Merlinfic: The Bus Stop 13/??
Author: destiny_chicken
Title The Missing Approval
Rating: PG-13
Pairing/s: Arthur/Merlin
Character/s: Arthur, Merlin, Mordred, Gwen, Leon
Summary: Missing documentation for the audit sends Arthur and Merlin scrambling.
Warnings: None
Word Count: 1021 this chapter
Author's Notes Sorry this is late this week. Totally my fault--life got in the way. Thank you to inspired_being for beta'ing my story.
Monday morning, Arthur hobbled into the office on crutches, late.
"What are you doing here? You should be resting at home," Merlin protested.
“I didn't want to miss the appointment with Mordred today. It's just a sprained ligament and I can rest it here just as easily as at home. I only have to ice it a bit and keep it elevated. Pull that chair over here and fetch a pillow from the couch."
Merlin organized the chair and pillow then helped Arthur lift his foot to its new perch on the pillow. Arthur held out a plastic bag to Merlin. "Half fill this with ice from the break room refrigerator and I'll put it on my knee."
"Yes, Your Highness," Merlin said sarcastically. But he wasn't overly irritated with Arthur's demands since he knew Arthur needed help and wasn't one to say please and thank you very often. At least that hadn't changed since last week.
Arthur just rolled his eyes.
~~~
When Merlin took his morning break, Gwen was in the break room. "Well? How did it go?" she asked impatiently.
"How did what go?" Merlin replied as he looked around to make sure no one else within earshot.
"Your date with you-know-who, silly."
"Really well," Merlin answered. "We spent most of the time just talking, getting to know each other better. I really like him, Gwen."
"So I take it you didn't escape early and take the bus home?" Gwen asked with a smile.
"No, I definitely didn't," Merlin grinned. "Arthur took me home."
"And?" Gwen prompted.
"He asked for permission to kiss me. I really appreciated that."
"Honestly, Merlin, do I have to pump every word out of you? Did you give him permission? Did you kiss?" Gwen insisted.
"Oh yeah, we did. Arthur started out all respectful, but then I was very enthusiastic. It was really good, too." Merlin's ears were turning a delightful rosy shade.
"I'm so glad everything went well for you. Are you going out again soon?"
"I did go see Arthur and the Camelot team play their football match yesterday."
Gwen narrowed her eyes at him. "The very next day? You really like him a lot, don't you? I guess that was when Arthur got hurt?"
"Yeah, one of the Essetir players tripped him on purpose. He was red carded. Arthur has a sprained knee ligament."
"What about another date?" Gwen asked.
"I told him I wanted to wait and see how things go at work first. I don't want our relationship outside of work affecting the relationship here at work."
"Merlin, I'm not sure that's a realistic expectation. Surely some things will change, but maybe for the better?" Gwen advised.
"I'll have to see," Merlin concluded.
~~~
Mordred entered Arthur's office with a smirk on his face. Arthur was sure that could portend nothing good.
"Good morning, Mordred." Arthur schooled his face into a blank expression.
"Hello, Arthur. I won't take up much of your time. I just have one discrepancy with which you can help me. According to the financial ledger, there was an expense charged by your department for £7,152.81 for software. However, you failed to provide any documentation of an approval for this expense."
"I'm sure it was just an oversight in collecting the data. Do you have a date of the charge?" Arthur immediately racked his brain but had no recollection of a software purchase so expensive. On the exterior, he remained calm.
Mordred checked his notes and replied, "January 18th, 2011. You have until 11 A.M. tomorrow to provide the documentation or your explanation. We'll be meeting with Uther at noon to give him the results."
~~~
Arthur shouted for Merlin as soon as Mordred was gone.
"Yes, Arthur? You bellowed." Merlin smiled.
Arthur wasn't in the mood for banter. "Mordred says we missed submitting approval documentation for a software purchase on January 18th, 2011. Over £7000. It’s funny because I don't remember any such purchase."
"Would you be likely to recall it? It was over two years ago." Merlin suggested doubtfully.
Arthur frowned in concentration. "For an amount that high, I think I would."
"First we should check to see if it was just mis-filed. I'll review November's and December's folders if you do January's and February's, okay?"
"Sounds like a good plan. You know, Merlin, you can be very...sensible?" Arthur looked at Merlin with wonder. "An isle of calm in a sea of troubled waters."
Merlin just shook his head. Arthur was getting sappy. "Let's get started."
After ninety minutes of work and nothing found, Merlin suggested, "Let's try coming at this from the other direction. How does Mordred know there was an expense on January 18th related to software?"
"Good idea. He said it was shown in the financial ledger accounts. Could you ask Leon to join us here as soon as possible? He’s the Finance expert.”
~~~
Leon used Arthur's computer to consult the ledger entry Mordred had referenced. "Okay. Here is where it shows a software license purchase hit the ledger on the 18th of January in the amount of £7,152.81. The only odd thing is it was a manual journal entry, not one automated from the Procurement system."
"Can you tell who made the entry and when?" Arthur asked, with raised suspicions.
"No, I don't have access to that data. That information would only be visible to the database administrator."
"And who would that be?" Arthur asked. "I think we need to pursue this further. I've had a bad feeling about Mordred from the beginning of this audit."
"I think it's Gwaine, or if not, he'll know who to ask," Leon responded with a shrug, since it was Gwaine they were talking about. The temperamental man worked in the I.T. department. Everyone put up with his occasional emotional outbursts because he was so brilliant at systems support. He knew details about every computer system and application Camelot Consulting used.
"I'll call him first, but then, Merlin, I want you to go downstairs and sit on his desk until he looks into this. He has a tendency to get distracted easily.”