Author: Regency
Title: a crush like sunshine
Warnings: May-December flirtation if that's not your thing.
Pairing: Bill Potts/Kate Stewart
Spoilers: Nothing specific
Overall Summary: Kate and Bill get to know each other better and better.
Chapter Summary: Bill is pretty sure she doesn't have a chance with Kate Stewart from UNIT, but that doesn't mean she can't enjoy the full Kate Stewart experience.
Author's Notes: Originally posted on Tumblr. Feel free to come yap at me about Bill and Kate, together or separate, on Tumblr at sententiousandbellicose!
Disclaimer: I don't own any characters recognizable as being from Doctor Who. They are the property of their actors, producers, writers, and studios, not me. No copyright infringement was intended and no money was made in the writing or distribution of this story. It was good, clean fun.
crushcrushcrush
Bill was reading the white paper one of Osgood's junior officers had written between curious glances at the slender figure pacing the heart of UNIT command. Something was happening. Aliens of the non-Doctor variety had touched down on Earth's surface using the Eiffel Tower, Big Ben, and the Statue of Liberty as landing sites, among other landmarks. From all the countries arming their nukes for war, Bill didn't think it was likely they came in peace
What's with the world domination scheme? It's been done! Bill had asked the Doctor why aliens weren't bored of trying and failing to conquer Earth by now and he hadn't had an answer for her. Said she was always asking the infuriatingly unanswerable questions. He'd squeezed her shoulders and told her to never stop. She'd been on Cloud 9 for hours afterward, though that was before that Borg Cube-looking deal had landed on the Coliseum. Even Bill was starting to get worried that the odds were stacked against humanity this time.
At least she was until the big boss at UNIT got on the horn to the world powers. There was a wall of Skype screens extended from floor to ceiling featuring a bunch of people Bill didn't recognize who talked like they were used to having the last say in Very Important Things ™. None of them were getting their say this time. Via sugar sweet diplomacy and apple cider vinegar coercion, Kate Stewart was bringing them all to heel for the sake of a peaceable solution that would prevent in-fighting and all out war. It was full-on hotter than it had any right to be and Bill had a front row seat.
Kate Stewart was powerful and brilliant. The Doctor's words. Unlikely to suffer fools or bureaucrats when she could help it–Osgood's contribution. Not a woman to cross, according to Colonel Shandi. Not a woman to disappoint, according to Sam and Jac. She was all sorts to all people, Kate Stewart was. But to Bill's mind, she was just amazing. That she also happened to be gorgeous was rich icing on the knockout blonde cake.
Getting to watch UNIT and Kate work were the only reasons Bill wasn't more miffed at being left behind while the Doctor went to investigate the landing ships in person. She wanted to see some real Alien vs. Predator-style extraterrestrials, but the Doctor had said it was too dangerous and had put his foot down when she tried to follow him anyway. He'd charged Kate with keeping an eye on her and Kate, who'd been too busy for proper introductions, had passed on her safekeeping to her right hand Osgood. Osgood had smiled apologetically, already run off her feet by Things Happening All At Once, and had given her a stack of soon-to-be-published white papers to annotate to catch her up on UNIT scientific developments. If the world wasn't probably ending, it would have been impressive.
Okay, it was still pretty impressive with Independence Day threatening outside. UNIT was on the front lines of cutting edge scientific research and technological innovation. Bill would do a lot to see all the gizmos and gadgets they weren't ready to tell her about yet. This was already beyond anything she'd imagined from TV.
She was spinning out a theory about whether UNIT had already developed a working prototype for those transporters from Star Trek when she became aware of being watched. Kate's conference call had adjourned and UNIT's military arm had become a hub of activity while the scientists settled around lab tables in clusters to work. Kate was issuing commands to squaddies in black and white lab coat-clad specialists who hurried in every direction on a mission. She was the epicenter, and she had fixed her dark eyes on Bill.
Bill's mouth dropped open and she had to drop her gaze to the paper she was reading about a split-quantum actualizer, or a perpetually stabilized blackhole, as a source of nuclear energy with potential military applications. The science was sound as far she understood, but it still made her uneasy. Nobody of any species should have all that power. She flipped it to the bottom of the pile to peruse a paper about Zygon physiology instead. Now that she could get behind. She got so invested so quickly that she didn't hear the click-clack of kitten heels on the concrete floor as a certain well-admired figure approached. She was just about startled out of her skin when a manicured hand knocked on her desk to catch her attention.
"Everything all right, Miss Potts?" asked Kate Stewart, looking more entertained by Bill's startle response than was probably polite. Bill caught her breath quickly though and had sense enough to laugh at herself in response to the twinkle in Kate's eye. Pretty eyes, too. The type that were dangerously easy to get lost in, and neither even bore a star. Bill's heart gave a habitual twinge at the reminder of Heather and she let it pass. She had enough what-might-have-beens already.
"Aye aye, ma'am."
"Please call me Kate."
"Aye aye, Kate." Her mock salute elicited a surprisingly hoarse bark of a laugh. It made Bill smile, a little smitten and dopey. She'd always been soft for girls with a funny laugh.
"You're one of kind, aren't you?" Kate asked when her laughing fit had finished.
Bill shrugged a shoulder. That might have been an insult in someone else's mouth; Kate made it kind. "I try."
"No wonder the Doctor likes you. He never could abide a boring date." Kate perched on the corner of the desk Bill had claimed for her own and folded her arms. Apparently, she was down to chat.
Bill snorted. "He's more like a best mate and a tutor than a date. He's not really my type." At all. In any way. And his hearts were elsewhere even if he was. Bill had seen all the photographs. The ones that were appropriate for company, at least.
"You may be the first companion to say that that I've believed," she remarked as she stole a crisp from the open bag beside Bill's computer terminal with a shameless quirk of the brow. "So…too old for you?"
Bill gulped audibly as Kate shifted to make herself more comfortable, crossing her distractingly long legs in the process and brushing Bill's arm. She was so busy gawping at the older woman that it took her a bit to realize Kate had asked her a question.
"Er, nope, just not really feeling the…well, any of it. Like, he's great and all, and we're mates, but I prefer my 'companions' a bit more ladylike." At Kate's interested expression Bill decided to go for broke. "I like girls. Women. Not all of them but a lot of them."
Kate displayed a gently teasing smile after she'd swallowed her pilfered crisp and one more besides. "I hear you loud and clear, especially the last bit. Coincidentally, I also prefer the company of women to men. We should start a club."
Bill laughed externally all while quietly flipping out under the surface. Kate Stewart likes girls. Time travel is possible. Aliens are real. I love sci-fi. "They're pretty amazing."
"So they are. I could be wrong, but I think you might be just as exceptional as the rest of us. The Doctor certainly agrees."
"He thinks everybody's great." Bill pulled a face even as she said it. The Doctor was kind a good part of the time, but he definitely thought the majority of people he met had pudding for brains and he wasn't fussed about saying so. She rolled her eyes at the man though he wasn't present to see it. "All right, not everybody, but…yeah."
"Understood. Nevertheless, the Doctor says you're a dab hand at this science business, and that happens to be my bread and butter. Should you ever need a home away from home, or even just a day off, you're welcome to visit us here in the Tower. We can always use another inquiring mind on the team."
Bill's heart leapt. She loved an adventure; add Kate Stewart to the mix and she couldn't imagine taking a pass. "Yeah?"
"Yeah." Kate brushed salty crisp crumbs from her silk shirt, down her tailored trousers to the floor, a path Bill's eyes followed to great distraction. "Here, take my card." Kate produced a rectangle of cream-colored cardstock from the inside pocket of her blazer and handed it over. Bill gave it a read:
Kate Stewart, PhD
Chief Scientific Officer, UNIT
Below that was listed the usual office contact information though Bill had an inkling that even that much was a matter of national security. Out of habit she flipped it over and was thrilled to find another number, a mobile number, scribbled on the back in bold, spiky handwriting with Personal noted above it.
"For emergencies. You can reach me there at any hour of the day if you need me, or UNIT, for some reason."
"Do science questions count?" Bill inquired cheekily.
"Oh no, for those you'd better text. You're much more likely to get a timely response while I'm having my tea."
"Teatime texting." Bill nodded with a totally cool, matter of fact expression. She could be cool. She smiled. "I like it. I might take you up on that."
"I hope you do." Kate slipped off Bill's borrowed desk and plucked up her nearly empty crisp packet as she turned to leave.
"Oi, so you're just gonna steal my crisps? I usually get at least a meal before I let a girl get away with stealing my crisps." Bill figured she had nothing to lose by trying.
Kate hummed in idle contemplation as she chewed away at another crisp with deliberate slowness. "How about this? I'll owe you one."
"One what?"
Kate tapped the side of her nose with a suggestive wink. "Stick around, Miss Potts, and find out." She tossed a wave over her shoulder and disappeared into the deepest reaches of the Tower where Bill wasn't yet allowed.
Well, barring an almost certain catastrophe, Bill would be right here. Wild horses and wild Doctors couldn't drag her away.