Disclaimer: This is an adaptation of a book of the same title by Radclyffe. I do not own any of the story or characters in this fanfiction nor the original Safe Harbor and Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha.

Chapter Five

'What's this about my sister and jujitsu?' Tiida asked the minute Fate walked into the station house at the end of her shift.

'She talked to you already, huh?' Fate said with a faint smile. Teana was eager, and that was encouraging.

Tiida nodded. 'I stopped home at lunch to see how she was, and that's all she talked about. You really want to do this?'

Fate settled one hip on the corner of her desk, regarding him intently. 'She seems serious, Chief. It's a great way for a kid - for anyone, really - to learn self-confidence and self-control. And it never hurts for a woman to know how to protect herself. I'm willing to teach her if she's willing to put in the effort. It's not easy, and it requires a real commitment over a long time.'

Tiida walked to the front windows and stood staring out. Fate recognized this as a habit of his when he was working something out. She waited silently. He didn't look at her when he spoke.

'I found her out under one of the piers about six months ago with some kids from a couple of towns over - kids we'd had trouble with before. They were fooling around with drugs. Tea swore to me that she hadn't done anything, but it scared me pretty good. She's smart, and she always did real well in school, even after our parents died, but this past year – something's changed. She doesn't get along with any of her old friends, she's skipped school some. Nothing real bad yet, but the signs don't look so good. She doesn't talk about anything; in fact, she hardly talks to me at all anymore. This is the first thing she's shown any interest in, in a long time. I can't pay you much, but it'll be worth it if you think it might help her.'

Fate chose her words carefully, not wanting to offend him. 'Tiida, teaching your sister something I love is not a hardship for me. It helped me when I was her age. Sometimes I think it kept me from going a little crazy. I don't need you to pay me, but I will expect Tea to help me out in the dojo. There's still a lot of work to be done.'

'The dojo?'

Fate grinned. 'Well, right now it's my garage.'

'I'll see that she understands that's part of the arrangement.'

'Fair enough.'

Once home, Fate changed into sweats and a tee shirt and went in search of Sein, the crew boss of the women she had hired to finish the renovations on her house. The previous owner had left many things incomplete, or in some cases, had done the work improperly.

'How's it going,' she asked the small blue-haired woman when she finally located her in the basement.

Sein grimaced. 'Save me from do-it-yourselfers! The plumbing to the master bath is a nightmare. No shut off valves anywhere you could use them, of course. And don't get me started on the wiring!'

Fate smiled at Sein's exuberant display of distress, then asked seriously, 'Can you fix it?'

'Oh, sure. I might need a week more than I originally thought though. Is that okay?'

'Fine - just tell me where you'll be working and I'll try to stay out of your way. If you need me to, I could move out for a while?'

Sein shook her head. 'Not necessary, but there will be some additional costs. I'm sorry - I underestimated the state of things here. No one's lived here for quite a while, and there was some water damage and other -'

Fate interrupted her. 'Don't worry about it. Just do whatever needs to be done. If you need another advance for materials, just let me know.'

Sein looked at the other woman appreciatively. God it was nice to work for someone who didn't think you were trying to rip them off all the time. And such a good-looking woman at that. Sein had been considering asking her out, but she couldn't get a clear read on her. As friendly as Fate was, she was personally unapproachable. She never discussed anything other than business, and never gave a hint of sexual innuendo. Sein wasn't a hundred percent sure the sheriff was gay. Just because she wasn't particularly girly, had a rock-hard body that looked impossibly good in a uniform and a face so androgynous it belonged on a Greek statue, didn't necessarily make her a lesbian. But Fate Testarossa was turning womens' heads all over town, and they couldn't all be wrong!

Sein realized with a start that Fate was waiting for her reply. She blushed and assured Fate that she would keep her appraised of the work schedule.

'Great. I'll get out of your way then,' Fate said.

Sein watched her take the stairs up to the kitchen two at a time, uncomfortably aware that just talking to her had turned her on. She shook her head, deciding that the gorgeous cop was too dangerous to fool with. If a simple conversation could do that to her, who knew what might happen if they actually touched. She wasn't ready for anything that serious, and something told her everything about that one was serious.

Oblivious to Sein's lingering glance, Fate grabbed her gear and walked the mile into town to the gym. Three or four times a week she worked out at the gym in the center of town. Usually she had the place to herself. Most of the tourists were sunning or shopping in the late afternoon, and the regulars tended to work out in the morning. Fate nodded hello to the owner and headed for the free weights. She placed her gym bag against the wall within easy reach.

The Chief had informed her that he expected her to carry her weapon with her at all times. Their force was small, and though serious trouble was rare, they did have recurring problems with drug use and the violence that accompanied it. Tiida said he wanted her to be available on short notice, especially since she was second-in-command. Fate didn't mind - she was used to readiness as a way of life. Her gun and her beeper were as much a part of her life as her car keys. That she was essentially always on call didn't bother her either - she didn't really have a personal life beyond her job and her training. She worked, she worked out, and she trained in the dojo. That was the life she knew, the one she had built since the time she was a teenager, and one she was content with. She lifted the barbell over her head and began to count.

Alto Krauetta, who owns the gym, leaned against the counter leafing through a magazine and watching the quiet one work out. That's how she thought of her - 'the quiet one'. She knew who Fate was of course. Something as exciting as a new deputy sheriff, especially a good-looking female one, didn't go unnoticed in a place this small. Working the reception desk, Alto had been watching her for a couple of weeks now. Moderate weights, high reps - an occasional heavy set thrown in. The sheriff was obviously working for strength, not mass, though from the stretch of her tee shirt across her ample chest and the muscular tone of her thighs it was obvious she could have done heavy lifting if she'd wanted. Bulk clearly wasn't her goal, and the ease with which she stretched after every work out revealed how flexible she was.

Alto admired her as an athlete, and was intrigued by her as an individual. She was always polite, considerate, focused, and completely remote. Alto wondered if she was so calm because she wasn't easily disturbed, or if there simply wasn't anything in her life to disturb her. If you avoided involvements, you usually avoided much of life's turmoil, and Alto had never seen the quiet one with anyone. In fact, Alto hadn't seen her anywhere around town unless she was in uniform working, or in the gym working out.

What does she do for enjoyment? Alto mused. If she were younger herself, she might be tempted to try unsettling that one a little bit. Something told Alto that if you got her started she might surprise you. That rare flicker of a smile of hers hinted at the heat of a fire long banked and ready to flare.

At that moment, Fate approached, asking, 'Can I get a bottle of water?'

'Sure,' Alto replied, reaching into the small refrigerator under the counter. She wiped the condensation off the plastic container with a towel before she handed it to Fate.

Fate took it gratefully, asking as she twisted off the top, 'How much do I owe you?'

'On the house,' Alto answered.

'Thanks just the same, but I'd rather pay,' Fate said, no hint of censure in her voice.

'A dollar then,' Alto said. She regarded the other woman seriously. 'We're not looking for any favours you know, with the little handouts people are probably offering you. You do a job we all appreciate. Our businesses are our lives, and if the community isn't safe, tourists won't come. Without them, we starve. In two days this place will go crazy, and your life will get complicated.'

Fate drained the bottle dry. 'I know that, and I'm grateful for your appreciation. But it's my job to keep order and see that the streets are safe. I don't need any extra thanks for doing what I'm getting paid for.'

Alto stared at her. Fate looked back at her with a steady, unwavering gaze. 'The boy scouts really lost out when you turned out to be a girl,' Alto stated without a hint of a smile.

'What makes you think I wasn't a boy scout?' Fate replied just as seriously.

Alto laughed in surprise, and Fate joined her. As they were both catching their breath, Alto asked impetuously, 'How would you like to have dinner with me one of these nights after you finish your workout?'

Fate was momentarily uncertain. She wasn't used to casual social encounters, especially with people she didn't know well. But there was something so comfortable about this woman that Fate didn't fear the intrusiveness she experienced so often with strangers.

'Okay.'

'So how about tomorrow,' Alto persisted. She had a feeling this one was shy, and she didn't want to give her a chance to change her mind. She couldn't say exactly what there was about the taller woman that appealed to her, but she simply liked her.

Fate nodded after a moment's thought. 'I'll be here.'

Note: I needed a filler character as the gym owner and didn't want to use one of the main characters in case they're needed later so we've got Alto filling in. Unfortunately there will inevitably be some level of ooc-ness in the story. Thanks for the reviews, in truth, reading the old reviews that were posted after the updates stopped played a big part in spurring me to complete this adaptation. So I do hope you all will come back to read this to the end! The juicy bits are soon to come!