Note: Saw the last update date and winced a little (considering my deadline for this fanfiction entry is May 1 *gulps*). I'm genuinely unsure how big (or small) this fic will be, but one thing's for sure, I'm enjoying writing this up!

Chapter 2 - One Problem at a Time

"He can't have gone too far," Jack muttered, examining the man's grey jacket and blood stained green shirt left on the table next to the autopsy table. He noticed the tubes connected to the life support machine left on the table and winced - it must have hurt a lot pulling those out… The Doctor let out a winding sigh and ran his hands through his hair.

"He took himself off the life support machine, he hasn't got long."

And because of that dreadful thought, The Doctor legged it up the stairs and darted across the main hub when a beeping computer caught his attention. Oh, he liked a beeping computer. No, pay attention, Doctor. He had to find that man…

"What's that?" He blurted, edging towards the monitor.

"Rift activity," Jack muttered as he came from behind the Time Lord to take a closer look at the screen. His eyes went wide after that. "Wait, I don't understand, it's not any Rift activity…"

"Then what is it?" the Doctor snapped with impatience, raring to go on a mad search.

"It says there's energy fluctuations in front of the Millennium Centre. That's just outside Torchwood." Then he gasped. "That's not right, I'm detecting impossible amounts of energy surging from the area!" The two exchanged panicked glances and before the ex-Time Agent could say anything, the Doctor legged it into his TARDIS. "Doctor!" His call was just as noticeable as the last glimmer of the TARDIS bulb. "Oh for God's sake!" He exclaimed before running out of the Hub. After all, the Millennium Centre was a walking distance from the Hub…

…

The Doctor peered out of the TARDIS and glanced at his surroundings. He licked his index finger before placing it in the air and humming in approval. "Not bad," he grinned to himself. "Landed in Earth 2013, and to be precise, April." Then he blinked and frowned, realising he was talking to himself. He sauntered out of the TARDIS, shrugging on his long brown coat and studied the people walking around him. It shouldn't be too hard – look for a shirtless ginger man wearing a pair of maroon trousers… But he was nowhere to be found in the teaming throng of tourists and the Doctor began to panic. He constantly reminded himself that the man had little time left. That was enough motivation to keep him searching. But why was he going through a lot of stress searching for a man he'd never seen in his life? Oh, that's right. The man apparently had two hearts. It was a Time Lord-y thing: A time Lord in danger is never in danger when he's with another Time Lord. He can't be what he thought he might be, that's impossible. Surely, he would sense another Time Lord if there were any. He frowned. One problem at a time, Doctor, you've got a dying Time L–man on the loose…

A hand was placed on his shoulder that jerked him from deep thought and sent him shrieking and jumping a meter off the ground instead. It was Jack.

"Relax, Doc! It's me," Jack almost laughed. "You could have just taken the exit instead of the TARDIS." The Doctor huffed and stared hard at Jack.

"Who is that man, Jack?"

"I dunno, I thought you knew him."

"I've never seen him in my life," he explained slowly.

"Well, he had two hearts and I thought he might have been a Time Lord."

"But there's loads of other life forms with two hearts."

"He looks like a human and has two hearts," the ex-Time Agent quipped.

"That doesn't necessarily point out he's a Time Lord, Jack. I'm the only one – I saw them cease to exist in front of my eyes." A small lump in his throat began to form and he tried to give a straight face. "Give me one reason why I should believe you." Jack growled in annoyance and pushed away from the Doctor. For once, could that idiot believe him?

"We don't have time for idle chat. There's a dying Time Lord on the loose."

"Do you think this is some sick joke?" he snapped. Jack suddenly had that look of worry flash his face and the Doctor noticed this. His demeanour fluctuated instantly.

"What's wrong?" He urged.

Jack cleared his throat and pointed his head towards the direction behind the Doctor. The Doctor craned his neck to the direction of Jack's sight. Several shapes could be distinguished on top of a three-storey building, but to the Doctor's sheer horror, a tiny figure of a man with noticeable ginger hair stood on the edge of the building.

"What the hell?!"

"What's he doing?!" Jack breathed.

"What do you think?!" The Doctor shrieked, spinning on his heel and running back into the TARDIS.

"Doc, what are you doing?!" The Doctor didn't reply and Jack followed him instead, stumbling into the ship before the Doctor snapped his fingers and the doors magically shut.

As the TARDIS dematerialised into the vortex, a gunshot was heard from within the streets of Cardiff.

…

"What the hell do you want from me?! I'm of no use to a bunch of bipedal rhinos," the ginger man shrieked. Now there's a sentence he never thought he would say… He was panting uncontrollably from the constant running and felt a painful stitch creeping in. The copper taste of blood lurked in his mouth. Another wave of terror struck him as he gaped in utter shock at his chasers and he was on the verge of tears. His arms were raised as he slowly backed away from his captors. His head throbbed from a burning pain. He gulped as he took a quick glance behind him and noticed how far he was chased. He was cornered by ten armed rhino creatures and teetering off the edge of a building.

"Time Lord, you are involved with case 1011," a rhino grunted. "Any more information won't be discussed until we take you to the Shadow Proclamation."

"What are you talking about?!" he shouted. "I've done nothing."

"You will not obstruct the Law," the creature rumbled, refusing to say any more. The man scowled and began tearing up again.

"For my whole life, I've been running from these creatures I never even knew existed – not even knowing what I've done that's gotten your attention. For God's sake, you just shot a woman because she got in your way so you can get me." He burst crying, removing his glasses to wipe the tears.

"You will not obstruct the Law," the Rhino coldly repeated.

"This can't be happening," he muttered, felling utterly dazed. What has he done? They referred to him as a "Time Lord" what do they think of him? For crying out loud, he's a human!

"Surrender, Time Lord. It is futile."

"What?!" he shrieked and in time, the creatures raised their guns.

"You will come with us."

He hesitated for a moment before giving a very defiant stare, followed by a "No." And with that, he flung himself off the edge of the building to the creature's utter horror. They heard a loud thud followed by screams of several passing people from below before turning to one another. A brief silence fell between the creatures before one stepped up towards it's leader.

"Our detectors aren't finding any Time Lord life signals. The Time Lord is dead. Should we inform our superiors?" a rhino queried.

"He will regenerate. The case is still going. We will retrieve the Time Lord's body," the leader grunted. There was a strange wheezing noise, but the creatures dismissed it as mere background noise.

They all nodded in agreement as the rest of the rhinos, except their leader, dispersed and descended the building. There was more screaming from nearby humans as they witnessed walking rhinos exit the building. To the leader's annoyance, retrieving the body took longer than it wanted. It also certainly attracted a lot of unwanted attention - frankly, it wasn't sure how it was going to explain their sudden appearances in Cardiff to it's superiors. That was when a rhino appeared from behind him and grunted.

"We cannot find the Time Lord's body. It is not where it fell from impact."