This is my first Orville Fic but hopefully I got the characters all good.

At first I intended this to be a one shot but it turned out it would be too long so enjoy this Alara gets sick Fic.

There's implied Ed/Alara and some fluff but I'm not gonna lie I've enjoyed writing this so much!

Enjoy y'all.

Parker

'Hey guys has someone put extra plants or something in here?' Gordon remarked, wiping his nose on his jacket which occurred to be an action which his co pilot John could not stand to see.

'Nah not that I know of. If you start feeling worse go down to medical and get it checked out. Better be safe the sorry right?' A small glimpse of concern rolled of Ed's voice as he spoke in the kindest regards to his crew member.

'Yeah, good point. Maybe the doc could give me some anti pollen tablets or something weird like that. I'll go see her in abit.'

Following his remark, Gordon let out the largest sneeze imaginable, so large that it actually made many members of the crew jump in their seats. As he looked around he saw the grimacing faces of Kelly, Ed and Alara, all of which seemed to express a considerable amount of concern as it was highly unusual to get sick on The Orville due to extractor fans, vaccinations and so on.

As the day went on many other people were caught sneezing and sniffling, most of which were either sent down to Claire, who managed to not find anything serious so far, or they were sent to their quarters to sleep off anything that may develop in the long run. Most were given modern painkillers which Claire believed would help fight of any bad strains of a virus which could be looming.

So after a long day in medical and and very long day at work, the crew resided to their quarters feeling a little less healthy than they did in the morning.

The constant beep of the alarm echoed through his quarters as Gordon woke to the largest headache and the stuffiest nose he had ever had, his stomach took back flips as he quickly ran to the bathroom to throw up his lovely meal from last night.

'Oh goddd' he exclaimed as he spent the next 15 minutes heaving into the toilet, he pulled up his communicator and attempted to contact Ed, surprise and worry loomed when he couldn't seem to get hold of his captain. So he tried Kelly; no reply, John; no reply, Bortus; no reply, Claire; no reply. He was beginning to get worried until he finally got an answer from Alara.

'Gordon, let me guess? Heaving over a toilet, headache and blocked nose. You think your gonna have to take the day off?'

'What how did you know?'

'Your the 7th person I've had to call me saying the exact same thing. Think it must be some sort of virus. I'm gonna land the ship somewhere safe, then try and look after you guys just incase it takes a turn for the worst'

'Aww thanks Alara, don't forget to look after me will ya?'

'Haha how could I forget'

As the day went on Alara got more and more calls of sickness and flu like symptoms, the only people on the bridge to not be infected were her and Isaac and in a way she was thankful for the robots help in finding a safe space to land and helping her make dishes of Ed's requested meal of old earth chicken soup and toast.

The first person she visited in the day was Ed and Kelly, being her superior officers she needed to check on them to make sure they were okay. Granted they were asleep and looked pale as a sheet so she left water and antibiotics on both of their bedside tables.

She had managed to chat with John and Gordon long enough to do some tasks like turn on the entertainment system and fetch their comfort wear. Small things which she hoped would make them feel a bit better. Bortus was fine and being looked after by his partner so she managed to slip in and out without having to make much disturbance.

The last person she saw as Claire, she assumed with her being a doctor she would be able to take care of herself. Carelessly, Alara passed through the contamination field with a trolley full of soups, water and various other items. Claire was sat on her bed clutching a sickness bowl which, luckily for her, emptied itself automatically when full.

'Ah Alara, I was meaning to see you.'

'Yes Doctor Finn how are you feeling? i was wondering if you knew anything about what was going round and what to treat it with?'

'Ah well, im feeling okay, unfortunately I don't think this is the worst this will be yet. I managed to identify the disease as Alamanis sweat flu. Luckily for us it isn't that much of a problem but Alara as I'm sure you know it is known to be a killer to your species'

Upon hearing the name a shiver ran down Alaras spine, she had heard many stories of the unlucky few who managed to contract Alamanis Sweat flu. Luckily for humans they could produce sweat which in turn could aid in getting rid of the disease, unfortunately for Xelayans they did not produce sweat so the disease would start to attack their vital organs and blood cells. Whilst very unlikely to contract it and there being a 50% chance of death after contraction it was still a worry present on her mind.

'Don't worry about it Doctor, I should be fine. My immune system is really good in human oxygen and if anything bad happens I can trust you guys to look after me'

'As long as you don't get too exposed to the disease you should be okay I think. How many people have you seen today? I suggest you stop after me and let Issac or someone else do the work'

'Ohhh ermmmm' Alara scratched her head knowing Claire would frustrated 'I've seen about 25 people so far. I don't want to risk any others getting it so I guess I've been playing doctor for the day'

'Alara! Do you realise how much risk you've put yourself in. Even if you didn't know it was the sweat flu, you must know the dangers of what would happen when you contract the normal flu!'

'I do know the dangers! I'm just... I guess I'm just worried that technically I'm in charge and I should be looking after everyone, if anything bad happened I wouldn't forgive myself!'

At that precise moment Alara began to feel something trickling down her nose, instinctively she wiped it with her hand only to find a smudge of red had been left on it.

'Oh for hells sake' she exclaimed as she grabbed some tissues and pushed them up her nose.

Concern grew in Claire's eyes and as she was about to rant on about dangers and illness Alara cut her off by saying

'It's just stress, honestly! Nothing to worry about. I'll pop by later'

Quickly she manoeuvred herself out the room standing against the wall outside to maintain her balance. Maybe she wasn't alright? Maybe she has contracted the sweat flu?

As the hours passed she started to feel worse. Her head pounded as she made her way to the next rooms handing out food and water. After a good half an hour of going round to everyone that needed her she decided to go check up on her friends. She found herself drawn to Ed's room, well if she was honest not his room but Ed himself. He seemed to be the only guy she felt comfortable to be herself around. With most other men she would hide her strength and cover her ears with her hair (her ears being a distinguishing feature which she hated). With Ed he would brush her hair behind her ears and ask to open and close literal jars of pickles as well as metaphorical ones. She knew that in human culture an age gap was a significant blockade to many relationships however it didn't really bother her, obviously it probably bothered Ed which in turn ended up bothering Alara as she stood outside his room with water and a smiling face at the ready.

Ed Mercer was sat up right on his bed, the colour of his face looking like a mixture of white, green and red. Black bags dragged under his blood shot eyes as beads of sweat silently dripped from his forehead onto his cheeks.

'Oh Ed, you look terrible, sorry I didn't mean that in an mean way but wow. How are you feeling?'

Ed laughed off the kind but harsh comment replying with

'Yeah you don't look to good yourself Alara, but I do feel a lot like shit.'

'Well your in luck captain because I have your favourite old Earth soup and water for you to drink. Also if you want I can get a wet towel and try cool down your forehead?'

'Ah Alara that sounds perfect'

A small schoolboy like grin appeared on his face as he watched Alara go into nurse mode and sort out all the items he needed. 5 minutes later Alara was sat against the headboard with Ed leaning on her as she dabbed his head with a cold towel. Neither spoke but just decided to enjoy each others company instead. As her feelings for him grew she knew she needed to distance herself and make sure the relationship is completely platonic however she couldn't fight the comforting feeling of having Ed by her side.

As time passed they both chatted about pasts, childhoods, jobs, relationships and so on and with each conversation both Ed and Alara started to learn a little but more about eachother. She loved to hear his smooth voice and decided to just listen to his voice and let him speak. Unfortunately as each conversation passed Alaras headache started to also increase and she once again felt the blood falling down her nose. She ran to his bathroom and their current conversation about old Earth movies was cut off.

'Alara you okay?'

'Yeah yeah don't worry, just stress. I guess I should be going to check up on the others'

'Make sure you get some rest, don't want our resident doctor coming down with the flu!'

He winked at her and she laughed off his cheeky comment.

Ed sadly watched Alara leave, feeling a little less whole as she did, he pondered thinking about his on growing attraction to the female until his thoughts were stopped by an incoming video call from Doctor Finn.

'Captain Mercer how are you feeling?'

'Eh, yano I don't feel brilliant but I guess I've got a great crew looking after me.'

'Ah well looking at you you seem to be sweating out the worst of it! And speaking about crew, have you seen Alara?'

'Well yes she was just in here having a chat with me, I think it's amazing what she's doing for everyone. She's like our own little Mary Poppins!' Pride rolled of Ed's tongue as he spoke fondly for his crew member.

'Would you mind if asked how she was with you? What did she look like? Was she quiet at all?' Claire subtly

'Erm yeah she looked tired I guess but that's probably to do with the fact she's been going around looking after everyone. She seemed to get quiet as our conversations went on but again i thought she was tired. She did have a nose bleed as she left but she said it was stress. Is there something I'm not knowing?'

'Another nosebleed? Well captain the flu going round is actually quiet deadly to Alara's species and I'm quiet concerned about her wellbeing.'

'Wait. Does she know it's deadly?' Ed enquired.

'Yes'

'Well why is she putting herself at risk?! She should have told me or someone! Jeez.'

Ed was furious, why would she put herself at danger just to treat us, what if she had contracted it. He couldn't loose her.

'Apparently she felt obliged to as she didn't want the virus spreading to any other crew members. However I do believe she was mainly worried about everyone's wellbeing and as it's very unlikely for Xelayans to contract diseases she put herself in charge and got

to work'

A wave of emotions hit Ed as he tried to come in circumstance with the situation, as captain it was his duty to look after his crew and ensure their safety. Gosh if he could move and send her too bed he would but his muscles were so weak he didn't even have the strength to lift his communicator.

'Doctor, do you believe this will be gone anytime soon?'

'Well, actually I'm about to hail Issac to give everyone some special medicine which the med lab has produced, it only works on humans for now but hopefully it should work miracles and if all goes to plan when you wake up in the morning you should feel considerably better and only be grieved with a small headache and a sniffly nose.'

'That's fantastic. Would you mind telling Isaac to send Alara to bed when you hail him?'

A small smile appeared of Claires face, she knew that in all matter of fact Ed Mercer had feelings for Alara, she even believed Kelly knew. She'd seen the way he looks at her and if Alara could blush she would.

'Of course Captain. Get some rest'

'You too. And erm well thank you I guess. For looking after us.'

'You should thank Isaac and Alara instead'

The call was disconnected and Ed was left alone worrying about the health of Alara Kitan. The strongest but most goddamn stupid member of his crew for putting her life at risk over some bloody flu, he was so annoyed yet slightly privileged to have such a dedicated person on his team at such a young age.

As Alara left Kelly's room after listening to her talk about relationships, again, she spotted Issac leaving Doctor Finns quarters.

'Oh Issac, everything okay?'

'Ah Lieutenant Kitan, I have strict orders to send you to bed. So I suggest you go now.'

Issac proceeded to escort Alara to her quarters before she could even get a word in edgeways.

'Erm excuse me Isaac I still need to check on everyone' she explained, breaking away from his grip.

'No need Lieutenant, I have medicine to give to the human crew members so you do not need to work, now rest. You have strict orders from Doctor Finn and Captain Mercer, so in your best interest you need to go rest.'

Opening his arm out Issac escorted Alara to her quarters, leaving her in a state of emotional imbalance.

One part of her brain was actually thankful for the fact that she gets to go to bed, another part was annoyed that she had so much work to do and was leaving Issac to do it alone.

As these thoughts swirled around her headache ridden brain she stumbled to her bed where she practically fell onto the mattress, letting sleep overcome her body in seconds.