So, I've decided to give Grumman a first name, and since I think he looks like a Herbert, I'm dubbing him Herbert :)
Chapter thirty-three
"Hey, Riza! Look at that!" Ed pointed towards the poster on the notice board the second they walked inside the station on Monday morning. "They're serving sausages and mashed potatoes in the cafeteria today! Can't we have some warm lunch for once?!"
"You make it sound like warm meals are an event, Ed," Riza said. "Not something you get everyday at least once."
Ed shrugged. "Yeah, but lunch is usually just cold sandwiches..."
"Except for the cake..." Roy said with a raised eyebrow.
"Nah, those were a side dish. We had sandwiches too."
"Edward, it's not exactly a healthy meal..." Riza said.
At that, Ed pointed at the list of ingredients that had to be specified due to allergies. "See there. They put parsley in the mashed potatoes. That means meat and vegetable-SSSSS." He made the "s" especially pronounced so that there was no doubt about the healthiness of the meal.
Riza sighed.
Then came laughter and an old man came up to them, chuckling. Ed recognised him as Riza's grandfather. They hadn't actually spoken before now because Riza had wanted to keep their relation a secret until she had proved that her transfer wasn't because she was the Superintendent's granddaughter. "Well then, how about I relieve you of some of those sandwiches, Sergeant?" he asked.
"Sir, that really isn't necessary..." Riza said, just as Herbert held out a couple of bills.
"Well, a good sandwich is always hard to come by, so I'm buying my lunch from you today. If you decide to use the money for lunch for the Elrics, then that is up to you."
Riza sighed and took the money, giving it to Al, who immediately folded the bills neatly in his shirt pocket, before she held out a couple of wrapped up sandwiches in a bag. Three of them, actually, because Ed always had two while Al had one. "Very well, sir."
"Thank you, dear. It's a pleasure doing business with you," the old man said, chuckling as he took them from her. "Well, you four have a nice day."
"You too, sir," Riza, Roy and Al all said at the same time.
"Thanks, old man!" Ed said cheerfully.
Their benefactor chuckled again and left with a wave of his hand.
Al felt uncomfortable. It seemed that everywhere they went, the other officers were whispering behind their backs. They had agreed that going to the cafeteria alone would seem less suspicious as they had done it before, plus it worked better with the rumour about how Roy and Riza were "always snogging when they had the chance".
In reality they were eating their lunch with a couple of headphones on because Al was wearing a microphone just in case.
"Sausages with mashed potatoes is gonna be great," Ed told him, grinning.
Al nodded, smiling weakly. "Yeah. It's gonna be really good. It was really nice of him."
"Yeah. Now come on, we should get ahead of the queue," Brother said, speeding up a bit, taking longer strides as his stomach growled as if in approval.
Al was beginning to get why there had been a poster with a picture instead of the usual note. There were already about twenty-five officers standing in a queue when they reached the cafeteria, and they joined them, standing behind a happy-looking officer who turned around and smiled down at them. "Hi, boys! I see you're here too! And let me tell you that you're in for a treat! Moira's mashed potatoes are famous around here! Once a month for the past fifteen years. It's an event of sorts here at the station."
"Oh, great!" Ed said, lighting up.
The man smiled at them before he turned around as the officer in front of him tapped his shoulder and began whispering to him.
Al didn't hear what he said, but Ed clearly did, because he gasped, blushed, and then he frowned with anger. "What was that?!" he demanded angrily, stepping forwards.
"Brother! What's wrong?!" Al tried to pull him back as Ed seemed very likely to kick a policeman's shin in the middle of the station. That could land them in a lot of trouble.
"Let HIM tell you! He's the one spreading sick rumours about our foster mother!" Ed said, glaring at the officer that had been whispering.
The one they had been talking to decided to help them out by holding Ed back. "I think you should think it through before you attack an officer, kid. It's just a bit suspicious is all..."
"I'LL BITE YOU!"
Al noticed that they were certainly drawing a crowd by now, the whispers intensifying as Brother tried to fight off the officer while Al was holding Ed around the waist just in case.
Then Al too heard the whispers and he froze.
"No wonder that he's so angry when she's getting her money in such a way..." came a woman behind him.
"HOW DARE YOU CALL HER A FUCKING PROSTITUTE!" Brother shouted furiously to the room at large.
Al stared around him at that, feeling outrage and horror fill him, especially as he knew that Riza was listening to the entire conversation. "Why would you think that?!"
"It's just a rumour, kid, calm down!" another officer said, trying to diffuse the situation.
"Besides, why exactly would she leave you for hours to go to his house on a Saturday?" came a snide female voice as she was obviously not convinced.
Al's eyes widened with sick horror. Roy had been babysitting them while Riza finally got some time to talk with her grandfather in private. Then he remembered how she had arrived from his office with an envelope full of money just a few days ago, and he could see how they had been able to draw such a horrible conclusion. Riza had said that she had met another officer as she was about to leave her grandfather's house, so it must obviously have been misinterpreted.
"BECAUSE SHE HASN'T HAD ANY TIME TO ACTUALLY TALK WITH HER GRANDFATHER SINCE SHE MOVED HERE, YOU SICK FREAK!" Ed yelled.
The room went quiet at that. "He's her grandfather?" came a few shocked voices from throughout the room.
"That... That would explain it..." came another one.
Al had never felt a room blushing before, but it was practically pulsing with heated cheeks right then.
"Told you it was complete bullshit! Now move up to the front of the queue here, boys!" came a woman's loud voice from behind the cafeteria counter.
And so Ed and Al did, passing a lot of blushing and apologising officers and many declarations of never even having heard of it, all of them ushering them to the front of the line. Soon enough they were standing in front of an a grumpy woman in her early sixties with a motherly look on her round face. "That's the least they could do after saying such horrible things. Although I still think it's a good thing that you didn't bite that man. Now let's see here..." she began ladling up a very large portion of mashed potatoes that was noticeably larger than what the other officers had received. "Well, the price is the same due to regulations, but you've got larger portions than those idiots..." she said as she placed the two plates on the counter.
"Thank you, Miss Moira," Al said, giving her the money. "That was really kind of you."
She smiled at him. "Well, you're a polite, young man, ain'tcha? Now don't let those idiots push you around." Then she bent down and whispered to Ed. "And if it ever comes up again, then tell them that Moira gave you special permission to flip them the bird and that they're banned from hot lunches if they tell you off for it."
Ed grinned. "Thanks, lady, you're pretty awesome. See ya!"
And so she chuckled and Al carried their plates as they looked about for a free table.
"Why don't you join us here? The cafeteria always gets so full when the special's on the menu. This is the quietest spot in the entire room once the others arrive in full," came a voice to their right. Al looked around to find his eyes falling upon a couple of strangers. One of them were wearing a white suit and had a black ponytail while the other looked unnervingly like a vampire. The latter seemed to have been the one who had spoken.
"Oh, uh... thanks..." Al said, not knowing what else to say or do. He didn't have any good reasons not to accept the offer and stalling would obviously make any excuse be interpreted as a lie.
The vampire one looked over at Al's hands. "I see you didn't have any free hands for the cutlery, I'll go fetch it for you."
He stood up and left before either of them could refuse or thank him. And so they just sat down, Al putting the plates down in front of them. "Hello, sir," Al told the one with the ponytail. The man was smirking.
"I see that there was no cause for concern after all... Makes my job easier..." he said in a voice that wasn't exactly comforting. Al got some horrible mental pictures of snakes snd dragons from it. Paired with a vampire, Al was getting both nervous and was regretting sitting down here. "I'm Solf J. Kimblee, IA... The one fetching your cutlery there is DI Frank Archer..."
Al was very sure that he wanted to leave right now.
"Yeah, I'm Ed and that's Al," Edward said, getting that look of when he was trying to protect his little brother. "So if you're IA, does that mean you know just who the hell it was that started those rumours about Riza?"
The smirk grew at that. "I'm afraid that that is none of your business. All you need to know is that the matter has been solved before it became a problem, so you should be happy."
Brother scowled. "I think it is my business because people are spreading sick rumours about someone that we live with as well as her grandfather! The least we deserve is a damn apology from whomever did that shoddy piece of police work!"
"Then I suppose that the apology should come from me," DI Archer suddenly said from behind them, sending chills down Al's spine. "I met Sergeant Hawkeye as she left Superintendent Grumman's home. I grew concerned as I already knew that he had given her what seemed to be a fairly large amount of money just a few days previously. Someone must have overheard me when I voiced those concerns, and for that I apologise," he told them smoothly as he placed the cutlery down in front of them.
Brother growled at that. "So what you're saying is that you screwed up and thereby let rumours spread across the station that Riza's a slut? And why were you at his home anyways?"
Archer sat down at that, obviously unfazed by Ed's growing urge to kick him in the groin by the looks of it. "I shall take full responsibility for rectifying my mistake... As to why I was at Superintendent Grumman's home was that I had something I needed to discuss about a case and that could not wait for another two days."
Kimblee suddenly smirked with a sigh. "Oh, and there's the DCI coming for you... Seems that our conversation is about to be cut short..."
They both whipped around to see Roy walking towards them quickly, looking concerned. "Roy? What's wrong?" Al asked. He seriously hoped that he had come there to save them, even if it was just to join them so that Al didn't feel like they were being sized up so as to find out how they would be cooked best. He was severely relieved either way.
"One of the PCs came and told us that there was some sort of confrontation in the cafeteria involving you to and that it was better to leave Riza out of it. What's going on?"
Brother scowled and glared at Archer. "That incompetent bastard managed to let it slip that he was concerned that Riza was playing prostitute for the Superintendent because the Detective Inspector himself here had failed to discover that he's her grandfather. I've now killed those rumours dead and then some."
"I take full responsibility for it and please deliver my apologies to your partner, sir," Archer said smoothly, his face unreadable.
...But Al thought he saw just a bit of smugness in there. He decided very quickly that he didn't like him at all. Neither of them.
Roy didn't look happy at all. "I suggest you get the matter cleared up as quickly as possible." His voice was spiteful and angry in a way that Roy only used when talking about Yoki. Then he turned to Ed and Al. "Come on, boys, I'm sure Moira will forgive me for letting you bring your plates and cutlery to the office just this once," he said, grabbing both plates just as Al took the cutlery and stood up at the same time as Brother did.
Brother gave Archer the finger. "Special permission from Moira," he announced and turned around as he led the way out of the cafeteria.
"Roy?" Al asked once they were out in the hallway. There was something more going on here, Al could tell. He was angry with Archer and Kimblee, but he was still carrying that lump of discomfort and sense of danger in his stomach.
"Back in the office," Roy answered, his face stony and obviously filled with barely contained fury, even if his voice also carried some softness because of who he was speaking to.
And so they walked in silence, not exchanging a single word until Al shut the office door behind them.
"Damn him..." Roy growled as he placed the two plates on a nearby desk. "That was no mistake. That was just Frank Archer behaving like a petulant brat and who has been a damned sore loser for the past four months after I got promoted to DCI instead of him. And he also knew that Grumman is Riza's grandfather because the Superintendent told him on Saturday. Which means that he's pulling the "I was merely concerned that the Superintendent might be up to some illicit business and wanted to make absolutely sure"-card. When he started talking to you, I came as quickly as possible because I don't want that bastard anywhere near you two. He was probably trying to push Ed into attacking an officer just to get you into trouble. He's a real bastard... I'm sorry, boys... But you did good... You did really good... But if you see him or meet him again, then you're in a hurry, you get me? He's been using every opportunity he has to try to discredit or ridicule me. And now he's teaming up with Kimblee to do so..." Roy turned back around to face them, his eyes filled with anger and something akin to fear. "And it appears that he's begun attacking my weak points..."