A/N: I know it's been a really long time but, it's the usual excuses, we're moving, school, homework...

This chapter doesn't really go anywhere but I promise you we get to the fun stuff soon!

Alan and The Angel – What's Reality.

The sun burned against Angel's eyelids until it forced her to get up. Still feeling like part of her brain was still asleep, her legs mechanically took her into the en-suite. Soon the sound of a running power-shower could be heard. A few minutes later she emerged, donned in a fluffy, white towel, and wandered into the walk-in wardrobe.

Angel knew she was spoilt and was forever feeling guilty about it. She didn't really talk about her large house or high-tech computer in front of other people. Mind you, all the other girls at school were as privileged as her, if not more; at least they had parents.

Her seemingly non-existent parents had never really been a problem. She couldn't wish for anyone better then Penny. She'd bought her up, giving her a crash course in everything from table manners to kickboxing, and who needed a dad when you had Parker to teach you how to ride a motor bike at the age of 9 and how to break into any kind of lock you can think of by the age of 13?

Yes, of course it would have been nice to know her parents. Angel got annoyed when she had to explain to people that Penny wasn't her real mum. Even though it was just curiosity, Angel felt exasperated when inquisitive parents asked about her real family. She always felt exposed and uncomfortable when talking about them in front of other people apart from Penny, like they were a secret of something. She'd always stuck to the idea that they were a secret to her so they should be a secret to other people too. That was the kind of answer a psychologist would give, Penny said. Penny had always said Angel would make a good psychologist when she was older. Angel knew there was something else to that feeling but she could never explain it properly.

She could remember the day when shed finally found out the truth. Angel had never really thought that Penny knew much about her family and therefore hadn't bothered to ask her about it. Then, one day Penny asked her.

'Have you ever wondered who your parents are?'

After that her memories were sketchy, she was only about eight, but she recalled the facts; she had five brothers, Penny had been friends with her Mum and her Mum had dies giving birth to her (bet her brothers loved her), after that her Dad couldn't cope and Penny had stepped in. She wondered what it would be like to grow up with just six men, Penny always said she was far to boyish anyway.

Angel liked her life, it had turned out ok, but she would still like to meet her relatives.

Breakfast was on the table by the time Angel, dressed and ready for school, came down. Her toast was there, buttered without jam and slightly burnt, just the way she liked it. Penny often joked that she was easily pleased. Penny was already halfway through her bowl of Special K and seemed to be in a bit of a rush.

After breakfast Angel double-checked that she'd done all her homework and packed her bag. The bus was a bit late and when she got on it, Angel felt embarrassed for some reason. As she walked towards Jo in the 5th row she could feel people's eyes on her and every now and then, she could hear somebody whisper, 'her?'

'What's happening?' she asked Jo, plonking herself in the seat next to her.

Even though no one really knew what she was talking about most of the time, Jo had a knack for knowing what other people meant.

'The Thunderbirds have got a crush on you so the 'Queen of all Freaks' is jealous so now everyone hates you. You know I was thinking of starting an Anti Siobhan Society, the abbreviation is ASS, isn't that cool! Could you join? I could really use someone with a brain to think up all the mean pranks we're going to play on her.'

Angel wasn't listening. The Thunderbirds had a crush on HER? There was no way this was possible. Granted, they had paid a bit more attention to her then Jo the other day but 'Queen of all Freaks' was just seeing red because Angel had got the day off school pr something stupid like that. But maybe it was true…

It was hard to think over Jo's nattering about how her Dad had eaten with them last night because she had to keep pretending like she was listening. Then the bus reached school. She had to talk this through with Penny; Penny always took an interest in Angel's (granted, non-existent) love life.

First lesson was Science, Angel liked Science, she was good at it too, especially the engineering side of the subject (Parker sometimes let her look under the hood of the FAB-1 after he'd had a few whiskeys). Jo hated Science, having never done her homework, the teacher had rated her a lost cause and tried not to lose hairs over it. Mr K liked Angel, though. She knew she was a bit of a teacher's pet, Siobhan made sure of that. Angel recalled the day when Mia had taken the teasing to far and Angel had stabbed her in the back with a pair of scissors. Fortunately, or unfortunately depending on how you saw it, they were the kind that were designed to stop reception kids from gauging each others eyes out so no skin was broken. Unluckily, Siobhan herself was not there to witness the incident and therefore didn't take it into mind whilst taunting Angel.

Class started and Mr K began his pre-class talk, going over past lesson, asking questions and briefing what they were going to do that lesson. Generally people didn't pay attention at this part apart from Angel.

'So today we are going to start our research projects.' A mummer rose from the bored students, when researching for their presentation you were allowed to use the laptops, which had wireless internet connection, which meant that you could fool around on the internet when the teacher wasn't looking. Angel rolled her eyes. 'I have made a list of famous people related to our topic, when I call your name, come up and write your name next to the person you want to research. Remember, I expect a full bibliography including pictures.'

Angel turned towards Amy, who was sitting at the same table, and asked her, 'Who do you want to do?'

'I don't know maybe the first person on Mars…' she answered.

'Don't you mean the moon?'

'No, that's boring.'

Amy was possibly dumber then Jo but was somehow a friend of Mia's and that covered all of her reputation.

'Angel.'

Mr K had dug out the list of options and, when she got to the front, Angel was glad to have been picked first. There was only the one person she was remotely interested in and he would have probably gone fast. Jeff Tracy. She scribbled her name next to his and hurried back to her desk.

'Who'd you get?' Amy asked.

'Jeff Tracy,' Angel replied happily.

'Ok, I don't know who he is but I'll take it by the look on your face that he's someone worth researching.'

'He was the first man on the moon.'

'Like I said, boring.'

Amy's name was called and she went up to the front. When everyone had settled, Mr K turned the radio to a news channel.

A babble soon rose up but Angel kept an ear on the radio because two people were having a discussion about adoption. Apparently there was a new law that when adopted people turn 16 they could access their original birth certificate instead of the old 18.

That meant that in two years she could find out the names of her real parents. But what if she didn't want that, it could change her life. Well, of course it wouldn't, it would just stir up stupid, sentimental feelings and make her do something complicated like try to meet up with her father. What if he didn't want her? What it he wasn't very nice? But he couldn't be, he was friends with Penny for one and Penny wasn't friendly to people she didn't like.

Angel scrolled down the page the page she'd opened and stopped at a picture of Jeff Tracy. She wondered if he had children. It would be weird to have an astronaut as a dad and kinda cool. Mind you, Jeff Tracy was retired now, it said in the paragraph below, this happened after the death of his wife.

Angel felt a strange sort of sadness, the kind you don't get when reading the death notices in the newspapers, the kind you feel when you really are sad for someone. She glanced up at Jeff Tracy's face again then started scribbling down the URL. She wasn't so sure she should have picked him now, like she should have left him in peace.

A/N: Thanks for reading, I'm not sure how long the next chapter should be but I've already started working on it so it shouldn't be to long!

Please, please, please reveiw!