Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Type-Moon characters or properties expressed in the work of fiction below. They belong to Type-Moon and their creator, Kinko Nasu.

Bloodless Sins

By: Elf

Chapter One

Resurrections and Reunions

The first thing that Archer was aware of was screaming. A loud, shrill voice full of terror just screamed continuously. His eyes opened automatically at the sound and he rose to his feet. The second thing he was aware of was cold air on his face and hands and that his body had weight and substance to it. Adrenaline pumped through his veins, his heart pounding like a drum as his breathing grew rapid as he scanned the area for the source of the screaming.

To the side Archer saw Matou Shinji on his knees, his face contorted in horror as he screamed, pointing at a humanoid wall of muscle fairly close to him. The boy was untouched, his wavy blue hair a touch messier than he kept it, but his eyes were so wide that white showed around the queer, pupiless blue irises. The humanoid wall of muscle blinked at Shinji, his eyes set in a sharply chiseled face that was familiar.

One eye glowed golden, while the other was wide and unseeing. A heavy hand brought up the vicious axe club and the monster crossed the distance. White hot sparks sprayed when stone hit traced steel. Archer cried out as the force caused his boots to be driven into the ground, caving in the stone under his feet and shattering his knees with the force of it.

The giant man looked down at Shinji curiously, and Archer recognized the massive wall of muscle that had once been Ilya's Berserker. His hair wasn't the wild black tangle, his mouth wasn't filled with sharp teeth, and he didn't have the strange protrusions coming out of his arms. The muscled flesh wasn't the color of hard stone, but normal olive colored skin. However he was still a giant among men, someone who didn't really have a place in the modern world. Archer realized that he was looking at the Greek Hero Hercules as he had been in life, and not transformed into a monster under Mad Enhancement. Shinji was still gaping at the former Servant until Berserker sighed, shrugged, stood up and headed in the opposite direction.

Shinji had not risen from his knees, his eyes wide as his body sank in on itself as Berserker left. The teenager was shaking, his fingers digging into the fabric of his uniform as he literally held himself together. Frowning, Archer continued to look around, his eyes going to the direction Berserker was heading.

Archer saw his younger self was taking off his shirt and handing it to Ilya, who was standing stark naked in front of him. At Emiya Shirou's side was Saber, sans her armor and her golden hair blowing in the morning breeze. Her emerald eyes were bright and there was a slight smile on her face as she and Shirou kept exchanging glances at each other. Ilya slid into the blue baseball shirt, which hung down to her knees on her slender frame. Her eyes met Archer's and she gave a slight wave before adjusting the sleeves to a more manageable length for her.

To the side, Kotomine Kirei's lanky form was rising to its feet, fathomless dark eyes narrowing slightly at the sight of Berserker joining Shirou, Saber, and Ilya. Berserker swept Ilya into his arms as he laughed, a rich low sound that was almost infectious in its mirth. The false priest absently dusted off his cassock as Emiya Shirou met his eyes. To his credit, the redhead stood a little taller and his eyes narrowed. Saber shifted her stance and Ilya stuck out her tongue from her new perch on Berserker's shoulder.

"We showed you, you creepy old priest," Ilya said with a toss of her heavily tangled silvery white hair.

Kotomine smiled at that and looked around. Archer's gaze followed him as well, his eyes widening as he took in the sights around him. What the hell is going on?

Off to the side Lancer was on one knee beside a strikingly beautiful young woman with short hair the color of ripe cranberries and earrings that matched Lancer's. The tailored man's suit she was wearing didn't do much to hide ample curves and her chestnut eyes were focused on Lancer as he animatedly talked to her. The Hound of Ulster was wearing a smile that almost split his face, flashing his elongated canines with abandon.

Archer stared, trying to recognize the unfamiliar woman. With her androgynous style, supple curves, and lovely face he was sure he would have remembered her. As he stared and watched the two of them talk, Lancer hugging the redhead rather tightly, he felt like a voyeur. There was an open warmth to Lancer's face that was at odds with his normal craving for battle.

That's his Master. His real one. The one that Kotomine ordered him to kill, he thought as his eyes widened. He looked around, his eyes widening as he saw Rider gracefully rising to her feet and promptly ignoring the purple robed garbed woman that was Caster laying beside her. The Gorgon said nothing as she started to walk away, her long hair brushing against Shinji's trembling form. Shinji gave a little cry and looked out, holding out his hand beseechingly to his stolen Servant.

Even with her blindfold on, Archer could feel the naked contempt in her gaze. It was as if the already chilled air had gone down right frigid with the look she gave Shinji. Shinji cowered again, a strangled cry of, "Rider!" erupting from his lips.

The lovely Gorgon's scowl grew even deeper as she whispered, "Do not speak to me." Then she strode away from him, away from everyone. Archer blinked as she left, wondering if he should give chase, or if he could even catch her.

"May you benefit from your wish, Emiya Shirou," Kotomine said with a twisted smile before folding his hands behind his back and heading in the opposite direction. As he made his dramatic exit, Archer caught sight of an all too familiar form garbed in head to toe gold. He started to take a stance as his eyes focused on the King of Heroes.

Gilgamesh however looked a little subdued, his eyes not glaring at everything in disgust, and Archer swore when the King of Heroes looked at Saber he looked . . . wistful. With his golden hair falling into his face and obscuring his crimson eyes he looked almost normal. For a moment he looked like he was just an attractive foreigner who apparently liked to cosplay. To Archer's surprise, Saber's eyes met Gilgamesh's and she bowed her head to him.

Without another word, the King of Heroes rose to his full height, and turned sharply on his heel. His gaze lingered over Saber before he walked in the direction Rider had gone. His shoulders were slumped, and his arms were folded across his chest, almost like Shinji's were.

Goldy showing something like humility? What the hell happened after I died? Archer thought. Lancer's Master, Shinji, and Rider were all dead before me. Rin, Saber and the Kid had to have finished Berserker. So . . .

How the hell did the dead come back to the living?

Archer looked again and was surprised when he didn't see a familiar head of raven hair set into twin tails standing with Emiya and Saber.

And where the hell is Rin?

He walked over to where Ilya was happily swinging her legs from her perch on Berserker's shoulder. Emiya Shirou's golden eyes widened and Saber smiled. The King of Knights bowed her head and said, "It is good to see you again, Archer."

"Where's Rin?" Archer asked with a wave of his hand, worrying about the improbable situation later.

Shirou, Saber, and Ilya's concerned gazes told him all he needed to know. Saber said, "She was injured before the final battle and could not join us."

"Where?" Archer asked, his hands clenching into fists.

Shirou answered, "My house, when Kotomine took Ilya."

Ilya's eyes widened and she asked, "Rin survived that?"

"Yes, and she made us come here," Shirou said, "She said she'd be fine, we need to get back to her."

Gritting his teeth, he didn't say anything as he took off in a full run towards the Emiya household.

Prana was pumping through his legs, but even with the Reinforcement Archer's lungs were starting to burn. The once familiar houses on the street became a blur as he headed to the place he had once called home. Blood was pumping furiously through his body, not the parody of life that being a Servant had, but the full on adrenaline rush that being thrown in the middle of a crisis brought. His heart was roaring in his ears and sweat was starting to trickle down his neck and face despite the chill morning air. Muscles were starting to ache, protesting the prana being forced through them to strengthen them. He ignored the twinges as he hunched his muscles and jumped over the familiar fence.

His heart lept into his throat when he saw the dusky red drops scattered haphazardly on the side walk. The blood there was thick, not yet dried but starting to congeal. He rushed towards the door and pushed it open. A fine humming filled the air as the wards protested his forceful invasion, but he ignored it as he followed the blood trail down the hall. All the air in his lungs rushed out of him as he saw the giant crimson smear that covered the wall and the floor. His hand trembled as he reached towards it.

There's no way that such a small body can hold that much blood, he thought wildly as even he could feel the faint traces of Rin's unique prana still running through the mess. He drew back his hand and stood up. He scanned the hall way, looking for another blood trail, but all he found was the one that led him there. Cursing, he turned sharply and followed the blood trail out of the hallway and back outside. It led up the side walk and to the gate where there was a smallish handprint from where the gate had been apparently pushed open. He opened the gate and headed out, noting that the trail was growing fainter and fainter.

There was a flash of déjà vu of another time as he followed the trail, when he had been eighteen and returned home with a heavy weight on his shoulders after saving the world. I saved the world and sacrificed Saber to do so, he thought, the slight fog around some of his memories lifting more and more with each passing moment. So I ran home to see if Rin was still there, to see if I could help her. She hadn't been.

No, that damned idiot had all but dragged herself home.

Gnashing his teeth, Archer strengthened his Reinforcement, finding it easier to do so, and ran to Shinto. He had a brief thought to go ahead and head to the Tohsaka house, but he wondered if that would be useless. Him waiting for Rin at home wasn't going to help her right now. If she had the same injury that the Rin in his time did, she wouldn't be moving at a fast clip even if she managed to cast a healing spell on herself or not. So he followed the blood trail to find his former Master.

Each step was an experience of agony, sharp twinges radiated from her side, stomach, and back with each movement. Rin gritted her teeth, one hand against the once gaping hole in her body as she stumbled home. Sweat was pouring down her skin and her vision was blurring at the edges, but she felt as if someone had submerged her in ice. Focusing to stay upright was getting harder and harder, and she was gasping for breath.

"You . . . you had better have beaten that fake priest, Emiya-kun," Rin said, her voice rasping with the words.

The world spun around her and a wave of nausea decided to join with the dance of pain. Her vision blackened for a moment as she felt her knees start to give. No, damn it, I'm . . . getting closer to home, Rin thought as she straightened up. She pressed her right hand to her side, her left could barely move with the Crest apparently working overtime to keep her alive.

Get home Rin, get to ground and let the land do its work. I'll be fine in no time once I get home, she thought as she forced herself into motion again. A grim smile graced her bloodied lips as she forced herself into motion again. A searing pain rippled through her left arm in protest and the blood smoked sleeve of her sweater began to smolder ever so slightly, but she was in motion again.

"Look at you, Rin. You're a mess. Can't you even take care of yourself when I'm not here?" a familiar low voice said from behind her.

Her eyes widened and she felt her knees give way as she turn to look up into a familiar pair of steel colored eyes. Her heart caught in her chest for a moment as they stared at one and another. The edges of his red mantle and tail were blurred in her vision, and his white hair looked fuzzy. Yet there he was, a little scowl on his sweat dripping face as he looked at her.

She stared up at her Archer before shaking her head and closing her eyes. "Now you're taxing yourself and being ridiculous," he said with a sigh before she found herself being separated from the ground and up into strong arms.

Rin opened her eyes, but her vision blurred again, Archer's features becoming indistinct. A sudden pounding in her head made it swim as the sudden jarring brought a fresh wave of pain to make her cry out. "Calm down," Archer said in a low, hoarse voice.

She met his eyes and said, "You're not the one with a giant hole in your side."

"Which is exactly why you should have been resting and waiting for help instead of being a damned idiot and trying to get home," Archer replied his eyes narrowing as he began to walk.

Rin slumped into his arms as she leaned into him. Heat seemed to radiate from him as always, soothing some of the chill from her veins. She had always been amazed with how warm he was, as if he was her own personal space heater. The night she had shown him the town and they jumped from rooftop to rooftop together she got a glimmer of his warmth. They had both kept their contact to the bare minimal, after all they only knew each other for a few hours, but despite that she had noticed how much heat he radiated.

I'm just dreaming this, some pain induced hallucination from the blood loss. Archer's not here. I'm not being carried home. I'm just dreaming this to comfort myself.

"Of course I can't fantasize anything grandiose with Archer actually being nice and everything still hurting," Rin mumbled.

Archer blinked then stared down at her. He asked, "You think you're fantasizing this?"

"Or hallucinating. I did lose a lot of blood. Stupid false priest," Rin said with a frown and a wince. "He completely blindsided me. I greeted him at the door and then his fist is through me and my blood is sprayed on poor Emiya-kun's wall."

"The kid will clean it off. Don't worry about it," Archer said, his lips curving up slightly, "Still, you should have waited for help."

She shook her head and said, "I didn't belong there anymore. I was just taking up space. An outsider. I'm not foolish enough to know where I'm not needed."

"That's not the damned point," Archer said, his voice lowering.

Rin sighed, rested her head against his shoulder, looked up at him, and asked, "Since I'm hallucinating, can't you be a bit nicer?"

"You're not hallucinating," Archer said with a shake of his head.

"I have to be. I'm talking to a man that died. I felt you die," Rin said before looking down. And I did everything in my power to avenge you, and tried to lose myself by acting shamelessly in grief. Just I wasn't wanted in that moment. I helped out from the sidelines.

Archer smiled and said, "Well, I'm back."

"No, you're in my head," Rin replied as her left arm pulsed and she tensed with a fresh wave of pain.

He said, "I shouldn't be back, but here I am, taking care of you again."

"I wonder how messed up I am to fantasize you coming back while I feel like I was steamrolled. A normal girl would fantasize something ridiculous with cherry blossoms everywhere and you'd proclaim your love. Which is nonsense. Besides, it would be boring if it was that easy," Rin said as she rested her cheek against him.

Amusement flickered in grey eyes as Archer asked, "Then what would you fantasize?"

"If I wasn't in blinding pain I'd think up something really good," Rin said in a soft voice. Probably something like that night in the ruins, but someone remembering that I'm there and making me feel good too.

Archer smiled, making him look years younger and achingly familiar. There was something about her pendent that Rin couldn't focus on at the moment. Something she had been chasing before she started heading home. She knew she'd come upon it again later and just nestled against his warmth as he carried her.

He said, "Well, when you're well I may ask the question again."

"Even though you'll be gone once I've healed up and thinking more clearly, I'm glad to see you again, Archer," Rin said as she felt her vision start to swim and dim.

Archer blinked at her and said, "I'm glad too, Tohsaka."

Rin couldn't focus on that as she slid into blessed darkness and sweet warmth.

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