I said before that I would stop making promises about updating... I really should, because even though I said I wouldn't be able to update too often, I seem to be fitting it in. I must have underestimated. Or maybe overestimated... Ah, well. Review please! Please! :)
"What do you mean, sweetie?" Max asked, trying to disguise the alarm in her voice.
Angel paused, and when she spoke next, her voice was soft. "I heard stuff."
There was a rustling as Max pulled Angel closer.
"Stuff people said or stuff people thought?" Max asked.
"Stuff people thought," Angel confirmed wearily. After a pause, she said, presumably in response to Max's thoughts, "No, I want to tell you now. I mean, it's just stuff I sort of heard. I didn't understand all of it – chunks were missing. And it was from a couple different people."
"From Jeb?" Max guessed.
"No," Angel said grimly. "I didn't get anything from him. Nothing. It was like he was dead."
I frowned, my brow furrowing, and I sat up quietly. Max and Angel didn't seem to notice.
"They kept doing tests, you know, and they were all thinking about me, about the flock, like, wondering where you were and if you would try to come get me."
"Which we did," Max added triumphantly.
"Yeah," Angel said. "Anyway, I found out that another place has information about us – like where we came from."
"Whaat?" Max asked. "Like our life span? Or where they got our DNA?"
Angel said nothing. She might have nodded, but I wasn't sure.
"Well, spill it!" I blurted without thinking. Angel continued obediently, as the Gasman, who had been asleep next to me, awoke and sat up, listening to figure out what was going on. Fang and Nudge also sat up.
"They have files on us," she said. "Like, the main files. They're in New York. At a place called the Institute." I raised my eyebrows. How many secret facilities can there be in one country?
"The Institute?" Max asked. "In New York City or upstate New York?"
"I don't know," Angel answered. "I think it was called the Institute. The Living Institute or something." I frowned. Could we go there? I wondered what kind of info they had. Parents? Or had we been made in test tubes?
"There's more," Angel said quietly, her voice trembling. "You know how we always talk about our parents but didn't really know if we were made in test tubes?"
"I saw my name in Jeb's old files," Nudge said. "I really did."
"I know, Nudge," Max said gently. "Listen to Angel for a minute."
"Nudge is right," Angel said quietly. "We did have parents – real parents. We weren't made in test tubes. We were born, like real babies. We were born from human mothers."