((sorry, but as much as I love Marvel and X-men, I've gotta move on))

The void slowly released its acid-clad grip on me, and I awoke with a start, gasping for air. The armored dragons dragging my body on a cot stopped, realizing their charge was indeed alive. I shivered, the bewilderbeat's mind still lingering around the edges of my mind. Our consciousnesses briefly touched, and I immediately jerked back, creating massive walls between us. He sauntered up to them and pressed forward, only to bounce back, shocked. He shook his head and tried again, but my walls held firm with my terror. The alpha snorted and backed off, not wanting to put that much effort into it. "How..." one of the human guards stared at me in disbelief. "Drago! She's still alive." That name snapped me out of the daze, and I tried to push myself off the cot, only succeeding in tumbling over the side onto my back, reopening whip, dagger, bite, and a number of other wounds I didn't remember getting. Groaning, I rolled onto my feet and started running - well, walking quickly from how damaged my legs were - as fast as I could towards a light at one end of the hallway. I had almost made it when a hotburple landed heavily on me, forcing the air out of my lungs, crushing at least six ribs, and snapping my spine. "Now, we're going to open you up and see what makes you tick," Drago smirked wickedly.

I shuddered, dreading tomorrow night's memory-dream. For the past week, my dreams had simply been the relatively peaceful void that had swallowed my mind for two days while Drago's men tried to unsuccessfully skin and dissect me. I was thankfully disembodied and felt minimal pain, but nothing like if I had been even partially conscious. My natural healing had protected me, just like it did now as I numbed the nerves around my bruised ribs and spine. I checked the clock and was not terribly surprised to see I had only slept for an hour. If I returned to sleep, it would start continue the memory dream before jerking me awake. Whatever force had caused these to start wanted to keep an exact schedule, or so it seemed.

I joined Nolan in the kitchen and made myself a midnight snack. "Weird dreams?"

"Weird dreams," he confirmed. We seemed to be the only two people in the school who couldn't sleep at night. Nolan subsequently had difficulty staying awake during the day until I gave him the recipe for firecrackers. A small piece of mutton smothered in Tabasco sauce and jabanero pepper seeds rolled in a tortilla with spicy mustard. Even Texans had difficulty swallowing this much heat in this combo, but it got the job done. Logan sometimes joined us, but no one came that night. "Do you think we'll ever say what our dreams are about?" Nolan wondered aloud.

I chuckled, "What, be like a bunch of little girls at a slumber party? Nah, I'd much rather keep my dignity, thank you very much."

"Like when you dunk your head in a bucket of ice? Yes, you're the personification of dignity."

"Hey! That was for the ice-bucket challenge, remember?"

"Sure... but aren't you supposed to dunk a bucket of ice water over your head?"

"Ha ha, smarty pants. Now what's to say I don't dump some ice water over your head?" Nolan laughed and gently pushed me with an over-extended arm/octopus tentacle, so I threw a jabanero at his face. He caught it at the last second, being careful not to touch his eyes as he snapped a piece off to pop in his mouth. I rolled my eyes and pulled tomorrow's batch of firecrackers out of the oven.

"So, can anyone become telepathic?"

I sputtered, "What? Uh, I guess so. I've only heard of one person, though, who figured it out. And, well, she was an alien, so... Ahem, why do you ask?"

"Well, I had just been wondering. I mean, it would be great to be able to talk with you more, and we don't have very many classes together, and maybe you could even teach me how to defend myself," Nolan blurted out.

I blinked, "What brought this on? I can teach you how to defend yourself without being telepathy, but I get the feeling that's not the real reason."

Despite further prodding, Nolan refused to tell me why he wanted this. Eventually, I threw my hands up and sighed, "Fine. If you don't want to tell me, I'll just teach you defenses. All right?" He nodded eagerly. "Well, the first thing to know is that anyone can access any mind at any time. The trick is knowing how and when to activate your defenses. Everyone naturally has minor defenses, usually in the form of a stone wall about... let's say a foot high, otherwise everyone would know what everyone else was thinking constantly. It wold be chaos. To defend yourself against a natural telepath is almost impossible, but you can at least slow them down until someone can help you or you trick them into leaving. Break concentration, and defenses are useless. Now, focus on the most important thing to you." I sensed him delve into memories and experiences before an image started to form, turning the tiny stone wall into a two-story version of me. I sighed, "Really? Try something different." The image blurred and became flames. Not real flames, but flames of... spice? I shook my head, "Okay, that will have to do for now. Focus on the spiciness of that firecracker you stole and only focus on that."

Once I felt he had a relatively good foundation, I brushed against his mind. The image blurred for a moment then strengthened again. I brushed again, lighter this time, and it wobbled. I chuckled; he must be very ticklish indeed if a mere mind brush made him giggle like a baby. I stopped and resumed, now pressing against his defenses, discovering that his weak point was his insecurity about his natural appearance. I did not catch exactly what it was, but Nolan thought it was hideous. There were a few other points of weakness, but that was the most vulnerable. I withdrew and let him know what I found. "It's pretty good for your first try. Keep it up and try to find stronger memories, places, things, or even emotions. The stronger they are within you, the stronger they are as defenses, but try not to use me or people close to you. This will put them in danger if you encounter a hostile telepath. Now, let's -"

"WHAT is that?" Nolan stared wide-eyed at the wall. I looked behind me, only to see a black swirl.

"It's a portal," I said matter-of-factly. He looked at me quizzically, and what I said hit me like a freight train. "IT'S A PORTAL!" I whipped around and put a hand testingly through it. The land was definitely much cooler than in here, but then again, that could just be the portal.

"Do you think it will take you home?" Nolan somehow felt both sad and excited.

"I don't know," I breathed, feeling the pull. "but I have to try." I reached out my mind to my few possessions and brought them to the kitchen, checking to make sure everything was in order. I weakly smiled at Nolan, "Keep practicing. Tell everyone I'll miss them, but I had to go home. Only tell Charles, Kitty, and Kurt what happened here." He silently nodded, and I caught the glint of a tear forming just as I turned and walked through the portal.

It was much easier this time, probably because I wasn't flying, and I passed through into darkness in a few minutes. I turned around and waved, knowing Nolan wouldn't be able to see me, but it was a nice sentiment. The portal closed, and something clicked, blinding me with light. I blinked several times to get used to it, realizing there was a man in "modern" clothing pointing a handgun - a glock by the looks of it - at me. "Definitely not Berk," I muttered.

"Now, give me all your money. and your jewelry!" the man yelled. I looked him over, taking in his ragged clothes, matted hair, and filthy clothes. "I said- "

"All right, all right," I put my hands up. "Just calm down. I'm a little lost; could you tell me where I am?" I batted my eyelashes innocently.

He seemed a little taken aback, "Parkington and 5th Avenue. Just south of the Sprang River."

The streets were definitely New York City, but the river... You've got to be kidding me, "I'm in Gotham?"