The grandfather clock in Professor Baula's cluttered office ticked loudly as he ran his eyes over the members of Team Taupe, who sat in their chairs nervously, or just plain bored to death in Petunia's case. He gave a heavy sigh and set his elbows on his desk. "Alright, I know you four have had a long, tiring day, but before we can discuss your punishment-"

"Wait, you're not even going to hear our side of what happened?" A surprised Petunia interrupted as Eve quietly groaned in despair.

"I saw everything that happened earlier; I only stepped in once it got heated. Also it's very rude to interrupt an adult, Ms. Kapelle." The Professor replied calmly as he intertwined his fingers and rested his chin upon them.

"You saw students bullying, arguing, and assaulting one other and you only stepped in after it turned into a stand-off?" Ty asked with a raised eyebrow.

The Professor paused for a few seconds, "Well, when you say it like that I sound like I'm bad at my job." He said with a half-smile as he leaned back into his chair, earning himself a flat glare from Ty. "But in all seriousness, I know what I'm doing."

"He was assaulted." Eve clarified softly as she pointed to Automne who was sitting in his chair silently.

"I am aware, now let's get back on track." The Professor scooted his chair back from his desk, bent down, and picked up four medium sized manila folders. "Now, you three are definitely in trouble for starting and participating in an armed stand-off outside of a training room floor. That in itself can merit a full week of suspension with a permanent ban barring you from extracurricular activities or possibili-" The Professor halted mid-sentence and looked over at the grandfather clock in the corner in annoyance as it loudly chimed four times.

The Professor gave a heavy sigh, "Is the clock bothering anyone else?" He asked in an almost desperate curiosity.

Ty and the rest of the team exchanged glances and, aside from Automne, shook their heads while muttering "No,"

The Professor reclined back in his chair and gave a sigh. "That clock is driving me insane. It was a gift from Professor Ozpin. I was looking for some sign of who may have crated it earlier, you know for manufacturing reasons, and I think Ozpin may have made it himself."

"Oh," Ty started "That's… Alright." He finished disinterestedly as the Professor stared at the clock.

The Professor gave another heavy sigh as he ran a hand through his hair. "Oh, right… Your punishment, anyways so possibility of indefinite expulsion." Professor Baula finished casually as he passed the files over to Ty.

"Ex-ex-expulsion?!" Eve stammered nervously as her entire body began to quiver.

"Don't worry, Ms. Howlite, according to your records and from what I observed earlier you are a fantastic student and you are in no danger of expulsion..." The Professor cleared his throat loudly as Automne's head began to droop. "Mr. Noire, I know this conversation isn't exactly exhilarating, but please try and stay awake."

Everyone turned to see Automne hunched in his chair, struggling to keep his eyes open.

"Oh, for Dust's sake." Petunia muttered irately, before she delivered a solid jab into Automne's arm without any hesitation, sending him stumbling out of the chair with a small yelp.

Eve gave a gasp and placed a hand over her mouth as Automne rolled around on the floor in front of the desk. "Are you alright?"

"Yes, Eve, I'm just peachy." He spat his words through gritted teeth.

"Thank you for joining us again, Mr. Noire. Now I'm going to say this again, as simply as possible this time, you three are about to fall through thin ice. Unless you three want to be removed from Beacon academy and destroy any chance you have of attending any other Huntsmen academies you will have to, in a sense, balance out your records."

"Balance our records," Petunia bumbled in confusion as Automne crawled back into his chair. "How are we supposed to do that?"

"Well, I'm glad you asked." The Professor cheerfully beamed as he bent down and picked up a large dark orange clasp envelope. The envelope bore the large bold symbol of the Kingdom of Vale on its front and a single line of, broken black and yellow striped tape over the mouth. "If you four would like to perform a little… extracurricular activity with me, then I'm sure Professor Ozpin wouldn't mind striking this little mishap from your records." Professor Baula concluded with a large grin as he placed the envelope on the center of the desk.

Ty stared at the envelope for a minute. "You planned this."

"I'm sorry?" The Professor said in surprise as he slid his hand over the folder and pulled it back towards himself.

"You were going to force us to do this mission with you."

"Okay… first off, that's only half true. Yes, I had my eye on you four, because I believe all of you can be very helpful to me in this operation. But I was going to bring you in here sometime over the next couple days and talk to you about this under official terms. The fact that you four are in need of a-"

"I thought you said I wasn't in trouble." Eve interrupted in a panic.

"Necessarily you're not, but given the fact that the rest of your team is, that merits more than a note on your record." The Professor clarified with little sympathy as he placed his elbows onto the folder and arched his fingers. "Now, as I was saying you four being in here today is little more than coincidence. So let's get that behind us, please."

The four exchanged brief glances with each other and sat back quietly, signaling the Professor to go on.

The Professor took a deep breath and scooted back in his chair. "This file is classified under Tier 4."

"That doesn't seem very high." Ty interrupted nonchalantly.

"It isn't, but it's still classified, meaning I can't brief you four unless all of you agree to join me on this operation. The operation will be taking place within a few days, again I can't specify when , but I will give you four until," The Professor tilted his head and glimpsed back at the grandfather clock. "Until 9 o'clock tonight to confirm if you will be joining me on this little excursion. Talk amongst yourselves and let me know your decision before 9. I will be keeping hold of the paperwork accounting today's little dispute. If I don't hear word from you tonight or if you decide not to participate in the operation the paperwork will be passed on to Ms. Goodwitch and she will decide what your punishment shall be. If you do decide to join me, however, then you four will meet me here in my office tomorrow evening at 6 o'clock for briefing." The Professor waved his hand at them as if he were dismissing a pack of stray dogs. "Now go talk this over amongst yourselves. Voice your opinions and all that jive. Give me a call or come see me when you've reached an understanding, my number is in your folder Mr. Inuhoozuki. "

Ty, Automne, Petunia and Eve all looked back and forth amongst themselves. Their stomachs lurched uneasily as if the entire school had done a backflip and their faces were painted with anxiety, except for Automne who was staring up at the grandfather clock like an imbecile.

"You know, you're right. That is a really distracting clock." A baffled Automne slurred.

The Professor clapped his hands together as a large smile popped onto his face. "See what I mean?"

Petunia gave a heavy sigh and ran a hand over her face. "You know what… I wasn't going to say anything, but it is pretty loud."

"Right?" Baula said while nodding in agreeance.

"Seriously?!" An annoyed Ty shouted as they turned to stare up at the clock.

"What… Oh, right- umm, yes serious business stuff." The Professor blinked a few times and spun back around. "Alright then… Leave, do your thinking elsewhere. I have papers to glance through." The Professor said half-heartedly as he pulled out a stack of papers and placed them on his desk.

Ty gave a heavy sigh and pinched the bridge of his nose, "We're all going to die."

"2 hours remaining!" Automne shouted as he kicked in the door to their dorm.

"Stop shouting the time! We know how much time we have! We were all there!" Petunia snapped at Automne as she pushed him out of her way and made her way over to her bed.

"Oh, I'm sorry, am I being annoying! I just thought everyone was just so fond of being a bunch of obnoxious loud people! You know, since everyone has refused to give me a moment of silence since practice! Except you Eve, you've been very courteous. Unlike some people!"

"Umm… Thank you." Eve whispered quietly as she tiptoed past Automne who was still standing in the doorway.

"Oh my Duuust," Ty growled as he pushed Automne into the room. "We get it, you have a headache! Now, shut up."

"I am just so done with today." Petunia hissed as she pulled a laptop out of her pillowcase and began to type heatedly.

"Ugh, this is such bull crap!" Ty yelled furiously as he threw the same four files from earlier onto his bed.

"Stop shouting!" Automne shouted at Ty as he trudged over to his bed and threw his vest onto the floor.

"Take a painkiller and get over it!" Petunia roared as she set her laptop onto her thighs and began to curl up.

"Oh, it's just that easy, yeah?!"

"Yeah, it is!"

"Well, you know what?!"

"What?!"

"That's what!"

Petunia blinked a few times, "… What?"

"Umm, Automne," Eve whispered as she lightly tugged at Automne's sleeve.

Automne took a deep breath and calmly turned around to see Eve holding up a gray box with her emblem on it. "Yes, Eve."

"Umm, you said you were going to help me practice my acupuncture today." Eve responded quietly as she held the box up under her chin.

"Oh… I forgot about that… Alright, so," Automne cleared his throat and glanced around. "Umm, so you want me to just… lay on my bed and take my sweater off?"

Eve cleared her throat, her cheeks a soft pink. "A-and your shirt as well…" Eve began to rock back and forth awkwardly. "I'll, uh, I'll just give you a minute to… disrobe." Eve added as she took a few steps backwards and turned away.

"Man," Petunia started with a smirk, "The sexual tension is so thick you-"

"Don't say that word! Acupuncture is in no way sexual! Acupuncture is a legitimate form of alternative medicine!" Eve cried out uneasily as she tightly shut her eyes and shook her head, tightly pressing her small box against her chest.

Petunia let off a few chuckles, "Jeez, I guess I found someone's trigger."

Ty gave a heavy groan. "Can you people please quiet down? I'm trying to work over here." He scolded as he flipped through a folder sporting Petunia's portfolio picture.

"Hmm, so you want everyone to be quiet while you're working, but some people don't mind being loud, obnoxious jerks when I have a headache. Hmm," Automne snidely remarked as he tossed his shirt to the ground and laid down face first on his bed.

"Yes, because I do important things that actually help the team. Things like not putting a loaded handgun to my head in the middle of a training simulation."

"I didn't have a free hand."

"Story of my life." Petunia grumbled to herself as she continued to type on her laptop.

"Automne, a-are you ready for, umm, practice?" Eve tentatively asked as she shuffled her feet a bit.

"Now you're just quoting my fanfiction." Petunia mumbled as she tried to stifle a chuckle.

"What was that?"

"Nothing,"

Automne glared over at Petunia hotly from his bed, "There's a word to describe the kind of person you are, and it usually applies to fat, greasy, dudes with neckbeards who have the social skills of rocks."

"Well I don't fall under any of those categories so you must be lookin' in a mirror."

"You better ask Eve for some Aloe Vera because you just got burned bruh!" Ty called out with a large grin.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever" Automne grumbled under his breath. "Eve, I'm ready, you can turn around now."

"Automne said as his oiled body glistened in the sun!" Petunia hollered with a large smile as she rapidly began to type on her laptop.

"I will end you!"

"Please stop," Eve's cheeks a hot shade of pink as she pleaded to Petunia, who looked like she was ready to burst at the seams.

Petunia gave a loud groan and fell back into her pillow, "Fine, my boner's gone anyway."

"Petunia, put a Lien in the swear box." Eve chastised as she pointed to a large cardboard box in the corner of the room filled to the brim with money.

"Oh come on! All I said was boner!"

"Two Lien," Eve clarified as she set her acupuncture box down next to Automne's bed.

"Uggggh, this is bull." Petunia growled under her breath as she set her laptop aside and trudged over to the box.

"Petunia, you really need to express your anger in healthier ways. If you want I can practice on you next." Eve said with a smile as she pulled out a labeled diagram indicating where she was supposed to be placing her needles. "It's very relaxing."

"Thanks, but I think I'll pass." Petunia said with a scowl as Eve pulled out one of the needles, its long thin body shining sinisterly.

"Oh, come on, Petunia." Automne said with a large smirk as Eve leaned over Automne and slowly pierced his skin with its thin sharp point. "It never hurts to- aaaand I can't feel my legs." Automne cut off flatly.

"What?!" A frazzled Eve recoiled as she quickly pulled up her chart and looked back and forth between it and Automne's back. "But- I'm nowhere near the spinal cord." Her voice trembling slightly as her breathing quickened.

Automne gave a small chuckle, "Eve, I'm just messing with you."

Eve looked down at Automne in shock and stomped her heel against the ground, her face a bright pink. "Automne, don't do that! You scared me." Eve whined, slowly beginning to pace around the bed as her breathing steadied.

"Oh yeah, that's a smart idea mess with the person putting needles in your back. Smartest idea I've heard all day." Ty sarcastically quipped as he flipped open another folder and began to look through it.

"Aww, whatever man, we're just having fun. Right, Eve?"

"I thought I crippled you." Eve whined sorely as she made her way back towards her needles.

"See? Fun, now how about you put down those folders and come join us on planet funtime… Funtime." Automne trailed off as Eve inserted a couple more needles into his back.

"I can't, I need to figure out why Professor Baula chose us over any other team." Ty stated as he flipped his way through Eve's application forms.

"Does it really matter at this point?" Petunia mumbled tiredly as she pulled out a pair of headphones from under her bed.

"Yes, it does, because it makes no sense why he would pick one of the least skilled teams to participate in a classified operation."

"I just figured he liked us." Eve said innocently as she put another needle into Automne's back.

"Pfft," Petunia started with a broad grin as she slipped out of her capris and down into her underwear. "Isn't it obvious? He wants a team of nobodies; expendables who no one will go looking for if the mission goes south."

Eve quietly cleared her throat, "Umm, Petunia, c-can you please make yourself decent."

"Eve, if Petunia wants to walk around with no pants on, then what kind of friend are you to stop her?" Automne said with a perverted grin as he ran his eyes up and down Petunia's legs.

Petunia glared at him coldly, "Let me get my pj's on." She responded abruptly before standing up and pulling the curtain across the room to block out Automne's gaze.

"… Well you don't have to- I mean…" Automne gave a sigh, "Anyways so yeah, Baula. I kind of just figured he chose us 'cause he's eccentric."

"Eccentric? More like giant, weird douchebag." Ty said flatly as he pulled a couple of bills out of his pocket crumbled them up, and threw them at the swear box.

"Yeah, well the point is it doesn't matter what we think of him or the mission. We don't have any other choices so we might as well call him right now and just give him our confirmation."

"Yeah, because dying on some covert mission is a much better option than being expelled from Beacon, dumbass." Petunia rebutted sarcastically as she pulled the curtain open and tossed another Lien in the direction of the box.

"Look, it can't be that bad if he considered us in the first place. If it was difficult he wouldn't have considered us at all."

"That does make sense." Eve chimed as she inserted another needle into Automne's back, making him look more and more like a balding porcupine.

Automne brushed his head against the sheets lightly as he nodded his head purposefully. "You see, I think we're more than skilled enough to participate in this mission."

"Uh huh, yeah," Ty responded uncertainly as he glared down at Automne's file. "Quick question, why did you put 'Knitting and Sewing' under 'Other abilities' on your application form?"

"Umm," Automne replied blankly. "Well… knitting and sewing can be very… useful abilities in a combat zone."

Ty stared at him with furrowed eyebrows to signify that he wasn't buying into his flimsy explanation, "Yeah, I'm calling bull on that one."

"Alright, well- imagine, like… say you just got shot and you need someone to close the wound and I just happen to have some thread-"

"I'll go to our trained medic who knows how to actually tend to a bullet wound."

Automne stopped and glanced around. "Okaaay… Well say we're being held at gunpoint and the guy- he happens to look a little chilly and there just happens to be a pair of knitting needles and yarn lying around."

"I'd take the knitting needles and stab him in the eyes." Ty responded quickly, instantly shutting Automne up. "You are the worst Huntsman I have ever met."

"Well… How many have you met? Is it like a large number, because I'm sure- Ow!"

"Oops!" Eve said suddenly as she jumped back, her hands clasped over her mouth as she stared at Automne's back in horror. "Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh!" Eve rambled.

"Eve, what did-"

"Oh crap," Petunia shouted as she jumped up from her bed.

Automne's head swiveled back and forth to both sides of his bed as his teammates stared at him with wide eyes. "What's-"

"I'm sorry, I must have been a few centimeters off!" Eve pleaded as she quickly began to take needles out of Automne's back, the fingertips of her gloves soaked a dark red.

"What did you-"

"Oh Dust, Eve take the needle out!" Petunia shouted as she ran up to the bedside.

"I can't if I take it out it will only make the bleeding worse."

"'Bleeding'?! How much-"

"Crap, Petunia, go get some towels. At this rate he's gonna soak through the mattress." Ty ordered as he jumped up from his bed.

"'Soak through'?! Eve what did you-"

"I'm sorry, I told you I was out of practice!" The dark haired girl cried as she continued to throw needles to the side.

"You never said that!"

"Hey, dude," Ty said in a patronizingly calm voice as he hunched down near Automne's face. "How're ya' doin'?"

"Why won't you people answer me?!" Automne screamed as he tried to turn his head to find out what was happening literally behind his back.

"Shhh, it's okay dude. You're going to be alright." Ty said as he gently petted Automne's face.

"That's exactly what they tell people who aren't going to be alright!"

"Crap, Eve, we need some anesthetics." Ty demanded as Petunia ran up and passed some towels to Eve.

"I don't have any anesthetics!" she shouted back as she quickly ripped the last needle out and pressed the towel against the wound.

"What is going on?!" Automne shouted as Eve pressed all her weight against his blood soaked back.

"Then improvise!"

"I'm on it!" Petunia shouted as she grabbed one of Automne's escrima sticks with both hands, ran up to the bed, and whacked him as hard as she could a few times until he stopped moving.

The three of them stopped for a couple seconds and stared down at Automne who was laying completely motionless.

"Automne?" Eve said softly, still pressing her weight against the blood soaked towel.

When no reply came they all looked between each other nervously.

Petunia loudly cleared her throat.

"Murderer!" She shouted as she pointed at Eve.

"What? No-I- You hit him with- the-the needle- and the stick"

"We're going to have to change our names! We're going to have to dye our hair! We have to flee the Kingdom!" Petunia gave a large gasp "What're we going to do with the body?"

Tears began to flood into Eve's eyes as she fell to her knees. "We k-k-k-kkkkilled hiiiiiiiim!" She wailed as tears poured down her face.

"Guys,"

"We could try and pin this on Sienaerde! She's crazy, people would believe that!"

"I-I-I-I killed Au-Automneeeee!"

"Guys?!"

"No, no, no, it's simple, we just throw him to the Grimm! They'll rip him apart and destroy all the evidence!"

"I-I-I" Eve gave a large wheezy gasp "I-I-I k-k-k-killed hiiiiiiim!"

"Guys!" Ty shouted furiously, jumping to his feet and smacking Eve on the back of the head and Petunia across the face. "He's not dead!"

Petunia stared down at him for a couple of seconds, casually leaned over, put her fingers to his throat, and blinked a few times after realizing he still had a soft pulse. "… Oh, well then… We should probably get him some medical attention."

Eve quickly got to her feet, still sniffling a bit, pulled her handkerchief out of her jacket and dabbed her eyes. "M-maybe we should have checked for a pulse first."

"Yeah… We probably should have." Petunia agreed blankly as she tossed Automne's escrima stick aside.

Ty glanced between the two of them flatly, "Alright, Eve, since you didn't start making plans to flee the Kingdom after supposedly murdering a teammate I'm leaving you in charge of taking Automne down to the Infirmary." Ty said as he stepped past Eve, grabbed their folders off of his bed and headed for the door.

"Where are you going?" Petunia asked curiously as Eve dabbed blood off of her face.

"I'm going to go tell Professor Baula that we're going with him on that mission. Honestly it's a miracle we haven't killed each other already so this mission is probably going to be some retard's idea of a classified mission."

"Hey," Petunia said indignantly as she crossed her arms. "You saying we can barely handle retard work?"

"Mentally deficient," Eve interjected softly.

"Shut up." Petunia said flatly as she maintained a constant bitter glare off with Ty. "We are fully capable, well-trained, and educated and I think-"

"I think Automne may have a concussion… again." Eve said weakly as lifted Automne's eyelid and shined a flashlight into it.

Ty and Petunia gave a simultaneous heavy sigh.

"You two can deal with that. I'm going to go talk to the Professor." An almost livid Ty responded before walking out of the room, muttering things about short buses under his breath.

Petunia gave a loud groan as she slapped a hand to her face. "Dust, what a jackass."

"Petunia, put five more Lien in the box."

"Dust damn it, Eve!"

"Today was stupid." Automne bitterly gurgled from his pillow as the blood soaked towels on his back gradually turned a stagnant brownish red.