Title: Common Enemies

Summary: The gang from Atlantis meet the Doctor and Rose in a prison where they form a tentative bond – not only with each other, but with their captors – in order to escape. Shep whump, Doctor whump, Carson whump.

Rating: PG-13

Disclaimer: Not mine, just borrowing.

Author: DesertOrchid7485

Author's Note: SGA set after the series ends with Carson still on Atlantis and Weir still in charge, so A/U definitely a theme. I'll announce spoilers as they come.

(2) This fic has been rewritten and is complete. Please review and tell me what you think of the new version!

Chapter I:

"This is a pickle," Lt. Colonel John Sheppard announced as he slumped down the wall, landing on the dirt floor with a thump. He hoped that he'd hidden the sound of dejection from his voice and judging by the annoyed and angry look on Rodney's face – he'd succeeded.

"I think this is much more than a pickle!" Rodney snapped holding up his scanner to see if he could find a point of weakness or another signal to contact and call for help.

John rolled his eyes and refrained from blowing out a breath of annoyance. "All I'm saying, Rodney, is we're stuck."

"Why thank you Colonel Obvious for explaining that to me. I never would have figured that out on my own," came the overly sarcastic reply. The physicist spared a moment for a glare before returning back to his scanning.

"Is there no way for us to try and break out?" Teyla asked softly, hoping to diffuse the tension that had been slowly building to a magnificent crescendo since they'd arrived.

"No," Rodney answered as though the answer should be obvious, "I can't find a single weakness in the steal and the locks aren't like anything I've ever seen."

"Like that's ever stopped you before," John quipped with a sarcastic smile.

"Unlike you, Colonel, I am not a trouble maker. I don't go looking for locks to break," Rodney replied, an eye roll evident in his voice.

"Oh come on, you aren't still made that I broke into your lab are you?"

Ronon and John shared a smile as they both remembered the day they'd picked the lock on Rodney's lab and switched out his coffee for decaf. It hadn't been the best prank they could pull, but at the time their supplies had been limited so it was what they were left with.

"Perhaps we could take out the guards," Teyla suggested again, gracefully bringing the conversation back to its original point. Normally she didn't mind the subject getting off topic, but at this point it was best not to if they wanted to be free.

"I could take two," Ronon gruffed in reply, pushing away from the wall that he had been appearing to casually lean on since he'd arrived. The smile from earlier left his face at the prospect of taking down two of the creatures that had captured them and replacing it was now a feral sneer that promised pain to anything that got in his way.

"That might be plausible," John started, his hazel eyes brightening in thought and surprise. Why hadn't he thought of that?

"Oh, good plan. And when you all get shot in an attempt to escape, I'll still be here alone. Never mind the fact that we have absolutely NO idea where we are."

The three fighting members of the team glared at the scientist, exasperation and anger shining in each of their eyes. They all knew the scientist was right but none wanted to outwardly admit it should it build to the already too-big-for-his-own-good-ego.

"Point taken," John replied with snarky emphasis, almost pouting because the quick flame of hope had been extinguished. He pulled up a comfortable spot on the dirt floor, stretching his lean legs out in front of him and leaning his back against the wall. "I guess we'll just sit here patiently and try to find out what they want."

"And how do you suppose we do that huh?" Rodney snapped, his very limited patience at the end of its rope. "We don't even know what language they're speaking or what they are!"

"Well, we'll just have to figure that out then won't we Rodney?" John answered, his own anger bubbling to the surface underneath his sarcastic mask. "Unless you're picking up a signal that we don't know about?"

The hopeful note in John's voice didn't go unnoticed by any of them. All three of the non-scientific members looked hopefully at Rodney. Even in the barely lit prison, they knew that Rodney had rolled his eyes at them.

"Of course. When brawn fails, you all look to the brains to solve the problem," he griped, not answering their question.

"Well, we turn to the guy with the hand-held radio, yeah," John answered, not wanting to admit that that was exactly what always seemed to happen. He and Ronon shared a smirk at his little jibe, but Teyla merely sighed.

"'Hand-held radio'? Did you become a friggin moron today, Colonel, or have you always been and were just cleverly hiding it?" That made John stop smirking, although no one but him knew it. Rodney barely gave a few seconds' pause before he continued, "At any rate. I am detecting a signal, but at the moment it's too far away for the LSD to connect with."

"So we wait?" John half asked, half grumbled.

"Yeah, we wait," Rodney snapped.

"And see if they wish to speak with us?"

"That is if they even want to talk," Ronon interjected evenly.

None of the group wanted to even think what would happen if they couldn't find a way to communicate with the unusual species they'd had the misfortune to offend. But they knew that it wouldn't be pleasant for them if that were they case.

The TARDIS landed with a room shaking thump, landing her occupants on the grating that made up her flooring with bruising force. The Doctor was the first to jump off the floor, exuberance and excitement radiating off him and filling his companion with it.

"Are you ready for an adventure of a lifetime?" he asked energetically with a smile on his face. There was a light bruise beginning to form on his right side cheek where his head had hit the console of the TARDIS, but it didn't diminish his enthusiasm.

Rose groaned, "The last time you promised me that I ended up enslaved to a maniac that closely resembled Jabba the Hutt with me being Princess Leia."

The smile on the Doctor's face fell briefly as he frowned at the memory. But it didn't last long as a wide grin soon replaced it.

"Weell," he said as he drug out the word like he'd become accustomed to doing, "in his defense you did look like her."

"It was supposed to be Halloween in the '80s, the 1980s. Instead we ended up on some alien planet where they didn't even measure time," Rose defended, giving her friend a light slap on the arm.

"This will be different," the Doctor promised as he impatiently waited for Rose to join him. He grabbed his brown overcoat and threw it on before flinging the doors open. "Come on, time waits for no man!"

"Except a Time Lord," Rose said with a smile.

The Doctor smiled at that, one of his wide I'm-such-a-genius smiles that is so infectious it spreads like wild fire, then flung himself out of the time machine.

Rose stared at the doorway, arms across her chest and a look of understandable hesitance on her face. Her face split into a smile when she heard a startled, and definitely unmanly, yelp of surprise followed by the sound of someone falling onto the ground below.

She laughed merrily as she walked over to the door. The Doctor always liked to exit before looking, often landing himself in a world of trouble that could have easily been avoided. Her laughing only ceased momentarily when a familiar moan came outside the door.

"Doctor, are you alright?" she asked trying to hold in the laughter that wanted so desperately to bubble to the surface.

"Yes, I'm fine. Rose, are you ever coming out of there?" he whined, obviously tired of waiting for her to join him. "Or are you going to hide in there the entire time like you did on Patax?"

"Hey, they wanted to take me back to their tribe and make me a concubine, you can't hold that against me," Rose defended, stepping out of the TARDIS and coming to stand by her friend's side. She carefully jumped down from the landing on which the TARDIS sat, landing gracefully onto the ground which was a good three-foot drop from the door of the TARDIS.

As casually as she could, she looked to her right to get a good look at the Time Lord, wanting to make sure he was actually okay and not just ignoring an injury. She frowned slightly as she noticed that he was favoring his right wrist and was wincing with any movement of it. Given that his coat and blazer were covering the arm, she couldn't see how much damage had been done, but she knew it had to be significant enough if he was favoring it.

For the most part, the Doctor liked to ignore his aches and pains in favor of the adventure. Even after said adventure was finished he still refused to admit when he was hurting. It was a trait that drove Rose mad. Eventually she'd be able to get the truth out of him and was allowed to take care of him, but it wasn't until after a lot of arguing.

"Ah there you are!" he cried happily. He gave her another broad smile, quirking one of his eyebrows upwards, silently beckoning her to him "Come look. It's quite the view."

Rose walked closer to him, coming to stand right beside him and turned her head in the direction he was indicating. She shivered slightly as a cool breeze brushed against her skin and whipped the thin strands of her hair around her face.

A valley opened before her with mountains ending the long stretch. The blue sky was tinged with pink as the fading light continued to sink behind the snow capped rocks. A river ran through the valley, giving the ground around it a lush look and providing nutrients for the multiple multicolored plants that thrived.

It was beautiful, but if the Doctor thought that it would distract her from himself, he was sorely mistaken. "Did you hurt your wrist when you fell?"

His eyes looked into hers, the freckled cheeks flush with a barely noticeable blush. He held her gaze for about a second before he looked away quickly, taking in their surroundings. Annoyingly, he remained silent on the subject, taking his screwdriver out of his pocket with his left hand and held it up, scanning.

Rose wanted to smack him upside the head. Why it was so hard for the alien to admit when he was injured was beyond her. Especially since it was obvious that he was hurt.

"Is it alright?" she asked, turning her attention from the spectacular view to the Doctor. For a brief moment her eyes flicked down to his wrist, once again trying to discern the amount of damage done. Knowing it was futile, she returned her gaze back to the handsome yet child-like-at-times face.

"Hm?" he asked, his brilliant mind elsewhere for the moment. His brows furrowed as he read the results from the sonic but then his face smoothed into an expression of neutrality. "Oh, it's fine," the Time Lord replied dismissively. His expression became worried as he stared at something that only he could see in the distance. "But I think if they have anything to say about it that will soon change."

Rose frowned then followed his gaze. In the far distance, she was able to determine dots heading their way. As they got steadily closer, the dots became beings – though what kind she didn't know – which were obviously heading for their position.

Something about the band heading towards them bothered her. It wasn't in the Doctor's personality to be so distrusting and yet he seemed to fear the group heading toward them. At this distance, Rose couldn't see anything that would give the Time Lord that impression, but then again, he had more knowledge of the galaxies than she did and better eyesight – even with the glasses on his face.

"What are they?" Rose asked in his ear as he slowly turned so that he was bodily protecting her, curiosity and fear lacing her voice.

"Gabrihath," he answered almost disdainfully. The way he said the species' name sounded almost guttural to her ears making her think that was their name in their language rather than English.

Before he had a chance to explain, the group of beings surrounded them, pointing their weapons straight at them, almost like a Roman army would. Their weapons were medieval at best; simple spears decorated with strips of what appeared to be cloth – though it could have been skin now that Rose thought of it – and beads. The spear-end was made of what looked like a broken-off sword, sharp and bright and gleaming in the setting sun.

Rose thought that they really didn't need weapons to intimidate. Their appearance did that well enough as did the foreign creatures they were riding.

The Gabrihath were humanoid in basic build, but they looked more like they'd been bred from the giants in fiction stories crossed with short-haired dogs. Their skin seemed to be fur rather than actual dermis, giving them a bit of warmth in the coldness of their planet. They wore nothing on their well-muscled torsos except straps of oiled cloth which held knives, hunting or otherwise, and a quiver for arrows. On their furry legs were skins that were made into footwear, making them look something akin to the Native Americans before the British had invaded America.

Their mounts looked like werewolves the size of a car. Their fur was coarse and thick and beautifully colored; the colors ranged from tawny to pitch black to white as the snow and everything in between. Their snouts were the length of Rose's arm filled with rows of sharp white teeth that reflected the setting sun as they growled menacingly at her.

As one jumped off his mount and stalked over to the Doctor, Rose realized that the giant comparison fit very well considering the being before her towered over her and her friend easily. If she had to guess she would say the man was nine feet tall with the build of an American professional wrestler.

"What are you doing here?" the man asked in a harsh, guttural voice. Though his mouth wasn't moving in English, Rose and the Doctor understood him perfectly well.

"Just dropped by for a bit of vacation actually," the Doctor responded genially, his hand holding on to Rose's behind him. "We heard there was a lovely little spot where we could find a place to stay, get some food, maybe sunbathe. Could you tell us where it is?"

Rose hadn't seen the giant's hand move, but she felt the Doctor's body jerk as the man backhanded him, managing to land the blow in the same spot as his previous bruise.

"Well that was uncalled for," the Doctor drawled, his hand letting go of Rose's to touch the now very painful cheek. His voice had gone from relatively friendly to annoyed but quiet. Rose knew that if things continued, it would soon become colder, more threatening, though they both knew that he was not in the current position to threaten. "If you prefer that we leave, all you had to do was say so. We'll just get back into my ship and we'll be off."

"You'll not be going anywhere," the man answered thickly, stepping even closer to the Doctor. His cold black eyes drifted over to where the TARDIS sat, a light within them growing brighter little by little. Something that could have passed for confused recognition crossed his features before he instantly schooled them back into angry and authoritative, commanding the others with little emotion in his voice. "Take them!"

The rest of the Gabrihaths immediately jumped off their mounts and grabbed Rose roughly, pulling her away from the Doctor in one swift motion. They bound her hands behind her back with iron manacles which were connected tightly by a thick chain. She winced as the metal clamped onto her wrists, not liking the feel of it against her skin.

Rose looked up to find the Doctor wordlessly allowing the Gabrihaths to bind his hands behind his back as he kept his focus solely on her. He grimaced as they just as roughly grabbed his injured wrist and forced into the manacles which appeared to be a snug fit.

"Please be careful," she pleaded, unable to stand the sight of her best friend in pain. Every Gabrihath's attention was now on her and, though it made her shrink away from them, she continued, "His wrist is injured."

The being who had spoken to the Doctor – and who was most certainly the leader – stalked over to her, menace emanating from him. He raised a huge, partially clawed hand in a backhand motion, silently threatening her and making her flinch. Out of the corner of her eye she saw the Doctor struggle against those that held him in an attempt to stop the creature but it was to no avail.

"You will speak when spoken to," the Gabrihath warned, tracing a claw across her face and down her neck. A tickling sensation made her shiver in spite of the breeze which had steadily grown colder. Going from the anger and sadness in the Doctor's brown eyes, Rose guessed that the Gabrihath had drawn a spare bit of blood with its claw but she could have cared less. The cut was shallow at worst and therefore unimportant.

The leader spun around and began walking back to his mount. "Bring them!" he snapped and the rest immediately obeyed, hauling both her and the Doctor onto separate mounts like they were nothing but a fresh kill.

She looked at the Doctor quickly, her eyes searching to make sure that he was mostly okay. Her brown eyes met his and she felt a comforting voice in her head – Let me lead. Do not talk to them and do not worry. You'll be okay.

Rose blinked and tilted her head a little, unfamiliar with this form of communication. She knew that the Doctor had a very strong mind but she didn't realize that he could do that. Briefly, she wondered if it was the TARDIS relaying the information for him, but she didn't have long to dwell on it as there were more important things to focus on.

As a bump threatened to dislodge her from her mount, Rose wondered if they really would be okay.

Footsteps echoed down the hall drawing the Lanteans' attention from their pensive thoughts to just beyond the door where the footfalls had stopped. Nervously, they waited for the door to open and the torture to begin. Their nerves eased when they heard the familiar sound of manacles being undone.

They heard a guttural voice speaking, the tone suggesting a warning then the door was opened and a man with a brown overcoat and black Buddy Holly glasses and a woman with bleach blonde hair, jeans and a tight tee shirt were thrown unceremoniously onto the ground at their feet.

The man yelled, "Oi!" along with something else but what the rest was it was lost on the Atlantis natives since it wasn't in English.

"Oh good, more people. Is anyone else claustrophobic or is it just me?" snapped Rodney and the rest of his team blushed for his rudeness.

"Oh hello," the man in the suit greeted warmly with a smile after hearing Rodney's comment. He winced when the bruise on his cheek reminded him not to do that but it seemed that his face was frozen in a grin because it returned to the same position as before.

"Who are you?" John asked, his tone indicating a demand.

"I'm The Doctor and this is Rose," the man answered using his hand to point to the woman standing next to him. "How'd you all get here?" he inquired curiously.

"The same way you did obviously," Rodney snapped again.

"Rodney!" John reprimanded curtly effectively shutting his comrade up. However the man's smile never faded.

"Oh I highly doubt that," he answered simply though mysteriously.

"I am Teyla Emmagen, daughter of Tagan," Teyla answered, her social skills far superior to that of her male friends. "This is Colonel Sheppard, Ronon Dex and Doctor Rodney McKay," she introduced using her hand to motion to each separate person.

The girl, Rose, gave a friendly smile and a wave but remained quiet. The man studied them making them feel like they were under a microscope before replying, "Oh the Atlantis Expedition!"

John and his team shared a worried look. "How do you know that?"

"Doesn't matter, you wouldn't believe me," the man dismissed with a wave of what John could see was a swollen hand. The man grimaced then pulled his hand towards his chest, holding it there as his other hand reached into a pocket worthy of Mary Poppins. He pulled out a cylindrical object with a blue sphere on top and pointed it at his wrist.

Blue light filled the slowly darkening cell and a high pitched whirring sound filled their ears. The object deeply intrigued Rodney who had slowly joined the rest of the team, his eyes focusing solely on the machine in the strange man's hand.

"Needless to say I've heard a lot about you. You lot are doing wonderful things for this galaxy. Oi!"

The woman called Rose quickly grabbed the blue thing out of his hand and looked at it before throwing a glare to the wall outside their cell. The team didn't bother hiding their shock as she punched the man in the arm.

"Ow, what was that for?!" he cried looking at her in confusion.

"Your wrist is broken you bloody idiot," the girl answered sounding more concerned than angry, "and all you did was sit there and act like nothing was wrong."

The team assumed she meant before they had been captured as they saw a light rouge fill his cheeks. "Weell," he drawled out, "I never really did answer your question did I?" This comment only served to urge the girl to punch him again.

"Do you need a bandage?" Teyla asked pulling an ACE bandage out of her vest. The guards had only taken their weapons and anything that had seemed threatening from their vests, nothing more leaving them with their canteens of water, some medical supplies, Rodney's LSD and a few power bars.

"Yes, thank you," Rose replied. "Do you think you can set it or do you need me to?"

The man tenderly felt his wrist, his long fingers determining where the break was. "No need," he informed a very surprised group, "it's not that bad a break and honestly Rose, I don't think it needs wrapping."

Rose gave her companion a glare before gently taking his injured wrist into her hands and once again running the blue contraption over it. The whirring stopped and she raised it within easy reading distance before placing it in her pocket. She began to unwrap the brand new bandage then used her leg to support his arm, giving her open access to his hand and forearm.

The group watched as she expertly wrapped his injured arm with as gentle a touch as Carson.

"You guys do this often?" John asked noticing how easily they seemed to handle everything. It was almost the same dynamic as what he and his team had except they had double the people.

"Yep," they both answered with a non-committal shrug and a smile.

"Which part? The dealing with injuries part of the getting captured part?" Rodney clarified as he pulled out a power bar.

"Both," the man replied. "Speaking of which how are we going to get out of here? Is your ship close or confiscated?"

John watched with agitated envy as the man got up and began to pace the cell with something akin to excitement in his air. He snapped himself out of the trance the nervous pace put him in, shaking his head and asking, "Look, who are you?"

"I told you. I'm The Doctor."

"Doctor of what exactly?" Rodney asked smugly, no doubt betting in his mind that he had more than the man before them.

"Oh this and that," the man known as the Doctor replied airily. His attention was currently focused on the bars of their cell and the lock that bound it.

"How very specific," Rodney replied. "You can't possibly have more than one," he continued sounding more and more condescending with every word he spoke, "it takes many years just to achieve one. I have three and you are easily younger than me."

John rolled his eyes, about ready to slap his friend upside the head when the Doctor merely beamed. "Thank you! That's the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me, though I will say that I am easily older than you young man. Now, I think I can get us out of here but my ship isn't close so we'd need yours if it's possible."

Rodney stuttered his reply which was interrupted by John, "Ours is within running distance but not close. No more than a few miles from here."

The Doctor continued his frenzied pace, "Three miles so that's about five kilometers. That's within running distance don't you think Rose?"

Rodney hung his head in exasperation when the girl merely shrugged. "I think we've run further than that when we were being chased by the Werewolf."

"Weell," the Doctor drawled again, "that doesn't really count now does it? We just ran around the house."

"House? That was a mansion-"

"It was more a manor really."

"Anyways!" John interrupted, hoping to bring the very chatty man back to the point.

"Right now we need to come up with a plan-" the man cut off instantly, his attention turning from the group in the cell to the ceiling. His expression was a mixture of study and excitement when he turned back to the group.

"My ship just got a whole lot closer than yours."

TBC