Title: Too Late the Hero
Characters: John Entwistle, Cady Townshend, Pete Townshend, Audrey, Alec, and Zooey, Queenie, Chris
Word Count: 9,596
Rating: R [language, violence, alcohol, innuendo]
Warnings/Spoilers/Summary: Losing the Ox is a hard thing to face...




June 2002
Picking up the phone again, Cady once more dialed the hotel’s number. Connected with the hotel switchboard, she sighed and asked to be connected to his room once more. Each ring that he did not answer punctuated the very fact she should have been on tour with the band once more. She should not have fought with him. She hated fighting with him. If only he would answer the phone, she could apologize and they could work at getting back to good. She would even fly to wherever the band was, be on the first flight she could. She just needed to hear his voice again.

When the call once more hit his voicemail box, she sighed and canceled it, bouncing back to the switchboard. It was not like him to not answer calls. She knew he was back at the hotel, had confirmed that with the front desk with the second callback. He always answered the phone. And it was certainly time for him to be up. As it was nearly suppertime in London, it had to be breakfast time in Las Vegas. Why wasn’t he answering?

“Front Desk. How may I help you?”

“Yes, hello. I’ve been trying to reach John Entwistle for the past … four hours. He hasn’t been answering his phone and I’m worried,” Cady explained. “Could you send someone up to his room to make certain he’s okay?”

There was a long pause, “I’m sorry, ma’am. Let me transfer you to my manager.”

“All right,” Cady responded, catching a weird vibe but thinking nothing of it.

Once on the phone with the manager, Cady once more explained the situation. Again, she was met with a long, heavy pause. When he sighed, her heart sank. She absolutely knew the next words the manager spoke would confirm her greatest fear.

The whole world went instantly black. She managed to mutter a thank you before hanging up the phone. Instantly she crumbled to the floor, holding her legs tightly to her chest. Her entire body went cold and began to tremble with sobs held inside. She could hardly breathe, could not think, and certainly did not hear the phone ringing. Complete darkness consumed her. She could not… she could not…



“Mum? Mum?” Audrey called as she stepped into the Townshend house.

She checked each of the ground floor rooms, even Pete’s studio, but found each room empty. Hurrying up the stairs, she began to feel the worry she heard in her father’s voice. However, neither had any indication that Cady knew, the lack of answering the phone as well as no sunny greeting troubled the eldest daughter. Glancing through open doors, she neared the master suite, took a deep breath, and pushed the door open. Biting her bottom lip, she tried to remain strong upon finding her mother crumpled upon the floor.

Slowly approaching her, Audrey knelt, “Mum?”

Cady slowly turned her head, though did not even bother to push up from the plush carpet. Her swollen, red eyes went to her daughter but her lips did not move in speech. Large tears spilled out of her eyes, running in rivulets over her cheeks. Audrey reached for her, slowly easing Cady up and into her arms.

“Dad is… Dad is on his way home, Mum,” she stated softly. “Alec and Zooey are too.”

“T-tell m-me its-s n-not t-true,” she muttered.

“Oh Mum,” she tightened her embrace of the older woman, “I wish that I could. I really, really do. But… he is really gone.”

Crying in her daughter’s arms for a few moments, she struggled to find her voice again, “T-take m-me t-to Qu-Queenie?”

“Of course, Mum. Whatever you need,” she declared, helping her mother to her feet.

The two women arrived at the Entwistle estate within the hour. Cady did not speak on the drive, merely sobbed softly. Before the car came to a complete halt in the driveway, John’s mother rushed out. Enveloped in the older woman’s arms, Cady was led inside, her daughter following quickly behind. Of the three women, Cady seemed by far the most devastated, unable to complete full sentences or thoughts. Without saying much, Queenie retreated from the room, returning a moment later and pressing two pills in Cady’s hand. Without even pause, Cady downed the pills, swallowed with a cup of tea.

“Why don’t you go lie down, Cady?” the matriarch suggested.

Nodding, she slowly got to her feet, wavering slightly. Audrey jumped up to help her mother, but was waved off. While she could have gone to one of the guest rooms, and that might have even been the prudent choice, Cady ascended the staircase, passing suits of armor and skeletons, and headed directly to John’s bedroom.

Opening the door, she nearly crumbled to the floor once more. Everything about the room spoke of the man she loved so much. She could see his hands on everything, could feel his very essence in the room. Taking two steps in, she closed the door and locked it, not that she expected anyone would bother her. She wandered about the room, touching items lightly, making her way to his closet. Pulling the door open, she ignored the feminine clothes in the back of the closet, knowing well that they too held such dark feelings to her as they had to John. Her fingers closed over one of his shirts, yanking it off the hanger. Pressing the soft fabric to her face, Cady inhaled John’s scent deeply. With little care, she stripped off her clothes and pulled his shirt on. Stepping over her discarded jeans, she headed towards his bed and crawled in.

Clutching his pillow to her, Cady once more began to cry in earnest. She silently cursed herself for the last words spoken to him being in anger. Her fingers balled up, grasping the blanket upon which she lay. Slowly the pills began to work their magic, numbing her mind and body. Drugged oblivion embraced her.



Stepping into John’s house, Pete took a deep breath. Even though he expected to find John’s family grieving, feeling his own grief in that house nearly brought him to his knees. Audrey, Alec, and Zooey quickly surrounded him, embracing their father. He kissed each of them, letting them lead him fully into the house. After a round of greeting John’s family and other friends, he noted poignantly that his wife was not amongst those gathered.

“Alec,” he pulled his son aside, “where is your mother?”

“Um…”

Pete sighed, “Where is Cady?”

“She’s upstairs, Dad,” he stated.

Sighing, he nodded. With a quick glance around the room, he noticed John’s latest girlfriend was present. She glanced at Pete, the grief in her eyes briefly shifting into jealousy and anger. Not entirely certain what that was about, he focused on the stairs and headed up. He glanced in a couple of rooms before his gaze landed on John’s bedroom door. Ignoring the rest of the rooms, Pete headed directly to that door. Finding it locked, he knew without a doubt it kept the world away from Cady. While he would have liked to kick the door in, Pete headed in search of a screwdriver.

Though Chris had questioned his need for the tool, Pete shrugged him off, asking that everyone stay downstairs. Alec followed his father upstairs regardless, holding another screwdriver. The two of them quickly picked the lock. Wishing his father luck, Alec headed back downstairs with the tools. Taking a deep breath, Pete slipped into the room. He stopped a few steps in, his blue eyes focused on his wife’s back as she curled around a pillow on the bed. Her pain was so palpable it nearly brought him to his knees. Closing his eyes, Pete asked John for the strength to help the woman they both loved.

“Cady?” he muttered softly.

Though she heard her name, she did not recognize his voice, did not process his presence. The drugs had long worn off, but she still felt just as numb. John was gone, gone forever. And she wanted nothing more than to join him right then.

“Cady, love?” Pete slowly approached the bed.

When she still did not react, he climbed on behind her, his arms slipping around her. The moment he touched her, Cady once more awakened. She inhaled quickly, her hands covering Pete’s and squeezing tightly. Her body began to tremble with sobs, her breaths becoming ragged. His lips kissed her ear softly.

“Cady…” he breathed.

“P-Pete,” she uttered.

“I know, sweetheart. I know.”

“He p-promised he w-would n-never leave, P-Pete,” she stuttered.

“I know, baby.”

“Why, P-Pete? Why?”

He sighed, “God, baby, I wish I knew. I should’ve… I should’ve…”

“P-Pete…”

His arms tightened around her again, his lips touching her ear once more. They lay in John’s bed, holding each other and crying for longer than likely was acceptable. Neither cared, they needed it more than whatever people thought. They did not speak at all, letting their exchanged breaths and sobs speak what they could not. While he felt intense grief himself, losing his best friend far sooner than he should have, the pain Cady felt seemed greater. He did not quite understand it, but Pete did not push it. Now was not the time, at all.



Holding his wife’s hand, Pete slowly left John’s room. She resisted for a moment, before swallowing and taking a step out of the room. While she had pulled her own jeans back on, Cady adamantly refused to take off John’s shirt and Pete had not fought it at all. They nearly made it down the open staircase without being noticed, at least openly. However, John’s last girlfriend spied the couple and jumped to her feet. Before Queenie could intersect her, the woman stomped up to the Townshends.

Pete instantly positioned himself between Cady and the American girl, “Lisa, we all–”

“Who the fuck do you think you are?” she spat at Cady. “He was my lover, not yours. You have no ri–”

“Lisa!” Queenie barked. “Leave her alone.”

“But–”

“Leave her alone,” she declared darkly. “You know bloody well Cady was the most important woman in John’s life. You have absolutely no right to address her like that. You know just as well as I do that my son told you to be gone before he returned. It is only out of courtesy I allow you to remain now. After the funeral, you will be gone from this property. Just as John wished.”

The woman stared at John’s mother for a long minute before breaking into tears and running from the room. Slowly John’s friends and family stopped focusing on Cady, turning back to their previous conversations. Queenie quickly took Cady’s hand, leading her into a quiet side room, Pete trailing behind. The older woman embraced Cady briefly, kissing her forehead.

“I meant what I said. You are the most important woman in his life,” she claimed.

“After you, of course,” Cady corrected.

Queenie shook her head, “No. He always defected to your opinion. Always.”

Cady’s blue eyes dropped to the rug the three of them stood on, “The last words we shared… were in anger…”

John’s mother kissed her forehead again, “He loved you dearly, Cady. You know he did. I am certain he forgot all about the argument before the plane touched down in the States.”

“It’s true,” Pete spoke up, drawing both women’s attention to his presence. “Before he went to his room, he told me how much he missed you and wished you were with us, that he was going to call you straight away and fix everything so you could be with us like you belonged.”

Her eyes glimmered with tears again, “He did?”

He nodded, “He did, love.”

“Was he… was he alone when he…”

Pete reached up and wiped the tears rolling down her cheeks once again, “Love…”

Reading the answer in his eyes, her face once more filled with pain and she fell into his arms, “I should have been there, P-Pete. Then he… he…”

“Don’t blame yourself, Cady. Please don’t blame yourself,” he responded softly, holding her tightly.

“P-Pete…”

“I know, baby. I know,” he kissed her forehead.



Seated between Pete and Queenie, Cady bit her bottom lip as John was eulogized. Her eyes were glazed over, her face completely impassive. She did not hear a word spoken, struggling to not stare at the images of him flashing on the screen. Slowly her thoughts drifted away from the funeral, sinking into memories of his blue eyes. 


*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*


September 1967 – Hawaii
Sitting in the grass, Cady leaned back on her hands and looked up at the sky. She smiled as a butterfly fluttered over her. It wiggled down and landed on her nose, causing her blue eyes to cross. She giggled as it flapped its wings twice before launching back into the blue sky. It had been quite awhile since she actually was able to sit in the sunshine and enjoy it. She did not have any pressing band worries or paintings begging to start. Pete was busy in the studio, laying down demos for something he was calling a rock opera. Life was calm and serene for the moment. And oh how she loved the sun.

Hearing the click of a camera, Cady sat up straighter, eyes opening and looking for the source. Spying John, she grinned brightly, flushing slightly when he snapped another picture before heading over to her. Plopping down on the bright green grass next to her, the bassist leaned over and kissed her cheek.

“How are you, beautiful?”

She smiled, “Excellent now that you’re here.”

He lifted the camera up again and snapped another photograph, “Is that so?”

She nodded, tucking her hair behind her ear, “I’m always excellent when you’re around.”

“Well than I’m glad I found you.”

“Me too,” Cady smiled again. “What are you up to?”

“Just visiting my best friend.”

“Oh. Well Pete’s writing back at the hotel.”

“I know. I meant you, love,” he responded, returning the lens cover to the camera.

She flushed again, “Well now that you’ve found me…”

“Well we could just sit here for awhile… or we could walk through the park,” he suggested. “Hawaii is beautiful and even better with pleasant company.”

“I’d like that.”

With a grin, John got back to his feet, slung the camera over his shoulder, and offered his hands to her. Pulled up, Cady hopped slightly, her nose bumping into his chin. John quickly steadied her and kissed her nose. Hands clasped the two turned and made their way to the gravel path. They walked mostly silent for about an hour. Weaving into a flowering garden, John guided her to a bench.

Seated on the marble seat, he pulled up his camera again and snapped pictures of the tropical flowers. Completely at ease with him, Cady did not notice he turned the lens towards her again a couple of times. Turning her gaze towards his just as he snapped another photograph, she shook her head and motioned to camera. He screwed the cap back on and lowered it.

“How’s… Alison?” she asked softly.

John shrugged, “I don’t know. Haven’t spoken to her all week.”

“That doesn’t bother you?”

“Cade, you know that talking to her is what bothers me.”

“Then why are you still married?”

He smirked, “You know the answer to that too.”

“Do you really have to be in England to start divorce proceedings?”

“Would you really leave that in someone else’s hands?”

“I would stay behind in London to do it for you,” Cady responded.

He half smiled, “Now that would never do.”

“Why not?”

He reached up and tucked a flower behind her ear, “I would miss you too much.”

She flushed slightly, “We would still talk on the phone all the time. And then you’d be free when you came back…”

“But would you?” John asked, leaning in so that he was a breath away from kissing her.

Cady closed her eyes, but said nothing. His lips brushed across hers briefly, before he leaned back. His hand dropped to clasp hers. Dropping their clasped hands down to his lap, he spread her fingers out on his thigh, gently tracing her handprint invisibly on his leg. Her fingers tightened gently, squeezing his thigh.

“John…”

“I know, Cade,” he breathed, leaning over to kiss her ear. “Some day. When it’s right, it will happen.”



April 1968 – New York
Sitting on the couch in her flat, Cady flipped through a magazine. Pete was out with Kit, discussing how the band’s shows would be adjusted because of the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. the day before. As the band manager was not allowed in her apartment, the meeting was scheduled across town in the second hotel the band checked into since arriving the day before. Cady casually wondered if Keith would manage to get them ejected once more.

As she flipped to another spread of photographs of wedding things, a knock sounded at the door. Tossing the magazine on the coffee table, Cady got to her feet and opened it without glancing through the peephole. Her eyes met John’s, a smile lit her face, and her arms quickly circled his neck. He grinned and embraced her, stepping into the apartment, practically carrying her. Kicking the door closed, John set her down, their sparkling blue eyes locking. With no one around, he quickly kissed her and twirled her around until she giggled.

“Where’s Pete?” he asked as her toes touched the floor again.

“With Kit, trying to figure out what to do about the shows. I, of course, have been forbidden to leave the building alone, not that I see much rioting out the windows,” she answered.

“Pete was right. It’s not safe out there right now,” John declared.

She sighed, pulling out of his embrace, “Well it doesn’t matter because I have nowhere to go anyways.”

“Then it’s rather good that I have nowhere else I would rather be either,” he commented, following her to the couch. “Or more precisely, nowhere to go either.”

“Did you get kicked out again?”

John smirked, “He blew a door off its hinges.”

Cady rolled her eyes, “Thank god that’s not something I have to worry about when we’re in New York. But if he gets us thrown out of a single hotel on the rest of the tour…”

“He won’t, love,” he stated with a wry smile, glancing at the coffee table. “Working on wedding plans again?”

“No,” she replied.

“Then why the magazines and catalogues?” he asked, reaching for the one she tossed aside with his arrival, idly flipping through it.

“Pete.”

With the magazine open to an article about wedding dresses, his eyes went to her, “Huh. I never thought of Pete as the cross-dressing type.”

“Ha. He’s not.”

“Then…?”

She snatched the magazine from his hands, “He seems to think that while he works on this rock opera on the road, I need something to do as well. But I thought he knew me better than that.”

“What do you mean, love?”

“All those magazines inspire me to do is to cut them into pieces and create some collage showing how silly it all is,” she declared.

John chuckled, “So I suppose it will be a small wedding?”

“Yeah, I suppose. I’m far more focused on his birthday.”

“How is that going?” he grabbed the magazine back.

“Okay, I guess,” Cady responded.

His eyes left the page full of china patterns, focusing on her face. Seeing that the instant happiness upon seeing him had faded from her eyes, John tossed the magazine back onto the table with the others. He shifted over on the couch slightly until their legs touched. Picking her hand up, he placed their clasped hands on his leg, his other hand reaching over idly to spin her engagement ring around her finger.

“What’s wrong, Cade?” he asked softly.

“I… I don’t…”

John stopped playing with her ring, “What’s wrong, Cady?”

“What if this isn’t right?”

“What, love?”

“Getting married.”

His eyes instantly dropped to the ring, “Do you love Pete?”

“He has treated me better than anyone ever had before. He caters to every whim and desire I voice. He treats me like a goddess…”

“Because you are,” he stated. “But you didn’t answer the question.”

She sighed, “I thought so. He seems to think that get married would be good for us. I don’t… I don’t understand it. I just…”

“Love, you’re just getting cold feet. It happens to us all. Trust me. Pete loves you very much. There is no one else in this world I would entrust with you. It’s okay to be afraid. This is a very big step in your life,” John stated, his eyes going to hers. “But don’t marry Pete… merely because he wants you to.”

“But…”

“Don’t marry Pete because people expect you to. Marry him because you love him, because you want to. That is the only reason you should marry him, Cade. Don’t marry Pete to meet some made up obligation in your head.”




*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*



Sighing, Cady glanced away from John’s image and to her husband. Pete’s teary eyes moved away from the speaker a moment later, catching her gaze. His lips twitched in a tense smile and he squeezed her hand tightly, patting their clutched hands with his other one. Closing her large blue eyes, tears rolled down her cheeks. Pulling his hand free, Pete looped his arm around her shoulders and kissed her temple. Cady reached across his body for his other hand, holding it as tightly as she had his other hand. Closing her eyes, she focused briefly on the words spoken about John, before once more drifting off into her own memories of the man.




*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*



December 1982 – London
Standing in the doorway, John sighed. With the curtains closed, it had taken him a moment to adjust to the darkness, but now he could clearly see the outline of Cady’s curves as she lay upon her side, clutching a pillow. He stepped fully into the room and closed the door. Slowly shuffling over to the bed, he knelt on the thick carpet, bringing him eye level with the melancholy woman. His fingers gently reached up and touched her cheek. She gasped in surprise, her eyes flying open.

“Shhh, love, it’s just me,” he stated softly.

“J-John,” she croaked hoarsely.

“Shhhh. No more crying, Cade,” his thumb wiped away her quick tear. “I’m here now.”

“J-John,” she repeated.

Without hesitation, he leaned forward and kissed her mouth gently. The moment his lips touched her mouth, she began to sob once more. She gasped in pain, her hand shooting down to press against her abdomen. John quickly pulled away and clicked on the bedside lamp. Seeing the bottles of pills and half glass of water, he snatched them up and squinted at the labels, trying to find whichever one was supposed to dull her pain. Shaking a few pills out of the bottle, he turned and guided her into sitting up, helping her swallow the pills. Setting the glass back on the table, he glanced at her and briefly considered his options.

Turning the light off, John eased himself onto the bed, slipping behind Cady and gathering her in his arms. He kissed her ear and began to whisper anything positive he could think of, though he did not think she would actually hear his words. Though it took a few moments, she relaxed, her fingers no longer clutching tightly around his wrists. Slowly her hand guided his to press against her abdomen. She did not need to speak for him to understand what she meant.

“The b-baby…”

“Shhhh,” he whispered, kissing her ear. “Everything is going to be okay, Cade. I’m here now.”

“She… she… I…”

“Shhhh,” John repeated. “I’m here now. Relax. I’m not going to let anything happen to you now. You’re safe.”

“P-Pete?”

“I don’t know where he is, love. But I’m sure he’ll be here as soon as he can,” he declared. “Who brought you home from the hospital?”

“P-Pete.”

“And then where did he go?

“I d-don’t know.”

He kissed her again, “Well I’m here now. So don’t you worry about a thing.”

“J-John… sh-she… h-here…”

His body tensed, “Cade? What do you mean?”

“In the b-bathroom. I f-found h-her in the b-bathroom.”

“Fuck,” he muttered and quickly rolled away. “We’re leaving. You shouldn’t be here.”

“Wh-where?” she asked, but did not move.

He turned on the overhead light before opening her closet and pulling out her suitcase, “My house. You’ll stay with me at my house.”

Watching him shove clothing into the suitcase, Cady softly asked, “J-John? Aren’t all her th-things there?”

He froze, his eyes going to her. Drop the shirt in his hand, he snatched up the nearby phone and quickly dialed his house number. Glancing at Cady, he smiled reassuringly while waiting for someone to answer the phone.

“Hey, Mum,” he smiled a bit more. “I’m bringing Cady home with me. I don’t think she should stay here and certainly not alone. I’m a bit concerned about… her things…”

Queenie evenly responded, “I have already boxed up her things in the rest of the house, son. By the time you return here with Cady, I will have removed her things from your bedroom as well.”

“Thanks, Mum. You’re the best. We’ll be there soon,” John stated before hanging up.

He returned to packing up Cady’s things. Disappearing into the bathroom, he filled a smaller bag with toiletries before returning for her medications. Pausing he leaned over and kissed her gently and told her he would take the bags down to the car before coming back for her. After closing the trunk, he hurried back into the house, skipping up the steps to reach her. Pausing in the doorway, he sighed, noticing she cried once more. As he approached the bed, she slowly sat up. Without pause, he sat beside her and pulled her into his arms. His lips touched her temple lovingly.

“Shhh, my sweet, sweet girl,” John breathed. “Everything is going to be all right. I’m going to take care of you, Cade. I promise.”

“J-John…”

“I know, sweetheart. I know.”

Once her crying ceased, his arms tightened around her, lifting her from the bed. His left arm eased under her legs and he headed from the bedroom, pausing to turn out the light. After seeing that Cady was sitting comfortably in his green Silver Shadow Rolls Royce, John returned to the house to find her house keys and locked up. With little pause, he rushed to his house, speeding more than he should have but as they arrived safely he thought not of it. His mother met them at the car, taking Cady’s things from the trunk while he slowly guided her from the car and into his large house. While she walked slowly and a bit woodenly into the mansion, John could not bear her attempting to climb the stairs to the bedrooms. Once more sweeping her into his arms, he passed guitars, suits of armor, and an occasional skeleton as he hurried up the stairs.

With Cady settled in his bed, as he did not want her anywhere else in the house, John returned to the main level to speak with his mother. He confirmed that all the arrangements had been made for Marlene, save for a funeral, as Queenie had been uncertain if he or Cady would be up to it. Deciding that he would discuss it with her before deciding, he thanked his mother once more, turning to head back upstairs.

“Where are the children, John?”

He stopped midstride and turned on one foot, “I don’t know. They weren’t at the house. But neither was Pete.”

Queenie sighed, “I’ll call Betty and see if she knows the location of either. I’ll come and let you know what I find out.”