A/N: Some parts of this chapter were actually pretty hard to write, especially given the reader's omnipotent view of what's going on elsewhere in the story. So...here goes nothing.

Anyway, thanks for the reviews! I'm really glad that people are still interested in this story!

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For the second time that day, Elizabeth was slowly regaining consciousness. This time, however, her whole body ached, and she could feel pain lancing through her head before she even opened her eyes. She managed to sit up, although she was wincing as she did so, her muscles aching in protest. Her head was throbbing and she felt a little dizzy. Probably a mild concussion, she concluded, and she was pretty sure she was going to have some lovely colored bruises in various places for a while.

Pushing some rubble off of her she glanced around. The walls in this room were also lined with the strange torches she'd seen before. The air was still dusty from the ceiling's collapse, giving the room a ghostly atmosphere. Speaking of the ceiling…Elizabeth looked up and suppressed a shudder when she saw how far she'd fallen. The good news was that the Minotaur hadn't followed her down, so for the moment she was safe.

She reached for her radio, only to discover it was no longer on her vest. Rummaging around in the debris, she found it…smashed into oblivion and lying in pieces. She was cut off from the outside world, completely and frighteningly alone.

Elizabeth tried to push herself up only to find that her left ankle wouldn't support her weight. It screamed in protest and buckled when she attempted to stand on it. Guessing she hadn't noticed anything wrong because the pain had been generalized when she'd awoken, she gently eased her pant leg up to look at the damage. Her ankle had taken on the appearance of a discolored baseball. This day just gets better and better.

It was a struggle, but Elizabeth managed to get herself into a standing position. Sweating from the pain and effort, she leaned against the wall, hoping to catch her breath.

Using the cool stones for support, she started to hobble down the hall.

Elizabeth had made it only a few yards when her stomach started to growl. Cursing herself for not eating what John had offered her, she searched her vest's pockets, hoping to find something edible. Bingo. She discovered two slightly smashed but perfectly good power bars. After quickly devouring one, she decided it would probably be prudent to save the other for later and grudgingly replaced it. There was a small canteen of water in the adjacent pocket. A couple of small sips later and it too was put back. She didn't know how long she was going to be down there so she had to ration out what little she had.

When she reached the end of the hall Elizabeth was dismayed to discover that this was apparently another level of the labyrinth. She was probably going to have to traverse this maze before she could even reach the next floor, unless she could somehow get out from this level. Elizabeth felt her heart leap at the notion of such a possibility.

Maybe some good could even come of her situation if she somehow managed to find the device that the text had mentioned. Rodney would be ecstatic about that.

Her senses on alert for any sign of danger, she warily took a few hobbling steps to the right. With a sudden flash of insight she backtracked to where the ceiling had collapsed and gathered as many stones as she could fit in her vest, then returned to the intersection and made a small pile.

Hansel and Gretel eat your heart out, she thought wryly.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Have I already gone this way? Elizabeth thought she remembered seeing this crumbling section of wall before, and sure enough, there was her little pile of stones at the beginning of the path she was on. Sighing wearily she passed the landmark and walked out into the middle of the crossroads. Stones marked three out of the four possible path entrances. One more possibility here, a thousand more to go.

Elizabeth found herself wishing she had an innate sense of direction like John seemed to.

John

For one fleeting, selfish moment she wished he was there with her. In that second she would have given anything to see his face, hear his warm voice comforting her, teasing her, anything.

Oh come on Elizabeth, you're not a damsel in distress. You can take care of yourself, she berated herself irritably.

But companionship would be nice, especially his…She stopped dead in her tracks. Where did that come from? She shook her head; there was really no use in thinking about such things anyway. If John had been with her he might have gotten hurt or worse. She didn't think that even a P-90 would have killed the powerful Minotaur right away; and John had spent more than enough time in the infirmary. She would gladly spare him another trip if she could. Elizabeth was grateful for his attempt at rescuing her, but was at the same time relieved that the transportation device hadn't worked for him.

Still…the warm feeling she'd attained at the mere thought of him refused to dissipate; and his name still dimly echoed in her head, like a wish whispered for fear if it was uttered too loudly it would never come true.

She wondered what he and the rest of his team were doing at that moment. Probably moving heaven and earth to get to me.

Unfortunately, the ruins had ended up being even larger than they'd originally thought, and it would take them a substantial period of time to even find the abrupt entrance she'd inadvertently created to the basement, and if they found the Minotaur…No, her original plan of trying to find her own way out was still the most prudent. If nothing else, she could at least meet the rest of the team halfway. My stone piles will help them figure out where I am.

Suddenly her heart froze, Unless they think I'm already dead.

Now that she thought about it, Elizabeth realized there was absolutely no reason to believe they thought her alive. Which means they won't even bother to try and rescue me.

She knew that no one was ever left behind if they could help it, dead or alive, but in this instance she was trapped inside layer after layer of thick stone, and in a maze at that! Had she been in charge, she wouldn't have ordered anyone to recover her body under such extraordinary circumstances. If for some reason the team did decide to try and find her, there wouldn't be the same sense of urgency in doing so as there would have been if they were attempting a rescue.

Fear slid into Elizabeth's consciousness; even if she somehow managed to find a way back to the outside world, she would still have to make the long hike back to the Athosian village, and she would make it alone. Her hope of rescue faded along with her remaining strength as the realization hit her:

If she wanted to make it back to Atlantis there was a very good possibility she would have to do it on her own.

This time she was going to have to save herself.

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