Disclaimer: I do not own The Penguins of Madagascar or any of its characters. I do own the penguin Alex in this story.

As she stared at her father, the familiar anger she's always felt about growing up without him burned inside Alex. Now it was as strong as ever. Her whole body was tensed as she glared at the lead penguin— she could feel her flippers clenching into fists. She took a step toward him and he backed up. She was glad to see the fear in his ice blue eyes.

"Mother has told me a lot about you," she said, still advancing on him and soon he was trapped between her and the wall of the lemur habitat. Alex could see that he was looking for a way to escape, but if he tried, she would be ready for him. It was time Skipper stopped running from his past and faced his daughter.

So she was surprised, if not a little disappointed, when the leader lifted his head and looked the female penguin in the eyes. But he said nothing.

"What's wrong, father?" She spat out the word "father" like it was poison. She hated to admit that this penguin was her father. Then she reminded herself that she came here for the truth. She was determined to know why Skipper left her and her mother without even an explanation.

However, before the leader could reply, the youngest member of the team waddled over to them. He looked at Skipper, his back to Alex and she couldn't see the look in his eyes, but his voice sounded sad and a little hurt. "You never told us you had a daughter, Skippah," he said with a swift glance at Alex.

"Well, you see, Private," Skipper began, but he was interrupted by the tall lemur, who had walked over right behind Private.

"Could you please be taking this family reunion to your own habitat?" the ring-tailed lemur demanded, pushing Skipper and Private away.

Alex swallowed her laughter. There was something about the way this lemur talked and acted like he held authority over the penguins that made Alex want to burst out laughing. There was also something else deep down inside her that she never felt before, so she couldn't say what it was. She didn't really care enough right now to figure it out. She turned to her father, angry once more. "I came here for the truth," she told him.

The ring-tailed lemur stopped pushing the penguins and curiously turned to Alex. "I would like to be knowing this also," he said. Alex wasn't sure if he was talking to one of his friends or himself.

Skipper walked over to his daughter and grabbed her by the flipper, pulling her with him. "Come on, men!" he said to his team. "We're going back to our HQ!"

Alex struggled in her father's grip, but he had a firm hold on her. She found herself glancing over her shoulder at the tallest lemur, who still stood where he was, watching as the penguins left. The other two lemurs joined him. Alex guessed they were curious to hear the truth too, but she knew this was between her and her father. She wondered if he would let his team listen to their talk. She kind of hoped so; she didn't want to be left alone with her father because she might attack him out of anger, and if she did that, then he might not tell her anything.

Skipper paced in front of his daughter and teammates. Alex could see that he was trying to think of something to say. The moment they got back to their hidden HQ, the leader had ordered silence while he thought. Alex reluctantly did what he said, though she was still very angry with her father. She forced herself not to run to him and jump on him, reminding herself again that he was more skilled in fighting than her.

A nudge on her side snapped her out of her trance. She turned to the youngest member of the team, who stood beside her. Not wanting to disobey his leader's orders, Private was unable to speak, so he just stared at the female penguin with confusion in his eyes. Alex knew he wanted to know more about Skipper's daughter, but she didn't want to tell him anything about herself, so she acted like she was obeying her father's order, like him, though honestly, she couldn't care less about what Skipper wanted. All she cared about was finding out the truth.

Finally, after a while, Skipper came to a halt and turned to the other penguins. He looked over them, his gaze landing on Alex, who met his eyes steadily.

"So, you came here for the truth," he said as he took a step toward her which brought him directly in front of her. "Why didn't Daisy tell you?"

"My mother always took care of me," Alex replied, hardening her voice to a challenge. "She never wanted to hurt me. Unlike you, she—"

"I did what I had to!" Skipper insisted, sounding so tired of talking about all this and like he just wanted to get rid of Alex, so he would never have to think about his daughter or his former mate ever again.

Alex had to calm herself before she could reply. "You had to leave us?" Suddenly sadness overtook her. "I just want to know why, father… Why leave us?" She hated to seem so weak and emotional in front of everyone, but she thought maybe if her father saw how much she was suffering, he would give her a break and tell her the truth.

Instead of replying to her, Skipper turned to his team. "I need some alone time with my daughter," he said.

The tall penguin, Kowalski, said," Of course." Then he pushed the other two toward the ladder. Rico and Private went up the ladder with no hesitation, but Kowalski didn't follow them right away. He turned back to his leader. "We'll be topside if you need us," he said, and he quickly glanced at Alex before climbing upwards.

Once they were gone, Skipper turned to Alex, but the female penguin was still staring at the ladder. Why had he looked at her like that? She didn't understand the look, but it kind of made her uncomfortable, and she could still feel heat under her feathers like his eyes were still burning into her even though he was gone now. She sighed and turned back to her father.

"So," she began, trying to make her voice steady; she wanted to burst out crying, but she forced herself not to. She's waited her whole life for this moment and now it was here. She finally stood in front of her father, about to find out what happened and why he disappeared from their life without so much of an explanation. "Are you going to tell me the truth now?"

Skipper nodded and grabbed his daughter's flipper. He pulled her over to the couch and motioned for her to sit down. Once she was settled, he sat beside her and took a deep breath.

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