Note: Boohoo, we're nearing the end of my short story... Just one more chapter to go after this...

Reviews are totally welcome! Just wanna know how people are finding this so far because I've never written a story with an original character... :o

Chapter 9 - Shock

The whole courtroom suddenly exploded with an uproar after the Doctor's announcement. Alex stared at the Doctor wide-eyed.

"I don't know what you're talking about," he slowly explained.

"That's because you don't remember!" the Doctor hissed, clenching his fists. Jack frowned, trying to comprehend what was happening as the Judge smashed his gabble to hush the crowds, and they did so.

"And that settles it. Alex Johnson, do you have any evidence to prove your innocence of case 1011?" Alex stared at the Judge in bewilderment. It was useless to even try… Instead, he feebly shook his head as his restraints clicked and released, falling to the platform. "Then I sentence you to 500 000 years of imprisonment in Volag-Nog."

"Oh, I don't think so." Everyone turned to the source of the voice that suddenly spoke out. It was the Architect.

"I'm sorry?" the Judge queried. The Architect snapped her fingers and a De-Mat gun was pointed directly at Alex's skull. The Doctor was up in a flash.

"What are you doing?!" he shrieked. "You said no executions!"

"You are not entitled to distribute sentences, Madame," the Judge declared.

"I'm sorry, Doctor. But the Shadow Proclamation can't simply let a mass murderer live. It won't look good in our name," the woman chided.

"You're locking him up in a high security prison!" the Doctor objected.

"Listen to the Doctor, Madame," the Judge warned. "Continue like this or I will have you taken from position as Shadow Architect."

"Oh, shut up," she snapped. "I've been working on case 1011 for nearly two hundred years," she exclaimed. "I've yearned to see this killer dead."

"So you're doing this out of hubris?" the Doctor snarled. "What kind of a corrupt police force are you?" The Architect ignored him and frantically gestured at the executioner.

"FIRE! Kill him now!"

Jack shrieked and elbowed the Judoon. He wriggled free of the rhino's grip and sprinted across the centre of the hall.

BANG!

The Doctor watched as Jack's body fell limp on the ground, his chest bleeding uncontrollably. Alex's breathing hitched as Jack's body convulsed and froze. He began to cry. The Architect glared at the executioner, smoke rising from the De-Mat gun he wielded.

"You were supposed to shoot the killer!" she shrieked, running out from her seat and snatching the De-Mat gun from him and pointing it at Alex. The Doctor saw this and began to yell, flailing as much as possible until the Judoon restraining him let go. He ran…

BANG!

Alex scrunched his eyes and felt something warm splatter all over him. It was blood… What was blood doing all over him? His train of thought suddenly froze and his eyes flashed open. He found himself face to face with the Doctor who had his arms outstretched, acting as a shield to Alex. His eyes were wide with pain, but he tried his best not to cry out. The Doctor winced and gave a wry smile, blood trailing from his mouth.

"What a lousy shot," he whispered, almost using up his remaining energy just to chuckle. Alex's breathing became uneven as he looked down and noticed a giant hole through the Doctor's torso. Blood was pouring all the way down his legs and a large pool was beginning to form at an alarming rate. The Doctor hacked up blood before collapsing in a heap, his clothes now being stained in blood. His breath hitched again, and Alex let out a blood-curdling scream. He was crying from utter shock when he felt an unbearable searing pain in his head. For a moment, he thought he fell unconscious when a white light blinded him as all sorts of images poured into his mind…

So experiencing shock does jog your memories…

…

Images of his past five regenerations were seen. He caught up onto his second last incarnation - a female with short-cropped black hair. She was clad in a red uniform and two guns holstered on each side of her waist. She held a primary gun with both hands and was running towards a bombsight, bodies scattered throughout the whole the area. One thing in particular caught her attention. An injured humanoid lying in the ground smothered in blood, clearly not of the Aridian world stretched out an arm towards her.

"You're… you're Gallifreyan?" he rasped. She nodded and dropped down to him, trying to apply pressure on his bleeding wound. He shook his head. "No use trying… I've lost too much… blood…" His head lolled to the side. "The Doctor… Tell my brother… tell him I'm… I'm sorry I couldn't come back…" His eyes rolled back as Alex stared at the dead Time Lord, crying as she felt yet another psychic link sever right in front of her eyes. In a split second, her body was suddenly thrown forwards as she got caught in the middle of another explosion. Golden energy seeped from her as she scowled. Fives times already…

She released the regeneration energy as golden light poured out from her, every single cell renewing into a new body. But it went a little too far as the form of her body transformed into a male's body… She felt her head tingle and gasped as she felt something wrong… her regeneration energy abruptly backfires on her and she faints, freezing her mind and forgetting her memories.

There was another burst of white light and Alex found himself back to reality.

…

He stared at the Doctor's body, lifting his own hands covered in the Doctor's blood. "What have I done?" he cried out. "What have I done?!" he repeated louder more to himself.

Judoon marched towards the Architect and restrain her as she screeched. "We haven't killed the killer!"

"Get her out of here!" the Judge bellowed. The Judoon nodded and dragged her wriggling form out of the courtroom. He looked at the Doctor in concern. "Treat the Time Lord. His health is our priority; we cannot kill off any endangered life forms." He noticed Jack and sighed. "Treat the human, too." Then he looked at Alex. "And as for you-"

Before he could finish, Alex legged it out of the courtroom in shame and fear. The Judge took this by surprise and ordered the Judoon to catch him alive at any cost. Of course, the rhinos sped off trigger-happy. Alex darted out of the waiting room and turned right, retracing his steps and hopefully finding a lift. He needed the TARDIS. His mind is torn from thought and he suddenly screamed in pain as he gets shot in the chest, collapsing to the floor before picking himself up again with the power of will power. The next shot hit his leg and he doubled over, slamming his head along in the fall. He gritted his teeth and gasped at the amount of blood seeping from him. But he picked himself up again. He was limping now, daring not to slow down his pace. The sounds of stamping grew more audible with every painful turn he took until he stumbled by the reception from earlier. He noticed the vortex manipulator and sonic screwdriver and a thought crossed his mind… Using his regained knowledge, he fixed the vortex manipulator with the sonic device. If he could get it right, he pressed the vortex manipulator and zapped back in time to the events just after the Doctor and Jack take him back to Torchwood after his fall from the rooftop.

…

Alex appeared in front of the Torchwood entrance in a puff of smoke and he sighed in total relief. The entrance rolled open and the gates opened to the Hub. Unable to walk anymore due to the injuries sustained from his chase, Alex crawled into the Hub, panting and breathing heavily. At once, Jack ran towards him.

"What the hell?!" Jack dropped down next to the man, at a loss for what to do. Alex grunted in pain and reached up to Jack, clutching desperately onto his shirt with weak arms.

"Jack… Jack I need…"

Jack stared at him, completely speechless. "How do you know my name?"

"Please," he pleaded, blood cursing down the side of his face. He was gasping for air now. Jack looked terrified. "I need… the… the Doctor…"

"What?"

"Tell him… I'm… I'm so, so… sorry," he gasped as his grip around Jack gradually loosened.

"Where's the Doctor?" The ex-Time Agent demanded in a panic.

Alex didn't answer. Instead, he fell unconscious, sagging into Jack's arms.

…

He woke up lying flat on the autopsy table again and realised he was wired up to a life support machine. Dammit, he landed in the wrong time zone… He heard footsteps as Jack entered the room. Immediately, he shut his eyes, playing dead for the meantime. The Doctor entered the room short after.

"Who is he?" The Time Lord boggled, pointing his head at the body before descending down the stairs to take a closer look.

"I don't know, Doc, who is he?" Jack asked.

"I don't know what you're talking about," he mumbled, playing around with a scalpel on a surgical tray. Jack grumbled and cleared his throat.

"He suddenly turns up to the Torchwood Hub all battered up and almost as if he's dying. He said he was looking for you." The Doctor turned his head and stared at the limp body wired up to a life support machine by the looks of it.

"I've never seen him in my life," he confessed. Beginning to feel impatient, Jack picked up the bio scan results.

"He has two hearts."

The surgical equipment the Time Lord had been fiddling with dropped with a loud clang on the metal tray. Before he could take in a breath to shout, Jack grabbed his arm and pulled him out of the autopsy room, taking him all the way into his office.

Alex waited until there was total silence in the autopsy room before he shot up and dreaded the next thing he was about to do… He pulled the tubes from his body and the remaining needles, scrunching his face as he held in the pained screams; he felt his body deteriorate at an alarming rate. To be honest, he wasn't sure if he would make it… He suddenly let out a quieter than usual groan and prayed to God the Doctor nor Jack heard him… His wounds were plastered proving to be of great convenience so he needn't worry of any blood trails. Stealthily, Alex slipped off the autopsy table, climbed up the stairs with a little difficulty and crept towards the exit in a complete hurry but starting to feel extremely weak. At one point, his legs gave out and he fell onto the floor. He was surprised no one heard him yet, but he didn't want to speak too soon. Eventually, he was out in the open and took a quick breather before limping off to a more secluded area not too far from the Millenium Center where golden energy started seeping from him. The shot he took when being chased damaged one of his vital organs. Trying to stay alive was futile… A tear suddenly trickled upon his cheek when he realised how much he didn't want to die… Regeneration energy exploded from him as every cell in his body began renewing.

All of a sudden, the Torchwood satellites detected massive energy surges.