"I don't understand."

Perry nodded in agreement, giving her a careful look to make sure she was alright as he continued to pet her shoulder, like the adorable little darling he was.

She smiled, feeling more embarrassed than anything right now. Well… not if she was being totally honest with herself.

According to Perry's watch, she'd been in there for about a half an hour. Not so long, when she was looking back at it.

He got up, and shot another look at the trap, still trying to figure it out.

"I guess the point of the test was to sit tight until rescue came? Unbeatable scenario style? I hope I didn't blow it for everyone."

Perry made a 'pffft' noise, and shook his head. He was ticked off, but not with her.

"I doubt Monogram has any idea how claustrophobic I am."

He turned to blink at her.

"Yes, it's come up in the past, but not often. We should find the others."

He gave her a long look.

"I'm fine now, really. There's plenty of light and air, and my best friend's with me. Couldn't be better." She got to her feet to prove her point. Yes, she was still shaken up, but she was an agent. Why was that so much easier to remember now? It seemed so stupid… unless she let herself wonder what would have happened if Perry hadn't shown up…

A gentle chatter snapped her attention back to the task at hand.

"Sorry."

He gave her an understanding smile, and led the way down the corridor. There were a few obvious traps scattered here and there, but other than that, it was a dead end. Just what she wanted to see right now.

Perry just gave a bored sigh, and turned around, heading back the way they'd just come. After they went past her trap, they came up to a rope trap that had been gnawed through, and a pit. It was fairly obvious what had happened… she swallowed back the wave of guilt. Suddenly, Doof didn't seem so ridiculous.

Perry didn't show any interest in turning left, and they kept going straight. She was just getting able to focus on the fact that there was a way out of this underground anything-but-fun-house, when something wrapped around her face, and she was in the dark again.

She choked on a scream and tried frantically to get whatever it was off of her head, nerves shattering all over again.

In front of her, Perry gave an angry chatter. She pulled free of the sack, to find Perry glaring at, Harry. The hyena wasn't having any trouble trying not to laugh now.

_—

He narrowed his glare a little for good measure. It was a stupid trick to pull any time, and Annie was upset enough. Harry rubbed his arm, letting his gaze fall, and he took that chance to glance at his friend. She had an odd mixture of relief and panic on her face that looked just borderline hysterical. She looked, a lot like Candace, actually.

Well, two team members down, and two to go, and they could get out of here. He gave Annie a thumbs up, and she nodded, not looking very sure of herself. He frowned at that as he led the way further down the corridor. Sure, it must have been unsettling, trapped in the dark like that, and it had been cruel of Monogram to allow it for the test, but he didn't understand why it had upset her so much. She was an O.W.C.A. agent… she got trapped pretty much on a daily basis. It was just sort of something you got used too…

A rope snapped tight behind him. He looked over his shoulder, and saw Annie and Harry caught in one net, swaying back and forth above him. He sighed, and went for the release when a voice squawked, "I've got it!"

Maggie swooped down, and clipped it with her beak.

He waved his arms, shaking his head, but it was too late, and the two agents plummeted to the floor, Harry landing on top of Annie. He shoved the hyena off, and helped her up. Maggie landed, having the grace to look sheepish.

Alright, so now they just had to find the cat, who was probably sleeping in her trap, contentedly. She probably would have loved Annie's trap.

Still, Harry and Maggie were doing pretty well so far, he had to give them that. He knew he was going easy on Annie, but he also knew that she wasn't normally like this. She'd already proved herself a top agent, and he hated the look shame on her face right now. With Doof thinking about quitting on him, the last thing he needed was for Annie to start questioning her self worth. He was going to have to do something to cheer them both up once they got out of here.

All at once, it was like an earthquake went off. From the way the structure around them moaned, it wasn't designed to do this. The boys were still in school, or he'd have wondered if one of their inventions had gotten out of hand. Of course, there was always Doof…

His watch beeped. He pressed it, and Carl's face lit up the screen. "Agent P, we've lost all control over the ancient ruin traps, and the whole thing's going haywire! You've got to get your team out of there! I'm going to reactivate your watches, and I'm activating the tracker on Karen's right now." The connection went fuzzy, then came back. "I'm losing you, Agent P. I'm afraid you guys are on your own!" It shorted out as the corridor they were in stared to collapse.

As they raced to keep ahead of the falling bricks, he pressed the button that showed Karen's tracker, and steered them down the right corridor.

In ended in a little room, where Karen was tied to the wall with nothing more than a leash. He growled a low chatter as he walked over to click the leash from her collar.

Behind him, Harry found the whole thing hilarious, and Maggie was squawking at him to, "Quiet down, loudmouth!"

It was Annie's hollow voice, however, that made him stiffen. "We're blocked in."

He spun around to see that the corridor behind him had caved in completely. Worse, the torch in his hand wasn't giving off as much light as it had when he'd picked it up.

Harry stopped laughing as he realized what was going on.

Karen sat down beside him, wagging her tail, while purring in completely inexplicable cat language.

Maggie flew around the room, looking for a crack small enough for one of them to escape through.

Annie backed up against the wall, trying to breathe normally, and to hide the way she was trembling.

And then they all looked at him, their eyes asking how they were going to get out of this one.

It was the last thing he saw before the torch went out.

_—

A/N: Yes, this Annie is easier to rattle than the one from the second dimension. If you've read my Season X 'series', (*cough* Public Enemy #1, through, A Long Slow Recovery) you probably already know why these last two chapters have been so rough on her. If not, don't worry I'll recap.

Thanks for reading!