“So. How did the best agent, captain of the elite squad, end up in a lowly mission such as this?” asked Tiffany, sitting between the two other agents at the front of the van.

    Tiffany had her dark auburn hair tied into a bun that sat atop her head. The department issued overalls were a bluish grey colour and was loose on all of them. To help with the looseness, Tiffany had pulled it in the back and tied it to tighten the overals. She also rolled up her sleeves to allow her hands and forearm more freedom. In contrast, Taeyeon and Jessica, who sat on either side of Tiffany, wore the overalls as is.

    “My psychiatrist tells me I’m mentally unstable,” Jessica told her, earning a concerned look from the passenger beside her. In response Jessica asked, “Why is a perfectly capable agent helping the office grunt with the grunt work?” She emphasized the word grunt towards the driver on the opposite side of Tiffany.

    “Because she’s the office grunt,” Tiffany joked. “She needs all the help she can get.”

    Jessica chuckled at Tiffany’s response. 

    “Ha. Ha. Very funny,” spoke the driver, sarcastically.

    “Am I wrong?” inquired Tiffany. “You originally wanted Sunny cause she’s much better at this than me. You only picked me so you didn’t have to talk to, and I quote, the ‘Ice Princess’ over here,” said Tiffany, pointing her thumb in Jessica’s direction.

    Taeyeon groaned at the mention of ‘Ice Princess’. 

    “Ice Princess?” Jessica exclaimed, glaring at Taeyeon for an explanation.

    “This is exactly why you’re the Ice Princess,” said Taeyeon. Without taking her eyes of the road she used one hand to point at Jessica explaining, “that glare would freeze over hell.”

    Tiffany smiled at the prospect of adding Jessica to their circle of friends. If she could continue involving Taeyeon in their banter, it was definitely plausible.

    Taeyeon pulled over in a wealthy neighbourhood. Only half of the house was completely burned down, the other half still salvageable thanks for the timely effort of the firefighters. The remains indicated the house to be quite the large estate. A corner or small room could have easily been overlooked during cleaning, affording a perfect location for salamanders to stay warm. It was quiet in the middle of the night despite the lights indicating people were awake in the adjacent houses. Taeyeon turned off the engine and headed towards the back to get their supplies.

    Before exiting the vehicle through the driver’s door, Tiffany turned to Jessica and said, “she’s right, you know. That glare of yours is something else. Everyone notices it. Taeyeon’s just the first brave enough to make fun of it.”

    As Jessica and Tiffany got out of the van, Taeyeon approached them with a metal box and a duffle bag hung across her body. She set down the metal container and the bag at the bottom of a slope that led up to the house. Opening the bag, Taeyeon pulled out fire-proof gloves and distributed them to the others.

    “The two of you can gather the salamanders,” directed Taeyeon. “I’ll grab the eggs.”

    “Do you remember how to do this?” Tiffany asked Jessica as they put on their gloves.

    “Just have to grab them and put them in that box, right?” Jessica responded, motioning towards the metal box.

    “But you have to be careful of their tails-”

    “Because they fall off and turn into ticking time bombs,” said Jessica, finishing off Tiffany’s sentence. “Where’s the freeze spray?”

    “You’re the top agent for a reason,” said Tiffany with a smile as she walked over to the duffel bag to pull out two spray cans with a thin nozzle. She held one out to Jessica.

    “Thanks,” said Jessica as she took the can from Tiffany’s hands.

    Jessica picked up the metal box with her freeze spray in the pocket of her overalls. She started to head over to the house with Tiffany when she realized Taeyeon, who was already halfway up the hill, wasn’t wearing her gloves.

    “Taeyeon! Put on your gloves,” Jessica called out, throwing a pair in Taeyeon’s direction.

    “Don’t need them for the eggs, they’re not hot,” replied Taeyeon, picking up the gloves and throwing it back.

    “But it’s regulation to wear them, just in case.”

    “It’s fine. The gloves are too large. I won’t break any eggs if I use my hands,” said Taeyeon with a grin, throwing up her slender hand and moving her fingers around to show Jessica how nimble she was.

    “This isn’t a joke,” said Jessica in a serious tone. “Those eggs aren’t worth the burn.”

    At Jessica’s comment, Taeyeon stopped and headed down the hill. She stopped right in front of Jessica and looked her right in the eyes. Taeyeon wasn’t kidding around and she wanted to make sure Jessica knew how serious she was.

    “You’re the one joking right?” Taeyeon started, peeved at Jessica’s comment. “You can’t possibly be asking me to disregard the baby salamander for a small burn?”

    Jessica was startled at Taeyeon’s sudden change in tone, but that didn’t mean she was going to back down.

    “One less salamander would do the world wonders,” Jessica retaliated. “Those creatures would burn down houses without a second thought. Think about the people who get caught up in those fires. The potential deaths that could arise from one salamander! We’re better off without them!”

    “You’d kill a living being?” responded a stunned Taeyeon.

    “Living being?” Retorted Jessica. “More like tiny monsters.”

    Tiffany frowned at the loss of a potential friend. She intervened their quarrel, establishing as much space as she could between the two. Knowing her friend well, Tiffany could recognize the rage in Taeyeon’s eyes.

    “Taeyeon, go collect the eggs,” ordered Tiffany, her eyes giving a warning glare at her friend while one hand pushed Taeyeon up the slope, towards the house. When Taeyeon took her eyes off Jessica and turned around willingly, Tiffany turned back to Jessica and said with an apologetic smile, “maybe you should wait in the van. We’ll be done soon.”

    Tiffany took the metal box from Jessica’s hands, leaving her behind. 

    As Tiffany and Taeyeon walked up towards the house, an occupant of the neighbouring house who had heard the commotion headed towards them. It was a bald man with quite the protruding stomach. He wore a velvet red robe over his white t-shirt, topping off his sleepwear with thick, cozy slippers. Tiffany noticed the man walk out of his house and went to intercept him before he reached Taeyeon. Jessica only watched from the bottom of the slope.

    “Hey!” The man called out, pointing his finger at Tiffany. “What are you doing here? I’ll call the police!”

    “Good evening, sir,” greeted Tiffany, putting on her polite smile. “We’re here on behalf of the occupants of this house. They asked us to find any remaining objects that may have survived the fire.”

    “Oh,” said the man, without the anger he started with. He then inquired about the shouting he heard.

    “I apologize if that had disturbed you in anyway,” Tiffany continued to explain, her eyes bright and her smile charming as ever. “My colleagues fell into an altercation with each other. It’s been put to a stop for now but I assure you we will deal with it after we leave the site to avoid disturbing you any further.”

    “Oh. I see,” said the man. “W-Well, if that’s all, I’ll leave you to your work.”

    “Of course,” said Tiffany, shining the full eye-smile at the man. “And I apologize again for the disturbance.”

    The man took a long, dumbfounded stare at Tiffany. He glanced at Taeyeon, who waved at him, and then at Jessica, who stood unmoving. After he felt sure they wouldn’t cause a problem, he returned to his house without another word, leaving the agents to continue their mission.

    Jessica didn’t move. She stood on the edge of the driveway as she watched Tiffany head back to work after dealing with the man. Taeyeon was carefully picking up eggs in the fireplace with her barehands and gently placing them in the cylindrical container. Jessica watched the two of them complete their task together. When they moved to a part of the house Jessica could no longer see, she shoved her equipment into the duffel bag and carried it to the van. For the rest of the night, Jessica silently sat in the van by herself, waiting as her mission was completed without her.