"The Generational Purge"

37. The Heel That Was

February 2012 – Lima, Ohio

She wasn't going to be late this time, if anything, she would be early. She arrived before any of them and sat at the piano bench, resting her crutch by her side and pulling the book from her bag, reading as she waited. Once they'd started coming in though, she'd had to return it to her bag. All of them had the same reaction. They would see her foot, and the crutch, and they would ask what had happened, if she was alright… To each of them she said to wait, that she would tell the club as a whole, rather than repeating the story a dozen times.

"Alright, everyone's here, so what happened?" Tina asked. Gemma bowed her head, but she obliged. She would give them the same story she gave Principal Figgins when she went and saw him.

"I had some time between my classes yesterday, so I went to pick up a few things at the market. I didn't even make it to the store though, because some… distracted… person…" she kept herself from using any more 'colorful' words, "… decided they didn't need to look where they were going and almost hit me with their car, but I managed to jump away. Unfortunately, this led to my taking a fall, and well…" she pointed to her foot. "So I had the pleasure of spending the afternoon at the hospital. But I am back now, and don't think I've forgotten about the assignment I gave you last time. I'll be wanting to hear your songs today."

"Why didn't you just bail, take the week off?" Finn asked.

"What, and abandon you all?" Gemma smirked, getting a few chuckles. "Please, there's nowhere else I'd rather be, she stood, moving to sit among them. "Now, who's going first?"

Artie didn't know what to think of her story. It could well have been that this was exactly what had happened to her foot. But part of him felt like it was all just a lie. Sure, he'd been functioning on the theory that she was not who she said she was, but she still had to live her life, right? He turned to sneak a look at Puck. Gemma had her back turned to them while she sat with them, so that made it easier.

He had a weird look on his face, like he was remembering something.

Whatever it was, Artie had been brought back to attention, as Rachel went up to sing her selected song. One by one, they would be called on to take their turn and present their solos. Santana had followed behind Rachel, then Mercedes had gone, then Kurt, and Blaine, all of them. Artie was one of the last few to go. It took him a moment to remember what he'd prepared, but he pulled himself together and did his thing. He would say this was not his best performance by far, but it was done, so he went back to his spot. Puck was to go after him.

"Oh, uh… I didn't do anything," he shrugged. Artie frowned.

"Did you forget?" Gemma asked him.

"Yeah, sure," he replied.

When the period was done, Puck brushed by Artie, tapping his shoulder, which he knew to mean they would have to meet at his locker. Artie first watched Gemma stumble on down the hall. Finn had offered to help her. Once she was gone, he went to meet with Puck. He was standing there like a runner on the start line, waiting for the pistol.

"What happened back there?" Artie asked him. "I know you did something for today, you told me about it." Puck almost looked nervous, an uncommon sight for sure. "Puck?"

"Okay remember what I told you last month, about everything that happened, with Jack, and the Doctor and all that?" he kept his voice down.

"Yeah, of course," Artie nodded.

"Well, there's something I left out. It wasn't a big deal, really, one small detail. Remember the bit about someone being in the prison, they had a chase and then they disappeared?"

"I… yes…" Artie thought, then remembered.

"Beth, she said how the woman they chased, she fell. When they were running after her, she fell."

"Okay?" Artie still didn't see the point.

"She fell and Beth said she was hurt, limped into a room and locked herself up. She thought she might have hurt her foot." Artie blinked, understanding now.

"Do you think…"

"I don't know," Puck shook his head, still processing it all himself. "But what if it was? What if that was Ginny… Gemma… Her?" he pointed down the hall to where she'd gone.

"That would mean she was here in two thousand and twelve, and there in thirty something, at the same time, or… back and forth?"

"She keeps running off all the time, maybe that's where she goes?" Puck shrugged, just as confused as he was. "But how? I think we would have seen the ship at some point if that was how she was getting around."

"You said you got pulled from nothing from London to the prison, so there have to be other ways of travelling in time, right? Maybe she's got one."

The introduction of that new information silenced them both for a time. They hadn't even considered it at all, not once, not until now.

"So last month, you told me about all these things that happened in your past, but in the future, too. You heard about her getting hurt, before she actually did get hurt, because it happened… now," Artie worked it out out loud and for himself at the same time. Puck was connecting the dots in his head at the same time.

"I… Sure, yeah," he trusted in what Artie said.

"But she's been running back and forth the whole time, now, and last month, and two months ago… That couldn't all have been with you, right?"

"No, I guess not," Puck shook his head.

"So where was she running off to all those other times?" Artie pondered to him. Puck thought about it, then, looking back to Artie, he crouched to get lower.

"You know she did spend a lot of time with Sugar that first time. You don't think maybe…" he shrugged slowly, and Artie's eyes spread with wonder.

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

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

TO BE CONTINUED (SUNDAY)