Chapter Text
"Mate, can't we just take a break already?" A fluffy haired man with dark eyes that matched his hair said. He had an Irish accent. "We've been riding ever since we got here and the only breaks have been to make sure the horses don't drop dead from heat exhaustion!"
"I hate to agree with the whiner but he's got a point. Pretty sure we're not far from Sunset Strip anyway." Another man with semi wild black hair agreed.
"Who the hell do you think you're calling a whiner, Fiailí?" The man with the Irish accent asked, irritation present. "Clearly you, idiot!" His companion snapped at him.
On y va encore une fois." A man with a French accent muttered. He also had long black hair. "English is a virtue, love." His companion behind him said in his ear.
"Phil! Viv! Both of you shut the hell up!" The man that Viv had talked to told them. "You're not my boss, asshole!" Viv snapped at him.
The incoming argument was cut off by an arrow flying over Viv's head. "Ah!" He yelped, lying low on his horse. "Bloody coward." Phil rolled his eyes, getting his gun ready.
He shot at where the arrow had come from, smirking when he heard the sound of the bullet hitting something. "Never miss." He got off his horse and went to go investigate the noise.
"That doesn't sound like a good idea." Kelly warned him. "Lighten up, Kelz." Phil said. He opened the door to the shack and tugged the man out roughly. He hit the ground with a groan as he landed on his face.
Phil pointed his gun at him and was prepared to shoot before he stopped when he turned around. The man had long blond hair and wore a white pair of pants and an open jacket that now had dirt stains on it. He looked at the gun in Phil's hand and got nervous.
"Beautiful." Phil said, staring at him. He found himself doing what he never did and lowered his gun. "Who are you?" He asked the blond man. "Steve Clark." Steve said. Phil almost did a double take.
He was British. Just like him and Bruce. He didn't even think they'd find british people in America. Kelly and Jake came up to him. "You didn't shoot him." Kelly noted.
Steve tried to inch away from them, only to be stopped by the appearance of another man on a who looked at him curiously and another who just studied him.
"He's not a threat." Phil said, putting his gun away. "No idea what he's doing here though. He's British." Viv dismounted his horse and pulled Steve up. "The hell do you think you're doing?" Bruce asked.
"Getting him up? His clothing will be dirty as hell." Viv said, like it was obvious. "Hello. I'm Vivian Campbell. Just call me Viv. I don't let many people call me by my full name." Steve nodded, still wary of him but trusting him more than the others right now.
"You all by yourself? Did you shot that arrow?" Phil asked. "I was just practicing. I didn't have any targets." Steve said. "Could've just aimed for an animal." Bruce pointed out.
"U can't do that! I have a cat!" Steve denied, horrified at the idea. "Great. A softie." Bruce groaned. "I have a town. I'm not far from it. I was staying with some friends." Steve said, ignoring his comment.
"We'll take you then, love." Phil said. Steve went red at the term of endearment before willing it away. He had Joe for God's sake and he wouldn't trade him for anything in the world.
"When the hell did I ever say he was coming? I don't have time for damn detours just because you have a thing for blondes! I'm trying to get to Subset Strip!" Bruce snapped at him. He saw Steve look down.
"You know something." He said. "I don't know you." Steve said. "I ain't no bloody threat, blondie. If I was, you'd be in deep shit right now. Now tell me what it is you know." Bruce retorted.
Steve looked at him for a minute and nodded. "I live in Sunset Strip. I've been there since I left England for about 5 years." Steve said. "My father's killer is in that town." Bruce said, surprising Steve. "You're coming with us. You have proven to be useful."
"Did all that bitching at me for no reason. I was going to tell you that the closest towns to us are Sunset Strip and Dokken and my money is on Sunset Strip. Excuse me, beautiful? Have you even been to Dokken?" Phil asked.
"Just a few times to visit my friend who lives there. Usually she comes to us though because her girlfriend stays in Sunset Strip." Steve said, still trying to ignore the flirty nicknames Phil gave him.
Simply because he liked them.
And it made not a single bit of sense to him. It's not like Joe wasn't affectionate. He showed him affection all the time. His favorite way being to refer to Steve as Clarkie.
He called him that all the time. He had been by his side since they were children and had been together since they were teenagers still on the run from The Admiral. Joe had been the one to comfort him when he took The Admiral's life, telling him that he had helped to save them and that he wasn't a bad person.
It had taken Steve forever to believe him.
"Point proven." Phil said. "Up you go, love. You can ride with me in the front. I'm hoping you can ride a horse." His smirk told Steve all he needed to know that he wasn't talking about an actual horse.
"I have a boyfriend." Steve said. "Oh. So you do know how to." Phil finally said, trying to hide his disappointment. He watched him climb on before he climbed on himself. Kelly shook his head and let Jake take the reins.
"He's so obvious, it's gonna give me one hell of an headache." Kelly said in his ear. "Pretty sure he'll back off the flirting a little bit more." Jake said. He smiled when he felt Kelly shift closer to him and lay his head on his back.
Surely he hadn't expected this when he had first saw him on the train ride from New York to California.
He had his eyes on the beautiful Frenchman from the first moment he saw him and by the time that he had come off that train, he had agreed to come with them when Kelly asked him to.
Viv climbed onto his horse and settled down against her, his hair falling into his face as he tried to keep his mind off of his home county that he had to leave just to follow Bruce on his wild ass goose chase.
Granted nobody had forced him to come but he was a good friend. Even if Bruce hardly ever realized it.
Bruce climbed onto his horse last, determined to get to Sunset Strip. He had to find the man who had killed his father. He just didn't know his name. Just the town he lived in and that was because he was reported as being a rat in The RATT Gang.
He didn't know what he would do when he found him. He knew killing was off the table. He was no killer and surely wouldn't be able to take down a man who was a former outlaw.
He just wanted to know why he had taken away one of the only people he had ever loved away from him.
The Young Guns:
"He'll be fine, Joe." Yngwie said, sick of seeing his brother continue to pace to the ground in front of him. He hadn’t changed much in the last 5 years, even at his current age of 23. His hair was a little more toned back than it used to be though.
Joe had decided to grow his hair out past the mullet, leaving it its natural curly state. "Why the hell did he even leave just to shoot arrows anyway? He ain't gone be any good at it if he doesn't have a target." Sophie said.
She was now 22 and by now, just a little bit more mature than she used to be. She was still prissy though. She had kept her hair long and she was still one of the tallest members of their group at 6'1.
Joe turned to glare at her for the insult. "Shut up and go scissor Kikyo or something." He said. "She's in Dokken, you little prick." Sophie retorted. "Then simply shut your trap." Joe retaliated.
"Both of you shut up before I get a goddamn headache." Yngwie said, very much wishing he was still in bed with Lily. Joe was about to respond when he heard horses outside.
He looked out the window and found some strangers they didn't know coming their way. "Strangers alert." He said. "They have Steve!" He quickly threw open the door and ran out.
"Joe!" Yngwie called out after him, only for him to run out anyway. "Goddamnit! Sophie, get the others up." Joe ran up to the horse that Steve was on, not caring that he had freaked the horses out. "Ah!" Viv yelled, falling off of his horse onto his back.
Phil pulled out his gun, only to be ignored as Joe pulled Steve from the horse. "Joe, don't do that!" Steve yelped before he was pulled off and landed on top of Joe on the ground. "Bad idea." Joe said with a groan before he brought Steve down to kiss him.
Steve made a noise into the kiss, reciprocating it. They were forced to jump apart when there was a gunshot right next to Joe's head. "What the actual fuck?!" Joe said, settling Steve next to him.
Bruce glared at Joe, getting off of his horse. "You scared the actual shit out of damn horses, you bloody idiot! We could've very well shot you!" He snapped at him.
"You're British?" Joe asked, his eyes wide in surprise. "Honestly I'm shocked you are, mate." Phil said. Viv, who had finally gotten off the ground, was about to yell something when he realized someone was behind him.
He turned around and saw a curly haired man just staring at him with an unimpressed look on his face. Not fun. On the plus side, he was gorgeous. On the other downside, he had at least 7 inches on him.
"You fell off your horse." He said in a deadpan tone. "Hey! Your friend scared my girl!" Viv defended. "Somehow my brother is better with them than you and he started a damn rivalry with one." Yngwie retorted.
He walked past the annoyed Viv and snatched the gun away from Bruce before breaking it apart. "Hey! You can't do that to my shit!" Phil snapped at him. "Don't care." Yngwie said. He tossed the pieces on the ground and turned to glare at Bruce.
"Never shoot at my brother again." He said in a warning tone. "Aw, you do care." Joe said. He yelped when Yngwie smacked him on his head. "They could've shot you, you fucking idiot!" He snapped at him. "Why the bell are you with them, Steve?"
"I shot an arrow at them and he almost shot me. He stopped though and here I am." Steve said, pointing a finger at Phil. "My name is Phil Lewis, beautiful." Phil said. Joe glared at him and got up, pulling Steve up with him.
"Doesn't explain why they're here." Yngwie said. "Looking for Sunset Strip, Weird Accent having man." Kelly said. "I'm Swedish." He retorted in an annoyed tone. "Can we trust them, Steve?"
"Not 100% sure but it has been peaceful the last 5 years and they haven't proven to be a threat." Steve said. "He literally shot at me!" Joe exclaimed, pointing at Bruce. "Believe me, if I wanted to shoot you, you'd be dead. Me and Phil have the best win here and the only ones who know how to shoot to begin with." Bruce told him.
"He didn't kill you because you're not a threat and you're close to Steve." Viv piped up. "Shut the hell up, Irish!" Bruce snapped at him. "Your shorter then me, asshole! I don't have to listen to you!" Viv snapped back.
"By a couple of fucking inches at most, idiot." Phil muttered, only to be elbowed by Jake. "You can just stay with us for now then. Only reason there hasn't been a commotion is really because our guard is off the clock the minute his wife or Duff shows up." Yngwie said. "It's a miracle we haven't been killed yet."
"But we almost died before-" Joe said, only to receive a glare from Yngwie. He absolutely hated being reminded of the day that he and everyone had almost died. Hell he still had the burn scars from it and Joey was afraid of water now.
Between Kyle's scar from where a bullet had hit him and still pain sometimes when it was raining, his scars, Joey's fear of water, and the shit Steve had went through after killing The Admiral, it didn't particularly make for a nice reminder.
He refused to even think about the memory of his sperm donor as he liked to call him, giving him the biggest beating of his life.
"Don't ask, Phil." Kelly said, seeing that his friend was about to open his mouth. Yngwie led them to the Lay It Down Fort, making Joe put the horses away after the stunt he pulled. Steve opted to help him at least.
Joe and Steve:
Joe pressed Steve up against the wall of the stable, kissing him hard. Steve gripped onto him as he kissed back, his leg coming up to Joe’s waist.
They ignored the various horses probably staring at them. Joe pulled back, breathing hard as he gripped Steve’s waist. “You had me worried sick.” He said, pressing their heads together.
“I’m sorry. It was a pretty stupid move that almost got me shot.” Steve said. “One of them tried to shoot you?!” Joe asked, his voice high with anger. “It was after I shot an arrow at them accidentally. He stopped when he knew I wasn’t s threat.” Steve said.
Joe calmed down. “I saw the way one of them looked at you. Think he said his name was Phil. I don’t like it.” He said, kiss him on his neck. “You don’t have anything to worry about, love.” Steve assured him, before reigniting the kiss.
He didn’t have anything to worry about. It didn’t matter to Steve that he was attracted to Phil. Nothing could make him leave his Joseph behind. Not after all these years and all they had went through together.
Lay It Down Fort:
“Who are they?” Joey asked. His hair was still long but he had let it calm down some. Next to him was Norum and Kee. Both of them kept their long hair. “You’re beautiful.” Kelly told him.
“He’s also taken.” Norum said, glaring at him. “Stop it, John. Thank you, Frenchie.” Joey said, smiling at Kelly. “Attention seeking little shit.” Norum muttered in his hair, wrapping an arm around him. Kee just shook his head.
He loved Joey as much as Norum did, hell he loved Norun too, but he wasn’t borderline possessive of them. Norum had been like that with Joey since their fight with The Admiral.
It didn’t matter to him that it had been 5 years. It only mattered to him that he almost lost his best friend and the man he had loved since he was a chid.
“Ain’t got nothing to worry about. I already have someone.” Kelly said, looking over at Jake. Lily came running down the stairs. Her hair had been cut short to her shoulders after getting sick of dealing with it in its original state.
“Yngwie? Who are them?” She asked. “I have no fucking idea honestly.” He said. “You took them here and you don’t even know their names?” Norum asked. “I suddenly miss when you were silent as a mouse around strangers.” Yngwie retorted.
“I’m Bruce. That’s Kelly, Phil, Jake, and the one currently gaping like a fish is Viv.” Bruce said. Viv didn’t even respond, too busy staring at Lily.
“I’m in love.” He said.