AN: Jessica's song: The pretty Reckless, My Medicine. You can probably tell why cute is a CHALLENGE FOR ME. Maybe I'll manage it better next chapter? X_X

The world was black, but she could make out the muffled voices outside of the void, if vaguely. She could also tell she was moving, but her muscles were still too heavy to so much as twitch. She was so tired, her heavy lids fell back into place, wondering if she had finally died. Was this what had been awaiting her? It didn't last, soon the gentle jostling motion that had begun to sooth her came to a stop. Something bright began to pull back the curtain, as if she were in an empty black movie theater and someone had begun to unzip the screen ahead. Top to bottom, revealing pure white behind it.

She could feel the light assaulting her eyes through the lids, brow furrowing with irritation and eyes slowly prying open to see who was responsible.

"I told you I was going to help. First step was getting out of that place." seeing him grin down at her was weird. She was accustomed to the grumpy frowns and disapproving words. This was...not the man she knew. Whoever this was wearing his face was far more frightening. She didn't like it. She wanted to reach out her hand and shove that face away, but her arm barely began to lift and he took the hand as if reassuring.

"Don't you worry, I got a hold of your file. You did get her file, didn't you George?" he turned a sharp look to the other man, now that her vision was clearing she could see three other men standing around.

"Right here, boss." he held out the file and Crane snatched it away to let her hand go and flip through it.

"I told you to call me professor." he corrected, and earned a nod from the goon. What was going on? She wasn't dead, she wasn't strapped to that bed in the medical wing, and the Scarecrow of all people was motioning for them to keep wheeling the stretcher she was on.

"Some of these medications we can't take you off right away. Not on these doses. But you'll be off everything soon enough. Though the withdraw won't be fun." he was talking at her as if she could keep up, instead of drifting back into the world of sleep and black.

Her eyes shot open, this time the world dull and dark and grungy. Chest rose and arms twitched with a deep inhale, manic eyes jumping from thing to thing. There was a needle getting withdrawn from her skin, she didn't know what had been in it.

"Well good morning." he had his mask on, and she preferred that a great deal. She could hear the smile but at least she couldn't see it now. Like this it was more familiar. The world was spinning, and she was having a hard time seeing more than outlines of where figures ought to be, though she seemed to be on something soft now instead of what ever she'd been on before. Sitting up was a struggle, more of a flop from one position to another, but she held up a hand to motion that she didn't want help. Or at least, she thought she did. Instead she tried to speak from where she had crumpled into what must have been couch cushions. It took her a few tries through parched lips.

"Where..." she felt a gloved hand dip under her chin and help her sit up, looking up into the burlap mask, which refused to stay still. Some might have been frightened, but a giggle burst from the bubble of her throat instead. A slow hand had the strength to rise up and press to it, the material squirming under her touch. Instead of revulsion it earned a smirk, and she managed a solid sentence.

"Somebody mixed my medicine." a low chuckle was her answer from him,

"They most certainly did. But I'll fix you right up." he held out the empty needle and one of the gray blobs moved forward to take it from him. She still didn't know what had been in it. She didn't care. She vaguely could tell he was unwrapping something from her arm but the sensation was too distant for her to care.

"Somebody's in my head again..." she giggled, slumping against his straw-wrapped frame. It gave him a pause she didn't notice,

"Are they?" his gaze scrutinized her but she just leaned back again, swaying with a hum. There was no supernatural air around her, no whisper of the world's terrors, and it seemed he knew it too because he gave a nod.

"Jessica, I'm going to need you to focus. Can you do that?" he was holding her upright again by her shoulders and she frowned, concentrating harder and giving a nod. She wasn't actually so sure.

"You're going to be my student now. As I said before, I don't hand out grades. I'll expect you to work hard and study harder. You'll have the next few days to recover and regain your faculties, and then the studies will begin. I'll also be administering a test to see just where we should start you off and what areas to focus on." her eyes narrowed on him as he spoke, trying to stay focused. He said it like she had no choice in the matter. She supposed she didn't, given the circumstances. Did she care about that? Not really. She had been the one to ask before. What else was she going to do, pretend to be normal? Fake it till she makes it just enough to regain society? Not likely. Her head fell back first and the rest of her followed with a sigh.

"Yeah. Okay." she agreed, unable to fall back asleep. Slowly, very slowly, the world was piecing itself back together. "What'd you give me?" she asked at last. He answered without hesitation,

"Just something to counter-act what they've had you on. It will take a few days to get you back to normal." she laughed at the word choice, body wracked by the motion.

"Normal? You are a miracle worker..."

"As normal as the likes of us get." he corrected, and she could hear the smirk behind the mask. When she looked around she realized the gray blobs had gone off, though more of the world was beginning to clear up. It was still swimming. He spoke up again.

"For a moment I thought your mind had been wasted."

"As much as my body?" she stretched with a crack of joints, popping her neck by turning it side to side, "we'll see. I'm still breathing." for the moment she was able to keep up with the conversation more and more.

"So you are. Soon, you'll be doing much more than that." she only smiled with a hum.

AN: Crane thought process: She worked with me once and almost died in the process and is even crazier than she started off? I'll just kidnap her and take over as her doctor. WHAT COULD POSSIBLY GO WRONG?