Chapter 5: Revisiting Old Friends and Enemies

When Striker got home to the Wrath ring, he headed to his room, stretched and let out a loud yawn before passing out on his bed. Just then, he felt his hellhorse's head nuzzle against him, bidding him goodnight.

"Goodnight, Bombproof," Striker laughed, patting the horse's head with a quiet yawn before falling asleep.

Seeing his sleeping owner gave Bombproof an opportunity to tuck him in and turn off the lamp with his teeth. Striker sighed happily in his sleep as his horse tucked him in. Bombproof smiled at him, turned off the lamp, and walked over to his stable.

A week later, Moxxie and Millie decided to pay a visit to her family home. Blitzo was thrilled at the idea. After the issue with Striker, Joe and Lin had gained somewhat begrudging respect for Moxxie after sticking up for Millie.

"Ma! Pa! We're back!"

"Nice to see you again, my little pumpkin spice," Joe laughed, pulling his daughter into a tight hug.

"And you've brought your hubbie-husband," Lin added. Moxxie laughed nervously, rubbing the back of his head.

"Hello again, Lin. Joe."

"Nice to see you again, lad," Joe offered Moxxie a handshake, which Moxxie accepted, though he had to contain a wince as Joe's far stronger grip nearly crushed his hand.

"T-Thanks."

"Well, look who's back," Sallie Mae walked out of the house, closing the door behind her with a smirk.

"Hello again, Sallie Mae," Moxxie tried to sound calm, but the truth was that his sister-in-law gave him the creeps sometimes.

"Right back at ya... what's your name again?"

"Moxxie!" Millie and Moxxie retorted, the former with a hint of annoyance. Sallie Mae shrugged.

"How would you two like to join us for dinner?" Joe asked, changing the subject.

"Sounds fun- Right, Millie?" Millie nodded.

"This is very good!" Moxxie spoke with a mouthful of pork sandwich.

"Thanks, Moxxie. It's an old family recipe." Lin explained.

Moxxie swallowed his first bite. "Homemade barbeque. I like it."

"Homemade is always good, isn't it, Mox?" Millie asked, leaning over to him. Moxxie smiled at her.

"Even Mildred helped when she lived with us," Joe reminisced.

"I was born to help out, Daddy," Millie stated.

"Especially when you became a member of I.M.P."

After dinner, Millie and Lin went to wash the dishes. "How's your business going, sweetheart?" the latter asked.

"Everything's going fine, ma," the former replied.

Lin giggled. "You and I.M.P."

"Yeah."

"By the way, have you run into Striker lately?"

Millie tensed a bit. She didn't see that one coming. "No, we haven't," she said quickly.

Having overheard the casual question, Moxxie stepped in. "Y-Yeah! I mean, it's not like we'd hang around with the guy who tried to kill us!" he chuckled nervously as he lent his wife a hand with the dishes.

"Moxxie, you're such a gentleman," Lin said casually, forgetting about the topic.

Millie smiled gratefully at Moxxie. Usually, she was always honest with her parents, but she wasn't sure it was the right time to tell them about the cowboy just yet.

An hour later after dinner, Millie was going for a walk with her parents. So, she knocked on Sallie Mae's bedroom to get her older sister's attention. Sallie Mae stopped reading her magazine and went over to open the door for her younger sister.

"What's up, Mil?" Sallie Mae asked.

"Sallie, I was wondering if you'd like to go for a walk with me, Moxxie, and Mom and Dad," Millie replied.

"Eh, I'm kind of busy." Sallie Mae resumed her magazine.

"Can't you wait until after our walk?"

"Nah. I especially want nothing to do with that petty husband of yours."

Sallie's snarky comment about her husband made her sister's blood boil. "He was trying to be confident to show he wasn't a coward and Mom and Dad had already accepted him after our ordeal with Striker. Did you not see that?"

"Nope, I was too busy."

"Sitting on your ass and not giving a damn about those around you," Millie concluded, crossing her arms as she faced away from her older sister, "Well, if you don't want to go for a walk with us, then fine. We'll go on our own." With that nerve, she stormed out of the room and slammed the door behind her, making Sallie Mae flinch. Yet, Sallie resumed reading her magazine.

Millie stepped out of the house with an angry sigh.

"Oh, Satan!" Moxxie exclaimed, "What happened?"

"It's my stupid older sister," Millie answered, still feeling pissed at her sister.

"Well, at least you can still go out for a walk with us if you'd like," Lin offered, "Besides, Sallie's a lazy ass."

Millie nodded and Moxxie put her on her feet. "No offense, Millie, but your sister's a lazy bitch."

"Yep, she is."

"Good thing you stood up to her at least, Mildred," Joe complimented, "Takes balls."

"Thanks, Pa. I'm ready for a walk now."

"Alright," Lin said, seeing that her daughter made the right decision and the four imps started their walk. "I'm glad you decided you still wanted to go for a walk despite Sallie not coming with us."

"Right?" Millie chuckled and Joe laughed with her.

"Oh, Satan, she'd be fucked," Moxxie agreed.

"That's enough, Moxxie," Joe playfully scolded him.

Little did the four know that Striker was on his horse, Bombproof, saw all four of them, although the lone ranger didn't expect to see Moxxie and Millie anytime soon. He just needed to give them space, so that he could have his own private time, as well.

"You may be too violent in the pain games of wrath," Lin told Millie, "But you're good at your job and your skills was what got you to I.M.P. I'll admit that I was like you when I was your age."

"You were?" Millie gasped in surprise. "I'll admit I could've done better by hiding the bodies." She shrugged her shoulders.

"You can always practice since you have Moxxie and your crew to support you."

"There will always be folks like you to be out in the pain games from generation to generation," Joe added.

"Speaking of which, do you two plan on having children?"

"Uh, maybe?" Millie turned to Moxxie. "Right, Mox?"

"Uh, yeah, I'd like that, Millie," Moxxie answered, "But I don't know if we're ready yet."

Bombproof was heading towards Moxxie and Millie, while Striker pulled the reins, urging him to go home.

"Bombproof, we have to go home," Striker protested, "We have to let Moxxie and Mildred have their privacy." But Bombproof had already led him to Moxxie, Millie, and her family. "Dammit, Bombproof!"

Millie, Moxxie, Joe, and Lin stopped when they heard the ground rumbling because of horse hooves.

"What the hell was that?" Lin asked.

Joe shrugged his shoulders. "Beats me."

"A hell shake?" Moxxie wondered.

"Mox, come on," Millie said, playfully elbowing her husband, "You said so yourself that hell shakes don't happen."

As she said this, Bombproof slid in front of them, coming to a stop.

"STRIKER?!" Lin and Joe shouted simultaneously.

"We thought you were long gone!" Joe growled.

"After you hurt and nearly killed our baby girl!" Lin snapped, placing her hands on her hips.

"I know what I did was wrong, but my main target was this blueblood, my client wanted me to kill," Striker said as he climbed down from his horse, "She even gave me angelic weapons used to kill demon royalty since her husband cheated on her for Blitzo."

Joe scoffed. "I don't believe a word of it, you piece of horse shit." He crossed his arms.

Lin glared at the cowboy she and her husband once hired and trusted. "Neither do I, traitor."

"Listen, my client happened to be his wife, who paid me to take care of him with those said weapons. I was about to shoot that cheating prick a week ago until I realized he had a kid and I don't kill people who have kids."

"It's true, Ma, Pa," Millie said, "We didn't believe him at first until we realized he was telling the truth."

"We found him drunk in Blitzo's apartment, so we had no choice but to take care of him," Moxxie added.

Lin realized that her own daughter lied to her earlier, so she gave her a stern look. "Mildred, why did you lie to me?"

"Ma, I didn't want you to be upset and I was scared," Millie replied as she lowered her head with guilt.

"She's right, Lin," Moxxie told her on his wife's behalf, "She was afraid of what you'd think if you two found out we were friends with him. If Striker was still the same psychopath you hired, he would've already killed the prince of hell by now."

"Wow, Moxxie, you've been just as bold as your boss man," Striker praised.

Lin and Joe took what Striker, Moxxie, and Millie said into consideration when Striker let out a loud yawn.

"Striker?" Millie said with concern.

"Mister, you look exhausted," Moxxie said, also with sympathy.

"Don't worry, I'll head back to my house," the cowboy assured her.

He started to head back to his home until a familiar voice called out to him, snapping him awake and forcing him to turn around, "Hey, Striker!" It was Joe.

"Joe?"

"You can spend the night at our place," Lin told him.

Striker nodded sleepily and yawned again. Despite being tired, he and Bombproof followed Moxxie, Millie, and her parents home.

Back in the house, Striker felt his body getting tired, so he found the nearest couch in the living room that he could sleep on. He yawned, plopped right on it, fast asleep, and he began to snore.

Bombproof slowly trotted over to his owner, where he could see his head and started to lie down. The horse rubbed his head against Striker to keep him company.

Lin, seeing that the cowboy was asleep with the horse nuzzling him, went to get a pillow and a blanket. Even Joe admired the sight, so he made his way into the stables to get a blanket for Bombproof.

Moxxie and Millie went into the closet to grab sleeping bags to sleep in the living room.

Joe and Lin returned with a blanket for Bombproof and a pillow and blanket for Striker. Lin moved Striker's head and slid the pillow under it before placing his head onto the pillow. Joe put a blanket onto Bombproof's body as if he were distinguishing the flames, while Lin tossed a blanket on Striker and tucked him in.

Millie and Moxxie with sleeping bags threw them on the floor, crawled into them, and laid their heads on their pillows. Now that they were settled in, they kissed each other goodnight and went to sleep.

"Goodnight, Striker," Joe whispered.

"Goodnight, Millie and Moxxie," Lin whispered as the two left and she turned out the lights on their way to their bedroom.

AN: I'd like to think that Lin was a lot like Millie when she was her age. Like mother, like daughter.

I wonder if Lin and Joe are ready to be grandparents.

As for Bombproof wearing a blanket, I came up with that idea. Maybe he wouldn't mind it sometimes because he could have the fire out when necessary.