A/N: So, I am warning you all, this isn't quite M rated, but I think it MAY be pushing the teen rating. The last section of writing has some…adult scenes, but it's nothing overly explicit. If you believe that it might be a problem though, please let me know and I'll alter the line(s) that are pushing the boundaries…once again, you have been warned.

Bad Time Line AU; OOC Frederick?

I do not own Fire Emblem Awakening, the stories, characters, or anything related in the franchise.


Frederick didn't trust her. From the first day that they met on the outskirts of Southtown, something wasn't quite right. Although Lord Chrom and Lady Lissa welcomed her earnestly into the Shepherds, and the other Shepherds accepted her with open arms, he did not.

Did they not find it strange to find a Plegian in the middle of nowhere? Even more so, she did not even try to hide her heritage, wearing that obvious enemy coat. That she wouldn't tell them her intentions, where and how she learned to fight, or even where she was from made him wary of her. If no one else was cautious, if no one else felt that something was off, he would have to remain ever vigilant in her presence.

xxx

Smart, intelligent, savvy, he could not deny that she was good at her job. He remained uncertain if she was only a grand actress, cutting down her kin with no care, or if she truly believed in the Ylissean cause. Robin was truly on par with their current mages, although close quarter combat remained a weakness, but she was getting better. At least she could now block and parry a hit or two.

Everyone, besides himself, sang her praises. He couldn't deny that he was seeing her in a better light, but something still didn't sit right, and he wasn't sure why or what. She had been in the Shepherds for a month now, and had yet to do anything to raise suspicion, and he would know, he had been keeping a close eye on her. He knew all her favorite places, what she enjoyed in her free time, what she liked to eat, who she usually spent her time with, and her schedule as a whole. Nothing abnormal. Yet something remained nagging in the back of his mind…

xxx

"ROBIN!" The knight slammed at the Tactician's door several times. He didn't care that it was the middle of the night, the whole castle was up anyway. What in Naga's name was Robin doing!

"LISSA!" The brunet turned, seeing the distinctive coat of THAT woman.

"ROBIN!" Once again he yelled out the Tactician's name, dashing toward the corner she passed.

"Frederick?" She had turned around, running to the knight. "Where-!"

Before she could finish, she was lifted up, shoved against the wall with only Frederick holding her up by the scruff of her shirt and coat. "Where the hell were you?"

A look of surprise flashed across her face, before her own eyes narrowed. At first, both hands grasped his armored forearms, trying to somehow keep herself up, but soon her dominant right grabbed the collar of his shirt, pulling him closer. "I could ask the same to you. Where the hell were you?"

"I? I was doing my job! Protecting-!" He stopped, feeling the tears start, before he pushed them back. "I was trying to protect Lady Emmeryn! Why in Naga's name weren't you there? Where the hell were you? If you were there-! …If you were there…she…Lady Emm…" He couldn't say it; he couldn't put it to words. In the momentary silence, the Tactician's hand that was gripping his collar had shifted to his check, brushing away the stray tears that he couldn't stop.

"…What happened to the Exalt?" Her voice was soft, and as he was about to shout at her again, he looked up to see a concerned face. It was then that he noticed her own set of puffy eyes and tear streaked checks. His eyes slowly trailed, looking down her body, noticing that she wasn't sporting a clean set of clothes, they were bloodied and battle worn. "Frederick…" His eyes shot up, meeting her own again. "What happened to Lady Emmeryn?"

Some reason he lost his strength, dropping the girl to her feet. "…She's dead, Robin…" He heard her gasp, and he could imagine the hands covering her shocked face. It was then that his whole body slumped. He would have fell, but something…for some reason, he knew he couldn't totally break. …Not yet anyway.

"She's…then Lissa? Where is she? Does she know?"

"She…Lissa…she's still with the Exalt. She…and the other Shepherds have not left Lady Emmeryn's side…"

"We…We have to go!" Her hand suddenly grasped his, trying to pull him in the opposite direction of the main court where the battle had occurred.

Although he was drained, he withstood the pull. "We?" Contempt dripped from his lips as he glared at Robin. It sounded as if she were running away.

"I…we needed Lissa…" She pulled at the knight again. "But I…I can't ask her now… Please, Frederick!" She tugged again. "Trust me! If not ever again, just this once!" Another tug, and he looked at her determined face. With another pull, he nodded. When she was certain he was following, she had dropped his hand, jogging off.

They ran in silence, the halls eerily quiet. Every twist and turn made his own stomach churn. As he reached their destination, he realized it was one of the small wing infirmaries. He didn't understand why they were here. By the sounds of it, Robin had been nowhere near the earlier battle.

"Ricken!" Without much decency, Robin wrenched the door open, rushing inside.

The knight followed, confused. Now that he thought about it, he had not seen Ricken, or Maribelle for that matter, at the fight. The scene before him was unnerving. Other than the nearest bed, which had the curtains drawn around it, with the glow of a healing staff being used coming from behind it, all the others were empty. "Hurry! Get a Second Seal from storage!"

"Robin! Frederick!" The Mage came over, worry in his voice. The knight noticed the boy was sporting his own blood stained garments. "Wh-where's Lissa? Maribelle… She's-!"

The platinum shook her head, putting her hand on the boy's shoulder. "I know, but I couldn't find her. Please… Go… "

The Mage swallowed, about to argue, but in the end nodded, running through the open doors to the Barracks and supplies.

"Wh-what-?" The brunet stepped forward to the occupied bed, but Robin stopped him.

"Frederick," Her voice was barely over a whisper. "Say nothing about the Exalt, or Lissa. Maribelle CANNOT lose her concentration right now. Promise me…"

"What…" He was scared to know who was in that bed, and he knew he would regret asking, but he needed to. "What happened? Who's there?"

The platinum swallowed, looking down. "Chrom and I were talking in the courtyard." A chill ran down the Great Knight's spine, realizing hislLord had also not been at the hall. Even though Robin seemed to be skirting around the subject, something in him could already feel where the story was going. "…He was telling me about the prior Exalt, the man before Lady Emmeryn, their father. Then…" New tears started to fall down the girl's face, but he could only stand there and stare. "Two Assassin's jumped out. Chrom…Chrom was stabbed by the first, I could only stop the second…" A choked gasp escaped her lips, making her shudder before she wiped her face, pulling her arms around herself, staring down. "I…somehow I got rid of the two assailant's…but Chrom…there…there was so much blood…I tried- I tried to stop it…I was lucky that Maribelle and Ricken came by. We-we got him here, but…" Her eyes drifted to the bed. "I don't know...me and Ricken tried to help as Maribelle staunched the wound, mending as much as she could…" The girl swallowed. "When he was finally stable, I went out to try find Lissa while Ricken tried to keep Maribelle hydrated…she…she's…"

Before she could continue, the two heard the echoed footsteps, making both turn to see Ricken and the seal. "Wh-what's happened out there?" He looked between the two, as he passed Robin the seal.

Robin swallowed, allowing the blue seal to activate. "Don't think about it for now Ricken…" The seal illuminated the girl. As the light faded, nothing looked changed, but she quickly dropped both sword and tome, opening the staff cupboard, taking out a Heal, and going to the curtain. "After I start, just make sure Maribelle gets some rest."

Both men followed, and Frederick finally saw the scene. He could see the sweat drenched, tear stained Troubadour, mumbling softly as the Mend staff glowed over the bloodied bandaged stomach of his lord. The knight slowly looked up see the pained streaked face of the now king, and the brunet was barely cognizant of what happened next.

He watched through glazed eyes as the two women spoke, Maribelle finally resigning to take a break and short nap as Robin took her place at healing. Ricken passed concoctions and vulneraries onto the blonde, before she laid down. With Robin turned away and Ricken by Maribelle's side, Frederick himself finally slumped on the ground, exhausted.

xxx

"Haah…"

"Milord? Are you well?" The knight looked at his lord, now Exalt. The Great Knight had been running errands all day, only now getting to the picking of the pebbles and weeds around camp.

Chrom was leaning on a crutch. Finally, after three months, the man had been released to go to the battlefield. He didn't like being taken care of, babied as he called it, but there was an exception. As it always was nowadays, the Feroxi Dancer Olivia was acting as Chrom's second crutch. With Robin and Frederick leading the army during Chrom's absence, and both Lissa and Maribelle in the field, Olivia had been taking care of his Lord, and he was certain something was blossoming between the two.

"I'm as well as can be, Frederick." He gave a mirthless laugh, sickened eyes looking at him. After the attack, and due to the damage, the cobalt wasn't allowed to leave the castle, let alone his room. Even now, he still seemed to be in pain, and if he moved too much, the injury would weep or bleed. "Have you seen Robin though? I've been looking for her."

"You have checked all her usual places?" The cobalt nodded. "She is not in the bathing tent?"

"No, Olivia checked."

"Mess? With Sumia? On the training ground?" All three answers were met with a shake of Chrom's head. "Then try the hillock or the stream. She will be at one of those two."

The cobalt nodded. "Thank you." Before leaving though, the Lord looked over his knight. "You two are close, aren't you?"

The knight looked at the man, confused. "Close?"

"I've noticed, maybe since I've been gone so long, but, every battle, you are near her. You always seem to have at least one meal with her each day, if not more. You are almost always watching her, you know when she is overworking, and sometimes seem to know her better than she knows herself. Are you sure there is nothing I should know? If you two are in a relation, I honestly do not see a problem."

"A relation?" The brunet's face colored, finally realizing his lord's thoughts. "No!" The knight shook his head, before repeating it more calmly. "No, our relationship is strictly professional."

"Oh?" The cobalt's face studied his knight's before patting Olivia's hand and smiling. "Well, if you are certain. I will see you a dinner." With that, the two turned as Frederick responded with a bow.

He couldn't understand how his lord could think that. True, he was spending quite a bit of time with Robin, and his eyes always wandered to her when they weren't together. Still, it was not…love, at least that he could tell. Something to him was still off about Robin, something he didn't…well, it wasn't related to trust, but there was something that made him feel uncertain about her, even as he continued to find his thoughts focus more and more on her…

xxx

After the two year war with Plegia, many of the Shepherds started settling down, having children, although, in Chrom's case, he was on his second. Of course, Frederick wasn't one of them, he had no time for "family." Really, his mind never went to it, especially with his hectic schedule. It also helped that Robin never married either.

Five years quickly pass, and once again, the Shepherds were called upon, entering a war against the Valmese conqueror, Walhart.

xxx

…They were dead. No, to be more accurate, Chrom was dead, Robin was missing. The other Shepherds believed she died, but Frederick knew differently. He knew she wasn't gone, and he admitted as much to Henry, who only weakly laughed, telling him to stop joking. If the mad Sorcerer didn't believe him, the knight knew he could not make mention of it to anyone else.

As many mourned, most thought the loyal knight was thinking about his lord. In reality though, Chrom had long stopped being the center of his world, and his mind now only focused on Robin.

If he said much more to the world about this, he knew they would think him crazed, but he KNEW she wasn't dead, something in his bones, something in his heart told him. After two months of debating, he left early one morning, heading to the place that called to him.

xxx

The field was the same, although the sky had a purple glow, which was normal nowadays with the coming of Grima, and it was overrun with Risen. Strangely, they did not attack, only parted, allowing him further into the pasture.

When he finally reached the middle, he saw the lone figure standing by the tree that they first met over nine years ago. "So, you've come." Her hood covered most of her features, but her platinum hair still bordered her face. "You did always know me best, even if you never trusted me." She hummed, coming to the border of the tree's shadow. "What will you do? Have you come to seek revenge against your lord's killer?" Her face was contorted, grinning madly at him, her once brown eyes now red.

Something in him broke, making him lunge toward her. The Risen looked as if they would attack, but she dismissed them and allowed him to make his charge until she was pushed against the tree. His hands were once again grasping the scruff of her shirt and coat, his eyes stony, set on her.

"You chose your hands, hmm? I thought it would be your lance." Still, she smiled, touching his gloved hands. "Come now, you must know how to strangle someone. Or was I mistaken? Are you going to bore me to de-" Before she could finish, his lips caught Grima's hungrily, one hand moving down to grasp one breast, the other went to steady himself against the tree. She didn't push him away, only allowed him to do what he willed, one hand on his armored chest while the other clenched the arm massaging her.

Breaking away, a stand of saliva still connected them. "I thought you a god, Robin…" His lips moved to her lips, then her cheek, then her jaw, causing lewd moans to be reverberated in the field. "Are you not omniscient?" The knight started nipping, licking the skin on her neck, pushing his armored body against her, until, with magic, she disintegrated the blocky mess that kept them apart.

A mewl escaped her lips as she caught his face, pulling his lips to her mouth again. The messy make-out session lasted a few more minutes before the brunet started worshipping elsewhere. "You are twisted, aren't you Frederick." The intonation of each syllable caused a moan from his lips. "Wanting your lord's murder…But really, how long has it been since he had been your master?" With that question, she pushed him away, although only far enough so that they could breathe. He tried to lean in again, his control gone, but she stopped him. "Answer your god."

"By the middle of the Valmese War."

"Why? Why should I keep a traitorous wolf?"

"Why have you not killed me?"

Surprise flashes against across her face before she grinned again. "Touché, but answer the question."

"Because this wolf shall worship his god like no other can." The day Chrom died and Grima was resurrected, the knight finally understood why he had misgivings about her, yet, even though he denied it for years, yearned for her. She was transcendent, unearthly. Her aura kept him away, making him feel always on edge around her, yet, like a moth drawn to a flame, it also beckoned him back.

"Come then," She moved from under the tree, pulling him out of the shadow to a portal that slowly grew, waiting to envelop them. "Show your god how you worship her. Kill me nightly with your lance. Follow me completely, not just with your eyes." She stepped into the abyss, hand reached out and waiting. Unlike the night he hesitated, questioning the Tactician and her motives, he followed his obsession into the dark.


A/N: I'm not sure if anyone cares, but I'm considering this story as an AU. Yes, there is the Bad Time Line, where Lucina and the others come from, but in that future, all the 1st gen are dead. Maybe you can question if Frederick lives, becomes a Risen, or etc., but he switches sides, which I highly doubt is canon.