A Tale of two Topas - Merson missing scene

A/N: I'm new to The Orville fandom, *waves*, it's such a good show. When I saw Scott Grimes is on it, I loved it even more. Have loved him since ER; Archie Morris. I decided to start watching The Orville since I love everything sci-fi and wow, all I say is thank you Seth. Feeling Mass Effect vibes and Star Wars vibes.

This will be a fanfic containing a scene which I would have loved to see in the latest ep because I'm a hopeless Kelly/Ed shipper. Merson owns my heart. The ep was phenomenal, beautifully written and performed. I'm a straight ally. Remember you are loved, valid and enough, let nobody tell you otherwise. What if Klyden had attacked Kelly more aggressively, she got hurt and decided to let Ed in on this. Cuteness ahead. Quotes from the episode will be in bold.

Kelly is in her quarters researching some information for their next exploration trip when someone bangs on her door, normally people chim before coming in but this particular person doesn't. The commander knows this can only be Klyden so she readies herself. 'Come in' Klyden strides in furiously. 'How dare you?' Kelly looks at him as if she has no idea what he's talking about. 'Is there something I can do for you Klyden?' 'If we were on Moclus, I would be within my rights to break your little break.' She gulps, he wouldn't actually dare to attack an Union commanding officer, would he? 'Well we're not but you're welcome to try. No? Then I suggest you back the hell away from my desk.'

After a few seconds, Klyden eventually steps back, still looking furiously at Kelly. 'My son is in emotional ruin because of you.' 'I told him to have a slice of Kimbok. That's all I said.' 'You gave him the password for the trial records!' She clearly didn't, she already feels bad for guiding Topa to the Kimbok file but she hasn't overstepped her authority, who else did then? 'No, I didn't.' 'You are a liar!' Kelly's growing impatient at this time. 'I pointed him in the right direction, yes, but...' 'Who are you to decide what is best for my child?!' 'Somebody has to!' 'My son was content!' If Klyden would actually listen to her, she would explain this to him. She wants to tell him, she had human friends who were in Topa's position but always got laughed at. Bullying was and is still real, she only wants Topa to feel loved and it has to start at home.

'Your son was miserable!' Why doesn't he understand this... 'You wrecked that kid the second you walked into that courtroom, so do not try to pin this bullshit on me!' 'I remember when we were in the Kandar system. You were worshiped as a god by the planet's inhabitants. Perhaps you still believe it yourself. Perhaps that is why you chose to play god with my family.' He did not just pull this bullshit move right now, did he? 'I played god?! Klyden, that kid has been crying out for help, and you've been burying your fat head in the sand because the truth doesn't fit in with your backward worldview! Now, I may have overstepped but somebody needed to start paying attention. Because that child is in trouble. And no matter how much it hurts you to know it, underneath that manufactured exterior, Topa is still female.'

It takes only a few milliseconds for Klyden to act, Kelly has absolutely no time to call for help, he jumps over her desk and grabs her by the neck to throw her across the room. He may not be Xelayan but damn he has enormous strength. Her back collides against her wall, probably fracturing one or two ribs in the process. She shudders as he comes closer. 'Klyden stop please.' Unfortunately, he isn't stopping, he throws several punches in before he finally leaves. Kelly groans out of pain, reaching of her comm. 'Grayson to Mercer.'

Ed's currently in his quarters reading a book when his XO comms him. 'Mercer here, what's up Kel?' 'I need you to come as quickly as possible to my quarters, bring Claire and Talla with you. Actually tell Claire to bring a lot of medical stuff too please Ed.' Kelly faints notwithstanding the pain.

Ed grows worried, Kelly sounded in pain. He comms Claire, Talla as ordered and runs to Kelly's quarters. He chimes but as she doesn't seem to answer, he enters the security code to enter. 'Oh god Kel what happened?' He kneels next to her and examines her bloodied face. Who did this to her? In this moment Claire and Talla come rushing in. 'Captain what happened?' Claire starts her examination as the Commander is slowly waking up. 'Oww my head, everything hurts.' She looks up at Ed, glad he's there. 'Talla please go find Klyden and put him in the brig while you Ed contact Union Central. Klyden did this. He came in here, accused me of stuff I haven't done. Yes I've lead Topa to the Kimbok file but I didn't give him access. He then said I played God because of all of this worshipping bullshit stuff in the Kandar System. We argued back and forth until the point where he had enough and got violent.' She saw a vein pop on Ed's forehead knowing he's getting angrier by the second.

Claire gives Kelly the all clear but orders her to lay still until her ribs heal up a bit. The latter returns to the sickbay. Talla has gone looking for Klyden to put him into the brig. That leaves Ed who clearly doesn't want to leave Kelly's side. 'Mercer to bridge, we're going to stay in orbit for a while. Lieutenant Commander Keyali once you are done with your assignment, you have the conn. I'll explain to everyone later.' He looks at Kelly clearly worried about her.

'I have come to a conclusion, you were the first one to come to my mind when I saw Klyden coming closer and throwing in his punches. I may have said no to us getting back together again but it's always been you Ed, I love you. It's not the meds talking, this is real, we can make this work. I can be your commanding officer and your girlfriend but you have to promise you won't comprise your command again like last time.' Those were the words Ed wanted to her say for a long time, he lifted her chin up and pressed his lips to hers.

A/N: Fun fact this whole thing is 1'111 words long, crazy right? Anyway hope you loved my first The Orville fanfiction. If you did, you know what to do. If you want to talk about the show, feel free to follow me either on Twitter: @geekgirltwitch or on Instagram: graysonsmercer. We need more badass Kelly scenes.