Content Warning: Neo Nazi's and some Graphic Violence.
It was my last day before the winter break and it could not go by fast enough. I was currently taking my semester exam for my World Issues class with Mr. Gladly. Having finished my exam I was mostly just reviewing my answers before I turned it in. Overall it wasn't hard, which says more about the low standards in Winslow than any ability on my part honestly.
Up until the last week or so I'd say this was definitely the best semester so far, in the sense that the other two were either an irredeemable trash fire and just regular trash. My semester exams today were another step towards rebuilding my GPA. Turns out it's easy to improve when you're not getting constantly harassed and bullied. In fact one of my former bullies, Madison Clements sat two rows to my left and two seats back. The only reason I remembered her in particular was that she's close to Emma and Sophia. She never struck me as ever being remorseful about it, she just stopped one day like most of the others. With a few minutes left until the bell Mr. Gladly gave a final warning.
"Alright everyone, five minutes until the bell. Time to finish up those exams. Remember the students with the highest scores can look forward to a slice of pizza when they get back after the break. My treat!"
I honestly considered just bombing the exam to avoid that. I had learned over the last semester that Mr. Gladly was a tool of the highest order, and that earning his approval was not something I wanted. He was the kind of teacher who tried to be friends with his students, despite having like 10-15 years on us. The kind who went by "Mr. G" instead of Mr. Gladly. But I decided my GPA was more important.
My current plan was to get my grades up high enough that when the next semester ended I would be able to finally transfer out of this cesspool to Arcadia. They had fairly high standards and I could not afford low grades if I wanted in. There were other things to consider but I couldn't let my grades be any lower than they possibly could be. It did help that I had a lot of free time on my hands after school, with not many people I could spend time with.
My social life at Winslow had been turned into scorched earth by my bullies, and my efforts to fix that were dead ends. I had even given Greg Veder a chance. However one lunch of him sharing his conspiracy theory that Manes was secretly controlling the other wards had convinced me to distance myself again. I hadn't even been thinking of befriending Charlotte when I went to defend her. But when she preemptively nixed the idea of hanging out that was just salt on the wound. I've just accepted that I'm not going to have any friends here.
I handed my exam in, and left the classroom as soon as the bell sounded. I had learned a few things from being a Winslow student. Don't linger. Don't talk to students you don't already know. Don't expect any help from the teachers if you're having any trouble. And most importantly don't antagonize the students in the gangs. The fact I had broken that last rule yesterday was the reason I had gotten my still healing bruise.
Walking down the hallways you could see the big and little signs here and there that this school was on the verge of being condemned. Some hallway lights were burned out or flickering. There were gang signs on the walls and lockers the janitor hadn't gotten around to removing. The only things in the school that were newer than ten years were the computers in the computer lab and the materials used to patch up damage from the occasional fight.
I stopped by my locker to fish out my bagged lunch when I noticed several people out of the corner of my eye approaching me. They were all guys, mostly wearing thin T-shirts with leather jackets over them to keep warm. Unfortunately I realized too late they were the same skinheads I had berated yesterday on Charlotte's behalf, and they had formed a semicircle around me. I tried to stay calm and remembered that the one that had punched me was named Robert Fischer since that was the name the teacher who punished us used. Fischer spoke up.
"Hello there, I believe we were interrupted before we could settle our differences yesterday."
"I have nothing to say to you." I said defiantly. I had to be strong. Being meek and submissive would never work.
"Oh really? You had a lot to say yesterday."
"I don't like bullies, you were acting like bullies."
"You would say that. I asked around about you and apparently you were being bullied by that Hess bitch last year right?"
"What's it matter to you?"
"Well we might have gotten off on the wrong foot. We have a common enemy. We can give you the chance for a little payback if you're interested."
They must not know that much about me because if they did, they would know I would never take that offer. Even before I found out that Sophia was a ward I wouldn't stoop to taking some petty revenge on her. Especially if it required help from Nazis. I was better than that. I also suspected it was just a ploy and they'd just pin all the blame on me for whatever they had planned for Sophia.
"How about no. I'm not interested in taking any favors from you."
"Are you still angry about those things we said to little Charlotte yesterday? I wasn't aware you two were friends."
"We aren't. We don't see each other at all."
"Oh, she's avoiding you? Isn't that typical? Well you can't expect anything else from her kind. So ungrateful."
"I'm not going to be friends with you, so back off."
"Is this about me punching you? That was a heat of the moment thing. If that is the case though I have some other friends who would be willing to back you up."
"Not. Interested."
I decided to end the conversation there and tried to force my way past one of them but the library book I was holding got caught on one of their shoulders and fell out of my arms. As I turned to pick it up quickly I saw Fischer grab and inspect it. He opened the cover and then flipped through the pages as if he was skimming it.
"The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka. I see you like the classics. Too bad a smart girl like you can't see the truth."
"I can see the truth just fine. I know that you don't have anything that I would want." I grabbed the book out of his hands and walked away.
I was mostly gambling they wouldn't assault me again two days in a row and thankfully it paid off. Of course the fact they followed up after yesterday suggested I may need to watch my back when I return from the break. But that was a problem for later. I can just eat my lunch in the bathroom today, and hopefully by the start of next semester they'll have forgotten about me.
Going to the Brockton Bay Central Library was usually a relaxing experience for me, but after my latest argument with Sam I just couldn't clear my mind for any reading. I sat at one of the reading tables trying to get into a Jack London novel. It was getting close to closing time and I would have to leave soon. I could go back home but Sam would be there and I hadn't made up my mind about how to handle her.
It had been about a week since our initial big argument, where I confronted her about blackmailing Emma. I hadn't been planning on doing it that day but Charlotte's visit had worked me up and I felt the need to get it off my chest. It didn't help that Sam was showing off her patronizing streak that night. She had hardly even looked ashamed when she mentioned blackmailing another ward as well. I had considered telling her how Mom would be ashamed of her but I decided it would be too much. I didn't want to widen the rift between us even more.
On one hand she did it behind my back. She would almost certainly get sent to jail if the PRT found out about what she had done. On the other hand I wanted to give her another chance and forgive her. She was my sister and she had done something about the bullying after all. It was done in a very unethical way but she clearly did it from wanting to help. She had changed so much ever since she had become a parahuman.
The first few months after the accident she was almost the same Sam I had always known. Mischievous but never wanting to hurt anybody to the point where she was more likely to hurt herself than anyone else. She also still had a hard time understanding the consequences of her actions (She literally burned herself twice touching the stove). She liked testing boundaries and even I could tell her attempt to keep her master power wouldn't last.
But then the truth about her power had gotten out, and the consequences of that hit her hard. I had seen her laying on the couch for weeks afterward, depressedly just watching one old movie after another on TCM to take her mind off her situation ("It's the only movie channel that doesn't have cape movies all the time.").
Ironically her finding out about my bullying was probably what got her out of her slump. She had been full of suggestions and ideas of what to do about them. A lot of them were awful but her heart was in the right place I guess. She was almost the most disappointed when trying to get the school to intervene didn't work. I almost felt guilty that she had to resort to blackmail. If only me and dad could have figured something out she wouldn't have needed to cross that line.
And that was the heart of the problem. Sam can't solve her own problems as a ward so she decided to try and fix mine. Growing up I had gotten so used to helping Sam out whenever she hurt herself or got into trouble. Now her problems are wrapped up in wards bureaucracy, which I don't have a chance in hell of being able to do anything about. Our whole dynamic has been changing and I had only realized by how much once Emma revealed Sam's blackmail. Now Sam was in danger of crossing even more lines whenever she needed to solve a problem, and I had no idea of what to do.
A warning tone broke me out of my musings and I realized the library was getting ready to close. I gathered my things and made my way to the circulation desk to return my copy of Kafka's novella. I dropped it into the return slot and put my jacket on for the chilly evening. I decided to stop by a coffee shop on my way home to delay my return. Stepping into the chilled December air the streetlights lit my way as I paced my route ba-
A gloved hand suddenly came over my mouth and several more grabbed my arms and shoulders. I was able to let out a short scream before the hand was able to fully muffle it. I was pulled back and I started to struggle. I saw the walls of an alleyway emerge into view as I went backwards. I started to panic as the street got further away and I was pulled deeper into the alley. I couldn't see who was attacking me but I could hear enough of their grunts to know they were all young men.
We made a turn into a more secluded back alley and I was able to see the rest of the group. They were wearing Empire 88 colors and it was then that I knew that I was screwed. I could even recognize Fischer leaning against a dumpster. I looked around and saw about a dozen Empire toughs including the several holding me. I was forced against a dirty brick wall. Then Fischer spoke.
"Well I suppose you're having second thoughts about that offer I made back in school right? Well it's too bad that was a one time thing. I figured I was being generous since you clearly should know better. But I guess you're too committed to being a little social justice crusader."
I attempted to scream some obscenities at him but it only came across as a loud muffled babbling with the gloved hand over my mouth. Fischer continued on.
"It was a lucky break when I saw on the due date slip in your little book that it was due tonight when I inspected it. It took some waiting around the library to find you but I'd say it was worth it. Now me and the boys can take care of you without needing to worry about anyone at the school sticking their noses in. Tonight we're going to send the message that loud mouthed race traitors like you will get what they deserve. Get started boys."
I suddenly felt a wooden baseball bat make contact with my right leg. Then someone punched my stomach. Another hit of the bat to my right leg. Another punch to my chest. The next punch hit my head hard enough to knock my glasses off me. They pushed me to the ground and I felt the entire front of my body impact the alleyway pavement.
I felt a succession of kicks to my body as the pavement scrapped my exposed skin. They came at my body from every exposed angle as I shut my eyes. I could feel my nose break as one kick impacted my face. I could feel a trickle of warm blood emerge there and at some of the larger cuts that the pavement had created. The bats they had brought got in a few hits again. I don't know how many bones they broke but it was probably in the double digits. It felt like an eternity but was probably only a minute or two at most. Then someone came running up.
"Bobby, a cop car is rolling up. I think someone around here squealed to 911."
"Damn it, I knew we should have done this further away from downtown. To many nosy bastards around here."
"We should just shoot her and get going."
"No you idiot, think! A gunshot will tell them exactly where we are. Better idea, throw her in that dumpster over there. We've done enough damage that she'll be dead by the time they find her. It'll be an appropriate end for trash like her."
I could barely move to resist when they grabbed my bruised arms and dragged me to an old metal dumpster. My eyes were starting to swell shut but I could see the dumpster they had chosen. They stopped and on my back I could feel someone cut a swastika pattern on my jacket. The sick bastards clearly weren't shy about taking credit for their handiwork. They opened the lid and heaved my body over into the container. I impacted a disgusting collection of trash and food waste.
"Enjoy your coffin race traitor."
The lid closed and I heard something being put on the lid before their feet hit the pavement running away. After a few seconds the stench of the dumpster became overwhelming from being in a confined space. I mustered my strength to leverage my body upwards. Once I was almost upright I tried to push the lid open. But it wouldn't budge. I realized that I was trapped.
My body started to weaken again and I couldn't stay upright fully anymore. I tried to prop myself up with my right arm but it hurt so much that it immediately failed and I was laying in the trash again. I could feel some of the insects residing in here start climbing onto me. I tried to cry out but my chest hurt so much I couldn't get out more than a pained whine. After that I tried to struggle more but that just ignited my body in pain even further. Worse it started causing the garbage holding me up to deform, sucking me down. I was forced to stop before it got worse.
It became clear I was probably going to die here. They were going to basically get away with it. Every regret I had ever had about my life surfaced at once. Dad was going to have to go through losing one of his family all over again. My life felt squandered. If I had never gone to Winslow this wouldn't have happened. I'd also never get to reconcile with Sam. Nobody would come for me because I had pushed her away just because she tried to get me to make friends. The stench and the bugs were becoming too much and I was beginning to feel faint.
[Destination]
[Trajectory]
[Agreement]
_
My mind was a swirl of stimuli, coming from over a thousand different points. I slept but I also remembered somehow. My memories of the dumpster were vague past a certain point. I think when the policemen found me I had panicked that someone had come back to finish the job. So I had pathetically tried to struggle again. After that I went into shock at some point, I don't know when. I just remember the paramedics using that word as the ambulance screamed down the road.
As I laid in the hospital bed I could both feel my body and not. It was hard to orient myself between the endless feelings and senses I was now trying to process. The sound that hit my ears would also be heard from different directions. I heard sounds my ears didn't hear and were nowhere near my body. Same for touch, smell, sight, and taste. It was a small mercy that it didn't really register very strongly in my memory since it was all so overwhelming.
The quality of the senses varied from their sources. Some I could see decently with, others not so much. It was only after a little while before I could shut out some of the information and begin thinking properly again. Soon I was able to start learning the sources of my new senses; insects, birds, rats, and the occasional dog. Once I had better control of the information input I found I could affect them as well, even control them.
My body remained kind of in a coma, though my awareness was unfocused. The first few days I could sense from occasional contacts that two people kept vigil in my room. Probably dad and Sam, though it was hard to confirm since I had taken a while to sort out what I was feeling and how to direct it. It was like getting control of a thousand arms and legs and needing to learn how to process their senses and coordinate their movements. The bigger animals like the rats, birds, and what were likely service dogs were harder but I could affect them after a few days.
The events that happened while I was in this state were a blur. I think the only one that really registered was a flying person who visited my room late at night and took either Dad or Sam, probably my sister, and flew off. It must have been some urgent hero business but I couldn't really think about it. I was preoccupied trying to learn how to handle my mental situation. That had been a day or two ago, and suddenly I could feel my mind surfacing like it had been underwater these last few days. I was finally awake. Laying on the bed, I looked over to see Panacea holding my hand.
"Hello, do you need any water?"
I nodded and said "...Yes.."
She gave me a small glass that I gulped down. My throat cleared enough to speak properly.
"Now, can you tell me what you remember?"
"I…I remember….What do you want me to remember?"
"Just any basic information like your name and if you remember the names of your family members."
"I'm… Taylor Hebert. My sister is named Samantha and my dad is Daniel."
"Oh thank goodness. I woke you up before they came here in case you might have memory loss. Do you have any trouble remembering anything important?"
"I remember a lot of stuff. Can you be specific?"
"I heard you were attacked, how long during or after that do you remember? You did arrive at the hospital unconscious."
"I remember the attack, and I remember getting put in a dumpster. I kinda lost focus but I also think there was a policeman and ambulance after that."
"That sounds about right. Well memory loss doesn't seem to be a big issue. But there was another reason I woke you up before they got here. You see, I detected that the corona pollentia in your brain developed a gemma. So it's pretty certain you triggered. You're a parahuman like me and your sister now."
I wanted to deny it and say she was wrong but it made sense. "That would explain a lot of what I'm feeling now."
"Oh? Do you know your power? Well your sister can make a ghost that can control people and… Okay if your power is mastering people I'm going to have to ask you to not do that."
"No, I don't think it's related to people."
I reached out and focused on a fly in one of the ventilation ducts. I pulled it into the room. Panacea heard the little buzz as I directed it to fly onto my right hand as I outstretched it. It landed a little clumsily but it seemed to put her at ease.
"Okay, so you can control bugs. Not the worst power I guess."
"Wait, I think I can do other animals."
I reached out to a pigeon on the roof. I got it to fly out and directed it to the room we were in. I pointed it towards my window and I gave it directions to la-
*BUMP*
The pigeon smacked into the window and I lost my focus. Panacea visibly jumped at the noise and turned in time to see the bird recoil from the glass. As it went out of view she looked at me. I gave a little sheepish shrug.
"Okay, I was trying to land it on the ledge but I guess I need to work on that."
"So birds and insects?"
"I can also sense a few rats near the dumpster and a service dog on the floor above us. I think I can affect all the animals. But it feels like my range goes a bit further with insects, and bigger stuff like the dog only shows up cause it's closer."
I was kind of speculating but Panacea seems convinced.
"Okay, well that's definitely a bit different than what I would have expected. But I guess I can trust you have enough of a handle on your powers that you're not going to cause any trouble for the hospital."
"Yeah I can manage that."
"So moving on to the next issue I haven't actually told your family that you have powers yet. It's not official policy but I make it a strict rule not to go telling anyone about someone's parahuman status without their consent. So now that you're awake do you want to discuss it with them when they get here? They should be around pretty soon once they hear that you're awake."
I was about to say yes but then I hesitated. If I told them I'd almost certainly be joining the Wards immediately, and there I'd just be Sam's loser sister from Winslow. Plus Sophia is a ward as well, and any group with her as a member is something I'd need to think long and hard about joining. Maybe I should try to spend some time as an independent hero to build up my reputation first. "Do you mind if I take a little bit of time to think it over? It's a lot to take in."
"Sure, I won't tell you how to live your life. Though I will remind you to please not experiment with your powers here. We really don't need the PRT freaking out about an animal master and busting in here."
"Sure. I can do that. How long will I need to stay?"
"Probably one more day for observation and then you'll get to go home. I'll let the head nurse know you're awake and they'll make sure your family knows when they arrive. Oh, and before I forget Sam suggested that I could fix your eyesight, would you be interested?"
Typical Sam, trying to help me without asking if I wanted it at all. "Tempting, but I think that's something that can wait for after I get out of the hospital."
"All right if that's what you want. Good luck then, and make sure your sis doesn't hold it against me that I didn't tell her."
"I'll handle it."
Waving goodbye Panacea left me alone. A nurse came by to check my vitals and fill out my chart. As she finished I could see Dad and Sam almost rush into my room.
"Taylor!"
He rushed to my side while Sam stopped at the door. The nurse raised her voice "Sir, I know you're her father but please don't excite the patient!"
That got him to calm down a bit. "Sorry, Sorry. Taylor, how are you feeling?"
"I..I'm not great but I'm okay I guess."
"That's all I can ask for."
Sam approached from the doorway. She looked hesitant, not quite making eye contact with me at first. But that was only for a few seconds. She seemed to wait for the nurse to walk out past her, and then relaxed when she glanced at dad. Sam followed him to my bedside as well.
"I'm glad you're alright. I'm not sure what we would've done if you didn't pull through." Sam managed to say. Apparently she was still conscious that our last conversation was an argument.
"Thanks, glad to be alive I guess."
"So how much do you remember about who attacked you? The police said it was probably the empire but Rory was skeptical."
"It was the empire. I recognized some of them were from Winslow."
"So it was related to that fight you had at the school." she said with a little vindicated tone.
I however had a short few seconds of panic as I realized dad had heard what Sam had said. I hadn't told him about the fight. Dad must have noticed me reacting to that and he spoke to reassure me.
"Taylor, Sam already told me about the fight. I'm not mad at you, though I am a bit disappointed you didn't feel comfortable sharing it with me. She didn't do anything wrong, and she only told me because she thought it was related to your attack."
It made sense but it was still a little annoying that she revealed the secret while I was comatose. That might have been why she was a little hesitant coming into the room. That or she remembered we still weren't on the best of terms still. I decided to overlook it since these weren't exactly normal circumstances.
"I understand. I'm sorry I didn't tell you."
"It's alright for now. I'm just relieved you're alright."
Then Sam spoke up again "So now that you can talk, Rory will want to send someone later today to get the details on everything for the investigation. Since you're an immediate ward family member the PRT will want to be involved in the investigation. You think you'll be up for that today?"
Dad seemed a little uncomfortable with this question. "Sam, she can talk about that when she's ready. Remember what the nurse said about exciting her."
While I appreciated dads concern, it was important that someone did something about Fischer and his goons. "No, I can tell them what happened. I'd rather get it over sooner rather than later."
"Great. I'll be right there with you. Rory really needs something to get his mind off that disaster from New Years."
That got my attention "Disaster? What happened?"
Sam seemed to realize I had caught what she had mentioned and seemed a bit flustered. "Oh! Well umm… It's a long story and we don't need to get into it right now. All you need to know is that there was a big fight between all the gangs two nights ago. There was a visiting ward named Mesmerize that died on his watch that night, and he's taking it a bit hard."
That did seem like a disaster but it felt like she was leaving something out. I followed up. "Oh I'm sorry to hear that. Were you close to Mesmerize?"
"I actually didn't meet him. I can give you the whole story later. What we should be focusing on is making sure you get better quickly. After all Winslow starts again tomorrow right dad?" Sam deflected. I wanted to follow up but dad seemed eager to fill me in about my schooling situation.
"Oh yes that is true. But you don't need to worry about that yet. I'll contact the school district to get you a week of medical leave to recover properly. I can make some phone calls when their weekend calling hours start today. Panacea did need to use a lot of your fat to repair your body, so you'll need to do a little physical therapy at home. The nurses said you'll need to take some time to exercise your muscles since a lot of them needed to be fixed."
"Okay, I can do that."
"Good, I'll go out to make some of those phone calls. The school district office should have its phone line open soon. Why don't you and Sam catch up while I handle that alright?"
"Alright."
Dad gave me a quick hug and then walked out of the room to the hospital phone banks. Me and Sam made eye contact, suddenly without dad as an impetus to avoid arguing. We still hadn't settled our previous arguments and I wasn't sure where to start myself. Sam closed her eyes and breathed in and out for a second before speaking.
"Taylor, I realize I haven't been a very good sister lately."
"You do?"
"Yeah, I wanted to apologize for being kinda bitchy last time we spoke. But then there's the whole blackmail thing and me trying to set you up with my teammates. I kept thinking I was helping you but I never asked if you wanted the help. After thinking it over I've realized I'm just acting like a hero towards you. But you're my sister and it doesn't work that way between us." she said. She put her hand on the back of her neck. She seemed a bit ashamed of not realizing this sooner. Even though she was making an admission I felt it wasn't accurate.
"Sam I know I was angry about what you did but I don't think you've been that bad of a sister."
"You think so?"
"Well I don't entirely approve of what you did but I understand you were just trying to help. When… When I was stuck in that dumpster one of the worst things I realized was that if I hadn't blown you off I wouldn't have been there. I was alone because I'd been pushing you away."
"Taylor, if I had known you were in trouble I would've absolutely been there."
"I know that Sam. What makes me the bad sister is that I didn't appreciate that until it was too the last few years I kept thinking you were my klutzy little sister that kept injuring herself or getting into trouble. But you've actually been growing up and I've been ignoring that. When I found out what you were doing to Emma and Sophia it was hard to reconcile my image of you and reality."
"Yeah I guess that would be hard. How about we just agree we could both do better okay?"
"Yeah I think I can agree with that." Then Sam, being her old sentimental self, pulled me into a hug. "I meant what I said Taylor. I don't know what we would have done if you'd have died. I was worried we'd lose you like mom." She began to choke up and as I continued to hug her I felt some tears land on me. I began to feel emotional as well and I found that I was tearing up as well.
As we wrapped our arms around each other we both seemed to experience a feeling of catharsis. After everything we finally managed to find some common ground to reconcile on. It was the closest I had felt to copacetic in a long time. I don't know how long we held each other but it was certainly for a while.
Looking back in retrospect I should have told her that day I had gotten powers. But I had made up my mind beforehand and I stupidly decided not to change course. Given what would happen in the coming months things would have gone so much smoother if I had just told her the truth then.
A/N
-I decided to not over-complicate Taylor's trigger event by involving Coil or Cauldron directly (They affect everything indirectly but making Taylor trigger is not on their agenda). Just a simple combo of Taylor's social isolation reaching its peak and her antagonizing some very bad people. My head-canon is that Fischer's group usually doesn't go after their other enemies at Winslow since they'd have backup from their gangs or cliques. But they figured Taylor was isolated enough to be an easy chance to show their "dominance", not realizing she was the sister of a ward. They are not going to expect the PRT investigation coming their way.
-Robert Fischer's name was inspired by listening to this podcast. My conclusion is that chess players are on average not as smart as you think they are.
-So I hope that my twist on Taylor's powers will be welcomed, because with a few restrictions she basically can control every animal. My head-canon here is that the more someone is in danger during their trigger event, the more likely they get a "Stronger" power. So since Taylor was more likely to die in the dumpster, Queen Administrator compensated with a broader scope in her power. The main restriction I'm placing is that the bigger the animal, the shorter her effective range of control will be. Also she'll find smaller creatures easier to control since they're generally simpler. So you can expect her to favor smaller creatures since her control will be much stronger over them.
-Another factor in favor of small creatures is that even though Taylor will be able to control every animal, living in a city like Brockton Bay will constrain her a lot. Unless she can raid a zoo or make a long field trip into the woods she won't have access to many apex predators or exotic creatures. Not to mention the logistics of feeding and housing the larger animals will discourage her from trying until she gets access to more resources.
-I'll admit I can't fully justify Taylor not telling Sam about her powers even though they've reconciled. The best I can say is that she's not thinking logically and that she's just rationalizing to herself why she shouldn't. Basically it's a variation of her canon logic in that she wants to build up a name for herself as an independent hero. Once she does that she can enter the wards with a much higher status. Sam would poke a lot of holes in this so I'm going to keep her ignorant until Taylor has had some time to pursue this plan. Just when they think they're done arguing they're about to have so many new things to fight about.
-BTW the timeline I worked out for this arc goes:
Dec 20:Taylor's 1st Confrontation with skinheads, First Argument with Sam
Dec 21:Last day before break, Taylor's 2nd Confrontation
Dec 23: Sam volunteers for the big operation.
Dec 25: Christmas
Dec 27: Wards Training day
Dec 28: Second Argument, Movie Night, Taylor Triggers
Dec 30: Sam chooses not to go on the big operation.
Dec 31: New Years Eve battle
Jan 2: Taylor wakes up.
I hope this helps anyone having trouble with all the events.
-Please leave replies and feedback. I'm always looking to improve.