Sorry for the break! Ah, another chapter will be coming up shortly (maybe within thirty minutes) after i post this! Double post to make up for the wait! Thank you for all your support, and especially those that have gone on my personal tumblr too :') It's a short, comic relief chapter :)

Gaius was in quite a state. Calm and collected on the outside, but his mind was in a turmoil. How could he have let something so simple slip through the cracks? What kinda spymaster was he?
And worse, the victim was her. That spunky girl that he enjoyed harassing. He'd admit it, it wouldn't have mattered as much if it were anyone else. Would he have felt guilt? Of course. But the pain that accompanied seeing Robin in agony...that was on a level he didn't understand.

His worry...it seemed only like an echo compared to that uptight knight. The night is fresher than a fruit tart in his mind; the moment of panic when he saw Robin's frame as light and yielding as a feather...the ominous trail of blood that sent such a horrible, horrible feeling to his gut he had to suppress the urge to vomit. And the man had seen terrible, disgusting things in his life. Yet one pesky little tactician had his insides turning somersaults as he wracked his brain to find a cure, some way to help her. He knew he was putting himself in a risky position by revealing some...trade secrets, but he was willing to. The knight's suspicion would probably be on him again, but what the hell did it matter?

The knots inside of him was something unpleasant, and the reason he tried to avoid the whole making friends business.

There was no helping it. Amusement turned into attachment. Well hell, then it was his damn responsibility to take care of her, and the prince.

Like he didn't have enough problems already. That fruit tart was being particularly difficult to track down as it was.

He woke up early, hoping to catch Robin to give him a little training of his own. He'd needed to teach her how to blend in with the band of assassins cause...they were going to go into the fire. He...he regretted dragging her into this. Truth be told, he'd tell her to go sit in her tent whilst he did all the dirty work. If he told her that now though, she'd turn him into a pile of ashes and use it to disarm the enemy.

As he scoured the camp for the tiny tactician, he'd witness something very peculiar. Robin was scurrying into the men's bath tent, with something gripped in her hand.

Don't tell me, she's walking in on someone again? Yeesh, and this girl calls me bad. he shook his head, but wore a Cheshire's smirk. Curiosity killed the cat and all, but of course he quickly slinked over to the scene of the crime. He'd been secretly dying to know just what she was up to...The raging sexual tension between her and that knight sparked interesting questions...Chrom's sudden appearance so late in the game was a wildcard he didn't expect. Hell, he didn't know who to root for. Not that he cared, of course. He just wanted to know his odds before making any bets.

Frederick however, walked a dangerous path, in regards to the mushy stuff like feelings and whatnot. It quickly spread (of course it wasn't his fault...) how agitated the man was. Even if no birdies spoke, his march across camp was infamous. They said that he knocked a hundred men down just to see 'the love of his life.' He was curious to see just what Frederick would do if he heard any of these rumors. He'd arrange for him to 'overhear' a conversation, but he wasn't willing to risk the chance that he would be hanged.

Careful not to disturb a rather ugly shade of green grass, he slipped behind a few tents, and his eyebrows shot up as he heard tidbits of the conversation.

"Sure you're not going to be throwing anything else?"

"I said I'm sorry! Here let me just do this to make it up...it won't hurt, stay still will you?"

"A-ah!" What the fuck? Gaius thought and was quickly figuring out an escape route. No perhaps he was just misinterpreting things. What the hell was this though, with what context does this make sense? He did not sign up for this.

"Chrom, stop making so much noise!"

"I'm sorry...I was nervous, but it felt good actually." Okay he was not misunderstanding anything. Oh Gods, he really did not sign up for this. If he hadn't spent his pay he'd have made a break for it, bye bye army.

"Oh. Heh, I'm glad, but keep still."

Gaius wanted to barf into his hands. He was never suited for voyeurism...he'd just have to catch her at breakfast then. After getting a good serving of candy to forget that he'd ever come across this...Bubbles had more game than he thought.

"Ouch!" Robin hit Gaius with an unrestrained fury once he started to, ah, make references to the delightful conversation he so happened to overhear. "Be a little more delicate, will you?"

She gave him a hard, withering stare. "I'll be delicate with you once, you, are, more, delicate, with, your, crap, assumptions!" She brought her fist down and punctuated each word with a painful blow.

"Well, what would you have thought!"

"I would have given you the benefit of the doubt," Robin said airily, and stuck her nose up in the air, giving a rather uncanny impression of Maribelle.

"Liar." He stepped back to rub his head...he was nursing some pretty bad bruises already, and this girl had to go on and give him more. She was had her arm pulled out, ready for another swing, but she sighed at the knowing look on his face.

"Okay, but I would have been more tactful about it."

"And there it is. Anyways, that's not why I sacrificed my innocence to-"

"Gaius."

"-to talk to you. We've got a big mission tonight. Can ya handle it?"

"What do you take me for?"

"Good, cause, you'll need to go undercover. Be all sneaky-like and whatnot." Like a real thief. He'd wanted to make the joke that she was good at being one already, stealing hearts and all but he had the feeling that she would not take to that too kindly.

Gaius was a very strict teacher when he needed to be. He was all snark, and no praise, and could see where Tight Pants was coming from. This girl was hopeless. "No, no, no, you're too nice! Wow, that's a sentence I thought I'd never say."

She glared at him, and wiped off the sweat on her brow, formed mainly from frustration. She'd learned to skulk around, scale walls, climb trees and try not to fall off them. Then why oh why, was it hell to try and fit in with a band of assassins.

"You're a horrible pupil. Where's the sass you've got in reserves for me. If we could even tap into a quarter of what you use for Tight pants-"

"Tight pants?" Robin scoffed. "If you're referring to Frederick then...well he deserves it!"

"That's not what I see," Gaius sang, and poked her with his foot (he was trying to change her stance into a more threatening one, and thought that by irritating her it would eventually sink in). He was getting desperate at that point, although it was becoming noon. It was almost as difficult to keep everyone in camp away from her, asking for Robin this, Robin that. He insisted that she was fighting a horrible fever, and needed them to all leave her alone. Which backfired miserably, of course, but he escaped with her quickly before the Calvary came for the girl.

"What do you see, oh wise one?"

"Well, since you've asked, I'll tell ya. I see a little puppy in love, barking at someone who won't even give her a glance."

Robin growled and swiped for him, and he nimbly dodged her attack to ruffle her hair. "Atta girl. Keep that up, and we won't be found out so easily tonight."

Though it was a jest, he was praying. Funny how often he had to do that, as of late.