' the fire finds a home in me '

HER HEAD throbbed with undetermined pain as her bones creaked, her body moving on the hard surface she was on. The blonde parted her lips, her eyes still closed as she tried to fight the heaviness weighing over her. Her lungs exhaled heavily, the pressure crushing her underneath. She could feel her fingers clenching and unclenching and then, they stopped. A hand placed over her own, the warm fingers stroking her knuckles as her hands stopped twitching. Faye could feel the fingertips trace the lines on her hand just before she heard her name.

"Faye," the voice mumbled in the midst of feet shuffling on the ground and things being dropped on a metal surface. "Wake up, please." It took her a few seconds, but she recognized the voice in a mere instant: Scott. A sigh escaped her lips and the hand that was on hers was on the small of her back, helping her sit up just as her eyes batted open.

"Scott?" Faye questioned, her eyes wandering around the room, trying to identify where she was. Her blue eyes spotted various things such as doctor tools, an x-ray machine, a cork board, a file cabinet and other objects one may find in a doctor's office. Still unclear she asked "Where are we? What happened?"

The brunette pulled a chair beside Faye, releasing the pressure of of her back from his hand. His chocolate eyes shined with concern as he lifted up one of his eyebrows and looked Faye in the eyes. "You don't remember?" His voice became rough, but with a quick clearing of his throat, his soft speech returned. The blonde shook her head side to side, her blonde hair crossing her face.

Scott separated his lips to speak, but he was cut off by a man walking into the room. His skin was much darker than Scott's, and his eyes browner than his. He was a shorter man, and bald, but Faye knew just by looking at him he was older than Scott and her. Scott noticed Faye's surprised look and he stood up, making his way over to the man. "Faye, this is Deaton. He's my boss."

Deaton gave a warm smile, his mustache stretching across his upper lip. "Hello Faye. I'm going to do my very best to help you, but unfortunately, I'm only just a vet," he chuckled.

Faye tucked a piece of dirty blonde hair behind her ear just as Deaton took a few steps towards her, pulling a lighter out of his pocket. He gently slipped his hand under Faye's and lifted it up, his eyes scanning her fingers like a magnifying glass looking for clues. "May I?" he requested, flicking the lighter on.

The blonde's eyes lit up with fear, her fingers beginning to tremble in the man's palm. She looked up and locked gazes with Scott, who gave her a reassuring smile and a gentle nod. Faye glanced back to Deaton and gave a curt nod as she anticipated the burning of the flame on her skin. The grip on the palm of her hand became tighter and the girl squeezed her eyes shut and bit the inside of her cheek, waiting for the scalding heat. Instead, her hand grew cold. She could feel the waves of heat float up to her skin, but the minute they touched her, her skin became frigid.

She slowly opened her eyes and looked at Deaton, who was holding the flame right up to her hand. Her veins grew darker and ichor swam through them to her fingertips, where ash began to form under her skin. Her stomach churned and an unknown evil began to pound against her lungs. "Deaton," Scott exhaled. "Look at her eyes."

Deaton clicked off the lighter and tilted Faye's head up, looking deep into her eyes. "Scott, tell me what you can hear right now." The room became silent and Scott tilted his head, picking up every small sound in the space.

"I can hear your heartbeat," he hesitated and uncrossed his arms, taking a step forwards and frowning, "But I can't hear hers."

Deaton harshly released her chin and took Faye's hand once more. The black that had coated her hands was slowly dissipating and the feeling of darkness had settled. "What do you hear now?" He asked, looking over his shoulder at Scott.

Scott's eyes widened and he took another step towards Faye. "I can hear her heart beating now," he gasped. "Just a few seconds ago, I heard nothing."

Deaton's eyes filled with sadness and he released Faye's hand. "I'm so sorry Faye."

The blonde hopped off the metal examination table, a puzzled look controlling her features. "I'm sorry, I don't understand. Why are you sorry?"

He sighed and ran a calloused hand over his face.

"A long time ago, a girl was burned alive tied up to a tree in Beacon Hills. This tree wasn't an ordinary tree. This tree was a sacred tree and was believed to have supernatural powers. When the girl was chosen for the sacrifice, the druid was expecting the tree to pass some of it's power to him. He was wrong.

"As soon as the girl was on the edge of death, the tree made an unbreakable bargain. In exchange for the girl's life, the tree took her soul and replaced it with the fire that had killed her. The tree had unintentionally created a supernatural creature; it had created the ignis."

Chills covered Faye's body as she hugged her arms over her chest. "The ignis?"

"That's its old world name. You may also refer to it as a phoenix. It is a dark spirit created from fire that can take control of you whenever it feels like it. Your body is not made for fighting it, which is why you find yourself sick when it tries to control you."

Scott took a step towards Faye and reassuringly placed his hand on her shoulder. "Is there any way to get rid of it?"

Deaton shook his head, and hesitated. "The only way to get rid of the ignis is to kill whoever inhabits it. That would mean killing Faye."

Faye's palms grew sweaty and her knees began to wobble, her balance becoming lazy. Deaton took a step towards Faye and gripped her tightly by her arms, looking deeply into her eyes.

"Listen to me Faye. Listen to me very well. The ignis is not your friend. It will try to manipulate you and it will try to control you. You must fight it with every bone in your body. If you give up, it will consume you and you will not come back. "

Water swelled in her eyes and she trembled in Deaton's rough grip. "Deaton," Scott warned, his voice becoming low.

"Whatever you do Faye, don't trust anyone. Not even your parents. One of them is the one who gave you the ignis. One of them is waiting for it to wake up and guide it. One of them is waiting for you to give in and burn this whole town down, killing everyone, including yourself. Anyone and everyone who knows what you are are just waiting. They will torture you into giving up and you will become a supernatural servant."

Tears dribbled down her cheeks and pressed down on her lips as Deaton released her, blinking in realization of what he had just done. "I'm sorry Faye, I didn't mean to scare you." His words hung in the air but it didn't provide any reassurance to the frightened blonde.

Scott pulled Faye into a hug, her face resting on his chest as he held her in his arms. His tight but gentle squeeze cradled Faye and warm feeling encapsulated her heart, but she gently brushed it off as Scott released her. "I'll take you home," he muttered as he slowly retracted his body from hers. In his eyes, she could see confusion but it quickly vanished as Scott said goodbye and thank you to Deaton and led Faye outside.

"THIS IS your house, right?" Scott asked as soon as they pulled up to the Rosenberg residence. Faye nodded, still chewing on everything Deaton had thrown at her. Her jaw hung heavy and her throat ached, missing the presence of her voice. She gave a small nod and placed her hand on the door, hesitating as her fingers touched the leather.

Scott watched her, guilt clouding his emotions. "It's going to be okay," Scott said, making Faye turn and face him. "I promise."

"What now?" She croaked. "What am I supposed to do now?"

Scott sighed and rubbed the nape of his neck. "Live your life as nothing has changed."

"You don't understand. Everything's changed. I can't even trust my parents." Faye placed both of her hands on her face and pushed them upwards into her hair. They both dropped, but without thinking, Scott grabbed her left hand and placed it in his own.

"You can trust me."

Faye looked at his hand and then up at him. "And what happens if I lose the fight? What happens if I let it take over me and I kill-"

"Faye," Scott said sternly, his eyes widening and looking into hers, "I won't let anything happen to you."

The blonde swallowed and Scott continued talking. "I know what you're going through Faye. I was in your place too. You have to just trust me when I say you're strong enough to fight the ignis. You won't be fighting this alone."

Scott gave her hand a reassuring squeeze which made her heart pulsate just a bit faster. He froze and looked at her chest (not at her breasts) and then glanced back up to meet Faye's eyes.

"Are you going to be okay for the rest of the day?" Scott said in a soft voice, his brown eyes making Faye give a small smile.

"Yeah, I'll be okay. It's just going to be hard to be around my parents."

"How about this," Scott proposed. "When we have time, why don't we do a bit of research? Deaton said the tree that woman was burned to death on was in Beacon Hills. Maybe we could find it and maybe we could get some answers."

Faye shook her head. "Scott, you don't have to do this for me," She insisted.

The brunette smiled. "I know." Just as Faye opened her mouth to thank him, his phone buzzed and the name Allison appeared on his screen.

"I'll see you tomorrow," Faye promised as she released pulled her hand out from underneath his and swung the door open.

He nodded and gave her a wave as he picked up his phone and answered the call. The blonde slammed the door shut and released a heavy breath as she watched Scott drive away. She could feel her stomach dropping and her heartbeat slowing down as she walked into the empty Rosenberg house along with something Faye had never felt before. Heartbreak.

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there you have it folks! you now know what faye is!

if you guys have any questions about the ignis/the phoenix, please let me know and i'll gladly answer!

i don't know about you guys, but i'm getting pretty excited that faye and scott are getting much closer and faye may be growing feelings for him c;

hope you guys enjoyed the chapter! feel free to share feedback and expect another update soon!

dedicated to:

everyone who's going through hell right now. just like faye, you have to never stop fighting.

stay strong and keep walking through those flames

xx