New Horizons

Fandom: Doctor Who; Stargate (Atlantis, mostly)… some Torchwood
Pairing: 10/Rose, mentions of 10.5/Rose, possibly a bit of Shep/Weir
Rated: T (might go up in the course of the story)

Warnings: unbeta-ed; a different view on the roles of the SGA members and the Wraith

Full Summary: Rose is pregnant. The Doctor knows it. The TARDIS knows it. Only, Rose doesn't. And what happens when the Doctor Who and Torchwood Crew have- albeit seperately- a meet and greet with Stargate Command, or it's Atlantis branch?!
Spoilers: This is the sequel to my post Journey's End Reunion fic 'How Long Is Forever?', so there are spoilers up until there (takes place about seven months after the end of that fic). As for Stargate Atlantis, I'd say anything up to the middle of the third season is fair game…

Chapter 2: Guilt Trip

"Jack's right! They always seem to get into trouble, wherever they go," the Doctor muttered darkly to Rose.

They had been on their way, coordinates set for the hotsprings miles away from the village they ended in when the TARDIS changed course of her own accord. Wondering what had made the sentient spaceship choose a new destination, they had decided to explore the small town, especially when they noticed the lack of people wandering around. Finally finding the villagers gathered in a large crowd around some strange sight or other, the two Time Travellers had exchanged curious gazes, and moved to take a closer look. A sigh had left the Doctor's lips when he had discovered the reason behind the commotion.

"Who are they?" Rose wondered aloud when she got a glimpse of the four kneeling men, waiting to be killed. "They're not from around here- with those clothes. Looks like military… And who are those white guys? Have they never seen the sun before?"

She grinned a bit, but it soon vanished once she noticed the Doctor's serious expression.

"They're from Earth. And yes, they are military. The others are called the Wraith… I'll explain later. Now, we need to get them out of there," the Time Lord replied curtly.

Rose gave him a mock salute, which finally earned her one of his manic grins.

"Come on, let's save some stupid apes!"

A wiggle of his eyebrows, and he swanned off.

"Wait!" he exclaimed, moving to stand between the approaching Wraith, and his prey. "Hold hard a moment… uh…no, sorry…just hold it right there. I think we should discuss this a bit further, don't you think? So why don't you call upon your Queen. I'd like to talk to my peers, not some nameless servant- I'm being rude again, ain't I?"

This question was definitely directed at her, Rose concluded when the Doctor's head turned slightly in her direction, so she responded in kind. They exchanged cheery grins, before the Doctor turned back to his conversation with the pale humanoid creature. The alien wasn't exactly friendly, but her Lifemate didn't seem impressed by the threatening hisses. Not taking his eyes off the leader, he threw her his sonic screwdriver, so she could free the tied-up soldiers. Rose did exactly that, unconcerned by the Major's- she had learned to reckognize ranks during her time at the Torchwood Institute- stressed reaction. The Major knew definitely more about these Wraith than her, but it was unlikely that he knew more than the Doctor. And if her lover wasn't concerned about the situation, than there was no reason for her to worry.

At least, for now.

"What are you waiting for?! Get 'Her Majesty' down here!" the Doctor's voice butted into their conversation. Rose could see the military men flinch. She knew the voice that her Lifemate was using. That was the voice that had even made the Daleks in deep Space take a step, well, a slide back. The Wraith, while obviously a bit intimidated, did not yet crumble beneath the Time Lord's demand.

"Who are you with such command?!" he wanted to know instead.

When the Doctor answered, rubbing the back of his neck in the way he had that time they faced the Absorbaloff, the Wraiths' whole demeanor changed. They moved away from the little bunch of humans in their middle, and their leader gave orders to call upon their Queen. It was only minutes later when the first female Wraith made it's appareance on the scene. She eyed the Doctor suspiciously, walked in circles around him, until she had closed in enough to lay a hand on his chest. The soldiers all tensed, and then let out surprised gasps when they saw the Wraith Queen hastily draw back her hand as if she'd been burned.

"Your Lordship," she hissed, and bowed deeply.

"Atron energy," the Doctor stated towards Rose and the others as if that would explain everything.

"What do I owe the honor of your visit, Mylord?" the Queen asked in a demure voice. A fake one, but still…

"Oh, my companion and I, we were just passing through…"

"Then why…?"

"If you need to feed on humans to survive, that's none of my business. But hunting them like cattle, that is something I won't tolerate," the Doctor practically growled, making the Wraith flinch. "So, I promised my friend over there one relaxing day at the hotsprings on this planet… Therefore, I advise you to turn your back on this world, and walk away now."

The Queen didn't even bother to answer. Instead she gave a curt nod, and marched off, her people following her.

The Doctor watched them walk away for a moment, before returning his attention to his beloved. Reaching out, he took her hand, and off they went. Rose barely had time to turn towards the formerly kneeling men, and wave goodbye with a big smile on her face when she found herself already being dragged around a corner. Silently counting in her head, she waited for the reaction she was sure would come. She was right. It didn't take long for the men in the strange uniforms to run up to them.

"Wait! Wait a minute, please," the Major addressed them.

The Doctor turned around, sighing. He, too, had expected this to happen.

"Uhm… We wanted to thank you for…uh…saving our lifes, Mr. …sorry, I didn't catch your name earlier?"

Rose almost laughed. Nice try.

"I didn't give it," the Doctor replied curtly. "As for saving your lifes… my pleasure. Have a nice day."

And they were moving again.

"Why were they so afraid of you?" the Major called after them.

"Because they're smarter than you give them credit for," the Doctor grunted. Rose got the impression that for some reason, he really didn't like them. She wanted to inquire, but refrained. He would tell her about it later at the hotsprings- if they were still going there, that is. The Doctor didn't seem to be in the mood.

"You said that you didn't care if the Wraith fed on humans, and yet you helped us?" another one piped up.

The Doctor turned sharply, glaring at them. The battle-hardened marines flinched.

"That's not what I said," he grumbled. "Because I do. I do care, but like I said: it's none of my business! There is nothing wrong with that. It's no crime, nothing to be done about it. You, on the other hand, are planning genocide on the Wraith, and that will not go down well with the authorities."

"They've murdered millions of humans in the past tenthousand years-"

"And you can thank the Lantians for that, who were too arrogant to heed the warning of those who were older and wiser than them, because they were warned. Still, though, aside from the business with the Runners, that planet- what's it's name…Sateda- and whatever happened just now, the Wraith are not doing anything wrong. And the authorities- as well as I- have bigger fish to fry!… You are the Bad Guys in this, gentlemen," the Doctor replied calmly.

"They feed-"

"Exactly, they feed," the Time Lord interrupted again. "Food Chain. It's called the Food Chain. They kill humans in order to live. You do the same with animals. What makes your lifes more important? It's a matter of where you stand in the Food Chain, and they stand above you. The only thing you could accuse them of, is to have had 10.000 years to find a way to coexist, and to choose not to… You, on the other hand, are the ones that slaughter thousands of them, and are intent on killing or changing them all, just because they're different. You always think that you're so evolved, that you moved on since the times of Hitler, and you don't want to hear it, but this….this is racism, pure and simple. I don't want to know what you would do to races that were different from you, if you had the tecnology to conquer the galaxies…"

His voice suddenly sounded so tired and bitter, that the soldiers had nothing to reply to that.

Finally, they were left free to go.

33333333333333333333333333333333

(at the hotsprings)

"I'm sorry," the Doctor suddenly spoke, looking up from his book to watch Rose soak in the wonderful water.

"What for?"

"For having such a go at your people. That's more like the old me."

"You said they were from Earth?" Rose asked, sensing an opening. "And it's okay. I can see your point."

The Doctor nodded.

"Yes, they're from Earth. Stargate Command. The guys Jack was going on about on Barcelona."

"The people he calls to complain about every week, since he found out he has to go to a meeting UNIT has with them. They wanted to start exchanging information, right? But only UNIT and Stargate Command, Torchwood is to stay anonymous. They were just called so that they could keep an eye on things?"

Again, her lover nodded.

"I see. But what are they doing here? I mean, this is not even the Milky Way."

"They found Atlantis."

"The Sunken City? I thought it was only a legend."

The Doctor smiled.

"Not quite, but that's a story for another time. The Lantians, I mentioned them earlier in my rant, lived there. Most brilliant human race ever. They invented the Stargate- oh, did you have a Stargate Command in the parallel universe?" the Time Lord wondered.

Rose nodded.

"Yeah, but they weren't this far out. Just smaller missions within the Milky Way Galaxy, testing out the waters, you know? They were just beginning. Torchwood was like their big brother, watching over them. I was assigned to help them on their missions for a while. Put a real strain on John, because he was left in London," Rose told him. It had become easier to talk about her time with her husband and her family on the other Earth in this past year(1), but she could still feel a slight sting at the mention of their names.

The Doctor didn't say anything. He didn't know what to say to that, and he still needed to tell her about the pregnancy. He had been edgy around her all these months, waiting for her to find out on her own, but…nothing. Yesterday he had decided to end this silly dance today. He had originally planned to subtly hint it to her at the end of a relaxing day at these hotsprings, but with what they had already gone through today… He didn't want to add to her stress. He had to tell her soon, though, or she would never speak a word with him again.

'Good thing it's a Time Lord pregnancy,' the Doctor thought, relieved. 'Seven months, and she isn't showing yet.'

"Why don't we visit them?"

"Who?" the Doctor asked dumbly.

"Those guys from Stargate Command. I'd like to see Atlantis, and maybe you'll be a good influence on them, so why not?" Rose suggested.

The Doctor snorted, but caved without a fight. Why not, indeed?!

"Alright, alright. Get out of the water, and we'll go immediately- well, maybe we'll pop in for a visit at Jack's hub. See how things are going with Martha's wedding, and tease the Captain about his unwanted meet 'n greet, eh?"

Rose grinned, taking his hand as he offered to help her out of the water. She would take whatever he would offer. They quietly gathered their things, and headed back into the TARDIS, not noticing the bleeping, little orange lamp, trying to tell them that there was a ship approaching their coordionates. Instead, the Doctor launched them into the vortex.

End of chapter 2!

A/N: Well, this was the first encounter with SGA from the Doctor's view. I know the bit about the Wraith is a bit strange, but I thought the Doctor might just be the person to react that way. Pained, but understanding that it is their nature. Respecting life no matter what form it presents itself in.
I hope you liked it.

(1) includes the events of 'How Long Is Forever?'