Terentia tilted her head and frowned slightly as the silence in the room went on a little longer than she would have liked. She took a step back, nervous, "…I-I know I'm…different…" she stammered. Her voice and demeanour seemed completely at odds with her new appearance.

Elizabeth forced herself to speak, "Do you feel okay?"

She nodded, silently.

God, she wasn't a child any longer. She didn't even look entirely human anymore. There was a certain quality to her eyes, let alone the shimmer on her skin. There had been a little girl, a little girl in everything but her make-up, in her place only a few days before. And a young teen before them a matter of minutes ago. Was the woman before them really some form of weapon? She was an Ancient. Everything the Ancients had known. The personality they had been dealing with had made her almost completely forget that.

"I, erm, think I'll go back to my bed…" Terentia said.

"Hey, no, wait, Tia," John approached her, "Sorry, we didn't mean to stare," he folded the girl into his arms, a little stunned that she was suddenly so tall.

She returned his embrace before stepping back again, "I don't know what happened," she tried to explain, "Honestly, I don't. I remember using the chair, pain, and not a lot else…" she seemed quite on edge.

Elizabeth finally walked toward her, "You don't have to explain yourself," she mimicked John and drew her into a hug, "Come here."

Tia wrapped her arms around Elizabeth and held onto her tightly, as if she were afraid. She was suddenly almost the same height as her guardian. Even she found the sudden change unnerving. She stepped back from Elizabeth as she had from John, almost as if she knew on some level she wasn't permitted to get so close too them.

"…You're all grown up," John stated, lost for words.

The Ancient nodded, "…I am," she frowned, "…I can still remember little, but…I'm not a useless child any longer. I was created for a purpose and left here for a purpose. You said I was a weapon…"

"Tia, no," Elizabeth started.

"Therefore it must be what I am…" Terentia finished. She stared down at her hands and pulled at a strand of her now much darker hair, brushing it from her eyes. She tried to hide a yawn and failed.

"Sleep," John insisted, a hand at her back to guide her back to her bed.

She didn't fight him. Instead, she clambered almost gratefully into her Infirmary bed and closed her eyes as the covers were drawn around her.

"We'll be speaking with Carson," Elizabeth said, "Rest."

Terentia was already asleep again.

"…Well…that confirms she needs to be unconscious for her growth spurts to occur," Carson said softly from the door of his office, "At least they were merciful in that respect."

"…That really is Tia?" she gestured for John to follow her into the office.

"Aye, that's the girl. Well, woman. Young woman. I have no idea what they were going for with her, she doesn't even look all that human anymore!"

John leant against the back wall, "She looks…"

"Ancient…" Elizabeth finished, "Her body went through all that in a few minutes?"

Carson seemed to wince, "And bloody painful it looked too. I don't know if you heard her screaming…"

"You said she was unconscious," the Major shot back.

"She was, but the lass was still screaming."

John shook his head, "Rodney's going to be all the more for using her as a weapon now. She's not a kid anymore. She, in most people's eyes, will be entitled to make her own decision. And I'm sure some people are good at persuasion around here…"

"She isn't some machine with an 'on' switch!" Elizabeth snapped angrily.

"She isn't human, she isn't a machine, she's not a kid anymore and she's not something to be used!" he answered, nearly shouting, "I know what you're getting at, Elizabeth, but what do you expect me to say? I don't want to make her do anything and I will fight my damned hardest to ensure people don't force her to, but we're running out of options here! We may not have a choice, some programming in her might kick in and then god help us all!"

She narrowed her eyes, studying him for a moment. Elizabeth opened her mouth as if to shout something in return, reprimand him or put him in his place, but she didn't. She just walked out of the office, silently.

Silence was the reaction he hadn't been wanting. He could deal with her shouting at him. Her silences were just so much worse. And meant he had hit home. Had hurt her. John sighed, hitting his head back against the wall, "Strike two, good one John. Strange way of helping you've got going there…" he muttered to himself.

"…She reads almost like we would expect an adult Ancient to," Carson continued as if nothing had occurred, believing it to be for the best, "I still don't know what's going on inside her, but by the looks of her, if she's going to pull grand stunts, I'd say its going to be soon if she gets her way…"

"…What if she's a bomb?"

"Am I right in hearing those Hive ships are closer than we thought?"

"Yeah."

"Then I assume evacuation is one of the first plans. Which is good. Because if it wasn't for the Hive ships, I would say to either send Tia away or to get everyone away from her," Carson said softly.

John's eyes flashed angrily and he moved as if to speak.

"You think I like telling ye this? I want to save that girl's life. If I could fix her, I would. But if she destroys more people, including herself… You know I'm oath bound to save and protect more lives. Do no harm. If my prioritising Tia causes more harm-"

"I know, I know," John mumbled. He paused, "…Is it even possible to take Tia from Atlantis? She could be linked to it. She was part of its systems once, in that pod."

Carson shrugged helplessly, "I can't tell ye."

He looked everywhere but at his friend for several seconds, sighing deeply, "…People are going to die, Carson. Whatever we do."

"…I know."

The feminine voice at the door startled them both, "I understand your concerns," Terentia stood at the door, one hand curled around the frame, "…And I hope you don't find it so deceitful that I implied I wanted sleep-"

"Tia-"

"I'm not a child any longer, you're right," she continued, "I'm not really anything. I'm just a being. If I will cause destruction, then please prevent my being the cause of loss of life that I was not designed to do. I will not leave Atlantis," she stated, "This must be happening to be for a purpose. Even if I'm useless, I'll never find that out until what I was intended to destroy is upon us. So leave," Terentia insisted, "People should leave and I should do my duty, as I am bound. All I ask is that you leave some measures to prevent my enemies gaining control of the city if I'm powerless." She paused, wincing, "Actually, I have one more request," she looked up at John, "Go and talk with Elizabeth. Her pain is…difficult to handle…"

He strode forward and took Tia by the shoulders, "This isn't over," he insisted.

She smiled sadly, "Yes, it is. Go talk to Elizabeth. Please."

John reluctantly left the office, glancing back over his shoulder occasionally, until he was out of sight.

Terentia sagged against the doorframe when she knew John could no longer see her. Her eyes fell shut for a few seconds, until she gazed across the room at Carson.

"You weren't lying about sleep. You're exhausted," Carson stated.

"And too curious to know what everyone thinks of me," she smiled wearily, "All I know is that you've all been very kind to me when I've caused you nothing but trouble. I don't know what's going on. I look and feel older, but I can remember what its like to be a little girl, I can still feel it. I don't really know what I am or what I feel. But I wont leave this city. If having this form, looking like this and speaking in a different way, appearing older, gives me the right to say I wont go, then I'll use everything I've got."

He hated that she was right. That there was still a little girl in there somewhere, lost in the changes she was forced to go through, who was adult enough to know a different performance would bring her rights she wanted. Even if she didn't know why she wanted such rights. Carson shook his head, "You're a sly one…"

Terentia yawned again, and staggered a little, clinging to the doorframe.

"Let's get you back to your bed…" he rushed forward to support her.

Her eyes fell shut again, "…Please…wake me soon. Anything to keep me awake, do anything. I need to show them where those…weapons…are."


Elizabeth was pacing back and forth on the balcony just off the command centre when John found her. Aside from her office, thankfully it was one of the few places he knew to look for definite. She stopped pacing, only to look him in the eye, and then continued as if he wasn't there at all.

"I'm sorry," John stated, on realising there was no way he was going to stop her any time soon.

She held up her right hand, pointing at him, "You know, its not even you I'm angry with," she kept pacing.

"Then wh-"

"Fate. Destiny. Time. Space. The galaxy. This galaxy!" Elizabeth spread her arms wide, "The whole universe!" she shouted.

"Eli-"

"It was bad enough thinking we were going to lose Tia. I said I wouldn't get too attached, didn't have the time for her, and what have I done? But, oh no, its not just that. We don't even get to fight. We have to abandon this beautiful city, our city, and yes, we may have to destroy it ourselves. If that isn't Tia's purpose when the Wraith get too close. Any close is too close," Elizabeth continued to ramble, features fixed in stern, angry, lines.

"We could just let you loose on those Hive ships. I think that'd do the job," John dared to try and inject some humour into the situation, hoping to at least redirect her anger at him, where he could deal with it, or to stop her completely. A reluctant smile would have done.

She halted and just stared at him, "…How can you be so calm?"

"Because one of us has to be. I already had my slanging match with Rodney. And now you're entitled to be angry with the universe. For a while," he answered.

Elizabeth sighed, "…How's Tia?"

"Smarter than the thirteen year old we thought we had."

She smiled slightly, "'we had'?"

He smirked, "Whatever way you want to take that."

Elizabeth shook her head, chastising him. She moved to lean against the railings, looking out across the ocean, "…So…we evacuate. We get everyone to safety. We take the control crystal and we hope we one day find some ZPM's to hook up to the Stargate?"

"That looks like it's the plan…" he reluctantly replied.

She smiled sadly and looked back at him, "I thought we were going to do great things here. I thought we were going to explore the galaxy and make a difference."

"We have made a difference," John wandered across the balcony to stand beside her.

"Not enough. And not for long enough."

He looped an arm around her waist, dragging her closer, before he draped the same arm around her shoulders. She started at his touch but settled herself against him all the same.

"What do we do about Tia?" Elizabeth asked, voice quiet.

He sighed, "She wont leave Atlantis. She wants to stay. She's claiming adulthood and telling us to go and leave her."

"I wont do it," she whispered savagely.

"We evacuate. We wait…and we see. If she has any form of power we might not get a choice," John rested his head on hers.

She twisted in his embrace and relaxed against his chest.

"We'll figure something out. As long as everyone's safe. Maybe…we have to let go."

Elizabeth didn't reply. There was letting go…and there was letting go of everything, of too much at once.

"Thank you," she said suddenly.

John frowned and tried to look down at her, "For what?"

"Helping me."

He tightened his arms around her, "…We haven't even got started yet."