Note: *sees the last update date and winces*

Chapter 7 - Dark

[Third Hour]

They were sitting inside their shared cell, trying to occupy themselves with whatever distracted them. Alex glared at the Doctor. He had the air of an annoyed boy who'd just been told something - but not the whole of it. "What's happening, Doctor?" he pressed, breaking the silence. "Who are these Judoon and who's that lady? What's the Shadow Proclamation and why have they been chasing me all my life?"

"Blimey, you ask too much questions," the Doctor murmured, fiddling with his sonic screwdriver. He was perched by a make shift bed. Alex growled and clenched a fist to prevent him from throwing a tantrum.

"Doctor, we're going to get executed for things we haven't done. Don't you have the downright decency to at least panic?!" he shrieked.

Suddenly a Judoon thumped it's fist against the force fields, ordering the three to shut up. Alex scowled and glared back at the Doctor who was beginning to look irritated as well.

"I'm trying to find the right setting on my sonic screwdriver to disable the force fields without triggering the alarms, followed by disabling the security cameras, I can get us outta here… but it' could have been done earlier if you could just shut up," he snapped. Alex retreated a little before Jack chipped in.

"If we… when we escape, do you know how we would get the hell outta here? You don't even know where the TARDIS is." The Doctor waved his sonic screwdriver in front of Jack with that expression on his face that shouted "aren't I brilliant?!"

"Ten steps ahead of you. The TARDIS activated security protocols number four. That means if she's under attack, she will send out a distress signal only Time Lords can decode. Fortunately for me, there are no other Time Lords besides myself, and Alex who has no clue how to even decipher Gallifreyan signals." Alex rolled his eyes at that. "Once we get out, I'll use the sonic to track the frequencies the TARDIS is transmitting." Jack stared at him.

"Have I told you how brilliant you are?"

"I've always been brilliant," the Doctor grinned. Jack rolled his eyes and looked at Alex.

"He's got such a giant ego hasn't he?" he said out loud. Alex smirked.

"It's bigger than his head considering his big Time Lord brain-"

"Oi!" he pouted then humming in approval as he raised his sonic screwdriver and studied it for a moment before aiming it at the force fields. "The sonic's ready. Brace yourselves."

He pressed the sonic device and with a sizzle, the force field circuits burn out and the electric barrier lowered. The Doctor was about to head out when Jack grabbed his arm. He pulled out his pistol and shifted in front of the Doctor, his back against the cell wall peering around for any security cameras. He spotted one on the upper level and another along his right. He looked back at the Doctor.

"Three security cameras at 11 o'clock and 3 o'clock from your position," he announced and looked back down at his sonic screwdriver. "You ready?" The Doctor nodded. "I'll be in front on the look out and your shield. We can't risk losing you since you know the TARDIS' location and you need to get Alex to a safe place." The Doctor couldn't argue with that, no matter how much he didn't like the "shield" bit. But Jack was already checking his gun barrels were in check so he readied his sonic screwdriver and looked at Alex for reassurance.

"Everything's gonna be okay, Alex," the Time Lord said and a weary smile. Alex gave a tentative nod as the Doctor spun on his heel to take out two security cameras with the press of the sonic screwdriver all in one swift movement. At once, Jack bolted out of the cell gun pointed in front of him with the Doctor and Alex in tow. With the sonic screwdriver constantly beeping, Jack tried his best not to complain about the sound it made. They were meant to be discrete, not loud…

"Is there any way, of making that a bit more quiet?" he muttered, swinging his gun around as they turned a corner through the seemingly long white corridors. The Doctor scowled, slightly taken aback.

"I reduced the sound output by fifteen percent and you demand for more? Well, I'm so sorry, Captain Jack Harkness," he scoffed. Jack rolled his eyes. Then he suddenly slammed his hand on a wall button as a nearby door slid open and he shoved the two Time Lords in it. The Doctor found himself in a black room. From the looks of it, they stumbled upon an archive room. He laid there on his bottom slightly taken by surprise as Jack swiftly shut the door and let out a sigh of relief. He looked at the Doctor and gave a wry smile.

"Sorry, saw two Judoon heading our way."

"A little word of warning would have helped," he murmured, picking himself up and brushing his suit.

"Where are we?" Alex wondered, looking around at the pile of files scattered all over the room and walking around to take a closer look.

"Archive room," the Doctor replied. He sniffed and looked back at Jack, giving him a nod. "We should get going before they realise we've escaped." Jack nodded back and raised his gun. The Doctor proceeded towards the door when something caught his attention. Then he looked at Jack and Alex. "You two go ahead. The TARDIS is in storage floor 237. I'll catch up with you as soon as I sort something out."

"I'm not leaving you behind," Jack declared with steel in his voice.

Suddenly, the room turned red as alarms sounded throughout the whole building. Alex began panicking as Jack maintained his cool.

"You need to leave," the Doctor said louder over the sirens. "I'll catch up with you, cross my hearts." The sounds of even footsteps of marching Judoon were growing more and more audible and the Doctor was literally trying to shove Alex and the ex-Time Agent out of the door. "Get out now!" He pushed a button on the wall and the slid open. What used to be white corridors now flashed red and the silhouettes of rhino shaped heads can be seen. Jack looked back at the Doctor with desperate eyes before tapping Alex and urging him to come. The two legged it into the hallway until their forms grew smaller and smaller into the distance. The Doctor dashed back into the room and rummaged through the never-ending piles of paper in a hurry. For a high-tech place like the Shadow Proclamation, they sure favoured using paper… Then he stopped and saw the red box with the words "Case 1011" printed on it in black letters. Slowly, he opened the box to find a white cube nestled inside it. It was a hologram cube. More footsteps were heard outside the corridor and a feminine voice came through the intercoms.

"Escaped prisoners. I repeat. Escaped prisoners. Look out for three humanoids: a medium sized man with ginger hair. About five foot five. The second is a tall man with black hair. Around six foot. The third is another tall man with brown hair. Around six foot as well."

"Six foot one," the Doctor corrected before pressing the hologram cube. The device glowed white, giving that similar appearance to that of a Time Lord psychic container. Then the image of a menu appeared. The Doctor raised a brow. "Ooohhh… Added Reality Interface!" he mused. He touched the hologram as if it were touch screen and it came to life. A file of pictures lined the screen and he swiped his hand to the left, rolling through pictures relating to case 1011. Then that voice from the intercom started speaking.

"Escaped prisoners…"

The Doctor panicked as he touched at another menu, revealing files and news articles on the case. He skimmed through them, eyes widening at each article he swiped through; the truth suddenly pouring into his mind and anger churning up inside him. The sound of marching footsteps was clearly audible from out the doors.

"Escaped prisoners…"

He put on his glasses and touched another menu revealing pictures of all the Time Lords on the exploration squad. Along with fourteen other explorers, there was the picture of what seemed to look like Alex's past female incarnation, according to the description he read on the "WANTED" paper. The voice on the intercom started speaking again.

"Escaped prisoners…"

That was his cue. The Doctor pressed the cube and it glowed no more; the hologram fragmenting and disappearing. He pocketed the device and darted towards the door, hand slamming the wall button as the door slid open. Only to be smacked in the head with the butt of a gun and get knocked out.

…

Alex had lost Jack by now in the never-ending corridors and sudden turn-ups of Judoon. He whimpered as he ran wherever his legs took him. He didn't know what to do and his head started throbbing again. But that didn't stop him from running. He heard the even footsteps of marching Judoon grow louder and louder as he kept running and running. He had to think logically - the Doctor said the TARDIS is in storage floor 237 so he had to find a lift. Well, at least he was making progress… The ginger Time Lord dashed around almost idiotically, desperately looking for signs. Then his mind started jumping to negative conclusions. Wait… he didn't know how to pilot the TARDIS, what's the point of him even going to floor 237? Then the thought's got worse. What if he didn't make it on time? What if the Doctor got caught? What if Jack got caught? What if…

His hearts skipped a beat and the next thoughts and he scowled at himself. If only he had his memories he could have at least flown the TARDIS to save the others. If he knew how to fight, he could fight the Judoon head on and save them. If he had that Time Lord knowledge the Doctor claimed he would have had if he had his memories, he could have thought of a plan to save them… right now he started bringing everything upon himself. He didn't notice a pinprick on his right bicep until his body felt like it was trying to fight something off. Alex glanced at his arm and to his sheer horror, noticed a needle protruding from his arm.

At once, he felt a foreign drug pump into his body. It all turned dark from then on.