at his watch told him it was still early so he pulled the blanket back up and over his body, deciding to stay in bed and doze for a little while longer.

Scythe had other ideas though. With the rising of the sun, he was more than awake. He wanted his breakfast and he wanted it now. Raising a hoof, Scythe brought it down against the side of the trailer. He pricked his ears and listened intently. When he couldn't detect any sound of movement coming from within the trailer, he pawed at it again, and again...

“For fucks sake!” Duo growled and pulled the pillow over his head.

The banging paused for a moment and just as Duo was about to drop off to sleep again - it started once more.

“Scythe! Cut it out!” Duo yelled.

Hearing his master's voice, Scythe gave a loud whinny.

And raised his hoof again.

“Fucking hell,” Duo snapped. “Can't a guy have a lie in once in a while?” he muttered as he dragged himself from the bed and pulled on a pair of jeans. He slipped his feet into a pair of old sneakers and yawning widely, stepped out of the trailer.

Scythe gave another whinny and began to pace around the small yard.

“Yeah, yeah, hold your friggin horses,” Duo mumbled, his eyes squinting in the bright sunlight as he scratched at the skin of his stomach. He opened the small grooms compartment and mixed up a small feed whilst Scythe was doing his best to stretch his head and neck over the top rail and around the small door.

“It's coming you horrible beast,” Duo grumbled and with the bucket in hand, he worked his way around the yard to where the feed bin hung on the rail. Scythe followed him step for step, trying to get his head over and into that bucket.

Dumping the feed into the bin, Duo almost had his hand squashed when he tried to mix the feed up. A black head was doing its best to get its muzzle inside the bin and there wasn't quite enough room for both.

“Scythe! Back off and wait,” Duo growled. “Where's your manners?”

The appaloosa moved back a step and looked sheepishly at his master.

“Keep it up and there won't be any treats for you,” Duo scolded the horse.

Scythe snuck forward, an innocent expression on his face and did his best to nuzzle his master. He could tell from the tone of voice his master wasn't happy with him.

“Great, just great. Now I have your slobber on me,” Duo sighed and looked at his bare chest which was now wearing a couple of nice streaks of saliva. “You're a rouge, you know that?” Duo smiled though and gently pulled on the stallion's ears.

Scythe really couldn't give a damn, he had his breakfast now and nothing was going to move him until he'd licked the bowl clean.

“Aren't you just a pretty sight,” came a voice from behind Duo.

The cowboy jumped a little and spun around to see Trowa smirking at him. He ran a hand through his messy bangs and suddenly shivered as a cool breeze blew across his skin. “Yeah, well, I wasn't expecting company,” Duo replied and put the feed bucket away.

“I can see that,” Trowa snickered.

“You heading for the showers?” Duo asked as he spotted the towel slung over Trowa's shoulder.

“Yeah. Thought I'd get in before the rush.”

“Hang on a sec and I'll join you,” Duo replied and dived back inside his trailer to grab his toiletries bag, clean clothes and a towel.

* * *

Having enjoyed a hot shower, several mugs of coffee and a bowl of cereal courtesy of Trowa, Duo was feeling more human. Pulling on his boots, he checked Scythe was comfortable and left the trailer to walk with Trowa across to the committee tent where the draw for the bulls, bareback and saddle broncs was to take place. That would be followed by the draw for the order in which they would ride off in the bulldogging and roping events.

Duo wore a cocky grin underneath his hat and hoped he would pull a couple of good draws. He was closing in fast on the top spot for all round cowboy of the year and fully intended to take that honor. Right now there was only one cowboy ahead of him and he was currently tied in second place with another. If he could stay on the three rides for the full eight seconds and score well, he could push to equal standing with John Carsley - the cowboy currently sitting on the top of the table.

If he managed a couple of good times and scores with the bulldogging and roping, he might even manage to hit the lead. It all depended on what animals he drew and what his opponents drew.

“Feeling lucky?” Trowa asked as they approached the tent.

“Always,” Duo grinned back.

Trowa nudged his friend. “See that guy over there?” he hissed under his breath.

Duo looked across to where Trowa had nodded and spotted another cowboy walking towards the tent. He had a very slight limp, one that under normal circumstances one wouldn't pick-up on, but to Duo who was used to detecting even the slightest trace of a limp in a horse, he picked it up easily. “That guy?” Duo returned, “the one with the slight limp?”

“Yeah. That's Heero Yuy.”

Duo slowed in his walking, eyes studying the man more intently. “He's the one that I'm tied in second place with,” Duo muttered. “How come I haven't seen him around at the last few rodeos?”

“He's the one that got his leg broke by Reaper.”

“At least the bronc has good taste,” Duo whispered to himself. The cowboy was certainly easy on the eyes; muscular frame, broad shoulders, blue plaid shirt and tight jeans. Oh, those jeans, they were positively sinful. Duo had to remind himself to close his mouth.

“Duo, you're drooling,” Trowa snickered.

“Am not,” Duo replied, but he wiped the back of his hand across his mouth anyway.

The cowboy in question stopped and turned around, a tight smile on his face as a woman joined him. She took his hand and the pair continued on towards the committee tent.

Duo felt his shoulders slump a little, but he accepted the fact that the cowboy was obviously in a relationship. “Damn, the good looking ones are always taken,” he said and smiled his hundred watt smile at Trowa.

“Come on, you'll miss out on the draw if you don't hurry up,” Trowa told him.

“Yeah, yeah. I'm coming.” Duo started to walk again, pushing the thought of the other cowboy out of his mind. Didn't pay to spend one's time thinking about something he couldn't have. Shame though, the cowboy sure was good looking.

* * *

One by one the cowboys competing in the rodeo all lined up and drew the name of a bull from the hat.

“Who did you draw?” Relena asked Heero as he returned with his piece of paper.

“Rocket,” Heero replied, but he didn't look too happy. Rocket was a good enough bull, bucking quite well, but usually it was only enough to score in the upper seventies. Heero would have preferred one of the other bulls. His head jerked up when he heard a cowboy announce Freckles as his draw and his breath caught in his throat.

It was that same cowboy, the one he'd almost clobbered with the bucket last night. Heero's eyes wandered over the cowboy's slim form, noting the long braid of hair, broad shoulders and athletic build. Heero scowled as the cowboy moved back into the crowd. He would have liked to have drawn Freckles.

Duo couldn't help the grin that spread across his face when he drew `Freckles'. The bull had a reputation of being a tough ride, he always bucked spectacularly and if a cowboy could stay the eight seconds with him, they were guaranteed a good score.

“Good pick,” Trowa offered when Duo rejoined him.

“Yeah, lucky so far. I just hope I get a couple of good ones in the broncs.”

The saddle bronc draw was next, Heero getting a bay by the name of Shotgun and Duo drew a paint called Whizz. Both were good saddle broncs with a fifty/fifty record. Fifty percent of cowboys managed to get the eight seconds, the other fifty didn't.

When it came to the draw for the bareback broncs, Heero found himself almost shaking as he put his hand in the bag and pulled out a piece of paper. He was almost too worried to look at it. A sigh of relief left him when he saw the name `Spot' on the paper. He should be able to get a pretty good score on Spot, the appaloosa being one of the better bucking horses.

“Please don't let it be Reaper,” Duo muttered to himself as he put his hand in the bag and grabbed a piece of paper. Whilst he had no problem with the horse itself, he would prefer it if he could have at least another couple of rodeos behind him before he took on that black devil again. Duo was determined to ride the beast - and stay on for the full count, but not just yet.

He swallowed and opened the paper up. `Razorback' stared out at him. He let out the air he was holding and announced his ride to the others. Walking back to Trowa, Duo couldn't help the grimace on his face.

“Razorback?” Trowa said with a raised eyebrow.

“Remind me to put a little padding down my jeans before the bronc ride will you?” Duo said with a roll of his eyes.

“I think you'll need more than a little padding,” Trowa chuckled.

“Yeah, yeah, clown boy, laugh it up,” Duo grumbled. Razorback was a good bronc, bucking well and scoring high for the cowboy that managed to stay on for the full time. Problem was, the horse had an extremely high wither and that bony section of his anatomy always managed to connect with the more sensitive part of the cowboy's anatomy. The prominent wither is what gave the horse his name as many a cowboy had likened sitting on the bronc to sitting on a razor.

The draw for the order of competing in the other events continued on, Duo riding off eighth in the bulldogging and sixth in the roping. Heero drew third for the bulldogging and tenth in the roping.

Trowa had been convinced to enter Heavyarms in the barrel race and was fifth to ride off in that.

With the draws all completed, the rodeo organizers continued on with their tasks of getting everything ready for the show to start. It would get underway at one in the afternoon and there was still quite a lot to do. The cowboys all drifted back to their trailers to get their own `rigs' sorted out and ready for their rides plus warm up their own horses for the later events.

* * *

“Going to be a busy one today, Wufei,” Quatre commented as he rode his chestnut towards the main arena. The grandstand was filling up fast and there were still long queues of people waiting to get in.

“Let's hope everyone stays safe,” Wufei replied, letting Nataku stretch out his bay neck and walk with a swinging stride.

The pair rounded the back of the main arena where most of the activity was taking place. The stock yards were full of bulls, broncs and calves and here and there, cow hands were calling out instructions to each other. Cowboys milled around too, some checking out the animal they'd drawn, others just catching up. Quatre spotted a familiar face amongst the crowd and smiled.

“I'll be right back,” he told Wufei and turned Sandy to ride away.

Wufei followed the direction Quatre had gone with his eyes and then shook his head. He could clearly see the rodeo clown standing to the side with his barrels, checking them over. Idly he wondered if the pair would ever get a clue and stop dancing around each other. It was quite comical to watch at times. It was obvious they were both smitten with each other and yet neither one was confident enough to make the first move.

He pushed Nataku forward again and noticed someone walking across that he hadn't seen in a while. “Yuy,” Wufei called out to the cowboy.

Hearing his name, Heero paused and looked around. He saw a bay horse coming towards him and recognized the pick-up guy. “Hey, Chang. How are you?”

Bringing Nataku to a halt, Wufei leaned on the saddle horn and looked down at the cowboy. “I'm fine, Heero. How are you? Has the leg healed up okay?”

“Doing okay,” Heero replied. “Cast came off four weeks ago and whilst there's still some muscle tone to build back up, it's coming along just fine. Today will be the real test though.”

“Not been back on-board since getting out of plaster?”

Heero shook his head. “Not on anything bucking. I've been working Wing and he's pretty much back to top form again.”

“How'd the leg hold up with that?”

“Pretty good.”

“I'll let Quatre know you're back in action and we'll both be right there for you in the ring.”

“Thanks, Wufei, I appreciate that.”

“No problem, that's what we're here for, to help you guys,” Wufei returned.

“I'd better get going, need to get my rig over to the cow hands,” Heero replied and held his hand up, showing Wufei the ropes in them.

“Good luck. I'll see you in the ring.”

“See you later, Chang.” Heero walked off, aiming for the cow hands who would be getting his `ride' ready.

Sitting upright in the saddle again, Wufei nudged the bay forward and rode over to where Quatre and Trowa were talking and let them know that Heero Yuy was back on the circuit.

* * *

Duo took a deep breath, kissed his cross and tucked it under his shirt. Pulling his gloves on, he walked over to the chutes and stopped by number two where Freckles waited. His rig sat tight on the bull, the large beast seemingly calm whilst standing in the chute. Duo knew though that the bull's demeanor would change the instant the gate opened.

“Hey, Duo,” Charlie, one of the cow hands called out.

“Hi Charlie. Thanks for getting him ready,” Duo responded and checked his gloves. He grabbed hold of the fence bars and hauled himself up to the top. Behind him, chute four opened and a bull shot out into the arena, bucking like crazy.

“He's all ready to go,” Charlie said with a smile.

“Thanks.” Duo tucked his braid down the back of his shirt and stepped astride the top spars of the chute.

Charlie remained at the head end of the bull, muttering softly to the animal. The bull seemed disinterested, eyes half closed, but Duo felt the slight tremor pass through the powerful body as he gently lowered himself down to sit astride the animal's back. He reached for the hand hold and worked his gloved hand into the webbing, checking it and pulling tight.

Chute one opened and another bull shot into the arena, determined to get rid of the cowboy on his back.

“You set?” Charlie asked.

“Almost,” Duo replied. He wriggled a bit, settling himself more comfortably on the bull's back. He checked the hand hold again and prepared to drop his legs either side of the beast. Jamming his hat hard onto his head, he took a deep breath and nodded to the guy waiting to open the chute door.

“Ladies and gentlemen, next up is a young cowboy by the name of Duo Maxwell and he's drawn Freckles for his bull ride today!”

Once the announcer had finished, the chute gate was opened and Freckles launched himself into the arena. The bull leapt into the air, hind legs twisting and kicking out. Freckles managed to get quite a bit of height to his bucks and with the twists thrown in as well, Duo was having a tough time staying with the bull. He hung on hard, determined to stay on for the full count. He leaned back a touch and when Freckles shoved his hind end into the air again, Duo was almost lying on his back. Legs swung back and forth, arm up and out in the air as Duo continued to stay with the bucking animal.

He knew his time was almost up, the cheering of the crowd grew louder and he spotted the pick-up guys starting to head his way. Trowa was quite active too, keeping close by the bull, one eye on the beast and the other on Duo. He was ready to spring into action and take the bull's attention on himself should the cowboy have to bail before time.

The siren sounded, the crowd erupted into screams, whistles and cheers; and a certain clown hovered close by. Freckles continued to buck, the flank strap remaining tight and encouraging the bull. Duo managed to wriggle his hand free of the webbing, bringing his other down and using the two hands to keep him steady and on the bull's back. He could see the pick-up guys almost upon him, the chestnut gelding coming alongside whilst the bay's rider reached for the tie to the flank strap.

Automatically, Duo reached out, his arm sliding around the waist of the pick-up cowboy who in turn grabbed at Duo's shoulders and practically pulled him from astride the bull. Quatre turned Sandy once he was certain he had a good hold on the cowboy and cantered away. Once he was a safe enough distance, he slowed and let the cowboy drop to his feet on the dusty arena surface.

Once the flank strap had been released, Freckles stopped bucking and came to a halt. He looked around, spotted the clown and snorted. Turning his head the other way, Freckles noted the gap and set off for it, knowing it would take him back out of the arena and into the corrals.

When Duo found his feet on the dirt, he took off his hat and waved and smiled to the crowd.

“A successful ride for Duo Maxwell!” the commentator announced. “Judges score is in and it's an eighty-five. That puts Duo in first place in the bull ride. I'm sure our remaining cowboys will have something to say about that though...”

Duo didn't hang around to hear any more, he climbed the arena fence and made his way around to the corrals to get his rig back from the cow hand - he'd need it for the bareback bronc ride.

* * *

“Please be careful,” Relena said as she placed a gentle kiss to Heero's cheek.

“I'll be fine, Relena. Stop worrying,” he returned and offered a small smile to soften the words.

“You ready, Heero?” the cow hand called.

Heero nodded. “I gotta go,” He told the woman and turning, walked away without looking back.

Relena worried her lower lip for a moment and decided there wasn't anything she could do so she went to find a spot where she could watch.

Lowering himself onto Rocket's back, Heero could feel the tension in the bull. He worked his hand into the hand hold of his rig and pulled it tight. A couple of deep breaths, a slight wriggle around and Heero was set. He sent a silent prayer to whatever god might be listening and nodded to the chute man.

“Our next bull rider is a cowboy by the name of Heero Yuy. Heero has just returned from an injury he suffered ten weeks ago and is currently tied with Duo Maxwell for second place for the title of All Round Cowboy of the Year. Let's cheer him on, folks!”

The chute opened and Rocket did what he was named after - rocketed out. Once he was clear of the chute, the bull went into a spin, bucking wildly. When that didn't unseat his rider, he began to jackknife. Heero started off fine, staying with the bull and keeping his one hand high in the air. He swung his legs in time with the bucks, his other hand holding tightly to the hand hold. The strain on his muscles was tremendous, shoulders pulling and aching, arm and wrist feeling like they were going through the grinder. But Heero grit his teeth and hung on.

A couple of bone jarring `cat leaps' by Rocket sent a stab of pain through his still recovering leg, but Heero bore it no mind. He was determined to stay on this damn bull and get the full eight seconds.

Rocket twisted, bucked and spun whilst the crowd roared and cheered the cowboy on. The siren went to indicate his eight seconds were up and Heero gratefully grabbed the hold with his other hand. Wufei appeared by his side, Quatre releasing the flank strap on the bull.

“Want a lift?” Wufei asked as he rode Nataku close and reached out for the cowboy.

“Thanks,” Heero grinned and hooked his arm around Wufei's waist, the pick-up rider pulling him from the bull.

Trowa was there to draw the bull away and towards the exit whilst Wufei deposited Heero close to the fence.

“A good ride for Heero Yuy!” The commentator stated. “The judges scores are in and we have a new leader! Heero Yuy takes the lead with a score of eighty seven!”

Heero grinned and waved his hat to the crowd as he climbed the fence and exited the arena. He didn't notice a pair of violet eyes watching him or the nod of acquiescence from the other cowboy as he recognized a challenge when he saw one.

~ * ~

tbc...

AN: For those who are not rodeo `savvy' (me included - isn't Internet research a wonderful thing?) A Rig is the name given to the gear a cowboy uses when riding the bulls or bareback broncs.

Any questions, feel free to email or message me and I'll do my best to answer them for you. ^_^

Thank you to everyone for reading and warm hugs for the kind feedback! Much appreciated.