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 Six

Nanoha glanced toward shore as she stroked rhythmically through the water at six a.m. in the morning. There were a few anglers out, hoping for a jump on the other fishermen, and there on the drive off, the police cruiser. It had been there every morning for a week, and she felt sure she knew who it was. She almost waved, then stopped, chiding herself for her foolishness. There was no reason to think that Fate Testarossa was there to see her. She hadn't heard from the sheriff in over a week, since the day she had showed up with Teana Lanster in her patrol car. Nanoha had to admit she had hoped Fate might call with news of her investigation. Nanoha found herself looking for the police car each day when she kayaked, her pulse racing a little when she saw it.

A wave took her by surprise, rocking the small craft and reminding her to stop daydreaming. She glanced once more toward shore, trying to make out the profile of the driver, then turned her mind to the sea and the soothing cadence of her strokes.

Fate drained her coffee cup as she watched the red dot disappear around the corner at Race Point. She sat a bit longer before she started the engine. Those few minutes each morning watching Nanoha glide across the horizon were the most peaceful moments of her day. She couldn't have said exactly why, but she knew what she felt, and had no reason to question it. She pulled the cruiser around toward Route six, settled and ready to work.

She drove east to the town limits, then turned right toward the harbor to complete the circuit back down Commercial Street. At this hour, there was almost no traffic except for the delivery trucks double-parked along the narrow one-way street, their drivers servicing the many businesses densely crowding the thoroughfare. Bikers and roller-bladers claimed the road that would be filled with tour buses and tourists on foot by eleven am. By the first day of Memorial Day weekend there would be a steady stream of cars crawling slowly through town until well after midnight. She looked forward to it despite the Chief's gloomy predictions of chaos. Chances were, she'd be working twelve-hour shifts, but that didn't bother her. She'd have to make adjustments in her workout schedule but that was her only concern.

Most nights after the gym she spent completing the renovations to the garage, getting her dojo ready. By nine o'clock she was usually in bed with a book. Up at four, she ran five to ten miles on the beach, then showered and was ready to leave the house at six for work. She kept military hours, the same hours she had kept since she was fourteen years old. Her life was orderly, routine, and predictable. Her work as a peacekeeper, first in the military, and now here, provided her with a sense of purpose and satisfaction. Her martial arts training challenged her body and calmed her mind. The absence of close personal ties was not something she questioned or gave any thought to. This was the life she had always lived, and on the whole, she was content.

She waved to Griffith Lowran as she pulled into the small lot behind the Municipal Building. Griffith was one of the young officers who worked the night shift, and they knew each other only well enough to say hello.

'Quiet night?' Fate called.

'Yeah,' he said as he unlocked the door to his Dodge truck. 'Couple of drunks needed an escort home. I swung by the clinic a few times like you asked. The doc left at midnight - after that it was like a tomb. It's not warm enough for much action in the dunes yet.'

The Park Rangers patrolled the dunes during the day, but at night they left it to the Sheriff's department. Soon the three miles of sand along Herring Cove would be packed with bathers and would-be lovers. The dunes above the beach and along Route Six were favourite areas for rendezvous. The police kept people out of the dunes to protect the habitat as much as to deter the sex and drugs. Fate didn't particularly like the duty, but it was part of the job.

No one was in the office, so she took advantage of the quiet to finish time schedules, make up duty rosters, and to peruse recent crime reports from nearby townships. Sooner or later whatever trouble the other towns had would filter down to her community. She was about to brew another pot of coffee and was starting to contemplate lunch when the scanner picked up a 911 call to the EMT station in Wellfleet.

'A guy fell out on the Long Point jetty,' an anxious male voice reported. 'It looks like his leg is twisted in some rocks and he's bleeding all over the place-'

Fate was up and through the door before the passer-by finished giving the information to the dispatcher in the town fifteen miles away. She was two minutes from the scene. Long Point jetty was a long finger of rocks that formed a protective arch between Provincetown harbor and the Atlantic Ocean. It stretched a good two miles and was a favourite tourist attraction. Unfortunately, people often underestimated how treacherous the huge slabs of rock could be, especially when still wet from high tide. A crowd was visible as she swung around Bradford Street, angling her cruiser across the road to prevent access to more curious onlookers. People parted for her rather reluctantly as they pushed out onto the jetty, jostling for a better look.

All Fate could see was another crowd milling about several hundred yards further out on the rocky causeway, presumably the site of the accident. She started toward them as quickly as she could, her progress hampered by the poor footing on rocks which were slippery with the debris left by the receding tides. The jetty was comprised of angled blocks of stone piled adjacent to one another, forming a discontinuous walkway. There were large gaps between some slabs, requiring her to jump from one uneven surface to the other. She had gone about a hundred yards, moving as rapidly as she could, when she overtook Nanoha Takamachi, who was cautiously making her way toward the gathered crowd.

Fate was having trouble keeping her own balance; navigating this surface with a cane and a leg brace was suicide! Fate slipped her hand under the doctor's elbow to guide her down the steep surface she was descending, saying as she did, 'You shouldn't be out here, Doctor.'

Nanoha's temper flared as she looked up at the taller woman. The angry reply died on her lips when all she found in the burgundy eyes that met her gaze was a quiet concern. There was no condescension, and thankfully, no trace of pity.

'You're absolutely right, Sheriff - but here I am.'

'Why don't you let me go up ahead and see what the situation is. The EMTs should be here in five or ten minutes,' Fate suggested.

Nanoha put her hand on Fate's shoulder to steady herself as she pushed up onto the next rock face. 'Why don't you go up ahead and get that crowd under control so I'll have room to work when I get there,' she replied. 'I need to be sure that whoever's trapped down there isn't bleeding to death. I made it this far – I'll be fine.'

Fate knew the plan made sense. She wasn't sure why she didn't want to leave the doctor alone, but some instinctive desire to safeguard her made Fate want to protest. Stomach tight with tension, she yielded to reason. Her training was too ingrained to allow individual concerns to interfere with logic.

'Right. Just be careful, will you?'

'Yes - now go.'

By the time Nanoha reached the scene, Fate had enlisted a few of the onlookers to keep the others back away from where a man lay twisted among the boulders. His leg seemed to disappear into a crevice between two angled sheets of stone. Fate was kneeling, her back to Nanoha as she inched her way down the rockface toward them. Nanoha gasped when Fate glanced up at her. The sheriff's face and shirt were streaked with blood.

'Are you hurt?' she questioned anxiously as she slid the last two feet.

'No, it's his,' Fate grunted with effort as she inclined her head toward the man who lay wedged in the rocks. Blood welled up from the wound in his leg, a gaping tear which Fate was attempting to hold closed with both hands.

'Open tibia fracture,' Nanoha assessed as she searched for the pulse in his neck. It was faint and thready. 'He's pretty shocky. We need to get this bleeding stopped.' She pressed two fingers into his groin over the femoral artery and the steady stream of blood from the open wound slowed to a trickle. 'Fate, there's a towel in my knapsack. Tear it in half and wrap the wound closed as tight as you can.'

Fate let go of her hold on the injured man's leg. 'EMTs are here,' she said as she finished the compression bandage. A siren signalled the rescue vehicles approach.

'Good,' Nanoha gasped. 'My arm is fatiguing.'

'Want me to take it?' Fate offered.

'No, you'd better go give them a hand. We need their equipment out here. And tell them we need the hydraulic jaws to shift these stones.'

'I'll be right back,' Fate said, unable to keep the concern from her voice.

'I'm fine,' Nanoha assured her.

The few minutes it took for Fate to return carrying one of the equipment cases seemed like hours as Nanoha crouched awkwardly in the cramped space, afraid to move lest she lose her tenuous hold on the artery beneath her fingers. She was starting to develop spasms in her own injured leg from the bent position she was kneeling in. She gritted her teeth and cleared her mind, focusing only on the next thing she needed to do.

'I need to start an IV,' she said as Fate dropped down beside her. 'Can you get the line and the bag ready, then take over the compression?'

'One minute,' Fate said as she tore the plastic wrapper off the tubing and saline bag with her teeth. Behind her the two EMTs were trying to find a place to wedge the hydraulic jack between the rocks. 'Okay,' she said, placing her hands on Nanoha's, following her fingers down to the artery. She pressed inward so Nanoha could let go.

Nanoha reached behind her for the emergency kit, pulling out a length of soft rubber tubing and wrapping it around the man's upper arm. She found a large bore IV needle and expertly slid it into the antecubital vein in the bend of his elbow.

She attached the tubing Fate had readied and allowed the saline to run in at top speed.

'How much longer?' Nanoha called to the EMTs, a worried frown on her face. 'This guy is in trouble. He needs blood, and if I don't get the fracture at least partially reduced he could lose his foot.'

'These rocks are going to shift all over the place when we activate the jack,' the taller of the two paramedics warned. 'It's not safe where you are. You're going to have to get out of there.'

Nanoha looked at the steady trickle of blood from the compound fracture in her patient's leg and shook her head. 'We've only got this partially controlled as it is. If we reduce the compression, he may bleed out. Let me get back in there, Sheriff. I'll keep the artery tamponaded.'

Fate looked up over her shoulder at Nanoha. Her face showed no trace of strain. 'He's going to need you a lot more than me when they get him out of here. You'd better climb back out of the way. I'm staying with him.'

The fear took Nanoha by surprise. She had a sudden image of Fate pinned under tons of rock, and something close to panic clutched at her throat. She didn't want Fate to be the one in danger when that jack started.

'No!' she started to argue.

'This is my call to make, doctor. You worry about keeping him alive. Now climb up out of here.'

The tone of unrelenting command was unwavering. Fate turned her attention back to the injured man, the conversation clearly at an end.

Nanoha knew there was no other way, and no more time to argue. 'For god's sake, be careful,' she murmured as she carefully pulled herself up the steep rockface to safety.

'Are your legs clear?' one of the EMTs called.

'All clear,' Fate responded.

When they activated the power jack, bits of stone chips and sand filled the air, clouding Nanoha's view of the chasm where Fate and the victim were wedged. As the grating noise from the shifting rocks subsided, she peered anxiously downward. She could just make out Fate's tall form hunched over the injured man.

'Are you okay?' she cried.

'Yeah,' Fate gasped. 'But he's slipping down into the crevice. I need a harness of some kind - fast!' Her arms were straining to hold up his dead weight, and she was afraid she might lose him.

One of the EMTs threw her a harness and a guide line, and moments later they had the victim up. They secured him to a backboard while Nanoha adjusted an inflatable splint over the mass trousers they applied to improve his blood flow.

'Take him to the heliport in Dennis,' she said. 'He needs to be air-vacced to Boston. Run two IVs wide open, and give him whatever plasma substitutes you have. Give him a loading dose of Ancef, too.'

As soon as they left, she turned worriedly to Fate, who was bent over trying to catch her breath.

'Let me check you out,' Nanoha said.

'I'm okay,' Fate panted. 'Just a little winded. I almost lost him there at the end.'

'Well, you didn't,' Nanoha replied as she ignored the sheriff's protests and quickly examined her. 'You've got a lot of small cuts on your hands, but I think we can forego stitches today.'

Fate held up her hands tiredly, looking at them as if she were seeing them for the first time. 'Just little nicks from the stone chips,' she noted with a shrug.

Nanoha nodded. 'Are you ready for the hike back?'

Fate got to her feet, her strength returning. 'I'm ready when you are,' she said.

Nanoha took one step and grimaced. She wasn't going to make it without help. The muscles in her injured leg were strained from the arduous and unaccustomed climbing, and beginning to cramp. She didn't think she could trust her balance.

'I'm in a little trouble here,' she admitted.

Fate searched her face in concern. 'What can I do?'

'If I lean on you, I should be able to make it.'

Fate slipped one strong arm around Nanoha's waist, holding her securely. 'Let's just take it slow,' she said, guiding them over the treacherous rocks.

When they finally reached the end of the causeway, they both sank gratefully onto a stone bench provided for sightseers.

'Thank you,' Nanoha said quietly. She hadn't needed nor sought assistance from anyone in a long time. She was surprised it didn't bother her more. There was something about the implacable deputy sheriff that made accepting her help easy. Fate radiated strength and self-assuredness, but there was also a simplicity about her that was captivating. She saw a problem, she dealt with it, she made no judgements. Despite her competence and air of command, there was never a hint of superiority or condescension. Nanoha couldn't remember ever having met anyone quite like her. Certainly no one had ever made her feel so safe without making her feel diminished.

'You're getting to be indispensable around this town, Sheriff,' Nanoha added sincerely.

Fate shrugged. 'I'd like to think I'm earning my pay.' She looked at Nanoha thoughtfully. 'That took real courage for you to make it out there today. That guy doesn't know how lucky he is that you were there. How'd you know?'

Nanoha blushed at the compliment and spoke hurriedly to cover her embarrassment. 'You forget that this is Provincetown! Probably everyone in town knows that I swim at the Inn on my lunch hour! It's just across the street, so when someone ran in to make the 911 call, the manager came to get me. I would have gotten to him a lot sooner if it hadn't been for this damn leg!'

'You did a great job,' Fate remarked. She sighed, stretching her stiff muscles. 'Can I buy you some lunch?'

Nanoha tried to ignore the racing of her heart. She was certain Fate was just being friendly. 'Thanks, but I'm already late for the clinic. I'm going to be backed up all evening at this rate.'

Fate nodded. 'It was good working with you, Dr. Takamachi. I'm going to head on home to change into a uniform that isn't filled with sand.'

'You've still got sutures that need to come out,' Nanoha reminded her.

Fate fingered the row of nylon stitches in her brow. 'How about if I come by the clinic later?' she offered.

Nanoha smiled ruefully. 'I'm sure I'll be there. Tonight's my late night anyhow.'

Fate stood looking down at her, her face partially shaded by the brim of her hat. She was an imposing figure outlined against the clear blue of the sky. Nanoha had to work not to stare at her taut, sleek body.

'I'll be by,' Fate informed her.

'Good,' Nanoha said as Fate strode away. Nanoha couldn't resist watching her go. She moved with a fluid self-assuredness that suited her vigorous personality. There wasn't a single thing about her that wasn't attractive, and that was enough to warn Nanoha to be on her guard. Every unattached woman in Provincetown, and not a few of the married ones, would be taking a second look at this new addition to the scenery. That was exactly the kind of woman she needed to stay far away from!

Note: The last chapter was really short and lacked much development so I thought I'd post this one in advance as we finally get some more nanofate interaction here. Thanks for reading.