Unspoken - Book 5 - S.S.

Prologue - Part 1: Wait and see

A/N: Prologue to season 5 is here! I'm super excited for this one, so, as usual, let me know your thoughts! Comments and feedback are always appreciated!

Deaton had done quite a lot of research on the phoenix force and, with his knowledge, he, Diana and Stiles had spent most of their summer trying to understand everything Diana could possibly do. She had been right. As it seemed, the phoenix did have some healing capabilities. They weren't too powerful, though, working more as a sort of pain relief than anything else.

"It's rather similar to the werewolves' capacity of taking pain. Like a plaster of sorts." Deaton had told them one day. "It is true that Diana can start the healing process on herself or someone else by her own will which Scott can't do, but she can only start it."

"So... Depending on how bad it is..." Diana trailed off as Deaton nodded.

"As powerful as the force inside of you is, Diana, messing with the cycle of life would bring too much chaos to the world." The vet explained. "You can't bring someone back from the dead, but you might help them not get there in the first place."

"So that's what I did with Malia?" Diana asked. "Started her healing process and then she healed herself?"

"Exactly." Deaton nodded. "Faster than she would without you, but she healed herself."

"Well, alright, that's all very cool, but... Is that all?" Stiles spoke up then, standing beside Diana as the three of them reunited in the operation room of the clinic one afternoon. "Healing, I mean?"

"Well, there is the resistance to fire." Deaton started to list off Diana's abilities from the list he had been compiling to study her case and, suddenly, Diana felt as if she was in the doctors, hearing him list off her symptoms for a diagnosis. "She can still create fire as well and control the temperature of her body, right? From what you told me happened in Mexico with the golden bird aura around her, I'm assuming she can now work with the phoenix as one instead of fighting against her as she did when she was dark. That means... From now on, and the more she practices, she'll be able to use the phoenix inside of her to aid her in a fight. When you train... You feel stronger when the phoenix is out, don't you, Diana?"

"Yes." She nodded. "Anytime I let her out, I feel stronger and more alert. I'm pretty sure I can move faster too."

"You do." Deaton confirmed. "And that's because the phoenix gives you a little push, though it's a good thing you were a good fighter to begin with since I don't think the force within you would be much use if you didn't know how to use it properly."

"And you think I do?" Diana frowned, her eyebrows furrowing a little in worry as Stiles quickly reached a hand over to Diana and placed it over the small of her back to offer her some comfort. "I mean... Do you... You think I'm in control?"

"For now, I'd say yes." Deaton nodded as Diana let out a breath of relief and Stiles turned to look at her, almost proud. "But I must warn you... You are the first ever person to host the phoenix more than once so it's safe to assume you'll face more than any other person before you."

"What does that mean?" Stiles asked, as Deaton almost shrugged.

"This is what we know: the longer the host body keeps the phoenix, the stronger she becomes." Deaton said, as Diana and Stiles nodded at him. "But when the host body dies, it's believed that the phoenix steps back from our world for a moment, to recover. What happened with Diana had never happened before, so there is no way for us to know how the phoenix will continue from here, but if there's one thing I can assure you is that what we know still stands."

"So that means that the longer I'm alive, the stronger the phoenix will become?" Diana guessed.

"Especially now that you two found a way of coexisting in the same body." He said. "You're not fighting for control anymore. You, Diana, and the phoenix learned to live together. You're learning to live as one."

"And that is some sort of new level for Diana?" Stiles asked. "Like... Like she conquered that challenge of coming to terms with the phoenix and now they'll be growing together?"

"Exactly." Deaton nodded. "You'll be growing together, learning... Evolving."

"Evolving to what?" Diana frowned and, at that question, Deaton sighed.

"That seems to be the problem, I'm afraid." He admitted. "Because considering no one has done what you have before, we can't tell what's gonna happen next."

"So what?" Diana asked. "Does that mean we just... We just wait and see?"

When Deaton didn't respond to Diana, the girl sighed. Sure, she was proud of herself for all of the progress she had had during summer - healing herself, healing others, fighting with agility and strength she didn't even know she had - and she wasn't scared of letting the phoenix go anymore. She worked through her and Diana usually let her give her the extra abilities she knew would come in handy if she and her friends ever had to face the supernatural again. Now, just as Deaton had said, they worked together; worked as one. But still, there was always a part of her that worried. A part of her that remembered the dark phoenix and that was always terrified she'd fall back into old patterns. After all, Deaton said it himself: what was happening to her had never happened to anyone before, so how could they know what was going to happen to her tomorrow? Or next month? Or next year? Or in twenty years if she even survived that long? They couldn't know. And it terrified Diana half to death.

But, just as she started to shake a little in nerves, Diana felt Stiles' hand wrapping around hers, his palm flat against hers as he squeezed their fingers together, trying to offer her the comfort only he could ever provide her. And Diana smiled. After all, if Deaton was right and all they had to do now - all they could do now - was wait and see, at least she wouldn't have to do it by herself.