The Music Or The Misery (FOB FanFic)

Chapter 25

Recruiting enough people to take down the government wasn't going to happen over night, much to Tyler's dismay, it was going to take a while. Because of this, our heroes were sent home with the promise they'd be notified when their services would be needed again.

While packing up their belongings back at the Sears Tower, the issue of what they were to do until then was brought up. And the three band members all had different responses.

Joe was torn about what to do next. It wasn't like he had a home to return to like his friends did. He didn't want to go back underground, and he didn't want to abandon his friends again. So, he did what he had to do and make amends with Marie. Because, although music was a huge part of his life and he was going to give it his all to bring it back, Marie was also a big part of his life. And he needed to bring her back as well.

A couple of days after returning to Chicago, Joe walked up the familiar walkway with a small box in one hand and a bouquet of roses in the other. He wore the suit he was provided with in Washington and had his hair combed. He approached the door and rung the doorbell, taking a step back and waiting patiently for the love of his life to answer. A minute or two passed before the door cracked open and Marie peered out, seeing Joe. Her eyes went wide.

Joe proclaimed his love for her and practically begged for her forgiveness for choosing music over her. He got down on one knee and opened the small box, revealing a diamond ring he may or may not have taken unlawfully, but the laws were the least of Joe's worries. He'd already broken so many, stealing a small diamond ring was child's play.

Tears flooded Marie's eyes and she clasped her hands over her mouth, nodding her head eagerly and wordlessly telling Joe "yes, a thousand times yes".

Joe and Marie weren't the only couple who were reunited, Patrick and Mara were too. The singer caught his ex-girlfriend before she could leave the Tower and asked her to go home with him. Mara hesitated to answer, unsure if she wanted to put herself in that kind of situation again, but in the end, in a cliche manner, she followed her heart and agreed to move back in with him. Making the empty house Patrick had resided in for months no longer empty. Making the lonely bed he slept in no longer lonely.

Standing in the same doorway we began this adventure in, Patrick leaned against the threshold with his arms crossed over his chest, looking into the room that was still dark and still hid his guitars in the shadows. He was about to close the door when there was a tap on his shoulder. He glanced back and saw Mara.

She grinned, "What are you doing?"

"Nothing," He sighed, gazing back into the room.

"Why don't you play me a song?" She suggested, the corner of her lips curling up into a smirk.

Patrick shook his head and chuckled, "You just really want me to get arrested, don't you?"

Mara shrugged her shoulders, "Maybe I do, maybe I don't. But you know that if that happens, Tyler will bail you out."

"I'm not so sure."

"I'll make him." She grasped the doorknob and pushed the door in, giving him a challenging look. "So go ahead. Play me a song."

Patrick rolled his eyes before entering the dark room, pulling Mara in with him.

Unlike his two friends, Pete was not happily reunited with his wife. Not that they'd ever been separated. But she wasn't his driving force like Marie and Mara were to Joe and Patrick. His driving force was Bronx.

On their way back, Bronx was the first and only thing the bassist had on his mind, specifically what had happened to him after he left him with Alex. It turned out that Alex had dropped Bronx off at home, with Ashlee. This didn't relieve Pete's worries the slightest bit. He didn't trust Ashlee very much with their son, not even when they were together. He was the one always holding the one always changing his diapers, the one always leaving the room to try and calm him down if he was crying. Ashlee did none of this.

Pete made no hesitation in making his way home once they arrived at Sears Tower, packing his bags hastily and nearly running out of the Tower with the first chance he got. He rushed home and burst through the front door, dropping his things in the front hallway and calling out, "Bronx? Bronx!"

In response, he heard the sound of the doorway jumper and his son's bare feet sticking and unsticking to the wood floors beneath him. Pete walked further into the house and found Bronx bouncing up and down, twisting side to side in the doorway between the living room and the kitchen. Pete immediately lit up and ran up to his son, picking him up out of the jumper and holding him close, kissing him on the head and telling him how much he loved him and how sorry he was that had been gone for so long.

Meanwhile, Ashlee was upstairs...with another man. She heard the front door click open and ventured downstairs to see who it was. To her shock, it was her husband. She hadn't expected Pete to come home this early, the man who dropped Bronx off (Alex) told her he wouldn't be back for a long time. Pete turned around and smiled, a smile that Ashlee could not return.

It didn't take long for our beloved bassist to put the pieces together and catch Ashlee in the act. He kicked both Ashlee and the guy out of his house and told Ashlee that she could expect divorce papers in the near future, as well as a custody battle which Pete would win.

Years passed before the group heard word from Tyler again. In fact, they'd almost forgotten about the whole mission, having moved on in their lives, including Andy who'd abandoned it.

"We're ready," was all Tyler said with each call he made. Just those two words. Nothing more, nothing less.

But what more need be said?

To be continued in "Catch Us If You Can"...