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thecrazyalaskan) wrote2011-12-18 08:30 am
thecrazyalaskan) wrote2011-12-18 08:30 am
Simple Signs - Quantum Leap AU, New York 1949; Al + Trudy, Sam
Of all the things to see when he stepped out of the Imaging Chamber, Al bent over several open books and making a series of hand gestures to himself weren't high of Sam's list of expectations. But there it was. "Al, what are you doing?"
Al looked up, preparing to tap three fingers to his lower lip. "Hi, Sam," he answered distractedly before looking back at the books.
"What is all this?" Sam asked again, indicating the books. There were at least three, all of them from a library, that Sam could see, admittedly more than he'd ever seen Al read for his own amusement.
"Hmm?" Al replied, looking up from a page. "Oh, signing."
"Sign language?" the observer questioned.
"Yeah," Al answered, turning to look up at Sam. "Sign is real good for kids like Trudy."
"Al, remember what I said about the leap—" Sam began slowly.
"Remember what I said about what needed fixing around here?" Al cut off. "Dad, I'm still working on him, but Trudy—if I can get her to sign, I get her to communicate. If I can get her to communicate, she can get up to maybe nine or ten mentally and learning and then she won't need to be put back in that damn institution."
Al waved a hand dismissively, almost with disgust, in the general direction of any institution that might take his younger sister. "I'm going to start her on something easy."
Sam opened his mouth to point out, as gently as he could, that it might now be so simple when at that moment, Trudy came all but running in. Sam couldn’t help but be struck by how much she and Al looked alike—the same dark hair that walked the line between wavy and curly and dark eyes, the same build (thought Trudy was a few inches shorter than her brother).
Although she could see Sam easily enough, Trudy ignored him and focused on her brother, tugging insistently on his hand.
"What do you want?" Al asked, with no measure of unkindness, as he signed the question.
"Acqua," she pronounced deliberately.
Although Sam was unused to the specific way Trudy communicated (a cobbling of English and Italian, playing it a little fast and loose with the pronunciation), the word was easily guessed—water. Al, however, had no trouble translating. "Ask me this way," he said before showing her the sign he'd been practicing when Sam arrived. "Acqua. You try it."
The instruction to sign was lost on Trudy, or she didn't want to comply. "Acqua," she repeated.
"Trudy, you have to sign it," Al said gently, reaching over and manipulating her hand into the appropriate shape and guiding her through the motions. "Acqua."
"Acqua," she repeated, though without the sign.
"Sign for me, please," Al repeated, showing her the sign once more.
After what could only be described as a moment of thought, Trudy mimicked the sign. It was far from perfect, but could easily pass in a pinch. It certainly met Al's needs, and he smiled in response. "Good job, Trudy," he complimented sincerely, offering his sister his hand. As Trudy took his hand and started to pull him to the kitchen, Al looked over his shoulder at Sam, giving him a look that said in no uncertain terms that he was already making progress, and that Ziggy could take her predictions and stuff them.
Sam looked down at the handlink. Somehow, he couldn’t bring himself to tell Al that no matter what he did, his father was still going to get sick, and that Trudy still wasn't going to see her seventeenth birthday.
-.-.-.-
Title: Simple Signs
Author: TheCrazyAlaskan
Fandom / Setting: Quantum Leap AU (see comments) – c.f. "The Leap Home, pt. I," New York, 1949
Characters / Pairings: Al Calavicci, Sam Beckett, Trudy Calavicci
Rating: K+
Genre: General
Word Count: 608
Summary: How could Sam tell Al that he was tilting at windmills?
An AU spawned with![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
locoexclaimer wherein simply Al is the leaper and Sam is the project observer. We have a laundry list of episodes that needed hit on, and The Leap Home is one of them—on the top of that list, in fact. In it, Al would leap into himself at age fifteen (part one), and then into another patient at Trudy's mental institution to prevent her death (part two). Want this like the sun burns.
My mind canon completely dictates that Al would be a special education god for this reason alone—I tend to think he did more parenting for Trudy than his parents did, so he's used to it. I'm basically letting my job talk for me (that's the reason I got so attached to him having a sister with Downs, and why I cried like a baby when I watched "Jimmy"). Al's teaching his baby sister sign language, hand over hand for God's sake.
Yeah, it turned out far sadder than I wanted. I should write something happier for part two. Suggestions please?
Al, Sam, Trudy © Donald Bellisario
Al looked up, preparing to tap three fingers to his lower lip. "Hi, Sam," he answered distractedly before looking back at the books.
"What is all this?" Sam asked again, indicating the books. There were at least three, all of them from a library, that Sam could see, admittedly more than he'd ever seen Al read for his own amusement.
"Hmm?" Al replied, looking up from a page. "Oh, signing."
"Sign language?" the observer questioned.
"Yeah," Al answered, turning to look up at Sam. "Sign is real good for kids like Trudy."
"Al, remember what I said about the leap—" Sam began slowly.
"Remember what I said about what needed fixing around here?" Al cut off. "Dad, I'm still working on him, but Trudy—if I can get her to sign, I get her to communicate. If I can get her to communicate, she can get up to maybe nine or ten mentally and learning and then she won't need to be put back in that damn institution."
Al waved a hand dismissively, almost with disgust, in the general direction of any institution that might take his younger sister. "I'm going to start her on something easy."
Sam opened his mouth to point out, as gently as he could, that it might now be so simple when at that moment, Trudy came all but running in. Sam couldn’t help but be struck by how much she and Al looked alike—the same dark hair that walked the line between wavy and curly and dark eyes, the same build (thought Trudy was a few inches shorter than her brother).
Although she could see Sam easily enough, Trudy ignored him and focused on her brother, tugging insistently on his hand.
"What do you want?" Al asked, with no measure of unkindness, as he signed the question.
"Acqua," she pronounced deliberately.
Although Sam was unused to the specific way Trudy communicated (a cobbling of English and Italian, playing it a little fast and loose with the pronunciation), the word was easily guessed—water. Al, however, had no trouble translating. "Ask me this way," he said before showing her the sign he'd been practicing when Sam arrived. "Acqua. You try it."
The instruction to sign was lost on Trudy, or she didn't want to comply. "Acqua," she repeated.
"Trudy, you have to sign it," Al said gently, reaching over and manipulating her hand into the appropriate shape and guiding her through the motions. "Acqua."
"Acqua," she repeated, though without the sign.
"Sign for me, please," Al repeated, showing her the sign once more.
After what could only be described as a moment of thought, Trudy mimicked the sign. It was far from perfect, but could easily pass in a pinch. It certainly met Al's needs, and he smiled in response. "Good job, Trudy," he complimented sincerely, offering his sister his hand. As Trudy took his hand and started to pull him to the kitchen, Al looked over his shoulder at Sam, giving him a look that said in no uncertain terms that he was already making progress, and that Ziggy could take her predictions and stuff them.
Sam looked down at the handlink. Somehow, he couldn’t bring himself to tell Al that no matter what he did, his father was still going to get sick, and that Trudy still wasn't going to see her seventeenth birthday.
-.-.-.-
Title: Simple Signs
Author: TheCrazyAlaskan
Fandom / Setting: Quantum Leap AU (see comments) – c.f. "The Leap Home, pt. I," New York, 1949
Characters / Pairings: Al Calavicci, Sam Beckett, Trudy Calavicci
Rating: K+
Genre: General
Word Count: 608
Summary: How could Sam tell Al that he was tilting at windmills?
An AU spawned with
locoexclaimer wherein simply Al is the leaper and Sam is the project observer. We have a laundry list of episodes that needed hit on, and The Leap Home is one of them—on the top of that list, in fact. In it, Al would leap into himself at age fifteen (part one), and then into another patient at Trudy's mental institution to prevent her death (part two). My mind canon completely dictates that Al would be a special education god for this reason alone—I tend to think he did more parenting for Trudy than his parents did, so he's used to it. I'm basically letting my job talk for me (that's the reason I got so attached to him having a sister with Downs, and why I cried like a baby when I watched "Jimmy"). Al's teaching his baby sister sign language, hand over hand for God's sake.
Yeah, it turned out far sadder than I wanted. I should write something happier for part two. Suggestions please?
Al, Sam, Trudy © Donald Bellisario