Ab Uno Ad Duo

Posted on Mon Sep 21st, 2026 @ 3:28am by Lieutenant Kally Kellerman & Lieutenant JG Katie Kellerman & Captain Calypso Skyie

1,781 words; about a 9 minute read

Mission: Interim 3: Subspace Drift
Location: ??????

"Who am I?"

The question hung in the air. The Kellermans looked at Jadizon with a mixture of concern and care, then reached down and touched his forehead. As his eyes closed and he fell backwards, they gently lowered him to the ground.

They looked back at Cally, their expression wavering between love and fear. "You need to get out of here," they said to Cally.

"I can't do that." Calypso shook her head as she looked at them. Her voice was weary, matching how she looked. She reached out with her senses and found just one being with two people inside. The problem was that as she watched, the winding and twisting of the two that made them into one distinct being, "Not until the two of you are safe."

"We...aren't sure this will work," they said, slowly. "If we can't figure out how to get back to ourselves, you need to get to safety and tell everyone what happened."

"We're going to get through this together, you two." Cally argued, "If you think that I'm going to leave here without both you, Kally and you, Katie, then you have another think coming."

They sighed and closed their eyes, not wanting to waste the energy to argue further. They had no idea what to do, they only knew what they needed to happen. The golden glow they'd had returned, now a swirl of gold and blue as they began to step forward. They flickered as they attempted to move in separate directions, pulling apart from the single space they occupied. At first, it seemed to work, and the two of them stood side by side. They looked at Cally and smiled, then frowned, then looked scared.

The twins looked at each other, blonde hair swirling, blue eyes wide, and pointed an accusing finger at each other. "Why are you in my uniform? I'm not! I'm in my uniform!" they shouted in unison. "You can't be in my uniform, you're Kally....or Katie...I'm Kally..." they continued to shout together at each other, looking more and more concerned as they did. The glow around them shifted and flickered and they started to pull back together, their inability to separate themselves manifesting fully. They pulled against it, but the more they fought, the stronger the pull seemed to yank them.

"Kally stop this!" they both shouted. "I'm Katie! You're Kally! Let go!" they again said in unison, turning away from each other and trying to run apart.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Cally held up both hands as they managed to get another twelve inches apart before the glow around them began to inexorably pull them back together again while they stubbornly did everything to prevent it. "Hold up, you two."

They looked at her with fear in their eyes. "I can't! If I don't get away from her we won't be able to figure myself out!" they both said together. "Cally, I need help!"

As they tried to maintain the 'status quo' of the situation without being so frantic, Calypso closed her eyes (which she felt silly doing, as this was itself a mindscape) to look at them through this form's mental 'eye' and her heart sank into a pit as she saw the amalgamation that they had become. Here and there she recognized pieces of Kally's consciousness and form, less so those of Katie, but she chalked that down to not knowing the other Kellerman sister as well. The problem was that the mental and emotional 'soup' that made up what she dubbed 'The Kellerman' made it impossible to tell what bit and piece of the whole made up each of the twins. They were so like each other that even they didn't seem to be able to separate themselves in a coherent manner.

Fatigue took her again as she widened the stance of her feet by a couple inches, blinking her eyes open once more and looking upon the two sisters as even their own stubbornness to be themselves began to fail them, inching closer together. "Okay, this is a complicated mess." She said quietly, "I'll take ideas if either of you have one?"

"If I had an idea, I'd do it," the twins said, trying to keep their distance from each other but still held close by their new bond. "I haven't been this restrained--"

"--since the last time with Izzy," one twin said, while the other said, "--since those a-holes took me hostage." They stopped and turned to look at each other. "You weren't with Izzy, I was," the other one said. "And you weren't kidnapped, I was," the first one said. They let out a squeal of shock as they started to move closer together and tried to pull away again.

Calypso reached out and wrapped both of them in a tight hug to herself, "Relax." She crooned to them as they both struggled in her grasp and she closed her eyes again and breathed in deeply. She realized her mistake almost too late as the girls began to not only move closer to her, but to each other. The glow around them increased, and they began to merge again.

Cally mentally chastised herself for not thinking before acting, and quickly grabbed one of the twins and pulled her back, holding the other one at bay. She stood between them, acting as the last barrier to keep them from reaching critical mass and looked between them. There were pieces of them that were intermingled with the other, and free-flowing between them. "Relax..." She whispered again while she took stock of everything around them with a quick mental sweep.

She could have asked permission. She SHOULD have asked permission. It was a fundamental aspect of Betazoid society: consent. She didn't. She also didn't release the twin in her tight grip as she began to gently push against these 'astral' bodies. She could feel 'Kally' moving between them and focused her mind on her girlfriend, everything she knew and felt and loved about her.

She felt the glow around her like a fire and felt their minds flowing between each other, but, slowly, the ebb and flow of thought and spirit slowed. There was no sound, no sign of the strain she was feeling, but she slowly acted as a filter as she kept 'Kally' where she was in her arms and what parts of 'Katie' (or more 'Not-Kally') moved through remained in her own projection. Her eyes flicked open briefly as she felt the draw between them weaken, and Calypso focused on the essence that was Kalliope Kellerman, the woman that she loved truly, as Cally began to pluck bits and pieces to fill in the missing pieces.

Calypso closed her eyes as she continued to 'attract' the pieces of Kally to her, before moving the rest over to Katie, leaving each twin whole and themselves. There was still a light tendril between the two of them, but that had always been there. She finally released the twins and blinked her eyes open as the three of them collapsed.

---

Katie regained herself first, opening her eyes and blinking up. The blue sky of the farm was gone, and the sterile, greyish ceiling of Sickbay was back. She took a breath, then another, then another, and finally sat up, wincing and rubbing her head, and looked around.

She and Kally were still on either side of Jadizon, and Cally was slumped in a chair next to Kally, holding her hand. Katie's head was throbbing, but she quickly felt Jadizon's neck and let out a sigh of relief feeling his pulse beat strong and steady. She climbed off her cot and checked on Cally and Kally as well, giving two more sighs of relief. She stood over Kally and slapped her face gently. "Kal....Kal...." she said, trying to rouse her twin.

Kally gave a slight groan, but barely moved.

"Kally, hurry, my girlfriend'll be home any second," Katie said in a low voice.

Kally's eyes popped open and she sat up fast, then groaned and fell back as her head throbbed. "Are we out?" she said slowly.

Katie sighed and leaned against the cot. "Yeah...we're out," she said. "And I think Jadizon is okay."

Kally looked up at the monitor above the biobed and sighed with relief. His vitals were high and steady, and his brainwaves were normal for someone in deep sleep.

"Good." Calypso said wearily, "on both." Her voice was hoarse, like she hadn't had anything to drink in a long time, "And you two are... You?"

The twins looked at each other and both gave a shrug. "I think so," Katie said.

"Which one are you again?" Kally said, looking at her sister, grinning as Katie responded with a rude gesture.

"She's fine," Katie said.

Kally looked at her girlfriend and leaned down, kissing her gently. "Swap with me," she said, hopping off the cot.

"I'm fine, I'mm-Captain, got things to do." Cally objected weakly.

"That's an order," Kally said, her voice stern. She grabbed a tricorder and scanned each of them one by one, then grabbed a hypospray and loaded it with a hydration nutrient mix and pressed it to Cally's neck.

Cally's eyes opened just a little wider, but then grudgingly nodded and leaned over to let herself slump from the chair into the cot, "Just twenty minutes, a nap and I'm good to go."

As the two Betazoids got settled, the twins gave each other a long look. Kally came around and hugged her sister tightly. "You should get some rest, too," Kally said.

"So should you," Katie said.

"Eventually," Kally said. She had to oversee discharging everyone from Sickbay and clearing the ship again for the sweep. "I'll get Jadizon transferred to your room on the surface, and I'll check in on you both later, okay? For now, lie down and get some rest. I'll be okay."

Katie nodded, looking at Jadizon sleeping soundly. She couldn't remember when he'd slept so calmly, and hoped it was a good sign. "All right," she said, wearily. She gave Kally a kiss and another hug and crawled back onto the other cot next to Jadizon, closing her eyes and almost immediately falling asleep.

Kally took a deep breath and smoothed her uniform before leaning over and kissing Cally lovingly. "I'll check in on you in a few after your nap," she said.

"Mmmhmm." Cally responded as she settled into the cot more fully, "Love you..."

Kally smiled and patted Cally's shoulder once more before turning and heading back into the main Sickbay to catch up on what she'd missed.

 

RSS Feed