Started my daily ficlets to make the hiatus pass, then decided to keep going with a 2nd cycle, and then a 3rd, 4th, etc through 69th cycle. Now cycle 70!

GLEEKATHON FOURTH ANNIVERSARY CYCLE - It's October again, which means another year of Gleekathon is about to wrap up! At the end of the month it will have been four years since I've started doing my daily stories! As always, I will be celebrating this with a special cycle of stories to touch on my favorite stories I've done throughout the year. There will be two installments each on Thursdays, Saturdays, Mondays, and Wednesdays. The remaining days will feature, as they have in the last several months, new chapters of the latest story in my Doctor Who/Glee crossover series. As far as the anniversary stories go, it will be as I've done before, taking those past stories and either doing a prequel, sequel, POV swap, genre swap, alternate ending, or additional scenes.

(Chapters 1 through 9 fall in the anniversary cycle, though the story will go on beyond that of course)

"Guardian of the Array"
Doctor Who/Glee crossover
(#5 in series; sequel to "The Generational Purge")
from DW: (alternate) 12th Doctor (others, too, later... shh, secret)
from Glee: Artie, Puck, Sugar, New Directions

1. Your Doctor & Mine

January 2012 – Lima, Ohio

Artie had made the deal with Puck, your story for my story. It was simple enough, but right from the start he had known that something was off. Puck kept saying 'he' or 'him.' And now that he had finished his story, he would expect Artie to own up, which would mean sharing this problem. He really didn't have a choice, not if he wanted Puck's help. He didn't just want it, he needed it, fast.

"It's just… the Doctor that I met, I'm pretty sure… Actually, I'm completely certain… It wasn't the same one that you met."

"Oh… Well… Maybe it's like a shared title?" Puck sat back down.

"I don't think so," Artie shook his head.

"Then how do you know that it's not the same person, I mean I didn't even describe him that well… or at all," Puck pointed out.

"Well, you just did. You said 'he.' The Doctor I met, it was a she." Puck stared at him like he'd just leapt out of his wheelchair and done an Irish jig.

"Say that again?"

"My Doctor was a woman."

Puck had understood him the first time, but he'd still needed to hear it again, and that didn't make it any easier. He sat there, turning the word in his head, the idea… There was no way that was his Doctor then, right? He still remembered the guy, tall, with those ears, and that nose… Even dressed as a woman, he couldn't pass, could he?

"You're sure…"

"I can tell the difference between a man and a woman," Artie frowned.

"Wasn't saying you couldn't," Puck held his hands up. "But she… she was really…"

"Yes," Artie was growing aggravated.

"Then… there really is more than one, or are they the same person?"

"How could they be?"

"Well he… she… they… Aliens, dude," Puck shrugged. "Maybe that's something his species can do. He didn't say how old he was, maybe that's how they stay alive or something. Who knows how long they're out there?"

"That would be… That would explain some things, actually," Artie told himself.

"Like what?" Puck started to say, but then changed his mind. "Okay, but it doesn't matter right now. Maybe it's the same person, maybe it's not. Just tell me the story already."

"Fine," Artie sighed. "Before I do though…"

"Artie, come on!" Puck huffed.

"Just listen, okay? I'm only going to give you some background before I get into the rest of it, so you really know where I was at."

"Okay," Puck relaxed, leaving him the floor to speak. Artie took a moment.

"Well, first thing you need to know is this was shortly after I had my accident and I ended up in a chair. I was eight years old, and I was just… miserable. They couldn't have come at a better time, it was so strange," he frowned to himself with a smile. "I used to think it was like they knew."

"Maybe they did," Puck told him. Artie nodded; he'd been thinking that more and more.

By the time he would finish telling Puck his story, they would be convinced now more than ever, whether it was one Doctor or two, a man, a woman, it wouldn't matter. Something was happening, and they wouldn't let go until they found out what it was. It would probably mean spying on the fake substitute a while longer, but that was something they were willing to do.

X

February 2012

Just when they thought they had this whole thing figured out, or as figured out as they could until they got a break, that break had come… and they didn't know what to do about it. All this time "Ginny/Gemma" had been this stationary entity, between McKinley and wherever it was she lived. Now she somehow had this thing that made her able to travel in time and space all on her own. They also knew she must have been looking in on other people, not just Puck, or him, and there was an idea.

"You know she did spend a lot of time with Sugar that first time. You don't think maybe…" Puck pointed out cautiously, and Artie looked at him.

"I don't know," he admitted. "Do you think?"

"Well, there's one way of finding out."

"Gemma's gone now," Artie whispered. "Even if we go to Sugar about it, there's no telling when she'll get back." Puck knew he had a point, but it didn't make it any easier to agree.

"Fine, then we'll just keep doing what we've been doing, we'll wait. But when your girl comes back here, we talk to Sugar." Artie considered their options, too, and he nodded.

"That's fine."

X

March 2012

Artie swore he could feel it. He woke up that morning, and he knew that when he would make it to school, she would be there… Ginny Harrison, or as he knew her, Gemma Lucas. He texted that much to Puck, who probably thought he was getting desperate. That was probably it, but just to be on the safe side, he made quick work of getting himself ready and off to school as soon as possible.

When he arrived… Puck was already there.

"I thought you said you didn't believe me," Artie accused him.

"What makes you think it has anything to do…"

"When was the last time you've made it to school so early?" He was busted.

"Okay, fine, can you blame me? All this runaround, if she really is here again, then we should get on top of this quick," Puck explained.

"We still don't know if she's really…"

"Bingo," Puck looked over his head, and Artie took a peek, turning his head.

Sure enough, coming up the path, there was the substitute teacher-slash-time traveller. She passed by them without stopping or looking.

"Does she look different to you?" Artie frowned.

"Different how?" Puck asked. Artie couldn't explain it.

"I don't know. But she's here… We need to find Sugar."

TO BE CONTINUED (SUNDAY)