"Dad, it's us. Finn," Finn patted himself on the chest, "and Darcy." He gestured at his sister, not taking his eyes from his father. "Your twins, remember? Thing One and Thing Two." Tobias watched them blankly for a moment and then closed his eyes. Finn snapped his fingers in his dad's face. "Hey! No time for this; we've got to get you out of here!" Tobias frowned. Did he not remember them?

"Twins..." He mumbled.

"Yes!" They agreed. "Finn, cut him loose." Darcy motioned at the strange imprisonments holding him to the wall- she later described it as a sci-fi strait jacket. "Dad, listen to me." Darcy ordered. "We're going to get you out. We'll take- listen!" She pinched his cheeks, startling him. "We'll take you home, but you've got to stay focused!"

"Twins..."

"Yes, yes, we've already established that." Finn cut the last strap with his knife and they pulled the thick, rigid material away. Tobias's arms dropped to hang limply at his sides. "Dad, come on!" Finn pleaded. "Hey!" Darcy had grabbed him by the strap of his small rucksack- emergency supplies- and started rummaging through it. "Wh-?"

"Adrenaline." She replied, locating the first aid kid. "Should work."

"Should?" The lights blinked on. "OK, OK, should! Hurry up!" Darcy scowled at him, loading a fresh syringe with adrenaline from a small bottle. Alarms blared and red lights splattered across them. "Darcy!"

"Finn, my hands are shaking! You do it!" Finn took the injection and pressed it into a vein in his father's arm. "Finn!" They could hear footsteps approaching; big men in heavy boots, probably with guns.

"Can't you jam the system again? Buy us some time?" He was watching the second hand tick round on his watch- eleven, twelve... Darcy frantically snatched her PDA- Personal Digital Assitant- from her pocket and started stabbing away at the screen.

"They've set up defenses against the virus! Oh gods..." nineteen, twenty, twenty-one... "We've got to go!" The adrenaline had started to kick in, Tobias stirring under its effects. Finn and Darct took an arm each and put them around their shoulders, hoisting their father to his feet. "We can't go back through the vents; gods know what they've set up!"

"Calm. Down." Finn ordered.

"I am calm!"

"You're not calm, you're hysterical!"

"This isn't hysterical!" She was going to kill him later for this, but... Finn slapped her. Not enough to hurt, but enough to shock and sting. She stared at him, dumbfounded, her lips forming an accusation.

"We have to go! Now!" Tobias suddenly shifted, putting all his weight on Finn. He dropped to his knees and placed his hand on the floor. At first, they feared he wasn't responding entirely to the adrenaline, but then a crystal white sheet of ice exploded across the floor, spiking up the walls and barricading the door.

Tobias pointed at the wall behind him, mumbling incoherently. The ice was still thickening on this wall and they could hear the faint cracking of rocks beneath it. "Break..." He managed. Finn let go of his arm and drew Ice from his pocket. Tobias didn't seem to notice until his son started stabbing the wall at various points to weaken it further. "Hey... that... mine..."

"Later, Dad." Finn replied through clenched teeth. He kicked at a large crack in the ice and a large chunk of it and wall collapsed. He peered out, seeing nothing but vast green foliage three storeys below. "Now what?"

"Nymphs..."

"But they're down there!"

"Cloud... like... biscuits..."

"An offering to the cloud nymphs!" Darcy translated. Finn remembered their conversation from a few days ago- cloud nymphs liked sweet treats. Gunfire slugged against the ice in the doorway, banishing all happy thoughts. Tobias put his other hand on the floor and reinforced his obstacle. "Finn, shout at them!"

"Shout at the clouds? I'm not that crazy!"

"Finn! Oh, I'll do it!" She pushed him aside, calling as loudly as she could to the cloud and wind nymphs. They didn't get a response until she said their last name.

Three petite and pretty wind nymphs appeared, giggling and nudging each other, one blonde, one brunette and one redhead.

"Jacksons, eh?" The middle one said. "We're always wanted to meet some Jacksons. How is Percy?"

"Worried sick about his son." Darcy replied impatiently. More gunfire. The blonde one huffed dreamily.

"Oooh, Tobias. So hot." Finn barged in then.

"Look, talk about that later! Can you help us? Tobias is our dad and we need to get him home, but he's in no fit state to fight." They all giggled again, whispering. Finn produced a packet of biscuits and they squealed.

"OK, but we're going to need more than that!"

"I could introduce you to our Uncle Theo."

"Finn!"

"He's single and looking for love." Finn continued, blanking his sister and waving the packet of biscuits pointedly. The nymphs were all whispering urgently; the blonde fanned herself and hissed "Jackson!"

"Finn, Dad can't keep this up!"

"OK, you have yourself a deal." The third nymph, the redhead, stuck out her hand. Finn shook it and the three dissolved instantly. A cool breeze rustled around the room, gradually strengthening until it picked up all three of them. Finn was sure he could hear giggling on the currents and the ocassional "We're going to meet a Jackson!" but he was more distracted by the three storey drop awaiting them.

The nymphs were true to their word and got them to safety, a good fifteen miles from the compound. They reappeared then, dancing and spinning about the three Jacksons and singing about how they were going to meet a single one. Finn had no idea how much power Jackson had truly held until that point.

"Thank you." Darcy wheezed, looking dishevelled. Finn looked down at himself and saw he was no better. Feeling his hair, he found a leaf there. Darcy looked as though she had the whole tree in her hair. "Dad?" Tobias was lying on his back, staring up at the sky in wonder.

"Um... is he OK?" The brunette asked. Finn waved his hands in his dad's face. Tobias's eyes took a few seconds to focus on him, but they did.

"Twins..." He mumbled again, giving a small, yet proud smile.

"I think he'll be OK."

"So, when can we meet this Uncle Theo of yours?" The blonde gushed, giving sly glances to her sisters. They dissolved into giggles again.

"Which way to Camp Half-Blood?" Darcy asked, extracting her leaves from her hair. All three nymphs turned as one and pointed north east. "As soon as we get there, you can meet Theo."

"Considering he's there." Finn added. The nymphs wailed and swarmed him. "No, no!" He backed up hastily, hands up. "We'll IM ahead and tell them to keep him under lock and key for you!" They brightened instantly and set about talking quickly about Theo and what they would wear to meet him, their hair and so on and so forth.

"Theo is just going to love you." Darcy smirked.