The Villain

Posted on Wed Sep 30th, 2026 @ 9:42am by Lieutenant Kally Kellerman & Lieutenant JG Katie Kellerman

1,413 words; about a 7 minute read

Mission: Interim 3: Subspace Drift
Location: Kally's Hotel Room
Timeline: Immediately After Hard to Do

"You said what?" Kally shouted, horrified, as Katie sobbed in front of her. "Lisus Khristos, Katarina, he nearly died barely a day ago!"

"I didn't mean to!" Katie wailed, falling sideways to lie on the bed, her hands over her face. "I swear, it slipped out and before I could stop it, and I just kept talking and the more I tried to explain myself the worse I sounded, and I couldn't stop it and I hurt him so much and he's alone and scared and I'm a fucking monster and I don't know what to do!" She turned onto her stomach and broke down into uncontrollable sobs, wailing into a pillow.

Kally sat back against her pillows and rubbed her eyes. "All right," she said. "So, we'll let him cool down a bit first..." She heard Katie wail again and sighed. Not to mention, you.

She laid down next to Katie and pulled her sister into her arms. She held her tightly as Katie continued to sob and shake. It was nearly an hour when Katie finally calmed down enough that she could form words.

"I need to apologize to him," she said, then shivered, hugging Kally tighter. "I'm scared, though."

"Of what?" Kally said, gently stroking her hair.

"Him," Katie said. When Kally pulled back to look at her with concern, she shook her head. "Not like that. He has never, nor do I believe he would ever, hit me." She sniffed and wiped her eyes. "It's just...the look in his eyes. I'm so scared I'll hurt him more, and he'll look at me with hate in his eyes, and don't want him to hate me."

Kally pulled Katie back into a hug and rubbed her back. "He doesn't hate you, he loves you, that's why he's in pain," Kally said, then kicked herself as Katie began to sob again. She kept rubbing her sister's back gently and kissed her ear. "Honey, you can't unring the bell, all you can do is deal with the sound."

Katie continued to cry for a bit longer, holding Kally tight, then finally croaked out, "i need to apologize and take it all back and beg him to forgive me."

"Hang on," Kally said, pulling back again and making Katie look at her. "Apologize for your timing? Sure. Hope he forgives you, don't beg for it. That's up to him, and you aren't entitled to it. But taking back what you said?" She paused and looked Katie in the eyes. "Katie, is what you said true?"

Katie bit her lip, her blue eyes as big as deflector dishes as she looked at her twin. She finally nodded slowly. "We've been going on autopilot, and neither of us wanted to admit it. And it's not all his fault; I haven't talked to him about it because I was so afraid it was all in my head, but then he'd never open up and he's so damn stoic and--" she cut herself off as she realized she was doing it again and began sobbing anew.

Kally let her cry a moment, then cupped her chin. "Katie, if that's really how you feel, then taking it back, continuing to ignore your problems and stringing him along in the hopes you can force this to work is only going to hurt him more in the long run. You can't pretend this didn't happen, nor should you. It happened. And, yeah, you might wind up single from this, but in the long run that's better than the two of you living a lie that you both come to resent."

Katie nodded and snuggled back into Kally's arms. "I'm just so worried about him," she said. "He's in so much pain and he's scared and he's miserable and it's my fault and--" She stopped as Kally shushed her.

"Not all of that is your fault," Kally said, softly. "I'll check on him in a bit, okay? I'll make sure he's alright and I'll see where he's at with things."

Katie looked up at Kally and nodded. "Okay," she said. "But...promise me something?" she said.

"Anything," Kally said.

"Don't...." she bit her lip and blushed. "Don't complicate things more....you know what I mean."

Kally nodded. "No tricks, no impersonations, no sex," she said. "No shortcuts. I got it."

Katie hugged her tightly, kissing her cheek and snuggling in again. "Thank you," she said.

"You're welcome," Kally said.

"I don't know how either of you are going to forgive me," Katie sighed.

"What do I have to forgive you for?" Kally chuckled. "I'm always here to hug you when you cry, you know that."

Katie instantly froze, realizing she'd put her foot in it. "Because...I'm...keeping you from Cally," she said, coming up with a reason as fast as she could.

Not fast enough, as Kally pulled back once more and looked her twin in the eyes with a probing gaze. "Katie....what'd you do...."

Katie blushed so hard she looked like a Saurian. "It's really not as bad as it seems," she said, her voice almost pleading.

Kally sat up, now worried. "Katie...tell me," she said.

Katie sat up as well and pulled the bedsheets up protectively. "When I was down on the planet...there was a point I was alone while Jadizon was out clearing the ground station of enemy combatants and Commander Espersen found me. He stayed with me and protected me. He got shot trying to protect me, actually."

Kally raised an eyebrow and mulled that over. "I'll have to thank him," she said. "But that's not--"

"I told him everything," she said. "About you, and him and...everything."

Kally went paler than she'd have cared to admit and put a hand over her mouth. "Oh Katie, you didn't..."

"It's not been a good week for my ability to keep my thoughts to myself, okay??" she said, half wailing, tears streaming again. "All this crap has been bottled up forever and I'm just exhausted from keeping it to myself!" She sobbed. "So yeah; he knows. He knows how you feel, and how you felt, and that he won that stupid bet, and how I ruined your relationship with him and all of it. It's all my fault." She broke down sobbing again, this time unable to stop.

Kally let her cry for a moment, then let out a long sigh. She moved back to Katie and despite the other girl's protestations, pulled her into a hug again and snuggled back down onto the bed. "You are a brilliant engineer," she said, quietly into Katie's ear, "and I'm a good doctor. But, truthfully? If we had to swap places, you'd make a better medic than I would an engineer. You've learned more basic care with a medkit than I ever learned about engines and computers. And that isn't your fault, and it isn't his fault. I was a mediocre student, at best, and the only reason I did well was your tutelage. The resentment and pettiness wasn't your fault, not after all these years."

"I know, but," Katie said, hiccupping. "It wouldn't have started if I hadn't poisoned the well. Who knows how things might have gone if I hadn't opened my big, fat mouth?"

"You gave me an honest opinion of my work," Kally said. "I chose to get angry over it. That's on me, not you," Kally said. "And it wouldn't have changed anything in the end. I wasn't his favorite student, and we both know why."

Katie nodded. She hugged her sister tightly. "Thanks," she said.

Kally nodded, her mind still spinning with the implications of what Katie had done. She finally gave Katie a long, loving kiss and held her tightly. "I love you," she said. "Nothing's changing that."

Katie returned it and hugged Kally so hard she risked bruising something. "Nothing," she agreed, relief in her voice.

"All right, snuggle time, then I'll go run my errand," Kally said. "Flotter videos and popcorn tonight?"

Katie thought it over. "Maybe tomorrow night?" she said, yawning as her adrenaline and emotional energy crashed in real time. "After everything, I'm..." she paused and her eyes closed and she went limp in Kally's arms.

Kally smiled and slipped out of Katie's arms, tucking Katie into the bed and grabbing her medkit before tiptoeing out into the hall to see to her less enjoyable duty.

 

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