Diana had always been a little bit different. Her body was more flexible than most, her bones stronger. She dislocated shoulders and ankles and fingers all the time but it rarely hurt. She could fit into spaces people smaller than her never could. Diana isn’t small either. She is 5’9” and has about 130 lbs of mostly muscle. Her mother put her in gymnastics when she was young. Competitions were just practices with more people watching. Diana’s parents were divorced and her father had long been dating a woman with two young girls. Diana considered them her younger siblings along with her biological younger brother, Caspian (also known as Ian). Alex was her only older sibling, a boy. He was separated from the rest of them by some invisible wall. Diana wasn’t really sure why. She had to partially raise her younger siblings, but she knew that they weren’t as attached to her as she was to them. She was okay with that. It would be easier for them when everyone eventually moved away. The first time she realized how protective she was over them was when they were staying at a big house for vacation hours away from their home. Diana was in a room with her sisters that had a set of bunk beds and a queen bed. Diana chose the top bunk. Some time during the night, she heard a noise go by the door before stopping, and seeming to come back. Diana was on top of the covers ready to tackle the person from above. She wouldn’t let her siblings get hurt. The sound continued on down the hallway. She stayed up all night. The first time Diana figured out she would fight for them and not care what happened to her was actually during a play fight turned painful. Her youngest sister, Lily, and Alex had been having a pillow fight, which turned into tackling, which turned into her brother being blinded by anger or frustration or pain or something. He pulled Lily’s arm really hard. Lily told him to stop. So did Diana. Alex did it again. Lily’s eyes watered and she made a quiet-scream noise. Diana got in between them and growled at him, “Don’t. Hurt. Her.” And when Alex moved towards Lily again? With that look in his eyes? She body slammed him into a couch. He went at her and they were using nails, pulling hair, and twisting things in directions they weren’t supposed to be twisted in. Diana didn’t feel a single thing besides the “keep her safe, he hurt her” instinct buzzing under her skin. After a bit he seemed to calm down so she stopped. She had made sure not to actually hurt him, but she sure as hell wasn’t going to let him hurt a kid. Much less one of her younger siblings. “You done?” She asked with narrowed eyes. Her older brother of three years gave her a look but backed up. “You cut my arms with your nails,” Alex glared, showing her his bleeding arms. Diana shrugged, and after looking down at her own bleeding arm, said, “so did you.” “That hurt.” “I don’t feel it,” she said honestly, half daring him to keep complaining. Emery, the middle daughter, had gotten an ice pack for Lily’s arm and that was the end of that. The first time she realized she would kill for them was when Alex was at their moms, and their dad and stepmom were out. A weird car pulled into the driveway. None of them knew who it was. They lived in a very rural town, and there was only one other person on their five mile long road. That was a vacation house that was hardly occupied. “Go lock the window in the parents room,” Diana told her siblings around the corner, “stay in there and make sure no one sees you when you look out the window.” They did what she said and she grabbed a heavy pan and flicked out her pocket knife from her pocket. She stood on the counter behind the cabinets. Diana was tense, ready to pounce on whomever it was and slam the frying pan into their head. She knew what they could do with enough force. Diana didn’t care. It’s her siblings at risk. It ended up just being a relative's friend dropping something off for them at the door, and after they left, never once trying to open the door, her siblings came out. She was off the counter with everything back in place. They never really talked about any of the many situations that had happened over the years where Diana had instantly gone into protect mode. Although, she does vaguely remember one of them mentioning how they knew she would hurt someone to protect any of them. Then, her and all three of her younger siblings went out shopping after dark in a city during vacation. Diana was eighteen at this point, and she had driven them to what reddit people said was a good spot to go shopping. They were heading back to their car, and had to go through a wide ally to get back to the parking lot. Diana made sure to walk a bit to the side and behind them so she would be able to see all three of them at all times. A guy in a dark hoodie turned into the alley in front of them. Diana got her siblings to move over a bit closer to the wall by moving herself. They were still happily chatting, while her eyes tracked the guys every move. Every hesitation or quick pace in his stride, every twitch of his arms. He was looking at the ground, and Diana could tell he had something in his pocket besides just his hands. She hoped it was just a phone. Diana heard more footsteps behind them. That better be an echo. He moved a bit more to the middle of the ally. Diana stepped forward, more in front of her siblings. Emery gave her a concerned look as Lily and Ian continued their very chaotic conversation. Diana gave her a firm one back. Emery scooted closer to the other two, Diana taking her place just as the man tried to grab her. Diana twisted his arm into an uncomfortable position, “Don’t. Touch. Them.” Then she kneed him in the balls and moved to kick the back of his knees, taking his legs out. His arm was twisted even more painfully behind his back, and he screamed. Another guy came out from behind them and went to grab Lily. Lily is actually not her favorite. But she’s the youngest. A pocket knife was lodged into his shoulder before he could touch her. (Diana had honestly expected it to just hit him but that works too.) He was now screaming too. Emery grabbed the guy’s arm that Diana was holding and Diana crossed the few steps between her and the other guy. She grabbed the knife out right before he shoulder checked her in the face with his now bloody shoulder. She spun on her heel to the other side of his body. Someone cleared their throat and Diana looked over. Ian held out a metal pipe to her, half bowing, “Milady,” he smirked. Diana smirked back, taking it, “Why thank you, kind sir.” Then, she wacked the guy hard enough in the head to give him a concussion and he fell to the ground. She turned back to Emery and the other guy. Emery had tied him up to a fire escape ladder with his own shirt. “How did you even do that. I’m in boy scouts and I can’t do that,” Diana heard Ian grumble under his breath. “You guys got all your stuff?” Diana double checked. The three kids checked their bags. “Yep!” “Yessir!” “Yes.” “Aighty, lets go!” They were all cackling and chatting by the time they got back to the house and walked through the door. Their parents looked at Diana warily and she frowned, “What?” “You have a bit of… something on your face,” Alex deadpanned from the kitchen entrance. “My face?” She asked, confused. Ian snorted. Lily held out her phone, the camera on selfie mode. Diana stared at the dried blood, “Huh. I wondered why my face was so itchy.” She smirked menacingly at Alex, “They tried to hurt my siblings. You know how it is.” The parents seemed horrified. Take that you neglectful alcoholics. “This is who she is!” Started Ian, quoting the first part of a quote from… somewhere. Diana doesn’t remember. “And there is no need to be afraid,” continues Lily. “She’s just protecting her minions,” Emery laughed. “That's definitely not a part of that.“ “I know it’s not a part of the actual qoute. But there wasn’t another part to it so I made it up. Deal with it.”