Disclaimer: I own nothing, as usual.

"They say that a hero can save us."

-Nickelback

"Jeez, it's hot out there." Sliding the door shut in her wake to keep the air-conditioning from leaking outside, Lutecia took a sip of her cherry Coke before easily crossing the floor, leaning over Caro's shoulder curiously. "What are you reading so intently?"

Lutecia's voice, how close she was, made Caro yelp; Lutecia stepped back and watched, amused, as her best friend nearly went through the roof. "Lu-chan!" she gasped out, tightly hugging the Mid-Childan newspaper to her chest. "Don't sneak up on me like that!"

"Sorry." The purple-haired summoner shrugged, gulping another mouthful of Coke. She held the bottle in her left hand, a change from her usual right, and Caro noticed immediately.

"Did something happen to your arm, Lu-chan? You haven't used it at all today."

Lutecia nodded, absently placing the bottle on the counter. "Got a little slashed up on my latest mission," she admitted with a smirk, checking to make sure the bandages that covered her upper right arm and shoulder weren't peeking out from her clothes; Vivio would have a fit if she saw them, especially since blood was beginning to seep through. "What story are you looking at?"

"Oh, you know, the death of that politician." Because Lutecia had reminded her of it, Caro forgot about her friend's injured arm and went back to scanning the story. "Fate-san and Tea are looking into it, since they're Enforcers."

"Hmm." Lutecia picked up her bottle again, took another sip.

"It's weird, though. There's no definite evidence of who did it; it looks like he was driving along with his two-year-old son and lost control of the car. They can't find any foul play. It's driving Fate-san insane."

"You don't say. I thought he was corrupt."

"He is, or he was, anyway, no doubt about it. Leaking info, taking bribes…" Caro quickly read over the list of his crimes. "Letting criminals go for payment, promoting the use of dark magic…"

"So why is Fate-san being asked to look into it?"

"You know, normal stuff." Caro laid the paper down. "Family's in an uproar, wanted the TSAB to look into it. Half the mages are glad to see him gone, but you know how Fate-san is."

"Indeed."

Caro frowned thoughtfully, tapping her finger against the paper. "You know the weird thing, Lu-chan?"

"No, what?"

"The crash should have killed his son, too. It's something else they can't figure out. The car rolled, fell off the freeway, and burst into flames. The politician dies, but somehow the kid was pulled from the car and taken to the hospital with only minor cuts and bruises." Caro shook her head. "No one can figure it out, especially since…"

"Since what?"

"Well, in order for someone to save the boy, they'd have to have been in close contact with the car while it was in the air. And to do that, to pull him out, their arm would have been a mess; all scratched up and bloody, burned. Possible scarring, if it isn't treated right." Caro sighed. "I don't get it. Who would make sure the politician was killed, and then go through the trouble of saving his son?"

Lutecia shrugged again and switched hands, not even grimacing as her right arm throbbed and screamed in protest as she brought the cherry Coke bottle to her lips again. "I wouldn't know, Caro," she murmured.

"He kill them with they love. That's how it is everyday, all over the world."

-John Coffey

And now for a short omake, which is not mine. DezoPenguin posted it as a response to this short when I first put it up on AnimeSuki, and I have his permission to post it here in correlation with the drabble. I love it to pieces, myself.

"Damn it, Alphine, I swear I see you twice as often as anyone else in this unit," Dr. Bonneville swore, scratching the back of his neck.

Lutecia shrugged.

"I suppose it's because I get assigned to high-risk missions more often. Highly ranked mages with the Shadow mindset are--"

"Nice try, girl. I know how you got that arm turned into Swiss cheese."

"Then why are you complaining? The target was successfully extracted and the mission was a success."

"Because you keep putting yourself at risk! I can't even use healing magic to heal all of the wounds now because you have to let the muscle and tendon structures fully regenerate or else there'll be permanent damage. Damn field staff have no appreciation for my work..." he finished up, grumbling.

"My target was the politician. I didn't feel it wise to exceed the mission mandate, for fear of having the Oversight Subcommittee breathing down our necks. It's election season, after all, and allegations of government corruption are always fodder for legislative paper-pushers."

Bonneville adjusted the bandages around her arm.

"And that's why you saved the kid?" he said, clearly not believing a word of it.

"That's what it'll say in my report."