Summary: The Grail is a wish granting device but it does not grant the winner's device in a conventional way. Shirou knew he had to be wary. A wish granting device was too good to be true. However his doubts didn't prove true until he was sent back to the fourth Grail War, not as a Master but as a Servant.

A/N: Sup people! Here's my first Fate/Stay Night Fanfic. I had the Fate craze back in 2005 as a kid when the fate route got animated. I had decided not to watch Zero because Shirou wasn't in it. But then I had to watch it while waiting for ufotable's Unlimited Blade Works animation. It was mind-blowing. Then I thought – "What if Shirou was in the 4th War? How awesome would that be?" So here it is! Oh, and it might seem a little OOC but he has all the abilities of Counter Guardian EMIYA and/or UBW route Shirou. Bear with me please!

DISCLAIMER: Hear me ye lawyers of the courtroom, I formally decline ownership of any character of Nasuverse so thou hath no way to sue me!

I am the bone of my sword

Steel is my body, and fire is my blood.

I have created over a thousand blades.

Unknown to Death, nor known to Life.

Have withstood pain to create many weapons.

Yet, those hands will never hold anything.

So as I pray, Unlimited Blade Works.

Chapter 1:

Kirei was gone after a long struggle. Shirou's respect for Kiritsugu had tripled. He had lived almost five years with the black mass. All that had to be done was to destroy the cursed Grail. He went back to get Saber, who hopefully had defeated Gilgamesh. He was powerful but he had faith in Saber.

The scene he witnessed when he arrived was one which he had not expected. Saber was lying on the ground bleeding while Gilgamesh stood arrogantly a few feet from her.

"Ea cannot be defeated my dear. Your efforts have been in vain my Saber" he said with a smug grin on his face "From the start you had no chance of winning. You were foolish to think you could stand on equal footing with me!"

Shirou could feel his heart stop. He lost the feelings in his legs. His body instinctively moved towards the Saber's wounded body. Blood was gushing out like from a hole in a hose. He could hear a violent ringing in his ears.

"Embrace her body mongrel! I gave her a chance, a chance to be with someone worthy of her. She sided with a dog like you! Take your time and see the life leave her eyes. If I cannot have her then no one can!" Gilgamesh cried from across. Shirou collapsed onto his knees

"Saber… Saber….. Saber… SABER!" cried Shirou. He turned her body over and started to caress her cheek. Saber flinched and opened her eyes. He could see that it was taking almost all of her strength to even focus her eyes on him.

"haa… Shir-rou…..I tried…but… I'm sorry" she gasped. Shirou could see his vision darkening. The Angra Mainyu reacted to the torrent of negative emotions arising. He could hear a dark presence whisper in his mind.

Hate… Kill… Despair… Sorrow… Anger…

"Don't speak Saber. You'll be alright. Avalon will heal you. You will be fine. We have to go to the arcade again. I will buy you another stuffed lion. You have to eat dinner today. It's my turn to cook tonight. Don't close your eyes!" he cried. He could hear Gilgamesh snickering from a few meters away.

"It… was… fun" she replied slowly closing her eyes. Shirou felt the dark voice getting louder. He tried to tune it out but failed. He didn't notice the black mass slowly approach him getting attracted to the negative emotions he was emitting.

HATE… KILL… DESPAIR… SORROW… ANGER…

"What will you do now Master of Saber? Will you submit to me or will you suffer a fate like her? Decide and make haste. I do not like to be kept waiting"

What do you desire? Is there something that drives you? Is there something you want? There is no harm in being greedy.

What does your heart yearn for?

"I… I want Saber to live. I… want her to live" he whispered. Gilgamesh strained his ears. "What did you say? Speak louder." He asked. He knew he shouldn't listen to the dark voice but he couldn't help it. He was desperate. He could no longer reason with a clear mind.

A wish doesn't come with its consequences. Are you ready to pay the price Shirou Emiya? The law of universal balance. To give her a life you must sacrifice your own. Are you ready to perform such a sacrifice?

"I can do that. Take my life and give back her life!" he cried back. He could feel the sinister voice smile. Gilgamesh looked like he was out of patience. "Enough with your impertinence. You do not deserve Ea. My treasury is enough for the likes of you"

Very well. Accept your fate for your wish. The girl will be revived. Pay the price in her stead. We will exact the amount to the second.

Saber suddenly opened her eyes and sharply gasped. Shirou gave a sigh of relief. Gilgamesh froze in shock but regained his senses. It would take but some weapons to destroy the weakened Saber and the foolish excuse for a mage.

"Gate of Babylon!" he bellowed aiming to finish both of them off. Shirou's eyes widened and he shielded Saber, bracing for a painful impact. However, it didn't come. The black sludge had shielded them. Gilgamesh stumbled back. This was unexpected. The Grail was protecting him. But why?!

You cannot die yet boy. You still have a debt to pay. A debt to the Grail cannot be forgiven so easily. Now let us claim our price. The price for saving that woman.

Gilgamesh writhed in pain. He let out a bloodcurdling scream. Shirou stared at all of this in horror. He watched as Gilgamesh's body twisted, as if being crushed by an invisible hand. Black Sludge started gushing out of his eyes and ears and he violently shook until his limp body fell to the ground.

The sludge receded and started inching towards Shirou. It was coming for him, he knew it. There was no escaping it. He had to make sure it did nothing to Saber.

"Saber! Get up! Run! NOW!" he cried helping her up. Saber blinked before suddenly comprehending what he said. She obeyed, running away thinking Shirou would follow close behind her.

"Shirou? Shirou! "she cried noting his absence. She turned around and froze, horror overtaking her as Shirou stood in front of the sludge, as if he was planning to sacrifice himself.

"NO!"She cried as the sludge slowly crawled up his foot slowly. Shirou turned his head to have a last look at Saber. He smiled, not an empty one but a radiant smile. A smile that Kiritsugu gave him when he saved him. Saber could do nothing but watch as the sludge swallowed him whole.

To make sure the girl survives we have to erase Gilgamesh's existence from the Heaven's Feel. Will you be ready to complete the void filled by his absence? Will you take responsibility for your desires or will try to escape? Answer us Shirou Emiya.

He opened his eyes and tried to comprehend what had happened. The last he remembered was the black sludge swallowing him. A huge torrent of information flooded his brain. He winced at the headache that followed. There were three men standing in front of him, clearly taken aback by his appearance. It seems they were expecting someone else. He pieced together the information that was rattling all his grey matter.

"I ask you" he said to the man who wore a red suit, similar to the lines a certain Servant said when she first met him "Are you my Master?"

"Who…. are you?" the man asked showing the command seals on his hands as proof. Shirou sighed. This was what the Grail meant by filling the void.

"Your servant Archer has come in response to your summons." He answered. This was not going to be an easy ordeal. Saber had told him that the fourth war was not an easy one.

Tohsaka Tokiomi was confident of success. He had sent many excavation teams to bring back fragments of artifacts that had even slight ties to the infamous 'Oldest King'. The artifact they had brought was one that had very strong connections to the King of Heroes. The first snake skin that was ever shed.

If Gilgamesh was successfully summoned their chances of winning the Grail would rise drastically rise. Risei and Kirei both stood expectantly as he started performing the summoning ceremony.

"Fill, fill, fill, fill, and fill! Repeat five times. But destroy each when filled. A foundation of stone and the Archduke of Contracts. And my ancestor, my great master Schweinorg. A wall to the block of falling wind. The gates of all four directions close. From the crown, come forth and follow the forked road to the Kingdom. I hereby propose – My will shall create thy body, and thy sword shall create my fate. Abiding by the summons of the Holy Grail, if thou dost accede to this will and reason, answer me! Thou clad with the Great Trinity, come forth and form the circle of constraint. Guardian of Heavenly Scales!"

A bright light filled the room. He shut his eyes, fully expecting a golden haired youth to answer his summons. What surprised him was that in place of the regal king, there was a red headed youth dressed in a pant and coat (A/n: Just imagine Shirou in his UBW anime attire). The teenager didn't look like a heroic spirit. The clothes he were dressed in were also from the present time.

The redhead clutched his head in pain. It seems he was now aware of his surroundings. Tokiomi's tried to figure what went wrong with his summoning. The records said Gilgamesh was golden haired. Could they have been wrong? If not, did he make any mistake in his summoning? What heroic spirit was he if not Gilgamesh? Their whole plans hinged on Gilgamesh's ultimate abilities.

"I ask you" the teen said finally "Are you my Master?" Tokiomi raised his hand and showed him the command seals on his hand, not knowing what else to do.

"Who… are you?" he asked warily. The servant gave a big sigh and bowed a little. "Your servant Archer has come in response to your summons" he answered. That did not answer his question.

"Are you not Gilgamesh?" asked Kirei in sincere curiosity. He had never seen his Mentor so surprised before. The servant turned towards him. His golden brown eyes seemed to be soul penetrating. The servant's gaze on him lingered a second more than he liked. He felt him scrutinizing him.

"I am… the Wrought Iron Hero" he answered. The name seemed unfamiliar to all three present in the room. Tokiomi took a chair and sat down. He was weighing the outcome of summoning the unknown servant.

"Come Kirei, we have a lot of strategizing to do. This unexpected turn of events will not serve us well. Thank You Risei for supervising my summoning. Register me as a Master with an Archer class Servant." He said showing the way out to his old acquaintance and commanding his Disciple to follow him. The fourth Holy Grail War was sure to be full of chaos.

A/N: There it is then! The first Chapter of Fate/Archer Redux. Hopefully it'll turn out to be ok. I wanted to place Shirou in the Fourth Grail War as a Servant and not as a Master. I couldn't fit him in any class but Archer, therefore the tiring and boring demise of Gilgamesh and the fate route mixture. Forgive me for the inconvenience! Anyways, please try to ignore any minor grammatical mistakes. If you find any that bother you then PM me the list and I will try to rectify them. Updates might be on the slow side so do bear with me. Also, the disclaimer might be implied from the second Chapter onwards, but it'll be included if I pointlessly want to increase the word count. Do read & review. A hearty thanks once again!

-AaronTheLightBringer