I couldn't believe that I had done… that! I felt dizzy, lightheaded, and nauseated all at once. It took a minute to realize that my blood sugar levels must have just taken a massive drop.
"Why in the world would you give the Superhacker to them?"
I jerked my head in the direction of the voice and smiled at the sight of the Doctor, despite his tone. He was just emerging from an exceptionally tangled bit of undergrowth and nonchalantly sweeping the last of the soot from the explosion off of his suit.
"They left, didn't they?" Jeni pointed out sounding annoyed at the fact that he had to dared to be annoyed with me.
"With a powerful piece of alien technology that they will sell to the highest bidder," the Doctor fumed, "and I can guarantee that whoever they sell it to won't just use it to change around their classes."
I began to giggle hysterically, "Really? They're going to sell that?"
"Yes!" the Doctor shouted as I giggled even harder. "Do realize what you might have done?"
I managed to stop giggling and found the nausea was getting worse, "Oh, I don't feel too well right now," I mumbled and barely resisted the urge to dry heave. I shoved my hand in my pocket and rummaged around with my shaking hands while Jeni shouted furiously at the Doctor:
"Liz did really well considering how scared she must have been!" Jeni stomped up to the Doctor and jabbed her finger into his chest to accent every word. I doubted that even Jeni would have intimidated the Doctor, except in her other hand she was still holding the gun and was absently waving it around as she continued. Even so, I smiled as the short girl managed to intimidate the tall man. "She managed to make them leave without getting us killed! You sure as hell weren't around to help!"
I found what I was searching for and withdrew what might have been an iPhone from my pocket. I tossed it as carefully as I could toward the Doctor, given the fact that I couldn't steady my hands. He caught it just as I muttered: "I think that my sugar just hit rock bottom."
If Jeni had looked shocked earlier, the look on her face now eclipsed that expression easily. "You bluffed him. You… bluffed… him." She shook her head as if to try to dislodge the impossible thought that had become stuck in her mind. Managing to break away from the broken record she had become for the last several seconds, she asked, "What did you give that alien anyway?"
"My MP3 player," I grumbled. I wasn't overly happy about that, either. I'd spent one-hundred and twenty dollars to acquire my little Insignia Pilot and bankrupted myself for several months. Out of pure habit, I added: "Someone owes me a new one, or one hundred and twenty bucks."
The Doctor had taken advantage of Jeni's distraction to slip past her and walk up to me. He held out a hand, offering to help me back onto my feet. I was glad that my stomach had quit, because I would have been very embarrassed if I'd thrown up right then.
I took his hand, accepting his aid. I was glad that I had, too, because no sooner than I was on my feet than I was hit by a sudden wave of dizziness that would have sent me sprawling forward had it not been for the Doctor steadying me.
"Thanks," I muttered, a little embarrassed that I was so dizzy that I couldn't even stand without help.
He nodded and let go of my shoulders. I swayed a little, but managed to stay upright.
Realizing that I was standing in front of the doors to the TARDIS, I staggered out of the way so the Doctor could unlock them.
The Doctor did so, and as he pushed open the TARDIS's door he asked: "Why did you have an MP3 player in your pocket?"
I managed a grin. "I forgot to take it out of my pocket this morning."
The Doctor escorted me inside the TARDIS, evidently a little concerned that I was going to keel over at any moment, as I continued: "Sadly, I didn't think to add any snacks to my pocket's inventory today. I don't suppose that you'd have anything I could eat in this thing?"
He seemed not to hear the question as he had me sit down on the seat next to the console.
Jeni had followed right behind us and now came to stand next to me.
The Doctor grinned as if something had just occurred to him. "I'll be right back." To Jeni he added with a glare, "Don't touch anything."
With that he disappeared into the depths of the TARDIS.
Jeni shuffled uncomfortably and finally worked up to admitting: "That was very clever, bluffing like that."
I shook my head. "It wouldn't have worked if you hadn't gotten his gun. That was a really huge, stupid oversight on my part."
I suddenly looked at her, "Speaking of guns – " I held out my still shaking hand in an obvious request for the weapon she was still holding.
Jeni pouted a little. My hand stayed where it was.
"Jeni – " I warned.
She placed the gun on my palm.
I carefully placed the gun on the seat next to me.
"You are no fun, sometimes, Liz," she complained.
"I know," I said cheerily and then added in a more serious tone, "but someone's got to keep an eye on you."
"I still get to borrow that conscience of yours?" she asked quietly, perhaps realizing for the first time that she might have ruined our friendship with her actions today.
"Ugh! You without 'your' conscience," I joked. "What would you do without me?"
"I dunno," she admitted, shrugging. "Destroy the world."
"Sounds about right!" I managed to say before we both dissolved into laughter.
The Doctor reappeared about the same time as our laughter began to die down.
"What's so funny?" he asked looking thoroughly puzzled as he handed me a bag of "jelly babies".
"Inside joke," I said in way of explanation as I examined one of "jelly babies". I would have thought they were gummy bears if it weren't for the label…
"Oh," he said.
"These won't kill me right?" I asked before I shoved a handful of the multicolored candies into my mouth.
"No! Of course not," he said looking hurt that I would even think him capable of attempting to poison me with alien food.
"Just checking," I said and popped the treat into my mouth. As I suspected, it not only looked a lot like a gummy bear but tasted like one as well. I devoured a few dozen before the shaking began to subside.
Author's Note: We're getting down to the last part of this story. I'm not quite done, I might have enough for two or three more chapters, depending on how I choose to break it up.
Quick question for those of you that have read this story. Should I have the Doctor ask Jeni and Elisabeth to travel with him or should I simply wrap this up and let them become more one-off companions? I could write the end either way. (Be forewarned, a sequel could take some time and may become a crossover...)
I've also added a poll on my profile asking the same question. I'm afraid I don't think I'll be updating tomorrow or even Saturday, but that ought to give you some time to take the poll. I can guarantee that I will update by Sunday, 9/19.