Alex Cabot and Traumatized Kid

Trauma (School and ASL)

Set after Rescue

TW: Past Childhood Trauma, C-PTSD

(Third Person Omniscient)

____________________________________________________________

It was not the first time that Alex had seen Hugh sign to themselves.

She always made a mental note to herself that she needed to learn sign language herself.

But because of her busy schedule and the piles and piles of paperwork and caseloads she had, she hasn't had the time to learn.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Today, was not a good day for Hugh. They were at school and upset, not in a great mood and they needed a break.

As a result of that, they didn't vocalize and stayed quiet the whole day.

Usually, when the kid felt like that, they often go nonverbal and avoid human connections at all costs like they were afraid of something. (And maybe they were, given the extensive list of trauma they had.)

Of course, the school was notified of the extensive list of trauma and mental health problems.

Sitting on the floor of an almost empty hallway, head against the lockers, staring at the notice boards on the wall, no one notices.

One of the teachers that they have slowly grown a liking, Ms. Sylvia Taylor comes by and asks how they're doing, they seem to have lost their voice, they want to answer, and they know what they want to say but no words were coming out.

Desperately trying to communicate, they thought about doing sign language but realized the teacher might don't know it and so they decided against it.

Hugh asked for a break using a private chat function on their Gmail account from the teacher.

After about an hour, the kid was still not ready to go back to class so the teacher came to check on them in the dark wings of the hall where no one ever passed by.

"Hey," Ms. Taylor smiled at them. "Are you ready to go back to class or do you need more time?" She asked.

The kid's voice was still out of commission and stared at the teacher letting them draw their own conclusion.

"Ok... Do you want me to stay or leave?" She asked again.

The kid didn't answer this question either but looked at the floor and back to her like they wanted her to sit with her.

So the teacher and the kid sat in comfortable silence. But this gesture was too kind and Hugh was not used to it, they started sobbing uncontrollably, embarrassed that the teacher had to see them cry, and they turned away.

"What's wrong?" the teacher questioned once she heard the hitching in their breathing and their head buried in their arms hugging their knees close to their chest.

The kid's crying was almost silent except for the occasional hitches in their breath, they probably learned that crying would get them nowhere or they would get yelled at and learned to make as little noise as possible.

Ms. Taylor didn't know what to do or how to connect with them. She debated calling their guardian to try to calm them down, usually, the school prefers they handle things within the school but this was a special case.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Alex was interrupted by a call when she was about to debate with the defense counselor about trading information for a deal.

"Cabot."

"Hi, this is Hugh's High School. I'm Ms. Slyvia Taylor."

"Is there something wrong?" The ADA asked urgently.

"No. No... We just hit a little wall in the communication aspect..."

"Oh." Alex sighed relieved that Hugh wasn't hurt physically. If there wasn't a problem physically, the next thing her mind went to was 'they must be in emotional distress'. It had been a common occurrence since she adopted the kid. "How can I help?"

"If you don't mind coming to the school we could maybe figure out how to help Hugh."

"Of course. I'll be there as soon as I can." She said as she quickly hurried to her car leaving the defense speechless as they watched her speed away.

The ADA probably sped a few red lights she usually wouldn't have but that wasn't her main concern right now, she was worried about Hugh.

Soon after, she got to the main office of the school and asked them to bring her to Hugh.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Hey look, see who's here." The teacher said softly as she moved away to let Alex take her spot.

"Hi, Hugh." Alex smiled the ever-warming smile that she always gave to them as she sat on the ground beside them still n her court outifit.

"I'll give you two some privacy." Ms. Taylor said as she backed away.

"Hey baby, talk to me, what's wrong?"

The kid briefly glanced at Alex and shook their head looking away from her.

"I want to try to help."

'I'm tired' they signed, barely looking at her.

Alex tried hard to understand but she didn't. The ADA kicked herself mentally as she didn't take it seriously to learn sign language before.

"Do it again. I promise to try harder to understand."

'I'm tired of trying' they signed again.

"I'm so sorry. I don't understand." the blonde said after a moment of thinking.

She knew not to push them when they were nonverbal since it would send them into even more distress so she patiently waited for Hugh to initiate something.

But the stress of trying to communicate was too much, and as a result, they started to continuously sign to themselves rapidly, as thoughts rapidly raced through their head.

The blonde caught ahold of the kid's hands and cupped them in her own warm hands to stop the quiet rambling.

After a while of silence, the kid slowly moved to hug the parental figure, wanting her comfort instead of feeling like they have failed to please her, knowing that Alex would hug them back after experiencing her love the past few months.

Alex picked them up and settled them more comfortably in her lap, soothing them as she rubbed circles into their back.

Another few minutes later, Hugh moved away from the blonde's chest to look at her face.

"You need anything?" She asked when their position changed.

They shook their head.

"How about I get you out of school early and we can spend some alone time comfortably together?"

Hugh hummed in affirmative.

So Alex took them home and call into work to tell them she would not be returning that day.

Determined, the blonde promised herself that she would learn it so they could communicate better.

The kid apologized profusely later that night and Alex reassured them once again that it is fine.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------