A/N

Thank you for the responses to the last chapter! As promised, here is the reward and the shoutout;

Aaaaand, in first place we have; *drumroll* SwiftShadowDragon! You win the virtual Jaffa prize!

Second place goes to; SpiritedandLoyal!

And, last but most certainly not least, third place goes to; Mage-Pages!

Thanks for the reviews, guys! Rock on, and enjoy Chapter 7!

Chapter 7- Waking Up

My eyelids feel as heavy as lead, and I could almost swear my eyelashes are stuck together. After a brief struggle, I manage to open them. Above me stretches a white marble ceiling, with a small purple puddle in the corner farthest from me. I wonder what that is... No matter. First I need to figure out where the hell I am. My stomach growls very loudly. And I need to find breakfast. I turn my attention to the rest of me. Linen bandages wrap my torso, and one leg is in a cast. What the... Oh. Right. Falling. Explosion... wait, explosion?! I sit bolt upright, and instantly regret it. A jagged line of pain runs down my chest, left to right. The bandages start turning red all along the line of pain, and I involuntarily cry out. A man runs in, worry sketched across his face, and I remember what happened.

"Where exactly am I? This isn't the room I woke up in last time," I say. The man ignores me, running over to check the bandages on my chest. Already, there is a line of solid red along the pain line. What must be my own blood has soaked through the linen.

"No, this isn't the same room. Do you remember the name of the building?" I shake my head, and he looks even more worried.

"You never told me what it was called." He looks relieved. Come to think of it, I never asked for his name. "What's your name?" The worry is back. "You didn't tell me that one, either." I grin, and he laughs back.

"Well, since you're mouthing off, I can only assume that there is no brain damage. That's good; I was really worried." He breathes a visible sigh of relief. Wow, he really cares... My stomach growls again, and he looks with wonder at my linen-swathed stomach, and I can't help but laugh. I regret that when the motion makes my entire chest feel like an elephant dance party is happening on it.

"Erm..." He just laughs.

"You're probably hungry, huh?" I nod. "I'll fetch your crutches." A moment later, he's back in the room, with the promised crutches under his arm. He passes them to me and tries to lift me out of my bed, but I wave him off, because I want to see if I can do it myself. I can, and I feel a moment of joy. Then my stomach grumbles again, making me giggle. The man just laughs even harder.

"Ok, let's go."

"Right this way, Reese." I look at him, shocked that he knows my name, seeing as I can still feel my badge in its hiding place on the outside of my thigh. "I found your wallet in your pocket," he says by way of explanation. I nod.

We start towards the stairs. Before long, we are out of the hall and for the first time I recognize the enormity of this palace. The ceiling reaches for the sky, seven or more stories above my head. The stairs we are descending look like the ones that once graced the Titanic, but these are done in white marble instead of oak wood. In fact, I haven't seen wood used as a building material anywhere in this whole building. The main hall takes my breath away, and this is on the residential levels. This isn't even the palace level!

Six separate points lead away from the staircase, forming a wonky start. Not the Star of David, but just a six pointed star. In one of the six points, I see a big black hulking thing that I can only assume is some sort of forge, especially seeing as heat was radiating off of it. Another point holds tiers of chests, all bearing labels. Yet another holds a table, and maps on the surrounding walls. But the crowning jewel is the Thaumic altar in the center.

Smooth gray stones ringed with runes hover in midair, and steps leading up to it are clearly under construction. A redheaded man is tinkering with the steps, and as I watch, he assembles another on a table, zaps it with a wand he's produced from a pocket, and places the glowing step in its place. The altar flares up, and then settles down, but the glow is distinctly brighter than it was. Very cool. I had no idea that this magic actually worked. Last I remember, it was still in theory. No one had managed to get anything accomplished.

Off in another corner, a black table glows with green light, with multi-dimensional holo-projections displayed above it. Currently, a helmet sits- or rather, floats- in the center. A skinny, short guy in a lab coat over a brown hoodie stands hunched over it, pressing icons in the projections. The man pulls a pair of goggles- old fashioned, leather strap, gold frames- from his pocket and sets it on the table. As I watch, the goggles are scanned, and accepted. With a push of a button, the goggles fuse to the helmet. With a grin, the man picks up the helmet.

"Hey, Smith!" The redhead looks up. "Catch!" He throws the helmet. The redhead, who is apparently called Smith, catches it and turns it over in his hands, examining it.

"Dude, this is sweet!" he exclaims. "Thanks, Trott!" The other man, Trott, grins and gives him a thumbs up. Then he looks over, and sees Ross and me at the foot of the stairs.

"Hey, Smith!"

"Yo!"

"Sleeping Beauty's up!" Smith's head shoots up, and he catches my eye and grins. Both men walk over to the two of us. Out of the corner of my eye, I catch Ross grinning. Clearly, these two mean a lot to him, although I have no idea who they are.

But something tells me that, in time, these two will mean a lot to me as well.