When Alexandria awoke this morning she didn't know that fate would send her an angel in leather and a corset. This was just a day like any other for her as she rode her bike to the bookstore. She went to the natural healing section as always and ordered her hot water so she could make her own tea. Alex settled in to read and take notes, preparing for college when all hell broke loose…

An EVO crashed through the window, causing everyone to scream and panic. It was a large serpent made of fire and ash. Alex froze. The two things she feared most were now staring down at her, EVOs and snakes. The serpent reared up and hissed before letting lose a shockingly draconic roar and breathing a torrent of fire.

Alex's eyes widened, 'I'm so dead.'

Alex was too paralyzed to move… An arm wrapped around her waist and leaped out of the way. They landed a couple of feet away from the fire funnel that incinerated the bookshelf she was sitting in front of. She glanced up at her savior and lost the ability to speak…

There, before her stood a silver-eyed angel in a blue corset and black leather pants. The girl's arm was badly burnt. Alex watched in amazement as a white crystalline aura quickly healed it, leaving not a scratch. The girl turned to her and gave her a reassuring smile before taking out a pair of folded katanas from her black combat boots. She leaped into action, beating the snake EVO into submission with a man in green combat fatigues.

Another man came running in. He was in black jeans, goggles, and a scarlet buttoned down shirt. He placed his black-gloved hands on the EVO and electric blue circuits appeared. The vicious snake EVO was now an unconscious woman.

Alex turned her attention back to the girl. She was currently kneeling before a little boy, who had been injured. She smiled softly and healed him. The little boy smiled back and hugged her tightly.

Alex smiled, 'Apparently he thinks she's an angel too…'

She hugged him back and handed him over to his very grateful mother. The girl continued to heal random people and a couple of Providence grunts as well. Alex always thought of them as Star Trek "red shirts" because they were always the first to go down in battle on TV.

'Why do they hire such useless people?' She wondered.

"Spirit. We're going to the ice cream shop with the kids," the man in green deadpanned.

Spirit nodded and signed something real quick before healing the last victim. She pressed the silver leaf on her choker and a set of golden mechanical wings that her uncles, Cesar and Callan, made for her popped out from a compartment hidden in her corset. She flew after the two older men to catch up.

Alex stared after her wide-eyed, 'So her name is Spirit… And she really does have wings!'

She left the ruined store and followed the girl. Small children greeted Spirit and the two men…

"Daddy!"

"Papa!"

"Spi!"

Alex bit her lip to prevent herself from laughing as twin two year olds, a boy and a girl, wrapped themselves around Spirit's legs. Spirit grinned and retracted her wings before she picked them up. The little boy yawned and laid his head on her shoulder while the little girl played with Spirit's raven curls.

'So cute…'

"Spi! Someone's thinking about you!" One of the boys said.

Spirit raised an eyebrow to that and looked around. Alex's eyes widened and she hid.

'That was way too close…'

She peeked around the corner and saw the happy family walk into Cold Stone Creamery. Alex sighed. She had never felt so attracted to anyone in all her life! Spirit was so gentle and sweet around children yet when it came to EVOs…

Though normally non-violent, Alex couldn't help but be attracted to the beautiful and dangerous stranger. She was like an angel and a demon all rolled into one…

'I have to get to know her!'

With that thought in mind, Alex headed to an internet café nearby while the fire department was busy dousing her favorite book store in water to put out the flames. She ordered hot water for tea once again and sat down in front of a computer.

There wasn't a whole lot on Providence. The only bit of history she was able to find was the fact that they used to capture EVOs and bring them to a lab to destroy them. Then about a year into the agency's existence, a hired gun by the name of "Six" brought in a boy who could cure EVOs. His name was Rex and he was trained as a weapon and used against EVOs.

There were various news reports showing Rex's ability to cure and fight. He was a bit of an immature klutz as a kid. The green clad man from earlier must have been Agent Six. His skills with a sword were impressive and he easily surpassed the younger man with his fighting abilities. Not bad for a human…

The youngest member of their team was an eighteen-year-old by the name of Spirit Reaper. Agent Six found her in an EVO testing facility and adopted her just as he had with Rex, a man he later married.

'Ew. That's so creepy…'

Six married his first ward?! That was just so unnatural! Did he train him to be his sex toy as well?!

Alex eventually decided that she shouldn't be one to judge the lives of others. After all, her parents agreed upon another child, her, in an attempt to save their failing marriage. Eighteen years later and not only were they still married but they still hated each other. Their "perfect marriage" was all a façade for friends and family. Alex found it sick that people were actually envious of their perfect life.

If only they knew…

There was a viral video that had been posted on youtube just roughly six months ago. It was difficult to find one with enhanced audio but totally worth it. Alex was a little nervous about the content as she had to sign-in in order to watch it.

The video began when a metal werewolf sliced into Six's torso with its blade-like claws. The agent had been protecting one of the children that followed him and Rex around like one of Bo peep's sheep. It was a little girl of around six years with black hair and green eyes.

There was a man that Alex recognized as Van Kleiss, the man who nearly destroyed New York years ago. He was so terrifying! What mind of monster would use plants to destroy buildings full of innocent people?!

"Do you feel that, Angent Six? The poison coursing through your veins and into your heart? Your limbs growing heavier, weaker… Your lungs shutting down… The agony of suffocation… You're dying, Agent Six…" The man purred.

Six looked as though he were struggling to breathe let alone remain conscious. Yet he miraculously remained on his feet and stood strong between the mad man and the little girl. His husband, Rex, was fighting a pretty Japanese girl who wielded deadly ice as perfectly as he wielded his machines.

He was stronger but she was faster. His ass was grass at the rate they were going, especially since the majority of his concentration was on his dying husband's predicament. Rex grunted in pain as he was stabbed in the shoulder with a razor sharp shard of ice.

"Skalamander, finish him and get the girl," Van Kleiss ordered.

The little girl behind Six was surprisingly calm as the mutated lizard raised its arm and…

Six never felt the impact… Instead, he felt a small warm hand on his neck as the poison and pain drained from his body. The man frowned as his eldest fell to her knees with stone spikes lodged in her body and blood pouring out of her wounds.

"Spirit," Rex screamed.

His shout distracted Yuki long enough for him to pick her up and slam her into the ground. He groaned and held his profusely bleeding shoulder.

Van Kleiss' face twisted into a horrific smirk as he ordered Breach to get the girls. The four-armed woman raised a massive hand and was promptly shot. She howled in pain and gripped her arm in agony.

"Working with the enemy, Hunter? I thought you hated all of our kind…"

"Don't get any ideas. I owe the girl," Hunter Cain, a known EVO killer muttered.

Six weakly stood as he held the oddly calm little girl in his arms.

She looked up at him and said, "You will adopt me soon."

The agent raised an eyebrow and smirked, "Is that so?"

She nodded, "Because you're good people. My name is Lily, by the way."

The man frowned and stiffened a bit but relaxed once his love caught up with him. Spirit rose from the ground, the stone shards hitting the ground with a "tink". She brought out a pair of folding katana from her boots and nodded to Hunter Cain. The older man opened fire on Skalamander while she gave the scrawny wolf a beat down. Its other hand is slice from its body and he howls in agony, biting her in the shoulder and tearing out a huge chunk.

The wound quickly healed and the grunts closed in. Breach managed to overcome her pain and open a portal for her and her master to get through but the other three were captured. Spirit tucked her katanas away and ran to her papa's side to heal him. Rex gave her a combination of a wince and a smile.

"Thanks, mija…"

She gave him a soft smile and hugged him.

"Why would you risk getting caught again? Why come and help us?" Rex asked as the grunts cuffed Hunter Cain.

"…I owe her."

"You also owe me for not letting Six kill you."

"I've attacked you since my little talk with her and each time she spares my miserable life. If that girl of yours could talk she would have the world on its knees with her wisdom and lovin' it with her kindness."

Rex felt a little ill that his daughter had found an admirer of sorts in a genocidal mass murderer…

The video ended there.

Alex was in awe… Spirit was a force to be reckoned with physically and intellectually. It was fortunate that Providence had found Spirit first and not Van Kleiss. Sure, either way she was a weapon but at least with Providence she had a chance at becoming a kind person and not a merciless killer.

Alex frowned and couldn't help but wonder why Van Kleiss had wanted Spirit and Lily so badly. Spirit was highly trained but she was still just a healer. Lily sounded as though she had some sort of fortune teller power.

Before Alex could dwell on it much longer, her thoughts were interrupted by a text from her brother, Scott.

'Chinese?' – S

'Sure. Vegan pad Thai.' – A

The blonde thought for a bit before picking up her phone again, 'Know of any schools that teach sign language?' – A

'Sign language? Why the sudden need to learn? Aunt Ethel has been deaf for years and we're all perfectly content not talking to her.' – S

Alex grimaced…

Aunt Ethel was a cantankerous old bat that treated everyone as though they were lower than the dirt beneath her feet. Old money was like that though…

'No. I met someone interesting.' – A

Well she kind of met someone interesting… If by "met" you meant spying on a girl and her family then reading news articles about the company they work for, the sure. She met her.

'Oh God, I'm a stalker!'

'Really? This isn't going to turn out like Moxxie did, is it?' – S

'Low blow, bro…'

Moxxie, aka Michelle, was a hot as hell animal rights activist. Alex got arrested while helping her crush liberates some monkeys from a cosmetics lab. To top it all off, Moxxie turned her down so it aiding her in hope of a date wasn't exactly her brightest idea…

'She's Aphrodite with the mind of Athena and the strength of Artemis.' – A

Scott groaned as he read that, his little sister had it bad…

Again…

'Dammit!'

He really hoped that he wouldn't have to bail her out of jail again…

'Really? Who is this girl?' – S

'Spirit Reaper…' – A

Scott panicked as the coffee he was drinking wound up splattered all over his phone and computer. He coughed and gagged before even realizing with a groan that he did a cliché spit take.

'What the fuck am I?! A Looney Toon?!'

There wasn't much he knew about Providence but he knew of Spirit Reaper. One of his classmates was practically a social media stalker of the girl! She was raised on a military base and the daughter of an ex-mercenary and a weapon. This could only end horribly…

'Let's talk about this over dinner.' – S

Scott really just wanted to talk her out of it…

'No. You'll just try to talk me out of it.' – A

She knew him too well…

Alex got on her bike and took off for home. She knew that she was being more than a little unfair to her older brother especially since he took her in. In her parents' perfect little world, there was no room for an openly gay daughter. So when Scott went off to college she followed shortly after. Now they went from sharing a gigantic house in San Francisco with their parents to a reasonably sized two bedroom apartment in Arizona where he was going to law school.

Alex was on her way to a school to become a dietitian and natural healer. She would learn meditation, yoga, reiki, tai chi, aromatherapy, "herbology", and acupuncture to start. Alex may have been born in the 1990's but she was a flower child of the 70's at heart. She only hoped that her path would lead her in the direction of helping people and falling in love…

Scott just paid for the food. He had a paid internship at a law office. His sister was a waitress at a Cajun Moon, a Creole place owned by the sweetest old lady. They lived in relative comfort, which was more than Scott could've said when he was on his own. It was a bit of a pain at times but he loved having his sister with him.

The brother heard her footsteps running up the stairs to their place. They were polar opposites but there were a few things they could agree on. One of these was a healthy diet and plenty of exercise. Cinnamon began barking happily as he awaited his owner's arrival.

Cinnamon was a teddy bear dog with golden curls. It was a ridiculous and yappy little thing but it provided good companionship so Scott wasn't about to complain even though he'd prefer something bigger like a Goldendoodle named Charlie or something.

"Hi baby," Alex squealed as she scooped up the annoying pup.

Scott looked up to his sister and gave her a wary smile. Alex was willowy and tan with wavy golden blonde hair and bright blue eyes. She loved swimming and surfing, which was why moving to Arizona was such a blow to her. It took her away from the ocean and her favorite surfing buddies, the dolphins.

Scott was more of a pale, lanky geek with a bit of muscle to him. Aside from being able to balance a gigantic pile of old books in his arms there wasn't much of a reason for him to be big and bulky. He had freckles across his cheeks, tidy ash blond hair, and blue eyes hidden by glasses.

Clearly he got the brains while his sister got the looks…

They sat down to dinner and ate in relative silence. Scott knew that the more he cautioned against dating the daughter of murderers, the more his sister would want to chase after her. If he was going to approach this topic, he would need to seriously think of an angle that wouldn't push her away.

Scott was confident enough with his game plan to "attack" while they fired up their small hibachi grill and roasted marshmallows for smores dessert.

"So… You and Spirit," Scott began.

"I was at my usual bookstore with a cup of tea and all of a sudden a flaming snake EVO came crashing through the window. It stared at me then went to breathe its fire. I was so a goner but Spirit appeared out of nowhere and picked me up and leaped out of the way like I weighed nothing! She's pale and short and full of muscle and curves," Alex sighed dreamily.

"Okay…"

It wasn't like his sister to fall for someone based on looks alone…

"Her arm was badly burned and it healed right in front of me. She took down the EVO with Six and Rex cured it to reveal an unconscious woman. Spirit spent the rest of her time healing people. She took care of a little boy! It was so sweet! And she has these mechanical gold wings on her back that make her look like an angel!"

"Uh-huh…"

"I did some research and her green dad adopted her red dad then married him. It's kind of weird… But they took her in after rescuing her from being experimented on. Spirit managed to form a friendship with Hunter Cain, an EVO killer."

Scott somehow doubted that it was a "friendship" that they shared. It was more like a mutual respect as killers…

Okay so the older Cross sibling was a bit of a pessimist…

He took a deep breath and sighed, "Are you certain that this is wise? She was raised by dangerous men. She could be a weapon or a mercenary like her fathers. She knows a lot of dangerous people and some of them may very well be on the wrong side of the law."

"There's no way that they could possibly be bad people. Not anymore. She is such a warm and kind person…"

"You said the same thing about Moxxie and she put you in danger and left you high and dry when you got arrested."

Moxxie had been her first crush. She was an older woman with an athletic build, pale skin, auburn hair… Moxxie was pretty hot. His sister was a sweet girl and yet she was drawn to strong women who were more mature and often a little colder. At least this one was closer to her age, but that didn't mean that she was safe. Alex was gullible and looking for her "forever gal". Scott was just trying to prevent her from making another mistake.

"This one is different," Alex whispered, "I can feel it. She's got such kind eyes…"

"I want to meet her first before you go chasing after her."

They went back inside after dousing the fire. Alex sulked on the sofa and turned on the television which was tuned into Ultimate Exposure.

"Diane Farrah here, live in beautiful down town Phoenix where a man who can control lightning had was juiced by a friend as a sick fraternity joke. As you can tell, our handsome heroic duo is unable to get close enough to the victim to calm him down let alone cure him," the red head explained.

Sure enough there was a man who was made of shimmering blue electricity. And at the center of it all were the mercenary, the weapon, and the girl that many people online referred to as the juggernaut.

'How can someone so small be considered a juggernaut?' Scott wondered.

The Providence trio became quite famous over the years. Yet there were two sides to each coin and Providence was no different. There was the professional, well oiled machine that everyone respected and feared. Then there was the behind the scenes that no one knew anything of.

Whoever their computer expert was made certain that no hacker from any part of the world could get past their security. From time-to-time Ultimate Exposure would cover Providence and from time-to-time Providence's leader, White Knight, would actually allow live coverage. It did wonders for the agency's funding…

Alex's eyes were trained on Spirit as she argued with her fathers. Rex and Six both looked a little pale at whatever she was signing. It was obvious that the girl had an idea and that it was incredibly dangerous. Scott raised an eyebrow a she scaled the wall with all the grace and elegance of a small panther.

Spirit faced the man with no fear in her eyes. There was only sympathy and determination. The man hugged himself and tried to prevent his powers from reacting to her presence. He released a couple of bolts of lightning in an attempt to push her away to keep her safe despite the fact that those very same powers could easily take her out.

"Stay away!" He pleaded in a robotic-sounding voice.

A bolt of lightning danced through the sky, arching high as he struggled to contain the uncontainable. Spirit predicted the path the lightning would take and dodged, edging closer. She did this again and again with each release until she was right in front of him.

"Please. Please leave," he begged, "I don't want to hurt anyone!"

Spirit wrapped her arms around him and then it happened, the final release. If the poor girl could scream she would've. The electricity coursed through him, into her, through the evacuated building, and into the ground. It all drained. The extra power was gone, revealing a man with an auburn buzz cut and hazel eyes. He was tall and built, like those athletes that used to give Scott swirlies in the boys' room at school.

"Oh God," the man began to panic as he held Spirit's body.

Said girl gasped and curled up in a ball in pain with her nerves on fire. The man tentatively leaned down and stroked her raven curls in an attempt to ease her pain. Six scaled the building just as his daughter had. He ran to his daughter and Rex followed shortly after on his boogie pack.

"I'm so sorry…" The younger man said as he looked to the two concerned fathers with pleading eyes.

"Just give her to me," Six ordered calmly.

The man nodded and handed her over. The agent wrapped an arm around his trembling daughter and handed her over to her papa who flew her down. Six looked to the young man with a frown, clearly not liking how he as staring at his daughter. The young man in question saw his so-called friend, the asshole who juiced him and ran towards him with a fist crackling with lightning.

"Hey, hey, hey! Whoa! Cole!" His friend protested.

In a flash Spirit was between the two of them, protecting the douche bag that had caused all the trouble for the sake of a "prank".

"What are you doing?! He hurt you! He hurt both of us!" Cole demanded.

"An eye for an eye leaves the whole world blind," Six translating for his daughter, "If you harm someone with your powers we will have to take you in. You will be stripped of your freedom so please stop and preserve your humanity."

Most of the anger seemed to have melted away as Cole realized that attacking his incredibly immature and stupid best friend in front of Providence agents was perhaps not the wised idea.

He hung his head, "You're right… But I'm not forgiving him."

"It takes time to forgive…"

Cole looked up at Spirit who smiled thoughtfully at him and reached out to give his shoulder a comforting squeeze. The sparks stopped flying and he gave her a weak smile in return.

Six was so done with this…

"Spirit," he barked, "We got an alert in Chicago."

The girl tore her gaze from the young man and cast him an apologetic look before running to her fathers.

"And there you have it, ladies and gentleman, a peaceful solution to a situation that may have ended with a trip to the morgue. This is Diane Farrah signing off," the reporter stated.

Scott switched off the television and turned to his sister, "…Alright. Let's say I support you going after her, who's to say she wouldn't prefer a man young man like that? Just because you develop a crush on someone doesn't ensure that they're gay or that they'd fall for you."

"I know that," Alex snapped, "I just want to find someone that's strong when she needs to be and gentle when she doesn't. I want someone who will love me for me… Even if she doesn't, I can at least say that I tried…"

Scott gave her a look that suggested she was a moron, "We all want that. It's our grand quest in life to find our other half. I just don't want you to be sad because she may not be yours."

"Can't I dream?"

The older Cross sibling sighed, "Sure, sis. You can always dream…"

I still don't have much of a feel for 18!Spirit… I'm not leaving her as a sweet, obedient girl. Spirit has grown into a kind, somewhat rebellious and losing herself in her attempts to emulate her fathers (especially Six).

Anyway, my laptop still has a few kinks in it but I'm managing nicely. Sorry for the delay on "Going Soft for the Boy" and "A Little Spirit". I didn't abandon them! Like I said before… I may have stupidly decided that getting Fallout 3 and Borderlands: The PreSequel was a brilliant idea. So… Yeah. I may have strayed a bit and played video games for too long. Many apologies.