Dale just couldn't seem to catch a break. A part of him wondered if the Burgess family was cursed, but deep down he knew it wasn't the case. They had horrible luck, and had a tendency to wind up in unfortunate circumstances, but that wasn't because of a curse. It was just because that was how life at these magical preserves were.
The shadow plague was over, which was a relief, but it hadn't come without a price. Lena had given her life to end the shadow plague, and they were all grieving, just in different ways. Kendra and Patton, who would remain in their time for a few more days, seemed particularly devastated, which was understandable. Kendra blamed herself for Lena's death, despite all of their assurance that it wasn't her fault. Patton, of course, was upset to see that his wife had died. He may see her again when he returned to his own time, but it was still a difficult thing to live through.
Dale was upset about Lena's death, of course, but he allowed himself to grieve. His brother, on the other hand, seemed to be refusing to let himself be upset about this. When Dale tried to bring it up to him, Warren had muttered excuses before he finally said something about how he had no right to grieve. This was ridiculous, of course, but Warren refused to listen to a word that Dale said about it. Warren just insisted that whatever pain he was feeling wasn't as bad as Kendra and Patton's.
Since Warren wouldn't listen to him, Dale had to find someone else that would help him. He knew that Stan and Ruth would certainly agree with him on this matter, but Dale didn't want to bother them. They were both concerned about Kendra, and she was their priority right now. There was someone else that Dale could ask though, one of the few people that Warren would actually listen to.
Dale was hesitant to ask, but he didn't know how else to help Warren. He needed desperate help, and he had a limited time to get this help. He had given Patton his space to grieve, but when Patton had approached them, seeming much more at peace with himself and in a better place, Dale thought it would be okay to talk to him about this.
"Patton, I don't want to bother you with this, but would you be willing to help me with something?" Dale asked.
"Of course, Dale," Patton looked at him in concern. Dale was still having a difficult time wrapping his head around Patton actually being here and completely real. He'd grown up hearing all kinds of stories about Patton, from Lena and Stan, but it was one thing to hear his stories and another to actually get to know Patton as a real person. "Is something wrong?"
"Not with me," Dale said. "It's my brother,"
"Warren, right?" Patton asked. Dale nodded.
"He's taking Lena's death really hard," Dale said quietly as he looked around. He didn't want Warren to overhear their conversation and get mad at him for talking about him. "He won't admit it though. He doesn't think he's allowed to be upset."
Patton frowned. "Was Warren close to Lena?"
"She practically raised him," Dale explained. Patton's eyes widened in surprise. "Our parents went missing when he was just a kid. Me and the Sorensons were busy with work around Fablehaven, so Lena was the one who really took care of him."
Patton was quiet for a moment. "Lena never really struck me as the maternal type," He said slowly, not like he was doubting Dale's words, but because he was really considering them. "How was she with him?"
"She was...something," Dale laughed slightly. "She gave him attention when I couldn't. She played revenge of the naids with him," Patton chuckled. "I'm pretty sure she taught him how to use a sword when he was seven years old,"
"That definitely sounds like her," Patton smiled fondly. "Why would he think that he doesn't deserve to grieve her? He has as much right as anybody else."
"That's what I've been trying to tell him, but he won't listen to me," Dale said. "I was hoping that he would listen to you."
"I'll certainly try," Patton said. "Where is your brother, anyways? I haven't seen him a lot,"
"He's probably hiding at his cabin and trying to avoid me," Dale said. "I've been bothering him, I guess,"
"Are you sure he's not just looking for space?" Patton asked. "This might be his way of grieving," Dale shook his head. He wished that were the case. Patton grimaced slightly. "Well I'll certainly try talking to him."
Dale led the way to the cabin. As they went, Patton talked about his new life with Lena in his own time. It was interesting to hear about Lena so young. It was like she was a whole new person. It seemed like Patton and Lena were having trouble adjusting to living with each other. Maybe Dale shouldn't be happy that they were having relationship issues, but all his life he'd heard stories about how incredible Patton was. He was more of a myth than a real person. He'd known Lena as a real person, but more as a grandmother figure than a young woman who he could relate to. It was really nice to hear about their imperfect relationship with each other.
When they arrived at the cabin, Dale went to the door and turned the knob. It was unlocked, and that was a strong indicator that Warren was here. He and Warren had been staying in this cabin together. Dale had been the last one to leave the cabin this morning, which in and of itself was a sign that Warren was upset about things, because Warren never woke up earlier than Dale. Out of force of habit, Dale always locked the door when he left. Warren couldn't be bothered, so the fact that the door was unlocked meant that he had at least come here.
When Dale went inside, he didn't see Warren in the cabin, but that didn't mean that he wasn't here. Dale climbed up the ladder to the loft, and then continued up to the roof. When Dale poked his head out to pull himself onto the balcony, he was immediately greeted with a kick to the face. Dale grunted and nearly lost his grip and fell off the ladder, but Warren grabbed his arm and steadied him while Patton helped him to keep his balance from below.
"I thought I told you I didn't want to talk to you," Warren glared at him. Dale returned his glare evenly.
"You really think I'm just here to accost you?" Dale pulled himself up onto the platform. Warren moved over to make room for him, or to get away from him.
"You've certainly been doing a lot of it lately," Warren grumbled.
"Well, this time I'm not the one who's here to talk to you," Dale said. He was actually relieved about that. He was too old to deal with Warren acting like a child. "I've brought someone else along to do that for me,"
Warren groaned and ran a hand through his hair. "I swear, if that's Stan or Ruth, I will push you off the roof."
"I would say that I could come back later," Patton's voice said from below. Warren sat up and looked at the latch in shock. Patton pulled himself up. "I don't exactly have much time here though,"
"Patton," Warren said quietly in slight awe. "You...what are you doing here?"
"What I want to know is why you're looking like you've seen a ghost," Patton looked amused. Warren just continued looking at Patton in slight alarm. At first Dale had thought that Warren was just in hero-worshipping awe, but Warren wasn't the kind of person to be thunderstruck like this. He also looked slightly scared. Something was bothering him.
"What's wrong?" Dale asked firmly.
"You...she always said I was like you," Warren said quietly. Patton's amused expression shifted to one of concern.
"Lena...she said that?" Patton looked from one brother to another.
Warren brought his knees up to his chest and wrapped his arms around his legs. He didn't say anything. Dale sighed and nodded. "All the time."
Patton smiled sadly and pulled himself onto the roof. "Did she say it like it was a good thing or a bad thing?"
Warren still didn't say anything. Dale took it upon himself to answer. "She said it like it was the highest compliment. I always felt like I aged a few years whenever she said it."
Warren cracked a small smile. "I was always really adventurous and curious. Hearing her talk about you, it just fed that adventurous spirit of mine. It's probably because of her that I joined the Knights when I was sixteen."
"Sixteen?" Patton raised an eyebrow. "Why so young?"
"Well, actually I did training with them for a few years," Warren said. "I didn't become an actual Knight until I was eighteen,"
"That's still really young," Patton looked a little upset. "What kind of missions have they been sending you on?"
"Lately I've mostly been keeping an eye on Kendra, making sure she's safe," Warren said. "When I started out, I was basically an assistant and an extra set of hands for other Knights."
"Oh," Patton relaxed a little bit. Sure, the way that Warren said it, his work as a Knight didn't sound too bad. It was useful and important, but didn't sound too dangerous. If that was all that Warren had done as a Knight, Dale wouldn't mind it so much.
"Warren was also given a solo assignment to find an artifact," Dale scowled. Warren grimaced and looked a little embarrassed, which just irritated Dale even more. That assignment had done a lot of damage to Warren. This wasn't just an embarrassing situation that Dale was refusing to let go of, it was a real problem that he had every reason to be cautious about. Warren trying to pretend that it wasn't as big a deal as it was really wasn't helping Dale calm down.
"It wasn't that bad," Warren began to say, but he stopped when Dale gave him a sharp look. "Right, sorry,"
Patton watched them curiously. "The Knights don't normally send people on missions by themselves." He looked a little impressed, but mostly angry on Warren's behalf. That was pretty much how Dale felt about his brother's Knight career. "How old are you?"
"Twenty," Warren said immediately.
"Twenty-two," Dale corrected with a small flinch. He didn't appreciate the reminder that his brother had lost nearly two years of his life. Two years really didn't sound like that much, but a lot of things could happen in two years time, and Warren had missed out on all of it.
Warren grimaced and rubbed his arms. "Right, twenty-two."
"Don't you think you're a little young to forget how old you are?" Patton's tone was teasing, but he looked slightly wary.
"I, uh, lost two years," Warren said. Dale glared out over the roof, towards where the grove was.
"You didn't lose anything," Dale grumbled. "The two years still happened. You were the one that was lost."
Warren sighed. He looked and sounded tired. "Yeah, you've said as much...multiple times,"
Dale frowned, feeling slightly guilty. He had taken care of his brother for two years, but he didn't resent him for it. He hoped that he wasn't making Warren think that he blamed him for all of this, or regretted what he'd done to take care of him. It was the most difficult two years of Dale's life, but he would do it all over again if he had to.
"Well, one bad mission doesn't make you a bad Knight," Patton said. "Your brother told me that Lena taught you how to fight."
Warren smiled slightly. "She taught me a thing or two,"
"I've done quite a bit of sparring with Lena," Patton said. "Sometimes it's how we settle our disagreements and arguments." He stood up and held out his hand to Warren. How about you show me just how much she showed you?"
Dale didn't know how good it sounded to purposefully introduce violence into an argument, but he wasn't about to tell Patton how to live his life. Dale didn't have a lot of romantic relationship experience, so he didn't know if he was qualified to give any kind of advice.
Warren's small smile brightened. He'd always loved a good spar. "I'm pretty good. I've been learning since I was a kid,"
"You still are a kid," Patton teased, though at the age that he was at the moment, he was only a few years older than Warren. Dale didn't know exactly how old Patton was, but he suspected that he was older than him, which was an alarming thought. "What was Lena's teaching style? Did she take it easy on you, or just throw you in the deep end immediately?"
"She definitely threw me in the deep end," Warren laughed.
"Literally," Dale smiled fondly at the memory, though at the time he certainly hadn't been very amused by it. "It was just after our parents went on their last mission, before we knew they were missing. Warren was hanging out near the pool, and Lena thought that it was time for him to learn how to swim. So she picked him up and just tossed him into the water." Dale had heard from his mother that Lena had tried to do the same thing to him, but his parents had stopped her. Lena hadn't been allowed to watch over Dale for a few years after that. Sometimes Dale wondered how their parents would react if they'd seen the way that Lena raised Warren.
Patton laughed at the story. "Oh, that sounds like my Lena. I don't think I'll ever be able to convince her that humans don't know how to swim at birth the way that naiads do."
"Well, she wasn't quite that harsh when it came to teaching me how to fight," Warren said. "She only almost cut my hand off once." Dale desperately hoped that he was just joking, but he really didn't think he was. It was a wonder that Warren didn't grow up to have some issues...well, more issues.
"Oh she almost cut my hand off once too," Patton said way too eagerly.. Dale really didn't understand just how these two could think that this was a normal thing. They almost sounded amused about almost being killed by Lena.
Dale had been thinking about giving the two of them to spar on their own, give them the space to talk about things that Warren really didn't want to bring up with him, but now he didn't think that was such a good idea. Warren and Kendra may get too invested in their sparring and end up seriously hurting each other.
"Let me referee," Dale insisted. "Someone has to make sure you don't kill yourselves,"
Warren didn't look completely happy about needing to be supervised, but he didn't complain. Patton seemed content with the suggestion. "You're more than welcome to join us," Patton said. "You two can tag team. I'm sure you know a thing or two yourself," Dale started shaking his head before Patton had even finished making the suggestion.
"I'm not much of a fighter," Dale said.
"Tell that to the hobgoblin I heard you fought," Warren grinned.
"You mean the hobgoblin that broke both my legs?" Dale raised an eyebrow at him. "I wouldn't exactly call that a victory,"
"Hey, any battle you can walk away from is a victory," Warren laughed.
"Especially if your opponent can't," Patton agreed. As much as Dale had hated hearing that Warren was a lot like Patton, he had to admit that he could see it now. He couldn't help but be relieved that Patton would only be here for a short period of time, or else he and Warren may just decide to be bad influences on each other and drag each other on needlessly dangerous adventures.
It was hard enough to watch out for one Warren, Dale really didn't need another one around.
A/N: I had to write about Warren interacting properly with Patton, once again because of just a single line from the books. I can't tell you what the exact line is, because I don't happen to have the book on hand (I only own the first two), but it happens when some of the characters use the chronometer to go back in time to speak to Patton and get some advice/make a game plan for defeating the sphinx. I think that Stan says something about them really needing someone like Patton in the present, to help them with this final confrontation. Unless my memory's failing me, Patton says that there are a few people in the present (his future) who are even better than he is, and I swear to everything my memory is capable of, the book says that Patton looks at Warren during this part.
As a big Warren fan, I was ecstatic about this part, but it got me thinking. Why would he say something like that about Warren if he had absolutely no interaction with him at all?