Hi everyone, I am back with another new Cars story! Yes, 2024 and we are still going! This is something I started with a friend back in 2017 that was supposed to be posted the following year but life and such happened...but now I'm going through and revamping the existing chapters. The first few chapters, including this one, were largely co-written with Paforex so all the credit goes to her! I actually got this idea back in 2016 after watching Cars 2 for the first time. I had a strange fascination with Alexander Hugo and something kept bugging me to write a redemption fic for him and after much trying not to do that...well it happened! Alright enough of my rambling, here is the first chapter! I hope you enjoy it!

Oh, one last thing-I do want to warn my readers that this story will take on a sensitive topic/theme later on. While not graphically described, there will be a scene depicting it, hence why I am giving this fic an M rating. I will add another warning in the next chapter.

It was a beautiful day in London. The sun was shining, the sky was clear blue-which was rather unusual in England-and the birds were singing. Finn McMissile was driving along the grounds of C.H.R.O.M.E.'s headquarters. It was just past noon, and usually around this time Finn would either be driving to the cafeteria for lunch or taking a drive through the little garden path at the back of the large building. But today, he had an entirely different destination in mind. Somewhere that most C.H.R.O.M.E. agents wouldn't even think of going on their precious hour-long break from the day.

Before long, Finn was out of the sunshine and into the rather chilly stone corridor of the C.H.R.O.M.E. prison. He drove up to the black Aston Martin DB5 standing at the entrance.

"Ah, good day McMissile," he greeted with a smile, "What brings you here?"

"Oh, nothing in particular," said Finn, "I just wish to speak with one of the inmates."

"Oh, I see," replied the Aston Martin, "and who might that be?"

"A bloke by the name of Alexander Hugo," replied Finn.

The warden's eyes narrowed. "Alexander Hugo?" he asked. "What ever would you want with the likes of him?"

"I want to talk to him," Finn said simply, "I've got a little something I want to offer him."

The Aston Martin eyed him suspiciously. Finn McMissile was not usually the type to go offering things to the inmates. He knew something was up. "Oh? And what might that be?"

"Remember the prison break from last week?" asked Finn, "and how Zundapp, Axlerod and the Lemons all got loose once again?"

The Aston Martin nodded.

"Well," said Finn, "Alexander Hugo didn't join them in their escape."

"Hmm..." the Aston Martin pondered for a second. "Come to think of it, you are quite right-he didn't escape, did he?"

"Yes, and I'm curious to find out why. I wish to see if I can get any information out of him. He might be able to help us if I can get him on my side." Finn explained.

"Very well, then, I'll give you thirty minutes to see him." the Aston Martin nodded.

"Thank you so very much, Orswell," said Finn as he drove on through. He drove down through the corridor, keeping his eyes out for the particular black Hugo he wanted to see.

The agent ever so carefully drove down the hall, his gaze scanning over the prisoners behind bars. As one would expect from such a place, he received cold looks from different cars, but it didn't alter the agent's own expression. In fact, he kept his small smile, along with his easy paced driving through the large room. The light that had come from the outside world, the very door where Finn had come in through, closed shut. Now he was left with the dimmed lights that shine from within the prison itself, much to his distaste. But it had to do for now.

After a few minutes of searching, he managed to find who he was looking for. Coincidentally, he had found him at the very end of the hall, just on the right side of the row of cells. As the Faultless neared, he saw that the other car wasn't facing the outer section, toward the bars - instead, he was facing the wall inside his prison, which was rather much dark from within.

Clearing his throat, the agent managed to catch the car's attention, who now heard his gradual nearing.

Alexander slowly turned around, his eyes widening as his eyes fell upon the blue vehicle. It took him a moment to truly comprehend who it was. "Finn McMissile?" he breathed, drawing forward slightly to get a better view and to move away from the darkened areas of the cell. "Is that you?"

"It is," Finn confirmed with a nod, his smile now honest. "If you don't mind, I'd like to have a little chat with you, Alexander."

The Hugo blinked, his mouth opening a bit in question. Raising an eyerim, he edged back a bit, watching as the agent headed up to the side wall of his imprisonment and began to type in a couple of numbers against a keypad. The bars at front suddenly lifted upwards, a mechanical sound echoing throughout the room.

At this, angered voices began to rise in the background, coming from different cells further down the hall. Anyone would know that prisoners didn't like the apparent release of an inmate. They all wanted to be freed as well.

Alexander was in shock, unsure of whether he should drive out or not. He was held in his spot as Finn drew back and gestured for him to come forth. "Follow me, if you please," he said calmly, beginning to make his way back down the hall. The beige and brown vehicle regained his senses and almost hesitated to do as instructed, but he obeyed nonetheless, steadily trailing up a few feet by Finn's side.

"Wait, where are we going?" he asked, glancing around and seeing the threatening faces of unhappy prisoners. "What do you mean by a 'little chat'?"

"Exactly what I meant by the words alone," the Faultless replied with a smile, side glancing at him before returning his gaze back forward. "Along with some tea."

Alexander cautiously followed the spy as he led him back to the door. Finn banged on it with his tyre. "Orswell! I've got him!"

At that moment the door slowly creaked open. Finn and Alexander then drove to where the black Aston Martin stood.

"Thank you Orswell," he said, "Now, if you don't mind, I'm going to be taking this chap to our tearoom."

"Very well then," said Orswell, "Just be sure to have him back here by one o'clock."

"Will do," said Finn. He turned to the black Hugo. "Come along, Alexander."

Alexander followed the spy cautiously, uneasily glancing back at Orswell, as if expecting the black Aston Martin to pounce on him if he made one move. But the old car just stood there as he left-in fact, he was smiling softly.

Alexander was almost certain that this was a trap. Finn was probably going to lead him into some interrogation room and torture information out of him, like he had seen his fellow Lemons do to agents they captured. But to his surprise, Finn took him around the back of the headquarters, where a spiked fence guarding a beautiful garden stood. The spy typed in a few numbers and the large gate opened up.

Alex's eyes widened in amazement. Roses, lilies and lilacs of every imaginable shape and colour blossomed everywhere. Large magnolia trees and weeping willows decorated the edges. In the centre stood a large stone fountain with a Cupid car on top. Crystal clear water flowed from the tiny holes and trickled down the sides like spray. But perhaps best of all, it was quiet and calming; no noise sans birds singing and the swishing of the trees in the soft cool breeze, carrying the aroma of fresh flowers."Is this the tea room?" he asked, bewildered.

To his surprise, Finn burst out laughing. "No Sir!" he said, "This is the C.H.R.O.M.E. garden. Sometimes, though, on a lovely afternoon, our boss lets us have lunch outside."

"Is that what we're going to be doing?" asked Alex.

"Of course," said Finn, "You've been cooped up inside much too long. You need the fresh air."

Alexander just stood there, agape, unsure of whether or not to move forward. He couldn't believe what he was seeing and hearing. He couldn't recall the last time anyone had treated him so kindly, let alone a C.H.R.O.M.E. agent-the very one who put him in jail.

"It's-beautiful!" he gasped.

"Isn't it?" asked Finn, "it's a quiet, quaint little place. I do enjoy having my afternoon tea here. Speaking of which, we had better hurry!"

Alexander cautiously followed Finn into the garden.

The further they went inside, the more astonished Alexander was. He couldn't believe he was feasting his eyes on such glamorous views.

As the two cars made their way down the clean path that separated the grass from the space used for driving, another building came into sight. At first, it was assumed to be a log cabin, but it was shown otherwise as they got closer, for it proved to be much more modern and fancy. It was a mixture of grey and white, with high pillars stacked evenly amongst each other's sides for support toward the upper levels.

Both cars neared the entrance, the doors sliding open as it detected their movements. A cold breeze swept over them, the lights from inside now shining at their fullest, hanging evenly across the ceiling.

With Finn in the lead, him and Alexander drove forth. It wasn't until a new voice spoke up that the beige and brown car jolted slightly and glanced in its direction. There was a car there, a 1957 Buick Roadmaster at that. He had a warm smile on his features, and he dipped his front bumper mildly. "Welcome, Sir Finn," he greeted.

"Good day, Mr Vedder," Finn replied with the same motion, and he gestured to Alexander. "I'm bringing in a fellow, if you don't mind?"

If anything, the Hugo always felt stiff whenever someone, more so an agent or one alike, laid eyes upon him. It was as if he did the tiniest movement, such as breathing, he'd be attacked, or deemed suspicious. Thankfully, this wasn't the case. At least he hoped it would not be the case.

"No, not at all," Mr Vedder answered calmly, giving Alexander the same welcoming smile he had given to the blue agent.

"Thank you." Finn glanced at the car beside him. "Come along now."

Alexander slowly drove forward as he followed him, taking the time to observe his surroundings. The room was rather large, and mostly everywhere he looked, it was white. To start off, the floor was clear yet grey at the same time, and it was extremely shiny. Glancing upwards, there were higher levels that were opened up, with black gates alongside its edges. At some points, there were little lights coming from in between the bar spaces, adding to the brightness of the area. Up ahead, where they seemed to be driving towards, was a ramp that led to a lower floor by a couple of feet. Instead of a wall at the far end, there was a huge glass. Behind that glass wall, it showed parts of the garden that weren't shown before. Here, there were more kinds of flowers, along with beautiful antiques that looked very expensive. Inside the room itself, there were silver tables, and the two cars headed up to the middle one, taking their own side opposite from each other. On top of this table were silver platters, and in the centre were stacks of cakes and sandwiches in two separate piles. There were also two cups, matched with a teapot.

Alexander bit his lip, starting to feel a bit anxious. What did Finn want with him? He couldn't think of anything that was of concern to the spy, thus making it much more nerve wracking. He watched as the Faultless began to pour tea into his cup, and once it filled to the top, he did the same to his own cup.

"So," Finn started, his eyes flicking up to make contact with the other car's own. "We are both aware of the incident that occurred last week, yes?"

Alexander blinked, his mind racing to find the event that Finn was referring to. Then it clicked. The escape of Professor Z, Miles Axlerod, and the lemons. He felt a bit of pain at the thought.

Bringing himself back to reality, he gave a nod of confirmation. "Yeah, I know, they escaped. Why?" he asked, raising an eyerim.

"Well, I've come to a simple conclusion. You were the only one who didn't leave with them. Why is that, may I ask?" Finn glanced at him with a curious yet warm expression.

Alexander froze. This hadn't been the question he had been expecting the spy car to ask him. "Well, I uh..." he glanced down at his teacup, staring at his own reflection. He then took in a deep breath and glanced up again. "Well, I'll be honest, the first time I tried to escape a couple of years ago, Ivan shoved me back and locked me in. But when they escaped last week...I couldn't get myself to go with them. I figured I would get caught and it just wasn't worth it. I didn't know where I would go, what I would do, so I just chose to stay."

Finn nodded in understanding. "Ah. I see." He took a sip of his tea.

Alex glanced down at his teacup. His eyes drifted upwards towards the cake and sandwich stand. The cakes and sandwiches were some of the nicest he had ever seen. There were different fruit-flavoured scones, tarts, crumpets, fairy cakes with various thick, coloured icing, thick round spongy tea cakes and shortbread biscuits. Dainty little tea sandwiches dotted the platter, which was surrounded by pitchers of butter, clotted cream, sugar, milk, cream, and different flavoured jams.

Finn seemed to notice the Hugo's wide-eyed fascination with the treats and glanced up. "Go ahead," he said, "it's perfectly all right."

Alexander hesitated, then he slowly reached for a fairy cake. Setting it on his plate, he took a very small bite. The sweet, vanilla flavour tickled his taste buds. The thick, sweet strawberry icing felt like heaven on his tongue. He chewed very slowly, then swallowed it. The pastry felt good going down and even better once it reached his stomach. Alexander smiled slowly. He couldn't recall the last time food had felt so good in his stomach, let alone good food.

Finn smiled at him. "Do you like it?"

"I do," said Alex with a small, almost shy smile. He then took a sip of his tea. The hot liquid was soothing but bitter. Finn noticed the look on his face and asked him, "Would you care for some milk in your tea?"

"Yes please," said Alex as Finn poured the white liquid into his cup. Once the spy car was finished he sipped it again. This time it was sweeter, and Alex thought that it tasted much better.

Finn smiled at him. Spooning some sugar into his tea, he stirred it around as he proceeded with his next question. "Alexander, do you know why I brought you here?"

Alex stared at him. "No," he said slowly, "I don't."

"I wish to make a little deal with you." Finn said between sips of tea.

"What is the deal?" asked Alex.

Finn set down his cup and looked the Hugo straight in the eyes. "If you can track down the Hugo family and help us get them back in jail, we'll grant you a pardon."

Alexander looked up in surprise, unable to process what he had just heard. "What?" he asked.

"You heard me," said Finn, "if you can help us capture the escaped Hugo family, we'll let you go. You'll be a free car."

Alexander couldn't believe what he was hearing. "You mean it?" he asked, looking at the spy car in bewilderment.

Finn laughed. "Of course I do! You're the most well-behaved prisoner we've got. You have always been polite towards the guards, you never once complained about being in prison or doing hard labour, and you seem to be working hard on improving yourself." He smiled at him. "I believe you deserve another chance, Alexander Hugo. But before we agree to this deal, there is one question I need to ask."

Alexander held his breath.

"Why exactly did you join Professor Zündapp's gang?" Finn asked, looking him in the eyes.

Alexander stared down at his now half-empty tea cup. He had been expecting that question. He let out a sigh. "It's a long story." He looked up at Finn.

Finn smiled gently at him. "Go ahead," he said, "We've got time."

Alexander stirred his tea nervously. "I joined because I had to...I owe it all to my uncle, Victor Hugo."

Finn's eyes widened in surprise. "Victor Hugo is your uncle?!" he gasped.

Alex nodded. "It's true," he said, "I owe it all to him. He saved me from my terrible past-if it hadn't been for him, I don't know where I would be now."

Finn sipped his tea. "Tell me about your past."

Alexander took a deep breath and began. "Well, it all started many years ago…."