At long last, I'm attempting another Fate/Stay Night crossover (after Perils of Magical Investigative Journalism), as opposed to a Fate/Zero one. It's also another Medea-heavy one, but an intriguing one. You see, thanks to whitetigerwolf's challenges, I got into the film John Wick, and having enjoyed that, tried to do some stories, though as of this writing, I've only published one as a full story: a one-shot crossover with The Sandman called Death and Baba Yaga.

That being said, this one intrigues me. Firstly, as of this writing, there are no crossovers between the Nasuverse and John Wick, and given how John Wick seems rather a lot like Kiritsugu Emiya in many ways, I'm actually surprised. Hell, I reckon Keanu Reeves would make a great Kiritsugu, should they ever do a live-action version of Fate/Zero.

Secondly, as followers of my stories might note, I'm a big fan of the Fate/Stay Night Caster, aka Medea, and like to try and do stories where she gets a better ending, with my best so far being my Thor crossover Light the Blue Touch Paper and Run Like Hell.

Thirdly, John Wick provides a contrast to Kuzuki, Medea's canonical Master. While both are retired assassins, John is more moral than Kuzuki, who doesn't object to Medea's methods and is considerably amoral. In this story, John is also a Magus, albeit one who is even worse than Shirou at magecraft, only knowing Reinforcement and Structural Analysis. But he has enough magic circuits to sustain Medea, and as he will have a connection to Shirou and Illya (who was rescued from the von Einzberns by John in the backstory), the dynamic of this Holy Grail War will be changed.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy this...

EDIT (24/8/2017): Okay, I decided to change things with the story. Having John meet up with Shirou and Illya too early on would cut down too much on the character conflict. So, I decided to have John meet Kuzuki (he knows Kiritsugu is dead, but doesn't know whether Shirou and Illya are still living at the same address) and Medea first and by the time they actually meet, John will be enemies against Shirou and Illya. John won't want to actually kill them, but like Kiritsugu, he will be more focused on getting his wish (reviving Helen and Daisy), while Shirou and Illya, who were told about Angra Mainyu by Kiritsugu, want to destroy the Grail. They will eventually team up, but not before they are adversaries first.

Keep an eye out for the revised chapters later.

EXPIATION (ORIGINAL)

CHAPTER 1:

BABA YAGA COMES TO FUYUKI

In an office, a grizzled old man is handed a telephone by a lackey. A little impatiently, he answers it. "Yes?" he asks imperiously in his native Japanese, and he's a little surprised to hear the reply in English.

"Raiga, my dear fellow, how are you?"

Raiga Fujimura winced. It had been a somewhat trying day, and he had just been short to one of the most powerful men in the world, even if he wasn't publicly acknowledged as such. In English, he replied, "Physically, I'm as well as can be expected, Winston. However, you must forgive my lack of propriety earlier. I have just had to make an example of a couple of fools trying to muscle in on my turf, and it has been a rather sordid chore."

There was a soft chuckle on the other end. "I'm sorry to hear that, old friend. Sadly, I have some news that might not help matters. I rang you as a courtesy. John Wick is coming to Fuyuki."

At that, Raiga felt a chill come over his heart. "I sincerely hope this is not some poor attempt at humour, Winston. I had thought that Baba Yaga had been retired for some time."

"And you thought correctly, old friend. Unfortunately, Jonathan ran afoul of a rather severe case of bad luck. His wife died of a terminal illness, and left Jonathan a dog to keep him company. Unfortunately, the son of Viggo Tarasov noticed Jonathan's car, and, not knowing who Jonathan was, tried to procure it, first by money, and then, by breaking into his house, brutalising Jonathan, and murdering his dog."

Raiga hissed quietly. "…I am guessing that it did not end well for the Tarasov boy."

"Nor for Viggo himself. They are both dead, and their organisation is in tatters. So too is Marcus, by Viggo's hand. And Miss Perkins…well, she foolishly flouted the Continental's rules of no business on the premises by attempting to kill Jonathan, and paid for it with the customary price."

Which meant she was stupid enough to try and assassinate someone on the Continental's premises, and was executed for her troubles. Raiga certainly knew of both assassins. Eventually, he said, "So why is John Wick coming here?"

"After Jonathan decimated Viggo's organisation, I suggested he get out of town for some time. I'm glad that fool Santino D'Antonio got himself killed trying to overthrow his sister in a coup d'etat. I thought he might have tried to hire Jonathan. As it is, Jonathan wants another chance to begin anew, and he decided to call in at the home of Kiritsugu Emiya."

Raiga frowned. That could be a problem, not least because his own granddaughter Taiga was a frequent visitor to that home. "That may be a problem, Winston. Emiya died nearly five years ago. In fact, I am fairly certain Baba Yaga last met him about two years before he did die, when that Illyasviel girl arrived here."

"Indeed. I believe Jonathan helped Emiya retrieve Illya from her mother's family, and caused quite a mess. You and I know what world they belong to, Raiga, and frankly, the von Einzberns deserved it. Jonathan is aware that Kiritsugu is dead. He is hoping to stay with the children. I think he's looking for a family again."

"Very well. I'll keep an eye on him, but I'm not foolish enough to rouse the Baba Yaga from his slumber…as long as he does nothing to my granddaughter."

"He won't. Jonathan only wants a quiet life, Raiga. If we're lucky, Fuyuki will give him what New York couldn't, what happened nine years ago aside."

"The Fuyuki Fire…yes, I remember it. Emiya's adoptive son, the one my granddaughter mooches off, he was the only survivor. Shirou…yes, his name is Shirou…"

The taxi drove away, leaving the tall, thin man in the immaculate dark suit on the side of the road. Dark hair framed handsome, if lugubrious features of uncertain lineage. Certainly, he could have passed for part-Japanese, and he spoke it like a native, amongst many other languages.

He looked at the old-style Japanese mansion he had been left in front of, and went through the gate, before heading to the front door and knocking. The door was eventually answered by a boy in his late teens, with red hair and golden eyes. "Can I help you?" the boy asked.

"Perhaps. Are you Shirou Emiya?"

"Yes. Could you tell me your name, please?"

"John Wick," the man said.

"Hey, little brother, who is it?" came the voice of a girl about the same age.

"He says his name is John Wick, Illya!" Shirou called over his shoulder.

"What?" Then, a girl in her late teens with extraordinarily pale skin, snow-white hair, and crimson eyes peered out from behind Shirou. "Oh. Wow, so it really is you, Mr Wick!"

"Illya, you've grown," John said with a tired smile. "You look so much like your mother. May I come in?"

"Sure, sure!" Illya chirped.

Shirou was bustling around in the kitchen, while Illya and John were sitting at a low table. "How long has it been? Six years? Seven?"

"Nearly seven," John said quietly. "I'm sorry I couldn't come to the funeral. I was on a job at the time. I had Winston send flowers and a card."

"Yes, I know, they were lovely," Illya said.

Shirou, who was bringing out some tea and coffee, asked, "Mr Wick…"

"John, please," John said.

"Okay. John…I'm curious, how did you know our father?"

"…Are you aware of what he did for a living?"

Shirou and Illya looked at each other, before Illya nodded. Shirou then said, "Dad and Illya told me a little. He was a mercenary, of sorts, an occasional assassin working for Clock Tower and other people. He didn't like talking about the past much, though."

"He and I moved in the same circles. I too am a mercenary. In many ways, we were very much alike. I too am a somewhat unconventional Magus, albeit with less ability than most. I generally stick to mundane methods. Bluntly, I was an assassin like your father."

"Was?" Illya asked.

"It's a fairly long story, so I'll only address the key points," John said. "I met the love of my life, a woman by the name of Helen. She was, dimly, aware of my profession, and wanted me to retire. I asked my then-employer, Viggo Tarasov, for permission. He gave me something of an impossible task that I fulfilled, so I was allowed to leave that world with my hide intact, or so I thought. A few weeks ago, Helen died."

"I'm sorry to hear that," Shirou said sincerely. John prided himself on reading people, and he could tell that Shirou had a very earnest, forthright personality. He didn't even seem fazed about John being an assassin. "Illya told me about her mother. I wish I could have met Irisviel."

"I met her myself once," John said. "Only once, admittedly. I had met her and that woman Saber in Hamburg just before they headed here. I had met Kiritsugu earlier, and he asked me to guard them before bringing them to the plane. Helen and Irisviel were very much alike. After she died, Helen left me a beagle. She felt I needed someone to love me after she died, and that beagle, Daisy, loved me from the beginning. But I only had her a couple of days." John's voice caught in his throat. He wasn't usually this verbose, especially to a couple of teenagers he barely knew. But they were the children of Kiritsugu Emiya.

"What happened?" Illya asked.

John shook his head. "It's rather painful to talk about, Illya. Daisy was killed by a group of thugs after my car. I dealt with them. However, New York's a little dangerous for me now. A mutual friend of mine and Kiritsugu's recommended I come here."

After he drank some tea to help settle himself, John heard Shirou ask, "Are you a Magus yourself, John?"

"Not much of one. I have access to all of my circuits, but I never had much of a knack for anything beyond Reinforcement and Structural Analysis," John said, grateful for the change in topic.

"You hear that Shirou? There is a Magus worse than you," Illya said. "Shirou here is good at Projection as well, but anything else…well, at least I managed to get his magic circuits working properly. I think Dad taught him improperly to try and discourage him from doing more magecraft."

"Given how dangerous magecraft is, I'm hardly surprised," John said quietly, not offended by Illya's assessment of him as being worse than Shirou. And judging by Shirou's expression, it was clearly something she teased him about often.

"We have our own joint Workshop," Illya said.

"And the Second Owner?"

"Is aware of our presence at most," Illya said. "Rin Tohsaka, the last of the Tohsaka family. Her father died nearly ten years ago, and her mother didn't last long after that, apparently. But we don't advertise what we do. And we don't trust the Matous one bit."

"Sakura's all right," Shirou said.

"I'll give you that much. Sakura's nice, though she's pretty much a doormat. But Shinji is a vicious little bastard who can't do magecraft worth squat. And what I heard about Zouken Matou…" Illya shuddered. "And there's that priest guy, Kotomine. Dad told me to stay away from him."

"Why?"

"Former Executor from the Burial Agency," Illya said. "And he and Dad fought each other nearly ten years ago."

The conversation, thankfully, moved onto more light topics, and John was grateful for that. Eventually, Illya asked, "So, what do you intend to do, John?"

"I don't know. I came here mostly to stay until the heat died down, but I can't impose on you for…"

"This house is pretty large, John," Shirou said. "It's just Illya and me staying here, with occasional visits from Big Sis Fuji and Sakura."

"Big Sis Fuji?" John asked.

"Taiga Fujimura," Illya explained.

John now knew why. What little he knew about Fuyuki was mostly centred around the Magi world, and the underworld. "Raiga's granddaughter, I assume?" he asked.

Illya nodded, and John sighed. Well, hopefully, it wouldn't cause any trouble. Although John had never actually met Raiga or had dealings with the yakuza gang he ran, he at least knew of Raiga and his temperament. As long as John didn't cause any trouble, he would be fine.

"She's my English teacher, and our guardian," Shirou explained. "She's not involved with…her grandfather's business."

"Unless you count her mooching off meals as theft," Illya pouted.

John couldn't help but chuckle. Shirou then said, "Look, you won't be any trouble. If Dad trusted you, I will too."

Illya seemed torn at the thought of that. Eventually, she nodded. And John decided he would accede. He was intending on staying at a hotel, at least until he could find a place, but if they were willing to help him, well, he would accept their help. "Thanks," John said quietly.

Later, John decided to walk around the town. Once his new dog got out of quarantine, he was going to have to take it on walks. And he needed to familiarise himself with the town.

He decided to head towards Mount Ryuudou, and the temple on top, to maybe pray to whatever deity existed for expiation of his sins. He wasn't sure whether there was a God, and he certainly didn't quite share Viggo's conviction that God stole Helen away as punishment for John's manifold sins.

There was a little more to this visit than that. Winston, while recommending Fuyuki as a place for John to stay, mentioned that another retired assassin was here. Soichirou Kuzuki had once worked for an organisation loosely affiliated to the Continental, but eventually quit. He was particularly noted for his mastery of the 'Snake' form of assassination martial arts. Kuzuki was said to reside at Ryuudou Temple, so Winston said, and John wished to pay his respects to his fellow retired assassin.

As it happened, he met his fellow assassin, just as it began to cloud over, at the foot to the steps to Ryuudou Temple. Judging by the way Kuzuki's eyes narrowed, he recognised John, despite the two not having met. "Wick," the man said.

"Kuzuki," John replied.

Kuzuki scrutinised him. John did the same, noting Kuzuki to be a tall, thin, ascetic-looking man with a strict expression. There was a strange emptiness to the man that had John feeling a chill, and he was cursing even thinking of approaching the man. "Why has the Baba Yaga come to Fuyuki? I had thought you retired after that job you did for the Russians in New York," Kuzuki observed, his voice deep and calm.

"I still am, but I brought down some heat on me in New York. The Continental suggested a relocation."

Kuzuki nodded. "You are not here to work, then?"

"No. Winston told me about you, and I just wanted to come to make sure that, if we met each other, there wouldn't be any misunderstandings."

"Very well," Kuzuki said. "But I too am retired from our world. I work as a teacher."

"Well, would you like to discuss life here in Fuyuki, as well as people I should watch out for?"

After a moment, Kuzuki nodded.

They discussed things as they went up the steps, rain pelting down on them. While Kuzuki couldn't ever be described as warm or even relaxed in John's company, there was at least something familiar in the way they spoke. It was while Kuzuki was discussing the mysterious fire nearly a decade ago that that they spotted the figure sprawled on the steps in front of them.

It was a woman, drenched by the rain, and dressed, oddly enough, in blue and purple robes. The hood of said robes had fallen away, revealing lavender hair framing lugubriously beautiful features. Oddly enough, her ears were pointed, giving her the air of an elf. Her breathing was ragged and laborious, and she was, at best, semi-conscious, and slipping fast.

John, after checking the forest and the steps they were climbing for any potential threats, dashed up to her as fast as he could manage in the rain. "Hey! Hey! Are you okay?!" he yelled. His practised eye looked over the woman. No external injuries as far as he could tell.

Her eyes flickered open, revealing sapphire orbs, glistening with tears, peering at him, unfocused, tired, but alive. "…Who…are…" Her eyes flickered shut.

John grimaced. Her time was running out, and they needed to get her out of the elements fast. He looked at Kuzuki, who said, "Come with me. The head priest at Ryuudou holds me in high regard. We'll get their help."

With that, the two assassins brought the mysterious woman up to the temple, little knowing that this event would change John Wick's life. Though whether it was for better or for worse remained to be seen…

CHAPTER 1 ANNOTATIONS:

So, John's met Medea. And it looks like he will be a Master in the upcoming Grail War. But will he be friend or foe to the Emiyas?

No numbered annotations this time.