A/N: Next chapter! Updates will be fairly inconsistent, started my 5 A-Levels (all essay based, not my best idea...).

DEDICATED TO THE FABULOUS THATRUDITELUNARINTHETARDIS ON TUMBLR! HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY!

Oblivionokay: Glad it was worth the wait, not sure if this one will be though... shhh don't jinx it for her! XD

Tanith Panic: Thank you! I loved writing Connie as a bit of Grinch.

Neve: Oh no don't die! XD

m-is-for-MollyMansfieldMealing: You totally did! Might have to reverse those tears...

lollyblanc0454: Glad you like it!

BethMx: Yay! Glad the ending has gone down well with you all! (ooo I might even post another festive themed one then...)

14o199: I love portraying Rita this way, I need an even balance of both for this to work and I'm glad it's worked out so well!

TRIGGER WARNING: RAPE. THIS WILL BE A CONTINUOS THEME WITH MENTIONS AND REFRENCES THROUGHOUT THIS CHAPTER AND THE NEXT.

The Christmas holiday seemed to fly by, the young couple spending many days playing in the snow until their noses turned blue and many nights curled up under a blanket with hot chocolate. It was pure bliss.

Rita seemed to settle in well in the Beauchamp household, the adoption certificate framed on her wall in pride of place. Olivia and Diane had become good friends over the last month as they supported both teens through the horrors that had occurred recently.

"You ready to go girls?" Olivia's voice came from the bottom of the stairs.

"Two secs mum!" yelled Connie as she fought with the strap on Rita's heels.

"I'll find my flats Con, leave it!"

"I'm nearly there… ah ha! Got it!"

Rita rolled her eyes as Connie cheered in triumph.

"Come on then, we're gonna be late for the party at this rate!"

The two carefully made their way down the stairs to where Olivia was waiting.

"Well don't you both look beautiful?" she grinned.

Connie was wearing a knee length burgundy dress, her curled and carefully pinned to the side of her head. Rita adorned a pair of black formal pants and a sheer white blouse with black cuffs and collar. The three women clambered into the car and headed for Zoe's where the New Year's Party was being held.

"I can't believe they're making you work on New Year's!" Rita exclaimed.

"Well someone's got to be there when drunken louts bash their heads in on the curb!"

"But why does it have to be you? Surely you're entitled to some time off?"

"One of the disadvantages of being top dog I'm afraid." Olivia sighed, pulling up in front of the Hanna household.

"Promise me you'll be careful tonight ladies? I don't mind you having a drink or two, but I don't want to be patching your heads up."

"We promise." Rita nodded, "I don't think there'll be any alcohol anyway."

"Just in case though?"

"Promise." Rita gave Olivia a hug before climbing out of the car. Connie planted a kiss on her cheek before joining her girlfriend.

The pair walked into the party hand in hand, quickly greeted by their friends.

"Hey freechamp's here!" Lofty cheered, his arm slung around Dylan's shoulders.

"Hey guys, glad you could make it!" Zoe grinned, bounding over.

"Hey Zo! Nice party!" Connie grinned.

"Thanks! Lemonade?"

"Yeah go on then."

The young couple quickly faded into the hype of the party, dancing the night away.

Four hours later at 8:00, Connie tapped Rita on the shoulder.

"I'm going for some fresh air!" she yelled over the music, head pounding slightly from the volume of it.

"Do you want me to come with you?"

"Nah I'll be fine!"

"Alright, just don't be long!" Rita pulled her in for a kiss before Connie left her sight, not realising what awaited outside the front door.

A very drunken Guy Self stumbled around the corner, having just finished a bottle of whiskey he'd stolen from his father's liquor cupboard. He approached the Hanna household as Connie walked out, wrapping her arms around herself as the cold hit her. She wished she'd brought a jacket.

"Beauchamp!" he drawled, revelling in the shock and fear on her face.

"What's wrong? Not so confident without your blonde bitch are you?"

He leered towards her, forcing the brunette to back down the alley at the side of the house.

"Hey, it's okay! I'm not gonna hurt you!"

"A-and why should I believe you?" Connie stammered, half with cold, half in fear.

"All I want is to straighten you out!"

Connie's eyes widened in shock and fear as the realisation of what he was about to do dawned on her, as Guy pinned her against the wall.

"Guy… please… don't." she begged, her voice barely a whisper.

"You know you want me Connie, you always have."

"Guy-"

"Shhh!" he taunted, slipping his hand up her dress. Connie lurched away from him, tripping slightly. She would have caught herself, had Guy not flung himself upon her.

Her head hit the ground first, and hard, her wrists gripped in Guy's tight grasp. She felt blood trickle down her forehead and she groaned slightly, fighting against the large figure as he thrust himself inside her. She cried out in pain as he forced the matter and a sharp shooting pain shot through her skull, as she slipped slowly out of consciousness. She was terrified. She tried to call out for Rita, for Zoe, for anybody that would help her, but found she hadn't the strength. The last thing she remembered before she passed out was Guy growling in her ear:

"There we go. All straight now."

Rita glanced at the large clock on the wall. It was 8:30 and there was still no sign that Connie had returned.

"Zoe!" she called, making her way over to the hostess.

"What's up Reets?"

"Have you seen Connie? She went for some air like half an hour ago and I haven't seen her since."

"No, I haven't, but Max just went outside for a cigarette she might still be-"

"ZOE!" Max's voice rang through the house, the panic and the fear in his tone unignorably prominent.

Zoe glanced at Rita, and the two raced outside followed by a gaggle of party guests.

"Zo over here!"

The two young women dipped into the alleyway, pushing past the slowly accumulating group of bystanders. Rita almost passed out, Zoe catching her as they stared dumbfounded at the still body in the slowly reddening snow.

"Call an ambulance!" Zoe yelled, gently lowering Rita to the ground as her knees gave way. Dylan whipped out his phone and hastily rang the number for the emergency services. The blonde sobbed quietly in her friends arms.

Why? Why was this happening to her again? What had she done that was so awful that she warranted losing everybody that she loved?

Max carefully removed his jacket and placed it over Connie in an attempt to keep her warm. He felt for a pulse and a found a weak one, faint and thready, but still very much there.

"She's okay Rita." He whispered, placing a hand on her knee, "She's going to be fine."

The blonde only watched in an almost trance like state as the ambulance arrived. The paramedics clambered out of the ambulance and began to assess the frozen figure, stabilising her neck before carefully carrying her into the ambulance, closely followed by Rita. The blonde sat beside her girlfriend, gripping her icy hand in hers, only half listening as the paramedic reassured her. The ambulance screamed through the streets of Holby and pulled up outside the ED doors, met by a mildly puzzled Dr Miles.

"Rita? We must stop meeting like this!" he joked weakly, only earning a small smile from the blonde.

"R-Rita?" Rita spun around, coming face to face with her guardian, cursing silently as she remembered who the on-call neurologist was.

"Where's Connie?" Olivia's worst fears were confirmed as the brunette was wheeled past the two women into resus, as they watched transfixed.

"She went- it was- I offered to go with her- I should've- Max- she was just- I don't know-" Rita stammered and stuttered, trying to explain to Olivia what had happened, tears pouring down her face as her knees gave way again and she collapsed to the ground.

Olivia quickly joined the blonde, pulling her close, rocking her soothingly.

"Shh, it's okay. It's not your fault."

"I should've gone with her!"

"It's not your fault, you couldn't have known."

"First dad, then mum, now Connie. What have I done to deserve this?"

"Nothing. It's just bad luck. Connie will be fine. Come on it's freezing out here, let's get you inside."

Olivia slowly helped the still sobbing blonde to her feet and led her through the doors, past the bustling reception area and towards resus.

Dr Miles frowned as he checked Connie for further injures and found large, dark, finger shaped bruises around her wrists. Realisation hit him like an avalanche.

"Dr Jones would you pull up a screen and check Miss Beauchamp here for sexual assault injures please?"

The young female doctor nodded, and Dr Miles stepped outside the screen as she checked the brunette. The screen was pulled back and Dr Jones nodded grimly.

"Right, thanks Emma. I think theatre are ready for her now, will you take her up."

Running a hand through his slowly greying hair, he left resus and Olivia and Rita outside.

"Let's do this in my office ladies." He sighed, as the three of them made their way down the corridor.

"Alright. Connie is suffering from severe inter-cranial haemorrhaging, which is why she's gone to theatre. They can relieve the pressure and stem the bleed, but she will be kept in a medically induced coma for a while to allow the brain some time to heal."

Rita buried her face in her hands as Olivia paled slightly.

"There's more. We found significant bruising around her wrist that looked like handprints. Upon further inspection, Dr Jones found that…"

"Found what?" Olivia asked, already half knowing the answer but willing the doctor to prove her wrong.

"Connie's been assaulted, sexually assaulted."

Olivia's eyes widened in shock, her fists clenching. Rita clapped her hands over her mouth, all colour draining from her face.

"No…" the neuro-consultant whispered, "No…"

"I- I need some space." Rita mumbled, dashing from the room and out of the ED into the cold night air.

Olivia made no attempt to follow her as she struggled to comprehend the news, all the fear, all the anger, all the sorrow, flooding out at once as she completely broke down. Dr Miles quickly joined the grieving mother and wrapped his arms around.

"It's going to be alright Liv, Connie'll be fine." He mumbled, kissing her forehead.

"You don't know that." She sobbed, burying her face in his jacket.

"Hey, she's a Beauchamp, you lot are fighters."

"I can't lose her Joe, I just can't."

"I know sweetie, I know."

Once outside the ED doors, Rita leant against the wall, breath coming in gasps, hands balled into fists. She was going to find whoever did this, and when she did she was going to kill him. He was a dead man walking. She pulled her phone from her pocket as it began to ring, displaying Zoe's caller ID.

"Hey." Rita sniffed, answering it.

"Hey. Is Connie alright?"

"They've, um, they've just taken her up to theatre, they're gonna have to keep her in a coma for a while."

"Oh Rita… is it just her head though?"

"No… someone raped her Zo."

"W-what?"

Rita could hear Max mumbling in the background.

"Um… can I tell Max?"

"Yeah, but keep it between us three yeah?"

"Y-yeah."

There were several moments of tense silence before Max's voice could be heard on the other end of the phone.

"The minute you find out who it is, let me know. I'll help you teach them a lesson."

That Monday, Rita returned to school with the gang, minus Connie. The brunette had come through theatre okay but was still in a coma. The blonde was subdued to say the least, but her friends were incredibly supportive.

"What's the matter Freeman? Girlfriend dump you?" came the sneering voice of Guy Self.

"Not today Guy yeah?" Cal mumbled, knowing full well the state Connie was in.

"But I haven't told you yet Cal have I?" he crowed, "I straightened bonnie Beauchamp out!"

Rita whipped round, eyes flaming with anger, as the group gawked at Guy.

"What?" Rita asked, her voice filled with menace.

"Yeah, we had a bit in the alley. Boy-"

Guy never got to finish his sentence before the blonde laid into him. She flew at him, punching and kicking, scratching and screaming. It took Lofty, Robyn, Ethan and Cal to pull her off him. The pompous twit didn't even have the sense to act remorseful.

"Jealous are we?"

"SHE'S IN A COMA BECAUSE OF YOU! SHE MIGHT NEVER WAKE UP!"

"Big whoop, one less lesbian to filthy the earth."

Rita broke free of the grasp of her friends and launched herself at Guy again, busting his nose and lip.

"SHE COULD DIE! HAVE YOU ANY IDEA HOW LONG THEY PUT YOU AWAY FOR MURDER?"

Rita was pulled off Guy again, this time by Charlie, Diane, Tess and Elliot. The blonde was sobbing uncontrollably, fighting against the teachers that restrained her.

"I'LL KILL HIM!" she screamed, "HE RAPED HER! HE PUT HER IN A COMA!"

Max pulled his phone out and dialled the number the officer on Connie's case had given him.

"DI Clifford? Yeah it's Max Walker here, I know who was responsible for the assault of Connie Beauchamp. Yeah, I'm looking right at him. Holby High School. Ten minutes? Sounds great. Bye."

Guy's eyes widened in shock, and he went to make a run for it.

"Oh no you don't." Max grunted, grabbing his arm and twisting it behind his back, successfully restraining him, "You're not running away from this."

Rita was still struggling, determined to finish off the smug rapist. Diane moved in front of the blonde and knelt down until they were the same height.

"Look at me. Guy is about to get exactly what he deserves. What he did is wrong on so many levels, but Rita, he's not worth going to prison for."

Rita looked deep into the deep brown eyes of her maths teacher, tears beginning to trail down her cheeks.

"Can you honestly say this is what your parents would want, what CONNIE would want?"

Rita shook her head, breaking down completely. Diane took the small blonde in her arms and hugged her tightly, quietly reassuring her as the police pulled up.

DI Dan Clifford climbed out of the leading vehicle, followed by Superintendent Maddy Young.

"Is this him?" He asked Max who was still restraining him.

"Yup. This is Guy Self, 16 years old, classmate of both Connie Beauchamp and Rita Freeman."

"And who did that to his face?"

"Rita when he started gloating about how he'd 'straightened her out'."

"HA, you've got no proof of that!"

"Actually…" piped up Cal, stopping the voice recorder on his phone, "We have. I knew, the minute you said 'I haven't told you yet' that it was you. You've reached a whole new level of low Guy. I went to primary school with Connie. She's not that bad once you get to know her. You're just jealous because you know she wouldn't look twice at you, even if she were straight."

Guy's jaw dropped as Cal earned grin's and pats on the back from the brunette's friends.

"Guy Self, I'm arresting you for the sexual and physical assault of Constance Louise Beauchamp on the 31st of December 2014. You do not have to say anything that may harm your defence but anything you do say may be held against you in court."

Maddy hastily clipped the handcuffs onto the rapist's wrists and shoved him into the back of the car. Dan nodded in acknowledgement to Max and the car drove off.

Rita quietly opened the door to the ITU unit where Connie was recovering. She looked so peaceful lying there on the bed, the only remainder of the horrors of the last week being the small dressing on her forehead. Pulling up a chair, Rita took hold of her hand and kissed it.

"Hey you. I know who it was now. I nearly killed the piece of shit, would've done if it wasn't for half the school pulling me off him. He's being held in the station until they can transfer him."

Rita carefully moved a lock of stray brown hair from Connie's eyes.

"I should have come out with you Con. I'm so sorry."

Connie's eyelids began to flicker, and the blonde's heart lept.

"Connie?"

Her eyes now open, the teen gave Rita a small tired smile.

"Hey." She whispered.

"Hi." Rita grinned, tears pouring down her cheeks, "How are you feeling?"

"Tired, and my head's throbbing."

"I'm so sorry."

"You have absolutely nothing to apologise for you numpty. None of this is your fault." Connie gave her hand a reassuring squeeze, smiling fondly at her girlfriend.

"I-I'd better go and get Olivia. She needs to know you're okay. I'll be right back."

Rita dashed form ITU, skidding down the corridor until she reached the neurologists office. She knocked quickly, impatient to tell her the news.

"Come in!"

Practically flinging the door off its hinges, Rita burst in.

"Rita! What-"

"She's awake."

Olivia needed no further explanation. She stood up and raced past the blonde, both of them heading back to ITU.

"Wha-"

The monitors next to Connie's bed were bleeping furiously, the brunette no longer conscious, as the doctor's bustled around her.

"I don't understand, she was just-" Rita started.

Then, the monitor flat lined.

A/N: And just to make you hate me more, I don't know when I'll be able to update this next ;)

Reviews are always welcomed!