To Elleibarra- Finn and Darcy are ten years old, possibly nearly eleven, I haven't worked out when their birthday is just yet :P

Where are you lot anyway? You've all been badgering me to update this since FOREVER and I have- because you know, I'm SO lovely! Some of you have reviewed, but some of you have gone missing- you lot OK?

"Why is it always the air vents? Cliché!"

"Ssh, Finn! We need to find Dad." Finn muttered something under his breath; Darcy ignored him. Finding their father had put serious pressure on their Athenian inheritage. Rachel's prophecy hadn't really been a prophecy- more like Tobias's general location and for them to figure out how to sneak into this high security, secret science lab in the middle of a very large forest. Having grown up around Leo and Charlie and their craziness, they had picked up a few technical skills. Breaking in? Piece of cake!

"Are we sure he's here? I'm getting a bad feeling..." Darcy paused and half-turned to face her brother. The air vents were a bit cramped, but not for them- being slight and 'insignificant' had its advantages.

"What bad feeling?"

"Like we're walking into a trap."

"It may seem like that, Finn, but Dad's here." She started crawling again, peering through each vent. "We thought he was dead for five years. What if he was actually dead forever?" Finn stayed quiet and she could sense his discomfort.

"Sorry." He mumbled.

"No matter. Let's just find Dad and get out of here before their systems reboot." See? Technical skills.

"How long do we have?"

"About three minutes."

"We need to be out of the vents by then. We'll just wing it for the rest."

"That's your plan?"

"Mm-hm. Oh, look! They've got their own aquarium!" Darcy backtracked and peered through the vent she missed. Finn was right- tropical fish swam lazily around and through the rocks and plants, the light refracting into an almost hypnotic pattern. "Can we?" Finn pleaded quietly.

"But Dad-"

"I know, I know, but maybe I could ask if they know anything." Darcy sighed.

"Quickly then." Finn grinned and drew his knife, jamming it under the vent cover and deftly prying it loose. He dropped down with barely a sound, checked his surroundings and then scurried to the fish tank. Some of the fish circled him while others started swimming with more frenzy. Darcy counted to twenty and called him back. He waved to the fish and, with her help, was safely back in the vents. Two guards strolled past seconds after they replaced the cover.

"They heard some guards talking about their shift watching the 'prisoner'." Finn informed her, taking the lead. "Further along this corridor, they reckon. We're directly above most of the rooms on the right side of the third floor."

"Helpful."

"Was-?"

"No, that wasn't sarcasm. Hurry up!" He hastily obeyed. They had just over two minutes before all the systems came back on line and they were detected. The people running this place already knew of intruders, they just couldn't find them.

With a minute left, they heard voices just below. They risked pausing to listen:

"Pathetic! Those systems shouldn't take this long to come back on! I bet they're hiding something."

"Oh, an illegal genetics lab? I do wonder..." The second voice dripped with sarcasm. The first person shushed them.

"Are you that stupid? They'll kill us!"

"Says you calling them pathetic." The first one started to talk again, but his friend cut across. "Let's just make sure the prisoner's secure, doofus."

"I'm the doofus?"

"Yes, I just said you were." A key scraped in a lock and a door clicked open. The twins saw two bulky figures carrying guns enter the room. "Rise and shine, sleeping beauty!" There was a dull thud of metal on flesh and someone groaned in pain. Someone cackled. "I'm surprised he felt that- so out of it!" The other one snorted in amusement.

Darcy signalled to Finn and he removed the cover again, dropping and silently helping his sister down. They ducked into the room, drawing their knives. The two guards were too busy picking on the 'prisoner' to notice two ten year olds sneaking up on them with knives.

It took mere seconds to disarm and knock out the two guards. One of them had a flashlight; Darcy used it to illuminate the prisoner, making sure not to shine it in his face.

"Dad!" Tobias moaned and she flicked the light off. In the brief moment it had been on, they saw the state he was in- bruised, ragged, defeated. He squinted at them in the semi-darkness, his eyes hazy and unfocused. All the energy they remembered him having seemed to have been brutually drained from him. "Dad?"

No response.

This was longer, but I'm breaking up the longer chapter I had to fit in more updates :D