Perry landed at the top of the 'ancient ruin' as she climbed the last step. "Hello again. I don't think I've said good morning, yet. So… Doof?"

He tapped his watch, and looked at her, waiting.

She pulled her tablet from her purse, preferring to use the larger screen. "Ah. Still on sick leave. Alright. We'll cover for him."

He gave her a thumbs up, then looked at the temple like building behind him.

"Shouldn't be bad. I mean, escaping traps is pretty much the O.W.C.A. trademark, so… we'll be fine. Maggie shouldn't have a problem. Harry should excel at any strength tests…" She left it unsaid that someone would have to go for Karen and most likely carry her out, and that if Harry ran into any brain teasers, they'd have to double back for him, too.

Perry gave a tired chatter, and nodded like she'd said it anyway.

A nasally voice chirped behind her. "Doofenshmritz is a no show again? Major Monogram isn't going to like this."

"Still on sick leave, Carl."

"He hasn't accumulated any sick days yet! He's only been an agent for a few weeks!"

She turned around. "Carl, how much sick and or vacation time have Perry and I accumulated?"

He pulled at his collar, and the only reason she didn't have to catch him before he stepped over the edge of the stairs was because Perry was there to grab his pant-leg. He adjusted his glasses. "Thanks, Agent P. Um, let's see here… you've both actually used more since you started working together than your entire careers prior… huh. But… yikes! Um, are you saying you'd be willing to transfer a couple days to Doofenshrmitz?"

Perry glanced up at her and she nodded. "It's not like I was ever going to get to use them all anyway."

"Okay. So for this one, we actually don't have any day players. And, as you've no doubt noticed, there's nothing in the manual except for proper escape techniques. So.. Sorry about this, guys."

"What are you…" his face got fuzzy as he covered his mouth, and stepped away from them.

"I know you've been through this before, but it's mandatory."

She knew she should know what he was talking about, but all she really knew for sure was that she had an overpowering urge to sit down. "Carl?"

"Everything's okay. Just relax."

She was lying down now, and so was Perry, a green fog surrounding them. He lifted his head to look at her, and something about his almost bored expression calmed her. Everything was… something.

_—

She woke up with a splitting headache. "They so didn't just do that. Carl, I am going to have such a talk with…" she opened her eyes to sheer darkness. "Perry?" Nothing but silence answered her. She wasn't worried until she tried to stand up, and realized that there was barely enough space for her between the ceiling and the floor. The same went for the walls, everything stone. Probably the temple's version of a vent. No biggie. She belly-crawled forward, only to fine a solid wall directly in front of her. With a sigh, she stated to slither backwards, only to find another block at her feet.

'Stay calm. There's a way out.' She carefully felt over every inch of her prison, even though it only made her more claustrophobic by the second. No latches, everything felt so solid…

She clicked her watch on, but nothing happened. Not even a light. It was just a test. Wasn't it? Now she knew what the gas had been about. She was disoriented. Too bad knowing that didn't really help her. Not knowing what else to do, she pressed as hard as she could against the wall in front of her. When that didn't budge, she began to kick the wall in back as hard as she could.

Was she really failing a trainee test? Something was wrong. Something was very wrong.

_—

Perry opened his eyes, and looked around calmly. He'd been an agent too many years to think twice about being suspending over lava in a bird cage. This was the test? He doubted the lava was anything more serious than colored water, but he wasn't going to risk failing on a technicality. He reached inside of his hat and found that it was empty.

He slapped it back on his head and crossed his arms. Wasn't this supposed to simulate a field mission? Oh well. He'd certainly made do before. He felt around the floor of the cage. Nothing. But it was a bird cage.

He stood up, and started pulling and twisting on one of the thin metal bars. He could have kept going, he supposed, but it was easier to just bent the 'bar' that was really more of a wire, and pick the lock. He swung the cage until he was close enough to the edge, and flipped down easily. The whole process took longer than he'd have liked, but he was reasonably sure Doof would only be just about done with his backstory right about now…

The thought gave him mixed feelings. It wasn't that he wanted to go back to the days where the scientist was waisting his life by being evil, it had just become so familiar. It was one of the reasons his wanted the man on his team. It took a while to get acclimated to Doof, and while he wasn't exactly patient with him, he'd always tolerated him, even as a nemesis.

The light from the lava room was fading, but there were torches in the hall up ahead. He took one of them down, just in case, and wandering along. He didn't have his field manual, but he hardly needed it. The only priority of the test was to escape. He'd only gotten out of the first trap. He was sure there'd be more. He pressed a button on his watch to find out how his team was doing, and found that it was disconnected. All he had access to what the time.

He frowned a bit at that, but he wasn't going to worry if this was a timed test or not. They'd do their best, and if they had to retest, so be it.

Light from the torch bounced off the walls and the slapping sound of his feet on the stone floor was the only sound. It was actually sort of peaceful.

He continued on, looking for the rest of his team, when he became aware of a faint, pounding noise. He cautiously chose the tunnels that led towards it.

As the pounding got louder, he stopped, and listened more closely… the muffled cry was repeated. "Perry!"

He nearly lost his grip on the torch as he raced full speed down the hallway. He saw the gap in the floor just in time, and sprang over it. He only saw the net when he was airborn. There was nothing he could do as he landed, and it triggered, bagging him and springing into the air. He was still holding the torch, but burning his way out didn't seem like such a good idea. He dropped it to the stone floor below, and started chewing his way through the rope.

The pounding was coming from somewhere ahead of him. It was getting more frantic, but it was the occasional cry that worried him. "Perry!" She sounded so terrified. He couldn't think of a single thing about this test that should get her into this state… maybe something had malfunctioned? "Perry!" Each time she called his name was a plea for help. He gnawed harder.

The rope snapped, and he tumbled to to stone floor. He rolled with it, grabbing the torch again, and using the momentum to launch into a running pace.

Finally, he reached the source. A small, square section of the wall had a section that looked something like a safe tumbler. The pounding was definitely coming from that square. He glared at is as he put his ear to it, and tried to work the code. The pounding wasn't helping. He tapped the square, and chattered, hoping to at least tell her he was there, but either he wasn't loud enough, or the stone was too thick. He'd have to work around the pounding.

'Perry!' She almost sounded like she was crying.

If he couldn't figure out the combination, he was going to find some way to smash through this thing…

The lock clicked, and he just barely ducked in time to avoid getting it kicked into his head.

Dusty sneakers flailed over him, and the girl wiggled out of a tiny enclosure. Her breaths were coming in ragged gasps like she was having a panic attack, and there were tears streaming down her face.

What the heck was Monogram thinking?

He wrapped his arms around her neck, and chattered soothingly. She choked on a sob, and tried to get her breath back. He didn't know if humans liked to be petted, but it always made him feel so much better… he rubbed her shoulder.

Her breathing steadied as she hugged him back. "Thanks." Her voice was still a funny, broken warble, instead of her usual confident joy, but she was making progress. He stepped back, and climbed up into the trap she'd been in, trying to figure out why she hadn't been able to free herself. He realized with a start that the only way was to unlock it from the outside. He picked up the hat that had fallen from her head, and brought it out.

She was still sitting down, so he plopped it on her head then hopped into her arms to get a good look at the locking mechanism.

It was made of two solid steel bars. There was no way she could have broken through.

What kind of test was this?

_—

A/N: Strange chapter, I know. But that's how it played out, soooo… more about what's going on next time!

Thanks for reading!