I told you guys I was now obsessed with Bandstand. Originally I thought, great, I love it, but I'll never be able to write anything for it because it's so complete. Then I got this idea, so who knows. This may or may not be the only piece of Bandstand fanfic I ever write, so try to enjoy it.
And just so you guys know, I've only seen Bandstand once, so Johnny's character isn't going to be quite right, okay? But, since this is before the show takes place, I can get away with it because we don't know what he was like pre-traumatic brain injury, so ha!
WARNING: SOME VIOLENT/SLIGHTLY DISTURBING MATERIAL AND SOME LANGUAGE.
(I know, I usually don't use very much 'mature' language, but I thought that the characters and their situation needed it. Sorry if it makes you uncomfortable.)
Also, it might not all be completely historically accurate. I did my best, but I wasn't there and it was more about Johnny's story than a history lesson.

***

"Hey, Simpson! You ready to go?"

Johnny smiled at his friends from where he was leaning against his jeep. "I've been waiting on you two! You're holding everyone up! Where've you been bumming around?"

A redheaded man, of about 20, grinned. "The question is where haven't we been."

"Harry here was trying to convince the nurses that he was sick."

"Guilty as charged," Harry smirked. "Don't blame me for trying to enjoy my time in hell, Pete."

Pete rolled his eyes and turned his focus to the car. "This yours?" He asked Johnny as he ran a hand over the hood.

Johnny nodded proudly. "Alice, that's her name. Best jeep in all of Europe, and probably the world. She's never failed me before."

Harry whistled and shot the car an appreciative look. "She's a beaut, Johnny. I gotta see if I can get me one. The gals here love 'em."

Johnny snickered as he watched Pete climb into the passenger seat with an annoyed frown.

Harry groaned. "Man, I wondered what crawled up his-"

"Fields! I hope we're not still waiting on you!" A man in the jeep in front of them called back.

Johnny's eyes widened and he started his jeep while Harry hopped into the back with his rifle ready.

"I hate scouting," Harry hissed.

Johnny couldn't agree more. You were the first ones out there, the front of the pack. You were like a lab rat; if you were safe, everyone else could move forward. If something happened to you, they'd stop. He wasn't exactly thrilled at having his life constantly endangered, but Johnny was an optimistic person and he did enjoy the time he spent with Harry and Pete.

He'd met them in the mess hall on his first day and the three had been inseparable ever since. They got along well, but on the odd occasion that Harry and Pete's personalities clashed, Johnny could step in as the moderator.

He liked it that way; they made him feel normal. When the three of them were together he could almost forget where he was.

As long as the two of them kept talking he could ignore the chill seeping into his bones and the drizzling rain that was beating a steady rhythm against his helmet. If he tried hard enough, he could imagine the beat of the rain as his drums back at home where he'd play the latest music as his family danced and celebrated...

"Hello? Johnny! You up there?" Harry knocked against the side of his helmet. "Anyone home?"

"Nah, can't you hear it?" Pete leaned over and he too rapped his fingers against the helmet. "Hollow, just like I told you."

"Real funny, you guys. What'd you want?"

"Nothing really, but you looked distracted and you're driving, and I don't feel like coming all the way over here and surviving battles, just to get killed in a wreck," Harry shrugged. "If I'm gonna die, I better be taking some of them with me."

Johnny nodded along with his eyes trained on the jeep in front of him. "Yeah. I guess."

"How about you, Pierce?"

"I don't want to talk about dying. All I'm thinking about is going home." Pete  had a piece of paper clenched in his fist as he did every time they went out on a scouting mission.

"Going home," Johnny sighed. "That's all any of us want."

"You might," Harry shrugged as he leaned further back against his seat. "But I don't. I think once this war is over, I'll stick around a bit longer. Europe is said to have the most beautiful women and I haven't had a chance to enjoy myself yet!"

"Can you forget about chasing skirts for five minutes?" Pete snapped.

"What's the matter with you?" Harry grimaced. "You've been a pain almost all morning. You're no fun today. I'm just trying to lighten the mood and enjoy this damn death sentence, courtesy of Uncle Sam!"

"Come on, Pete. He's just trying to make us all feel better," Johnny said gently.

Pete rubbed his face and sighed. "I know. I'm sorry, it's just that Molly should be having the baby any day now."

"I forgot about that! I guess you can't have any fun what with a wife sitting around back home. Isn't that right, Johnny?"

"Knock it off, Fields," Johnny rolled his eyes. "Just let him be."

"You'll understand someday, you too Johnny. Someday the two of you'll get married and you'll understand," Pete insisted, as he had so many times. Pete was nearing thirty and enjoyed handing out advice to the young men whenever he could.

"Whatever you say," Harry shrugged.

Johnny wasn't sure how he felt about getting married. He was barely twenty one, he still had his whole life ahead of him to think about things like that! Though, he wasn't sure how much longer his life would last in a place like this. "Hey, Pete. You ever wish you weren't married?" He asked.

He trusted the older man and if Pete said it's wasn't that bad, Johnny supposed that someday he could warm up to the idea.

"You want the truth, kid? Yeah, all the time."

"I told you Johnny! Don't let a woman tie you down!" Harry gloated.

Pete ignored Harry and continued, "Every day I'm out here I wish I wasn't married. Every day is a chance that I could die and leave Molly all alone. If I wasn't married, I wouldn't have anyone to go back to, so it wouldn't matter either way. But now I've got Molly and a kid."

Johnny hadn't thought of that. He was scared that every day could be his last, but it was in no way the same as what Pete was going through. Sure Johnny's mom and dad would miss him and his sisters might cry a bit, but at least they'd had a chance to meet him.

"I'm sorry, Pete."

That's all he could say.

"Me too, kid."

"Keep your eyes peeled, boys! We're getting into their territory!" Someone in the first jeep was giving them a warning and Johnny felt his stomach dropped. These missions always made him feel sick, but no matter how he felt he'd always managed to keep a cool head--that's why everyone liked him. He was calm, he was collected. It was fortunate that none of them saw what was going on in his mind.

"Didja hear that? 'Keep your eyes peeled'," Harry mocked. "I don't know, I think I'm gonna take a nap, how's that, Macomb? Keep your eyes peeled," Harry snorted. "What else would I be doing on a scouting mission?"

"Pipe down, would ya?" Pete whispered. "Last thing we need is for him to come back here."

"Your logic is flawed. In case you haven't noticed, it's raining and him coming back here would require him getting mud on his boots." Johnny wasn't the biggest fan of George Macomb.

"Johnny Boy's with me," Harry laughed and  lightly punched Johnny's shoulder.

"Just keep your eyes on the sky, okay?"

"Sure thing, Cap."

As they got further away from the base the uneasiness Johnny felt only grew. They hadn't spotted anyone yet and things were going better than some of their other missions, but Johnny felt sick.

It wasn't the normal nervous sick, it was something completely different. But as they reached the coordinates they'd been told to scout to the feeling eased. They'd be able to turn around soon.

Johnny was just getting comfortable when he realized that the first jeep wasn't stopping.

"Hey! Macomb! What's the big idea? We're supposed to stop here!" Johnny called.

"I got a call from base, they want us to add thirty miles to our perimeter."

"We didn't hear anything like that!" Harry complained.

"I did, and you're going to obey orders or I'll report you!"

Johnny sighed and started the jeep again and continued following them through the field.

"I hate him," Harry muttered. "I hate him almost as much as the jerries."

Johnny didn't have the heart the argue with him. "I've got a bad feeling about this."

"Don't we all," Pete held his gun closer to him, fingers dancing near the trigger.

"No! I mean I have a feeling."

"Ah! One of your prophetic feelings, huh? Tell me something, Cleveland. Am I gonna be rich someday?"

Ever since childhood, Johnny had been getting these feelings. It had started with normal things, like predicting storms, but gradually it grew into bigger things. He'd had one of the feelings the day his grandfather got in a car crash, and another before his youngest sister caught a pneumonia that nearly killed her. Naturally, he'd told the boys and they'd tried to make it all a joke. Normally he enjoyed it too, but today he couldn't.

"I'm not kidding. Something bad is going to happen."

"Let's hope your wrong," Harry said nonchalantly, but Johnny knew him well enough to catch the tremble in his voice. He was scared too.

They continued their journey in silence. The rain picked up, pelting them with the icy water, and the winds tore at their jackets and whipped across their faces, leaving them red and stinging.

"Can I ask you something?"

It was Pete talking. He still had the letter in his hand and his eyes were fixed on it as he spoke to his friends.

"Sure thing," Johnny replied. "What is it?"

"If anything happens to me-"

"Don't say that!" Johnny interrupted.

"Simpson! I've gotta say this!"

It was the last thing Johnny wanted to hear, but Pete seemed desperate to discuss it, so he gave in. "Fine. Make it quick."

"If something happens to me I want you to visit Molly and the baby. Tell her that I love both of them, okay? Can you do that for me?"

"You know I will," Johnny whispered.

"You know how to find her, right?"

"Molly Pierce on Adams Street, Toledo, Ohio," Johnny rattled off easily.

"Thank you," Pete let out a sigh of relief, as though the request had been weighing him down for a while.

"Pete, I'd do it too you know. If Johnny couldn't, I would."

"I thought you were planning to stay a little longer in Europe," Pete raised a brow.

"You're like a brother to me, you know that. I guess I could sacrifice time with the French girls to go visit your wife."

"And you'd keep your hands off her, right?"

"Depends on what she looks like," Harry winked. "Why don't you remind me real quick."

Johnny listened with a small smile. He still felt sick, but listening to his friends joke around was almost enough to distract him. And he couldn't help but think that if he died today, it would be okay just as long as his last memories were of the two men with him in the jeep.

Harry was quietly cracking another joke when Pete tensed up with his eyes darting about the sky.

"What's wrong?" Johnny asked without taking his eyes off the trail.

"Shh!" Pete hissed with a finger in the air. After a minute he whispered. "Do you hear that?"

"Hear what?" Harry asked, completely clueless.

But Johnny heard it. It was a faint humming, so quiet, in fact, that he was surprised Pete had heard it. Up in the sky, approaching them, was a plane.

"Macomb! We've got something heading this way!" Johnny warned.

Pete adjusted his helmet and gripped his gun tighter.

"Maybe it's one of ours," Harry suggested hopefully.

As the aircraft came into view, it was clear that it was not one of theirs.

"Turn around!" Macomb shouted. "Head back now!"

It wasn't like they had any other choice; there were very few options for cover out in these plains. So Johnny listened and swung the jeep around, pushing it as fast as it would go.

For a minute, it seemed as though the pilot hadn't noticed them. Then the sound of bullets ran out and Johnny knew their luck had run out.

"Harry! Cover me!" Johnny yelled over the sound of the roaring engine of the plane.

"Already on it, Cleveland!"

Johnny could hear Harry firing at the plane as a spray of bullets chased them through the field. He turned around quickly and noticed the other jeep had fallen far behind and had come to a stop.

"What's going on with Macomb?" He yelled.

"The bastard up there got 'em!" Harry shouted back.

"All of them?" Pete asked as he aimed towards the plane.

"Someone made it a couple feet, but that's it!"

Suddenly the ground shook behind them. Another look showed that the other jeep was on fire.

"Call it in Fields! We need air support!"

In seconds Harry had the headphones pulled over his ears and was using the radio to call base. Pete stood up in the vehicle as he tried to get a better shot.

"Hurry up, Harry! We don't have all day!" Johnny warned as the plane gained on them.

"I'm working on it!"

Harry's words were drowned out as Johnny swerved and tried his best to avoid the line of bullets. They didn't have much longer.

"Damn it!" Harry exclaimed, slamming his fist against the radio.

"What? Did you get ahold of them? Are they sending someone in?" Pete asked and fired a few more shots at the plane.

"They said they're doing their best!" Harry cried.

"Tell them that that's not good enough!" Johnny growled.

Harry seemed to be doing just that, when he suddenly gasped, his hands grasping at his chest.

"Harry!" Pete reached out to catch him and Johnny whipped around just in time to see his friend tumble off the back of the jeep.

"No! Harry!" He cried. Johnny made to slow down, but Pete stopped him.

"Don't! Keep going!"

"I can't leave him!" Johnny argued.

"You have no choice! I saw it happen, he's dead Johnny!"

"Maybe we can help him-"

"Snap out of it Simpson! He's gone! We'll have someone get him later, I promise! Do you want to die too?"

Johnny froze. "What do I do, Petey?"

"Drive, Johnny. Drive as fast as you can and don't look back!"

And Johnny did just that. He focused on driving, on escaping. It was the only thing that was keeping him from falling apart at the thought of Harry.

"Damn! Johnny, hurry up! He's gaining on us!" Pete cried.

The bomber was catching up to them, and then it happened.

The explosion was deafening and the ground shook. Johnny could feel the heat from the bomb and his ears were ringing. Somewhere in the back of his mind came the disappointment that Alice would be ruined.

And then the jeep flipped.

And Johnny held onto the wheel for dear life.

One.

A startled cry came from his right, and then the passenger seat was empty.

Two.

Johnny's eyes went wide and he nearly vomited as the jeep approached the body of Pete who'd been thrown from the vehicle. He barely heard the muffled scream as his white knuckles gripped the wheel even tighter.

Three.

Johnny felt tears dripping down his face before the jeep crashed back down to the earth. His head flew forward and slammed against the steering wheel, then everything went black.

***

Originally this wasn't supposed to end here, but then my heart said that was the right way to end it.

Although, if anyone's interested, I might consider making this a two-shot and writing the rest of what I'd planned out. Who knows? Maybe I'll make it a full story.