Alex wipe another tear off of Safa's face with her thumb and studied the small and fragile girl on her lap.
"What did they do to me?" Safa asked again, this time in a whisper.
"Tell me, love," Alex said gently. "What did who do to you?"
"I don't know," Safa choked out.
"Let's start with what you were doing right before you got upset," Alex suggested.
"I don't remember," Safa said. "How long have I been here?"
"For a little while, sweetie. Long enough for me to get here."
"I missed all of my classes! I'm going to be dead!" Safa exclaimed.
"Don't worry about that right now," Alex reassured her. "They'll understand. What do you remember from this morning?"
"You dropped me off on your way to court. I had science, and we talked about human reproduction, and the boys were really gross."
Alex wondered for a moment if that had triggered her. She and Olivia had discussed the mechanics of sex with her, but hadn't gone into too much detail. Safa of course already knew far more about sex than she should have, but at the time, she hadn't seemed overly bothered. She had merely been a bit grossed out. Alex and Olivia had agonised privately about how to balance being open about the topic without triggering her.
"Then what?" Alex asked.
"I had English," Safa replied. "That was okay. We had a quiz and talked about symbolism. But nobody really cared because the AP exam is over."
"What happened next?"
"I... went to the library with Steph. She's working on her final research project for her Modern World History class. That's the last thing I remember."
Alex nodded. "Close your eyes, love," she said. "Do you remember anyone else there with you in the library? Was anyone bothering you?"
Safa shook her head. "It was pretty quiet."
"Why do you think someone hurt you?" Alex asked.
Safa shook her head. "I don't know. I just... I don't know."
"Should we get Stephanie down here and talk to her about what happened?"
Safa sniffled and sat up, wiping her eyes.
"School is over in ten minutes," Alex said, looking at her watch. "Why don't we bring her home with us, and I'll call mom, and we can talk about it at home, instead of here on the bathroom floor, okay?"
Safa nodded.
"Do you know where her locker is? Let's get your things and meet her. And if she can't come with us, we can have a quick chat to see what she remembers," Alex suggested.
Safa nodded. "Who saw me in here?" She asked, suddenly feeling very self-conscious.
"Just the guidance counselor and the assistant principal," Alex said. "Don't worry. Here, wash your face in the sink," she suggested.
Alex put her coat on and hung her briefcase back on her shoulder, opening the front pocket. She handed Safa a bottle of water, and then a banana, which the girl declined.
"If you didn't have lunch, you're going to have to eat something when we get home," Alex warned her. She tucked a lock of Safa's hair behind her ear, and smiled gently. "Ready?" She asked.
Safa nodded. Her eyes were still bloodshot, and she crossed her arms tightly over her chest, tilting her head down to hide, trying her best to hold herself together. The shame of having lost control burned her cheeks.
Alex put her hand gently on her daughter's back, guiding her out the bathroom door, and nodded at guidance counselor standing guard from his office across the hall. Alex took down the "Out-of-Order" sign someone had thought to tape to the door, and stuck it in a nearby trash can.
"Everything alright?" He called to Alex. "Good then."
Alex straightened her spine and nodded curtly, glaring daggers. How the fuck does someone witness a teenage girl crying for over an hour and assume everything is fine?! She cursed.
"See you tomorrow, Safa," he said cheerily. "I hope you feel better."
"Ignore him," Alex murmered as she felt Safa tense up. She rubbed her hand across Safa's back. When they got to Safa's locker, Alex waited for her to open it and get her books, filling up her backpack with notebooks.
"Do you want me to go talk to your teachers and get your homework, and you can go meet Steph?" Alex asked. "Anything to turn in?"
"Steph has my books from the afternoon and turned in my homework. She'll give me the assignments."
Alex nodded. The bell rang just as Safa slammed her locker shut, and Alex pulled out her phone to see 3 missed calls from Olivia and a text.
Captain told me you called about Safa and that you were going to the school right after court. What's up?
Alex tapped a quick message. Safa had a meltdown at school. Not sure why. I'm bringing her home. Meet us there? My car is still at the office.
I'll pick it up and meet you at home. Need anything from the office?
Nope, see you at home, Lieutenant. ?
Alex stood against the wall, shielding Safa from the onslaught of teenagers pouring out of the classrooms to crowd the lockers. Safa, still trying to make herself small, hid partially behind her mother. Since she had stopped growing early, she was much shorter than her mothers by several inches. That came in handy when she needed a hug, and fit right under Alex's or Olivia's chin.
Stephanie, Safa's best friend since the first day of 8th grade, waved as she approached, smiling. She had dark skin and thick curly hair, and Safa had bonded with her by defending her against a pair of boys who had called her names and asked her why she had pubic hair on her head. They had been practically inseparable since, and Alex had breathed a sigh of relief when they had both been accepted to the prestigious public high school. Alex had considered sending her to private school after she had caught up and even excelled academically, but Safa had begged to stay with her friends.
"Hey," Stephanie called across the hall. "I can't believe you made me sit through history and French all by myself!" She chided. It was then she noticed Alex standing next to Safa. "Hello, Ms. Cabot," she said, adjusting her tone from what Alex thought of as "teenager shrill" to a more polite, softer tone.
"Hi Stephanie," Alex replied, smiling at her daughter's friend. "You know you can call me Alex," she reminded her. "It's good to see you."
"Are you okay?" Stephanie asked Safa, who nodded. "I got your homework for you. And I told Ms. Simmons and Mr. Cunningham that you were in the guidance office."
"Thank you," Safa said.
"Stephanie, Safa doesn't remember what happened," Alex said. "Would you mind coming with us to talk about it and see if we can figure it out? Olivia is going to meet us at home."
"Sure. Let me just grab my ish — stuff, I mean," Stephanie said.
Alex hailed a cab outside of the school and asked the driver to bring them to 88th and Central Park West, right by their brownstone off of Central Park. After officially becoming Safa's permanent foster placement, Olivia had finally agreed to move into a place only someone like Alex could afford. The following year, Bill had taken a position as head of the burn unit at Columbia-Presbyterian Hospital, and they had moved to New York as well, purchasing a similar brownstone on 86th street, near a top rated public school with a gifted and talented program for Lexie.
Despite coming from a very different neighborhood, Stephanie had slowly learned to make herself at home in the Benson-Cabot house. Her family's whole apartment would've fit into the ground floor of Safa's house, but after a fair number of sleepovers and pizza and board game nights, she had started to shed the discomfort of the obvious class difference. Learning Safa had had a very different childhood in another country and was in foster care after losing her parents - Stephanie didn't know how - helped Stephanie to feel more comfortable.
Alex hung up her coat at the door, and set water to boil for tea in the kitchen before she took her briefcase to put in her office. She would have to decide soon whether to cancel or postpone the next day's office hours for her class at Harvard Law School, mostly appointments with students wanting a bit of advice before the final paper was due.
She changed out of her suit, tossing it into the dry cleaning bag in her closet, opting to change into leggings and a tee-shirt, and found her slippers. She twisted her hair up and clipped it as she walked down the stairs, into the kitchen where she began preparing three mugs of tea, setting out a fourth for Olivia when she got home.
Alex popped into the living room, where Safa and Stephanie were sitting on the couch. "Can I talk to you for a minute, Safa?" Alex asked, waiting for her to come into the kitchen.
She turned around and studied her daughter, putting her hands on Safa's arms gently before she spoke. "Sweetie, I want you to know that whenever you want to stop this conversation, all you have to do is say so," Alex began. "If there are some things you're not comfortable talking about in front of Stephanie, or even things you're not ready to talk to me and Mom about, that's okay too."
Safa nodded. "She already saw me at school, and she's my best friend, so…"
"I know, sweetheart. But I'm not sure what's going to come up right now, and it may be things you want to keep private, or things you're not ready to share just yet. Mom and I already know about your past, and she doesn't. If you want to stop talking, you can. If you want to send Stephanie to your room, or to the den to watch Netflix for a bit while we finish talking privately, we can do that. If you want Mom to drive her home, we can do that too. You are completely in control of this conversation, okay?"
"Okay."
Alex heard the garage door open and Olivia come up the stairs, as Safa went back to her friend with their two mugs of tea.
She smiled at her wife - the word wife still made her giddy - as Olivia walked through the door, and came over to give her a kiss.
After a brief makeout session, Olivia pulled back and put her hands on her hips. "What've we got?" She asked, and Alex briefly explained the situation.
"I don't know," Alex finished. "I didn't want to get into it until she was out of the school and home, in a safe place. I don't know what triggered her, so that's what we need to find out first. But I think we have to be prepared for everything to come up."
Olivia nodded in agreement. "How do you want to play it?"
"I'll take Stephanie, then you can take Safa. I'll hold her hand, but you might end up talking to the 7 year old, or the 10 year old. You're more equipped for that than I am."
"I'm going to run upstairs to lock up my gun," Olivia said, kissing Alex on the cheek.
Olivia went upstairs, quickly locking her gun and badge into the hidden safe built into their closet. She took a sip of water out of the bottle she kept on the nightstand table, and ran her fingers through her hair.
She rejoined her wife in the kitchen and held her hand, and as they stepped into the living room, they looked at each other, and nodded.
