Author's Note:
This chapter will contain the actual rape scene and it is rather violent so do be warned. The scene itself does contain some important story elements but I won't blame you if you want to skip over it. I will indicate the scene itself with ***'s so you know it's coming and when it's ending.

If you do read the scene, I would love it if you could give me some feedback on it; it's my first time writing about something like that and I'm pretty nervous about it.

With that I present to you, Chapter IV.

Disclaimer:
I do not claim ownership of the Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha series or franchise. This is a non-profit fan-written story written exclusively for entertainment purposes.

{]-~*(X)*~-[}

It had been a day since Fate woke up and I had been with her that whole day. In front of our friends she kept up her mask. It was hard for me to see her act like she was fine. Still, I admired her; she did her best to be as strong as she could be. I never spoke with anyone about the time Fate and I were alone. The time she cried her heart out and allowed herself to be vulnerable.

I was the only one allowed to ever see her like that. Even when it was just me and Lindy that were with her, Fate kept up the façade that she was fine.

On the bright side, Fate's physical injuries were healing nicely according to Dr Ishida. She was still in a lot of pain though. The worst part was that she had not just gotten injured because of the beating. The perpetrator had not only raped Fate directly, but he had also used a tool – which the doctors suspected to be something like an empty glass bottle – which had inflicted vaginal and rectal lacerations. Fate could hardly sit and was in a lot of pain whenever she used the toilet.

That morning I found a surprise on my doorstep as Chrono stood there just as I was about to go to the hospital.

"Chrono-kun!" I said in surprise.

"Nanoha." He nodded at me in greeting. His overall posture was nervous. Had the situation been any different, I would've joked about the mighty Chrono being a nervous wreck. But his hesitation made it clear that this visit was about Fate, and it was serious.

"What is it?" I immediately asked. "Is something wrong with Fate-chan?!" I felt panic starting to rear its ugly head in my subconscious.

"No, no Fate's fine." Chrono said quickly. From the tone of his voice I could hear he wasn't saying that just to keep me calm. I breathed a small sigh of relief; Fate was fine, Fate was safe at the hospital.

"I just got here to give you a little heads-up; I pulled a couple of strings, contacted the lieutenant of the police department's special victims unit, Genya Nakajima." I nodded in understanding. I knew Hayate had spoken to Chrono about calling in some favours. Chrono had assured her he had already planned to do so; Fate was his sister after all. It was his job as an older brother to protect her.

"He told me he'd put his best team of Fate's case. If anyone can nail the bastard that hurt her, they can. The reason I am telling you this is because a couple of detectives are going to come by to ask Fate some questions today. I was hoping you'd stay with her and support her. She'll have to be open about what happened and you are the only person I know that has ever been able to fully open her up."

I nodded again, remembering the previous day. The only one that had been allowed to see Fate cry had been me.

"You can count on me Chrono-kun! There is no way I'm going to let Fate go through all of this alone. I love her!" I spoke determinedly.

Chrono smiled at me before pulling me into a strong hug. "Thank you Nanoha, I'm so glad Fate has someone like you in her life. She's so very lucky in that respect."

Chrono's words made me smile. While he usually kept up the image of a tough police lieutenant, I knew he had a giant soft spot for his family and friends. "I'm pretty sure the lucky one is me Chrono-kun."

*~-{ Broken }-~*
*~-{ Written by Zarosguth }-~*
*~-{ Chapter IV }-~*

Nanoha had arrived at Fate's hospital room about fifteen minutes ago and after initial greetings both of them hadn't spoken a word. They just enjoyed each other's company, glad to be together. Nanoha sat next to Fate's bed and held her hand. The blonde was just happy to have the brunette so close.

It had always been Nanoha. Back when they were little and Fate first enrolled in Nanoha's school as the 'new kid', Fate had felt something different when she laid eyes on the woman whom was now her girlfriend.

Before she could dwell on the past however, a knock was heard on the door to Fate's hospital room. Nanoha noticed Fate's slight flinch at the sound as well as the fact Fate's grip on Nanoha's hand got tighter. The blonde had been on edge and hyper alert all the time ever since she woke up. Truth be told, she had always been more alert than others ever since she was taken in by Lindy and taken away from Precia, but that had gotten better over time. But now, her anxiety had returned with a vengeance.

Nanoha gave her girlfriend's hand a reassuring squeeze and whispered that everything was going to be alright before asking the person who'd knocked to come in.

Upon Nanoha's invitation the door opened and a young woman, about two years younger than Nanoha and Fate with long bluish purple hair walked in. Upon seeing this stranger, whom was clearly not part of the hospital staff judging by her more casual clothing, Fate's anxiety got worse as she tried to bury her body deeper into the hospital bed.

"I'm sorry to disturb you. I am detective Ginga Nakajima, Special Victims Unit." The young woman introduced herself.

"Nanoha Takamachi." Nanoha introduced herself, shaking the detective's hand.

Fate had gotten herself to relax in the meantime, relieved to learn the young woman had no evil intentions. "Fate Harlaown." She also introduced herself, shaking Ginga's hand.

"I will not beat around the bush," Ginga said, getting right down to business, "I'm here to talk to you about what happened, Miss Harlaown."

{]-~*(X)*~-[}

Fate knew she was going to have to talk to the police about what had happened eventually; her brother was sure to get the best of the best on her case. She knew him well enough that she knew he would pull a few strings to get that to happen.

Fate knew it was going to be difficult. She was unsure of whether or not she should send Nanoha away, or if she should ask for the brunette to stay. She was about to ask her girlfriend what she wanted to do when she felt her hand being given a strong squeeze, though not strong enough to hurt. That was when she knew, Nanoha was here to help her through it.

The blonde smiled affectionately at the brunette before mentally preparing herself. She put up her mask of indifference and mentally detached herself from what had happened. She brought herself into a state of mind in which she could look at the events of that night as if it wasn't her, but someone else that had gotten attacked.

"What do you need to know, detective?" Her voice had become void of emotion and if Ginga was surprised at the change in tone and expression, she did not show it.

"I want you to tell me what happened that night. Anything you can remember can be important in this case." Was the detective's answer.

Fate took a deep breath to steel her nerves. Her hand tightened its grip on Nanoha's. Then, she started talking.

{]-~*(X)*~-[}

Flashback, six days ago, the day of the attack…

Fate had just bid farewell to Hayate and Signum after she'd visited them that evening at 'Pink Velvet', Hayate's club.

Stepping outside, Fate waved the bouncer – Hayate's cousin Zafira – goodbye and he returned the gesture.

Walking away from the club, Fate turned into an alleyway that would provide her a shortcut to get home quicker. She'd gotten a few steps into the alley when she heard the sound of footsteps behind her.

Growing nervous, the blonde slightly increased her pace. Her fears grew worse when the footsteps following her also started to increase in pace.

Fate was about to go into an all-out sprint when she felt a pair of hands grab her, one got slung around her shoulders, over her chest while the other covered her mouth, preventing the blonde from screaming. A strong smell of alcohol filled her nose as Fate grabbed hold of the arms that had taken hold of her and tried to shake them off. She thrashed and resisted as the man that had grabbed her tried to subdue her.

Unfortunately, Fate's struggles were brought to a halt when the man swung against the wall. The resulting blow to her head wasn't hard but it was enough to stun her. Unable to fight back or even move at all, Fate was laid down against the brick wall her head had been slammed into.

*** Her vision was blurry and her mind was hazy. She felt the man tug at her skirt as he forced it off her.

Despite her grogginess due to getting her head slammed into a brick wall, Fate still managed to plead to the man. "No, stop it!" though her speech was horribly slurred.

The man ignored her and ripped off her panties next, leaving the young woman's privates exposed.

Tears welled up in Fate's eyes as she could make out the man zipping down his pants. "Why…?" was all she managed to choke out before the man kneeled before her with his pants down and forcefully spread her legs with his hands.

"You have been a bad girl," the man accused in an eerily calm voice, "so now I will have to punish you!"

Fate's ears were ringing but despite that she had heard the man's words clearly. His voice however, she could not recognize as it sounded distorted to her. She did note it was relatively high-pitched.

That was when he took her. Pain ripped through the blonde's body as she was penetrated. She tried to scream but the man jammed a piece of cloth in her mouth to silence her attempt.

Pulling out of Fate, the man turned her around to lie on her stomach. Watching over her shoulder she could make out the image of him holding something in his right hand. Before she could get a good look to see what it was, she felt one of his hands coming to rest on her left butt cheek.

Next thing she knew Fate felt something entering her anus. The cloth that was stuck in her mouth prevented her from screaming in pain. The pain was worse than anything she had ever felt in her life. Flashbacks of her life with Precia started flooding her mind, but even the pain from those memories didn't compare to the unimaginable pain she felt at that very moment.

The man proceeded to kick her as she lay there, already writhing in pain. He was calling her a dyke, a bitch and other derogatory terms. The scariest part of it all was that he was not yelling at the top of his lungs. Instead, he sounded calm – eerily so – as he kept accusing her of being a bad girl and deserving to be punished.

The pain becoming too much, darkness started to creep up in the corners of Fate's eyes and she lost consciousness. ***

{]-~*(X)*~-[}

"I don't remember much after blacking out. I vaguely remember seeing Zafira's concerned face as he told me he would get help. Next time I know I wake up here in the hospital a few days ago." Fate concluded her story to the detective.

Ginga nodded and wrote down a final few notes on a notepad before turning to Fate again. She could see the blonde was close to cracking so she decided she'd ask her follow-up questions later.

"Thank you Miss Harlaown. You really are a very brave individual. Do not worry; we will catch the bastard that did this to you. We might some more questions for you later if that's alright with you."

"Of course." Fate said solemnly. Ginga barely caught the blonde squeezing her girlfriend's hand.

The detective gave the blonde a reassuring smile as she thanked her again. Turning to Nanoha she thanked the brunette as well before she left the two of them alone.

Outside the hospital room Ginga went over Fate's story in her head. What stuck to her more however was the way in which the blonde had told her what'd happened. Her voice was void of emotion and her eyes were distant. It was as if she'd distanced herself from what had happened. But rather than it being due to the trauma itself, it was more as if she'd done so deliberately.

And then there was that mask that she used to hide her emotions… Ginga visibly shivered as it dawned on her that the attorney may have experienced more than one traumatic event in her life.

Nanoha and Fate's hands were still holding on to each other. Nanoha had had tears running down her cheeks as she was listening to the horrible things that had been done to Fate.

The brunette teacher sincerely hoped Ginga would make good on her promise to catch the person that had hurt and violated the love of her life.

*~-{ End of Chapter IV }-~*

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*~-{ May we meet again, fare thee well! }-~*