Operation Bill Potts continues: This time: Bill rallies the troops
More chapters of [[ Scream of the Shalka / S10 finale fixit fic, ]] Where Thereās Life, Thereās Hope, are up at AO3. Itās about Alison Cheney, her robot [the Master], and the Doctor bouncing over from the Shalkaverse to save Bill from the terrifying Twelfth Doctor. Things become slightly complicated as they realize that Bill is working with another version of the Master [Razor] to de-Cyber people and overthrow Dystopiavilleās totalitarian regime.
In this excerpt, Bill talks to the rally attendees about Alison:
Ā āCharlie was talking about rage and hope.ā Billās eyes shine in the spotlights, like spotlights of their own. Sheās about to cry. āThe more thatās been taken from you, the angrier youāve become and the more youāve imagined how things could be different. Inside each and every one of you -- and inside all the people who feel the same -- thereās something that has survived everything Irons has done, some invincible kernel of rage and love. Thatās the heart of the resistance. It was always you, all of you.
Ā āI donāt want to co-opt your revolution or stand in your way, so thatās why this isnāt just a welcome speech. Itās also a goodbye speech. You all know that Iāve wanted to go home ever since I got here. And now I have the chance to.ā
Ā āAwwwwā¦ā A sigh goes through the audience. As much as thereās disappointment in it, itās also warm; theyāre happy for her.
Ā āThis is...Alison, Alison Cheney,ā says Bill, sniffling and putting her arm around Alison. āSheās⦠Sheās myā¦ā
Ā Ā Ā Friend? Girlfriend? Inevitable spouse? Ā Ā Alison wonders what sheās going to say.
Ā āSheās...Alison,ā Bill, now crying, says simply, as if words canāt do justice to everything that Alison is. āSheās...my...Alison.ā
Ā āSqueeeeee!ā Alison jumps like an audience member. Sheās never been so happy to be someoneās Alison.
Ā āShe answered my distress call; sheās taking me home. Iām finally going to be safe...safe and whole and happy.ā Bill turns away from the microphones, which yet pick up the sounds of her sniffling and wiping her eyes. āAnd⦠And so are you, all of you,ā she says to the Dystopiaville citizens, āas long as...you hang onto...the wonder and the hope and the love. Goodb -- ā A sob leaps out of her, and she never finishes the word, plunking back down in her chair again to cry.