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"Alice, sweetheart? Is that you?"
Was that really him? Alice turned and gasped as she saw Bill. It was. She ran into her father's arms, so relieved to see him after everything that had happened. She could barely believe it. He was okay. She was okay. They were okay. It was almost too good to be true. She trembled slightly as a tear fell from her eye onto his shoulder. Bill pulled her closer, gently ran his fingers through her hair and took a soft breath. She expected more mewls, or a sob, maybe a comforting murmur. Anything but what she heard.
"Hello," he sang softly, pressing a gentle kiss to her forehead. "I've been waiting for you."
"Dad?" She must have been hearing him wrong. He couldn't have been singing.
"I didn't know if you'd recognize my voice," he continued, pulling away slightly and opening his cobalt-blue eyes as the spores forced him to give her a warm smile. Her heart shattered into a million pieces. She had known it was too good to be true. "'Cause I've been whispering your name, again and again..."
"Dad, please stop," she breathed, trying to break away from his hug, which was still loving and comfortable, but he wasn't letting go of her. It wasn't like how the infected Deb had hugged her earlier. That had been firm, cold, unfeeling. Fake. This was different. This was somehow almost like how the real Bill would hug her.
"I've been imagining this day, and I'll never be the same. Welcome home." He took her hands and gingerly pulled her into some sort of dance hold, resisting her attempts to free herself. "Welcome home. It's so good to see your face," he cooed, ever-so-gently turning Alice in a simple, slow foxtrot. His voice was so breathless and emotional, almost genuine, but she knew it wasn't. She wasn't going to fall for it. She wouldn't let them trick her like that. "Welcome home."
"Get away from me," she whispered, her voice cracking slightly as she started crying again. No, no, no, she needed to stay strong. If Alice poured her heart out to who used to be her father, the Hive would prey on her. She couldn't let them get to her, like they had gotten to Deb, like they had gotten to him. She couldn't let her guard down. She couldn't let them have the opportunity to get their blue slime into her body and take her soul away. She couldn't let her father's sweet words manipulate her into joining them.
"We dance, and sometimes only fall," Bill sang, making direct eye contact. As Alice looked into his eyes, she was sure she could see something trying to get her attention, fighting to be seen through the blue. Fear. Fear and love. The longer she stared at them, the more she could almost see his natural mocha just around the pupil. Almost. "We sing, even when there are no words." Was he trying to tell her something? "And I hope love lifts you up again and again..." He closed his eyes again and a small tear rolled down his cheek as he pulled Alice closer. She couldn't tell if it was a happy tear or a sad tear. His hands weren't cold anymore, they were as warm and soft as the real Bill's had always been. "And if you ever lose your way, let me be the first to say: 'Welcome home, welcome home.'" He kissed her again. "It's so good to see your face. Welcome home."
"Dad?"
"Come inside from the cold and rest your weary soul." He dropped the foxtrot hold and instead gently took her hands, opening his eyes again. "You belong, you are loved, you are wanted." She could definitely see brown with the blue this time. "You're not alone." Was he really infected? Was there a part of him left? Or was that just what they wanted her to think? "I've missed you so, welcome home, welcome home."
"Dad, are you in there?"
Bill pulled her close again and gently rested her head on his shoulder. "Without you here, it's not the same, and I've been waiting here..."
"Can you hear me?" Alice whispered, lifting her head to make eye contact again.
"Welcome home." After the last note, he blinked and his eyes were the mocha she knew and loved. He gasped and pulled her into a hug, the warmest she had ever felt. "Alice! How did you do that? How did you break me out of it?"
"I don't know, I was wondering how you did it," she admitted, starting to cry tears of joy again. He was back, it was really him.
"Well, whatever it was, thank you! Alice, sweetheart, I love you so much!"
"I love you, too, Dad."