Chapter Text
“Kim asked me to help her do something.”
Herbie waited as Edward absently tapped his fingers on the dashboard. His boy had come out to talk, like he did most evenings when they hadn’t gone anywhere during the day. Edward liked to tell him about his day and Herbie liked listening to him.
Edward didn’t talk the same way most humans did; he was quiet and talked slowly, a few words at a time, so Herbie had learned to wait before responding to things Edward said.
“It’s something kind of bad,” Edward whispered. “She wants me to help her and Jim and their friends steal something.”
‘Why?’ Herbie beeped.
Edward fidgeted. “Kim said someone stole some of Jim’s things.... they want to steal them back.”
Herbie didn’t think that was a very good reason. He didn’t like Jim. At all.
“They want me to pick the locks for them,” Edward continued.
‘Are you going to do it?’ Herbie asked.
Edward curled inward. “Kim asked me to. I want to help her.”
Herbie let out a low, soft beep, like a human sigh. Edward loved Kim, differently from the other humans. Herbie didn’t mind that, he liked Kim and he thought that she ought to leave Jim and fall in love with Edward. Edward was much nicer.
“I know I shouldn’t,” Edward said. “But, Kim…”
‘When do we leave?’ Herbie asked.
“Kim said they’d take me to the house in her friend’s van,” said Edward. “She said it’s better if we just use one car…”
Well, at least Edward had asked if Herbie could come along. ‘I’ll watch out for you.’
“Thank you,” Edward tapped the dashboard affectionately. “Don’t let them see you.”
Herbie beeped in agreement and he felt Edward relax a little.
Even if he couldn’t be the getaway car Herbie could still make sure things went smoothly. This whole plan sounded strange and he had a bad feeling about it. He didn’t think it was because of Kim, she’d been warming up to both him and Edward recently, but Jim, on the other hand…
He’d watch out for Edward, and Kim too, if he could. His kids. And if things went wrong, hopefully they’d only go wrong for Jim.
****
After the van came to pick up Edward and Kim, Herbie slipped out of the Boggs’ driveway after them, headlights off. The van didn’t go very far, surprisingly, and the place they stopped was vaguely familiar, but Herbie couldn’t place why. He stopped in the shadow of one of Edward’s shrubberies and turned off his engine to watch.
The teenagers filed out. Edward was easy to spot, partially because of his hands and partially because he was the only person with no sense of urgency. The others had to hurry him along inside. Herbie made a note to give Edward some pointers in stealth and mischief if they ever did anything like this again.
The group was hardly inside for a minute before lights started to flash and a siren began to blare. Herbie switched his engine on, worried. He counted the kids as they came back out and-
Edward was missing.
Anger made his engine rev. They were leaving without Edward! As he watched he saw one of the other teens trying to run back into the house and he recognized Kim’s voice. At least whatever was happening it wasn’t her doing. One of the others picked her up and ran to the van with her.
Rage flooded his engine and before he’d thought it through Herbie’s tires squealed and he shot around in front of the van as it started trying to pull away. It jerked as the driver hit the brakes, then tried to weave around him. Herbie blocked it. The van tried to go the other way and he blocked it again.
‘You’re not leaving without him!’ he beeped furiously. He heard sirens in the distance but he kept his attention on the van. As he watched the door on the side slid open and a figure jumped out, running back to the house as the others shouted at her.
Kim. Herbie felt a rush of affection for her. Maybe she could help Edward, but even if she couldn’t the van wasn’t going anywhere, he would make sure of it.
****
“What’s the holdup?!” Jim shouted as he scrambled into the van with her. Kim landed a solid hit on the side of his head and he finally let her go.
“Some idiot’s blocking the road!” Denny yelled back.
Kim peered out the windshield and her eyes widened. Was that Edward’s car?! What was it doing here, he hadn’t driven it, had someone followed them?
The little white Bug was whipping back and forth as Denny tried to get around it, staunchly stopping them from getting anywhere.
Well, if that was the case.
Kim stumbled back and yanked the sliding door open. She heard Jim screaming at her but ignored him, jumping out of the van and bolting back into the house.
She threw herself at the door that had locked behind Edward, but it didn’t budge and the doorknob was stuck fast. She pounded on the door. “Edward! Can you hear me?”
“Kim?” Edward’s voice wavered when he spoke, he sounded terrified-
“I can’t get you out,” over the blaring alarm she heard the wail of a police siren. “Just hang on, it’s gonna be-”
CRASH
****
All at once the van stopped trying to get around him and for a moment Herbie thought it had accepted its fate, then-
The van shot forward and slammed into him, crunching into his metal frame, breaking his headlights, pushing him backward-
Herbie pushed back, engine roaring, tires squealing, pouring every ounce of himself into keeping the van where it was-
The wailing police sirens approached. Herbie waited until he sensed a car coming up beside him and-
He cut his engine, freezing in the street. The van crunched into him but he didn’t care. He’d done what he needed to do.
****
Edward didn’t know what was happening. He’d gotten trapped in a room of Jim’s house with a high pitched alarm shrieking in his ears and a door he couldn’t open. He’d heard car tires and thought for a few awful moments that the others had abandoned him…
He sobbed when he heard Kim’s voice. They hadn’t left him, or, at least Kim hadn’t, and that mattered more to him.
And then there was a horrible, crunching crash from outside and he dropped to the floor, shaking. What was that, what was happening-
Loud wailing joined the alarm and he wished desperately that he could cover his ears. He huddled next to the door, trying to breathe.
There was another awful crunching noise from outside, then shouting then finally, blessedly, the alarm was turned off. Edward closed his eyes and took a few shaking breaths.
There was a click and the door suddenly swung open and Kim stumbled inside. “Edward! Are you okay?!”
He blinked and slowly shook his head. Footsteps, and a man appeared in the doorway.
“Out, both of you,” he said sharply. Shakily, Edward got to his feet and followed Kim and the man out.
“Two more inside,” the man said as they walked outside. Edward’s eyes widened. The van was sitting in the road, smoke rising up from its engine. Kim’s friends were surrounded by other men and being pushed into black and white cars.
And then Edward caught sight of a white smudge in front of the van and time stopped.
“Herbie!” he shouted, bolting forward. He heard Kim and one of the men yell something at him but he ignored it, dodging around people as he darted over to his little car.
Herbie’s hood had been crushed almost entirely in, his headlights shattered, fender twisted-
Edward couldn’t breathe. No, no, no, no- “Herbie?”
Someone grabbed him and started to pull him away but he couldn’t tear his eyes from Herbie’s mangled little body. The little car was his best friend, if he, if he was-
A soft beep broke through his panic. Edward took a shuddering breath and blinked as tears dripped out of his eyes. Herbie was still alive. Maybe he wasn’t okay, but he was alive.
As they pulled him away a second small beep joined the first and Edward recognized the word Herbie said.
‘Go.’
“Okay,” Edward whispered. Herbie would be okay, he had to be.
He was put into one of the black and white cars with Kim. As they drove away he kept his eyes fixed on Herbie and silently pleaded for him to be alright.