Morning in the Ashford house never started like a normal morning.
Normal mornings were illegal here.
A tiny weight landed on Iris Ashford's forehead.
"SQUEAK!"
"...Peanut... don't."
Another squeak poked her nose.
Iris sighed and opened one eye.
Peanut stood proudly on her forehead like he'd conquered the world overnight.
"...I'm awake."
He hopped onto her pillow proudly.
Downstairs, a familiar voice called through the house.
"IRIS! FIVE SECONDS!"
"IF YOU DON'T COME DOWN, I'M GIVING YOUR PANCAKES TO VICTOR!"
Iris bolted upright.
"I'm coming!"
Peanut squealed dramatically and rolled off the pillow.
---
The kitchen looked more like a feast than breakfast.
Clara smiled brightly the moment Iris appeared.
"My sleepy criminal!"
"I'm not a criminal."
"You sleep like one."
"...That makes no sense."
"It doesn't have to."
Clara wrapped Iris in a hug anyway.
Peanut peeked from Iris's hoodie.
"Squeak."
Clara smiled and scratched behind his ears.
"My handsome little gentleman."
Peanut puffed out his chest proudly.
"He already ate," Iris said.
Peanut immediately shook his head so hard he nearly lost his balance.
"SQUEAK! SQUEAK!"
"Liar?" Clara asked.
---
The front door opened.
Victor Hayes walked inside carrying a folder under one arm.
At the station he was calm and scary.
At home, he looked permanently exhausted.
"Morning."
Clara smiled.
"Sit."
Victor obeyed without question.
Iris blinked.
"You listen to Mom faster than criminals listen to the police."
"I value my life."
Before anyone could continue, the door opened again.
Officer Ethan Reeves stepped inside.
He straightened by habit.
"Good morning."
"Morning!" Clara beamed. "Breakfast?"
"I wouldn't want to—"
"You'll eat."
"...Yes, ma'am."
Victor smirked.
"You learn quickly."
Ethan sat carefully across from Iris.
Peanut slowly climbed onto the table.
He stared at Ethan.
"Squeak."
"...Why is it looking at me like that?"
"He's judging you."
"I see."
---
Breakfast became the usual disaster.
Victor had his plate refilled three separate times.
"I've had enough."
"No, you haven't," Clara replied.
"I physically have."
"You can physically have more."
Across the table, Peanut quietly stole Ethan's toast.
Ethan watched the tiny mouse drag it away.
"...That's theft."
"Squeak."
"He says possession is nine-tenths of the law."
"You don't speak Mouse."
"I don't think Mouse is a language."
---
Eventually Victor placed the folder on the table.
The room grew much quieter.
Work mode.
"Listen up."
Even Peanut stopped chewing.
Victor opened the folder.
"Headquarters issued a new directive this morning."
Iris immediately frowned.
"I already don't like it."
"You haven't heard it."
"I have excellent instincts."
"They're usually wrong."
"They're usually troublesome."
Victor ignored that.
"From today onward, no officer is permitted to conduct infiltration missions alone."
Silence.
Then—
"No."
"It wasn't a question."
"It should've been."
"It wasn't."
Iris folded her arms.
"I work alone."
"You used to."
"I still do."
"You won't."
"This policy is terrible."
"It exists because of you."
"...Excuse me?"
Victor flipped through the file.
"Last month you entered through a third-floor window."
"It was open."
"You cut it open."
"It became open."
Victor continued.
"The month before, you disappeared for six hours."
"I was eating ice cream."
Clara nodded. "It was very good."
Victor pinched the bridge of his nose.
Victor closed the folder.
"The point is that headquarters is tired of receiving paperwork titled 'Unexpected but Successful.'"
Clara laughed.
"I do like those reports."
"They're giving me grey hair."
"You've had grey hair for years."
"Because of her."
---
Iris leaned back dramatically.
"I'm filing a complaint."
"To headquarters?"
"...Yes."
"They wrote the rule."
"...Then I'm filing it anyway."
Clara smiled.
"You'll get over it."
"...Eventually."
She crossed her arms tighter.
"I still object."
"Objection noted."
"I object to my objection being noted."
Ethan blinked.
"...Does this happen often?"
Victor answered without hesitation.
"Every Tuesday."
"It's Saturday," Ethan said.
"Exactly."
---
Victor slid another file across the table.
"The target is an underground weapons exchange operating out of an abandoned warehouse."
Ethan opened it.
"I'll prepare."
Victor nodded.
"You'll accompany Iris."
Iris groaned dramatically.
"I don't need a partner."
Victor looked at Ethan.
"Congratulations."
Ethan blinked.
"Sir?"
"You're today's unlucky volunteer."
Iris pointed at Victor.
"See? Even he knows."
"I'm standing right here," Ethan muttered.
Peanut suddenly climbed onto Ethan's shoulder.
"Squeak."
Ethan froze instantly.
"...It's on me."
"It's just Peanut."
"That's the problem."
Peanut sat down comfortably like he owned the shoulder.
Victor sighed.
"Iris."
"Yes?"
"Take your mouse."
Peanut squeaked before Iris could move him.
"SQUEAK."
"...Apparently he disagrees," Ethan said quietly.
Clara giggled.
"I think he likes you."
"That somehow feels worse."
Iris finally lifted Peanut off Ethan's shoulder.
"There."
Ethan exhaled in relief.
"...Thank you."
Peanut kept judging him from Iris's hands.
Victor stood.
"Gear up. You leave in twenty minutes."
Iris sighed dramatically as she headed upstairs.
"This is discrimination against people who enjoy working alone."
Victor called after her.
"It's called teamwork."
"It's called suffering."
Clara laughed while Ethan watched Iris disappear upstairs.
Then Victor leaned closer to him.
"One piece of advice."
"Sir?"
"If she starts improvising..."
Ethan nodded seriously.
"I stop her?"
Victor looked him straight in the eye.
"No."
"...No?"
"You keep up."
Ethan frowned.
Victor smiled.
"You will."
Twenty minutes later, they stood outside the abandoned warehouse.
The warehouse looked ordinary—too ordinary. Peeling paint, covered windows and dusty curtains hid whatever was inside.
Ethan scanned the building.
"Two cameras."
Iris glanced up.
"Three."
The third hid beneath a broken gutter.
Peanut peeked out.
"Squeak."
Ethan sighed. "Already?"
"He disagrees," Iris smiled.
---
The side entrance was unlocked.
"Convenient," Ethan murmured.
"No," Iris replied. "Suspicious."
She crouched near the handle.
Fresh scratches marked the handle.
She gently pushed the door open.
Darkness greeted them.
They slipped inside without another word.
The playful Iris disappeared. Her steps fell silent, her eyes scanning every corner. Ethan realized this was the same Iris—just focused.
---
They moved between stacks of old crates.
Voices echoed ahead.
"...Shipment arrives tonight."
"...Payment first."
"...Boss won't like delays."
Ethan quietly memorized every word.
Iris pointed toward a narrow staircase.
He nodded.
They moved without a word.
Halfway upstairs—
Peanut suddenly lifted his head.
His tiny ears twitched.
"Squeak..."
Very soft.
Iris stopped instantly.
Ethan did too.
A guard rounded the corner above them.
Ethan pulled Iris behind a stack of crates as the guard looked down the stairs.
After a long glance, he yawned and walked away.
Once the guard left, Ethan let go.
"...You okay?"
Iris blinked.
"...Nice reflexes."
"You'd have done the same."
"Maybe. Thanks."
Somehow, that simple thanks stayed with Ethan.
---
They reached a small office above the warehouse floor.
Below them, several men unloaded wooden crates.
One cracked open, revealing rifles, handguns and bullets.
Ethan photographed everything while Iris counted faces.
"Eight."
Ethan looked again.
"...Nine."
"The one behind the truck."
"...Right."
"No wonder headquarters worries about you," Ethan whispered.
"Hm?"
"You notice everything."
"Almost."
---
One of the men below suddenly looked toward the office window.
Ethan ducked.
Iris calmly pulled the dusty curtain closed by a few centimeters.
The man frowned...
Then returned to work.
Ethan exhaled.
"That was close."
"I've had practice hiding it."
---
They had everything they needed.
Ethan tapped his watch.
Time to leave.
The return route was quiet until they reached the side entrance.
The rusty door refused to open.
"...Seriously?" Ethan muttered.
"It jammed."
He pushed harder.
Nothing.
Iris glanced around.
"There."
A small maintenance door near the floor.
"Too small."
"For you."
She looked at Peanut.
Peanut looked back proudly.
"Squeak!"
He squeezed through the small gap very quickly.
A second later the latch clicked open.
Ethan stared.
"Your mouse picked a lock."
"I taught him."
"...I'm not putting that in my report."
---
Outside, fresh air greeted them.
The city carried on as though nothing had happened.
Ethan finally relaxed.
"...Mission complete."
"For you."
"What does that mean?"
"I still have paperwork."
"...Fair."
They walked toward the station in comfortable silence.
After several minutes Ethan spoke.
"You really prefer working alone?"
"I do."
"Even after today?"
"...You're less annoying than I expected."
"I'll take that as a compliment."
"It was."
After a while, Iris asked,
"Were you scared back there?"
"When the guard came?"
"Yeah."
"...A little."
"You still moved."
"I didn't think."
She smiled.
"Sometimes that's better."
He looked at her.
"...You trust your instincts a lot."
"They've kept me alive."
"...I can see why."
---
A gentle breeze drifted through the street.
Iris suddenly stopped walking.
Ethan stopped too.
"What is it?"
She smiled.
"Good work today, partner."
Before Ethan could answer, she leaned over and kissed his cheek.
Quick.
Casual.
Then stepped back.
Ethan froze.
"...You just..."
His brain stopped working.
His face slowly turned bright red.
Peanut jumped onto Iris's shoulder.
"SQUEAK! SQUEAK!"
Ethan pointed helplessly.
"Even your mouse is reacting!"
"He reacts to everything."
"That wasn't... normal."
"For me it is."
"...It is?"
"Mhm."
She shrugged.
"I say thank you like that sometimes."
"...Sometimes?"
"To people I care about."
Ethan's heart skipped a beat.
Before he could ask another question, Iris simply waved.
"See you tomorrow."
Then she walked away.
Peanut looked back from her shoulder.
He stared at Ethan for several long seconds.
"Squeak."
Almost as if saying,
Good luck.
---
That night...
Ethan lay in bed.
Wide awake.
He touched his cheek.
"...It was just a thank you."
Silence.
He turned over.
"...Right?"
Five minutes later he was staring at the ceiling again.
"...Why am I still thinking about it?"
Another ten minutes.
Still awake.
He buried his face in his pillow.
"This is ridiculous..."
It didn't help.
Every time he closed his eyes...
He remembered her smile.
The warmth of that brief kiss.
The completely casual way she'd walked away.
By two in the morning...
He accepted defeat.
Sleep was impossible.
---
Across town...
Iris walked into the Ashford house.
"I'm home."
Clara smiled immediately and hugged her.
"Welcome back."
Iris grinned and kissed Clara's cheek.
"Good night, Mom."
Victor looked up from the sofa.
"Mission went well?"
"Mhm."
She walked over and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek too.
"Night, Victor."
He didn't even react.
"Night, kid."
Peanut climbed onto her shoulder.
"Squeak."
She laughed softly, kissed the top of his tiny head, and scratched behind his ears.
"Good night, Peanut."
"Squeak."
Minutes later, Iris was fast asleep, never giving the kiss another thought.
Across the city, Ethan stared at his ceiling.
"...This job..."
He sighed into his pillow.
"...is going to kill me."
