Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Twelve year old Dale kicked his legs and frowned as he looked around the hospital waiting room. He could count on one hand the number of times that he had been outside of Fablehaven. He never felt completely comfortable out here in the normal world. Everything was too loud, there were way too many people, and it all moved too fast for him. Dale just wanted to get back to the reserve, but they couldn’t leave without his mom, and she wasn’t going anywhere until she finished giving birth to Dale’s new baby brother.

Dale glanced over to his dad, who hadn’t said a word since they got here. Dale wanted to talk, even if just to have something to do, but he felt too uncomfortable to start up a conversation himself. He wished that Lena was waiting out here with them, she always had ideas on how to avoid boredom, but she was with his mom, and had been basically all day.

Dale looked up at the clock on the wall and glared at it in annoyance. His parents had told him a few years ago about where babies came from, but neither of them had mentioned just how long the actual labor took. Mom was just having a baby, he really didn’t understand why that should take nearly nine hours.

Dale sighed in irritation, and his dad looked down at him. “Feeling a bit bored, are you?”

“A little.” Dale admitted. “What’s taking so long?”

“Believe it or not, you took even longer.” Dad smirked, and the boy pouted. It wasn’t his fault that babies took forever to be born. “You just have to be patient. It shouldn’t be much longer.”

“But we’ve been here forever.” Dale complained. “Why did we have to come here anyways? Why couldn’t Mom have the baby back at Fablehaven like she did with me?”

Dad’s smile became slightly strained. “There have been some complications, and me and your mother agreed that it would be best if she had the baby at a hospital, just in case.”

“Complications?” Dale frowned in slight concern. “Is there something wrong with the baby? Are he and mom going to be okay?”

Dad smiled and put a hand on Dale’s shoulder. “They’ll be just fine. We just thought it would be better to be safe than sorry.” He didn’t sound worried, but Dale couldn’t help but think that something was seriously wrong. He wished that he could see his mom already, not just because he was bored, but because he wanted to know that she and the baby were okay.

Dad seemed to notice that Dale wasn’t comforted by his words, so he took a different approach. “Are you excited to be a big brother?”

“I guess so,” Dale shrugged. Growing up he had basically been the only kid living at Fablehaven. Sometimes the Sorensons would come over, but while Stan or Ruth might stay for the summer, their kids usually just stayed for a couple of days at a time. Stan and Ruth both knew about Fablehaven, and Dale knew that Lena was considering them to be the new caretakers, but their kids didn’t know about the magical stuff at all.

Dale enjoyed playing with the other kids whenever they came around, but he always felt like he was walking on eggshells around them. Stan and Ruth wanted their children to know about Fablehaven, but they wanted them to learn about it for themselves. They’d been trying for years now, and if anything Scott, Carl, and Sophie were all even further from learning the truth than they had ever been. Dale always had to be extremely careful to not say anything about Fablehaven when the Sorenson kids were around, and it was really stressful.

Dale loved Fablehaven, and it would be nice to share that love with another kid, but there wasn’t a guarantee that he would be able to. “What if my brother doesn’t learn about magic, like Scott, Carl, and Sophie?”

Dad frowned slightly. “Is that what you’ve been worried about this whole time?” Dale had actually been worried about a lot of things. He had never been a big brother before. This was all really new for him. “We’ll make sure your brother knows about Fablehaven. We’ll teach him about it from a young age, just like we did with you, remember?” Dale didn’t really remember learning about Fablehaven. It was just something that he had always known. That must’ve been because he had learned it from such an early age. “Don’t worry so much. Your brother will grow up knowing about Fablehaven, and you’ll be able to have adventures with him.”

That was something that Dale had always wanted, but he didn’t think it would be as easy as his dad made it out to be. “But I’m so much older than him. By the time he’ll be big enough to go on adventures, I’ll be too busy doing work around Fablehaven.” Dale had been helping his dad with groundskeeping duties at Fablehaven, and he had already been promised that as he got older he would be able to have more responsibilities. Dale suspected that in the next five years he would be helping out nearly as much as his dad did. How was he supposed to be friends with his brother, or even have any relationship with him at all, when there was such a big age difference between between?

“I’m sure you’ll figure things out.” Dad said, and that really wasn’t an answer. It was just a way to stall this conversation for a few years. Dale was about to call his dad out about it when a nurse came out looking for the ‘Burgess’’. Dad smiled at him encouragingly and the two of them got to their feet and followed the nurse.

Dale stayed close to his father’s side as they went to the room where his mom and baby brother (hopefully) were. When they got to the room the first thing that Dale noticed was that his mom was crying, which alarmed him. He couldn’t remember the last time he had seen her cry. The second thing that he noticed was the little bundle of blankets in his mom’s arms. His new baby brother.

Dad immediately went to Mom’s side and hugged her, which looked a little awkward because she was lying on a bed and had a baby in her arms. It seemed that Dad was too emotional to care, because he was crying too. Dale lingered in the doorway, feeling uncertain about what he should do. Lena took notice of him and soon came to his side.

“Do you want to come meet Warren?” Lena asked kindly.

“Warren?” Dale tested the name of his new baby brother. It felt weird to say. “I don’t know.” It looked to Dale like his mom and dad had the baby covered. He didn’t want to crowd the little thing.

“Come on,” Lena encouraged gently as she took Dale’s hand and lead him closer to the bed. “Your mother needs to rest anyways.” Dale didn’t think that his mom agreed, but when Lena tried to take the baby, Mom didn’t resist too much.

“Just sit right there.” Lena gestured to a chair right next to the bed. Dale sat down, and after Lena was sure that he was situated, she gently put Warren in his arms. Dale felt like he couldn’t breathe. Warren just felt so fragile in his arms.

“Why’s he so small?” Dale looked at Lena.

“He’s a baby.” Dad reminded him. Dale glared at his dad in annoyance.

“Well, yeah, but even for a baby he feels so small.” Dale wasn’t an expert on babies and he didn’t really know just how big or small they were supposed to be, but he just couldn’t believe that all babies were as little and weak as Warren was.

“He is a little small.” Lena admitted. “But he’ll get bigger.”

“If you say so.” Dale looked back at Warren and frowned. “What’s his full name?” Dale knew that his parents had come up with Warren’s first and middle name months ago, and they had refused to even give him a hint. Dale had never really cared about nicknames before, but his parents’ secrecy had just made him really curious.

Mom smiled proudly. “Warren Patton Burgess.”

“Patton?” Dad looked at mom and Lena in shock. “I thought you wanted to name him after your dad?”

“I did,” Mom said. “But when we saw just how strong Warren was, no other name but Patton felt right.”

“Strong?” Dale looked his brother over, trying to find a sign of this so called strength that Mom said he had. “He’s just a baby. How is he strong?”

The tears welled up in Mom’s eyes all over again, and Dale wondered what he had said wrong. “We...we almost lost Warren.”

“Lost him?” Dale tightened his grip on Warren. He had only just met his brother, he barely even knew him at all, but the thought that Warren almost didn’t make it scared Dale more than anything else. “What happened?”

“There were just some complications.” Lena said, same as Dad did. Dale didn’t know if he wanted to know what ‘complications’ meant, or if he would rather it be a mystery. Dale shuddered when he remembered that dad told him that they had come to the hospital just in case. If they hadn’t come here, Warren might not even be alive right now. Dale felt really bad for complaining. If a little bit of boredom was what he had to go through to have a healthy little brother, then it was a price that Dale was more than happy to pay.

Dale held Warren close as he watched him sleep. He looked so peaceful. If Dale hadn’t been told about what could have happened, he wouldn’t have ever guessed. Warren looked perfectly fine now, but Dale couldn’t shake the paranoid feeling that if he took his eyes off of Warren for just a second that something would happen to him.

Dale hadn’t known how he felt about being a big brother, but now it was a job that he took really seriously. Warren may be strong, but he was still just a little baby. As his big brother, it was Dale’s job to watch out for Warren, and it was a job that Darren took really seriously.

Dale may just be a kid, but he would do everything in his power to keep Warren safe. Nothing was going to happen to Warren, not if Dale had anything to do about it.

Chapter Text

Dale lazely opened his eyes as he was woken unexpectedly from his sleep. He had always been a light sleeper, but he didn’t often wake up in the middle of the night for no reason. He knew that something must have woken him up, but it took him a few moments to figure it out. After lying in bed for a few moments Dale became aware of the sound of rain against the window. There was a storm going on outside.

Dale sat up and looked outside just in time to see a flash of lightning that was so bright that for an instant it seemed to light up the entire attic. Just as quickly as the light was there, it was gone again, but it was quickly followed by a roll of thunder that was so deep and close that it almost seemed like it shook the entire house.

“That’s some storm.” Dale muttered as he looked outside and watched as the rain fell. Fablehaven didn’t often get storms, and this was probably the worst one that Dale had ever seen. He could already tell that there was going to be a lot of damage control to do around the preserve. He just hoped that none of the creatures chose now to cause some trouble, because there would be enough to do without dealing with any uprising.

Dale yawned and burrowed back under his covers. He knew that there was going to be a lot to do tomorrow, and he didn’t want to be half asleep during any of it. Dale was about to fall back asleep when he heard something hit the window outside. Dale would have brushed off the noise as just another sound of the storm when he heard a quiet whimper.

“Warren, you awake over there?” Dale turned over and looked towards the other bed. He could see a little lump of blankets in the middle of the bed, and he knew that it had to be his brother.

“...No.” Warren’s little voice cut through the sound of the storm. Dale smiled to himself at the answer. Moments like this made him actually enjoy sharing a room with a little three year old. The kid just said the craziest things.

“Oh, well, if you’re not awake, then I guess I’d better go back to sleep too.” Dale said as he laid his head on the pillow and began to fake snore.

“No, wait!” Warren threw his covers off and looked at his brother in alarm. He clearly didn’t want to be left alone during the storm.

“So you are awake.” Dale sat up. “The rain making it hard to sleep?”

“...Maybe.” Warren pulled his blankets close around him until his face was the only thing that was visible. “I’m not scared though.”

“Of course not.” Dale nodded. Warren may just be a kid, but he was way too proud to admit that he was was scared of anything. “We all have nights where we can’t sleep.” Dale scooted over and held his blanket up. “You want to come keep me company?”

Warren looked hesitant, but when there was another flash of lightning the three year old yelped and practically leaped out of his bed. He dashed to Dale’s side and jumped into his bed with him. Dale smiled and pulled his little brother closer.

“You know, if you close your eyes you can almost pretend that there are creatures outside instead of a storm.” Dale said. For a lot of kids the thought of a monster being in their backyard was a lot scarier than a little bit of rain, but Dale knew that Warren had a really dangerously weird fascination with dangerous monsters.

Sure enough, Warren seemed to brighten up at Dale’s suggestion. “Really? What creatures?”

Warren looked out the window as he considered what to say. “Well, the lightning could come from a migrating thunderbird.”

“A thunderbird?” Warren’s voice was filled with awe, like it usually was whenever he was told about a creature he had never heard of before.

“They’re supposed to be really big birds that throw lightning and cause thunder when they flap their wings.” Dale said. That was about everything that he knew about the creatures, but he knew it wasn’t enough to satisfy the kid’s curiosity.

“What do they look like?” Warren asked excitedly.

Dale bit his lip. He had barely even heard of thunderbirds, let alone knew what they looked like. “Well, what do you think it looks like?”

“A dragon!” Warren said quickly. “And it has wings made out of rain clouds, and a lightning tail, and it eats dogs, and that’s why dogs are scared of storms.”

“...Wow.” Dale muttered. He did not understand how Warren could feel more comfortable with the thought that a dragon that ate dogs was flying over their house, but if it made him feel safe from the storm, let him fantasize about whatever made him feel better. “I would hate to meet that dragon.”

“Thunderbird.” Warren corrected.

“Right, thunderbird, sorry,” Dale chuckled. “It sounds scary.”

“I want to see one.” Warren cuddled closer to his brother.

“Of course you do.” Dale tightened his grip on his brother, like he could somehow protect Warren from a creature that was nowhere near Fablehaven. Dale didn’t understand Warren’s obsession with dangerous creatures. He hoped that it was just a phase, that Warren’s fascination was just a regular thing that little boys went through, but he was starting to worry that this was going to be something that would stick with Warren throughout his entire life.

Dale blamed his great-great uncle that he had never met before. Maybe naming Warren after Patton, who was probably one of the greatest adventurers of his time, had been a bad idea, because it seemed like Warren had inherited the man’s desire for adventure.

Dale himself wasn’t all that interested in going on adventures. He got enough adventures just helping his dad out with groundskeeping duties at Fablehaven. Warren though, the more exotic and dangerous something was, the more excited he was about it. Dale dreaded the day when Warren met an adventurer like Coulter Dixon.

Then again, it would probably be best if Warren found himself somebody that could teach him how to handle dangerous situations, because Dale had the feeling that Warren would somehow find himself in these situations anyways. If Warren was going to go on adventures, he might as well know how to take care of himself.

But Dale could save worrying about that for a later date.

Right now, Warren wasn’t an explorer risking his neck to get treasures and artifacts from dragons. He was just a scared little kid who was looking to his older brother to protect him from the storm outside. Dale knew that Warren was going to grow up eventually, and it would probably happen much sooner than Dale would like, but for now he was just going to hold onto this moment for as long as he could.

Chapter Text

Dale had always considered himself a fairly easy-going kid. If his parents asked him to do something that he didn’t necessarily like to do, he did it anyways, with very little complaining. He had heard that most kids as they got older became more defiant towards their parents, but Dale hadn’t ever had that problem. If anything, after becoming a teenager he had become even more willing to do what his parents wanted.

It wasn’t that Dale was a doormat who was willing to roll over because he wanted to avoid confrontation. If Dale had a problem with something, he wasn’t afraid to speak his mind about it. He just recognized and respected his parents’ experience and wisdom. He may not be a little kid anymore, but he wasn’t an adult. And he’d lived on Fablehaven his whole life. His parents just knew more about the world as a whole than he did.

But he knew all too well that they weren’t perfect, and when his parents were wrong about something, they were incredibly wrong about it.

“Would you two just listen to me?” Dale pleaded as he closed the suitcase that his parents were in the middle of packing. “You can’t leave.”

“Dale,” Dad sighed in tired frustration as he ran a hand through his hair. Dale recognized the feeling, because he felt the same way. He had heard from Lena just half an hour ago that his parents had been called away on another ‘assignment’, and he had been in their room arguing with them about it since then. “We have to go. It’s our responsibility.”

Dale rolled his eyes and crossed his arms. “You have responsibilities here.” Dale had learned years ago that when his parents got an assignment from their so called secret society, that they were expected to make this task their number one priority. Dale understood how important the Knights of the Dawn were, but were there really no other knights who could do whatever the Captain wanted? Dale just found it hard to believe that his parents were the only capable knights available.

“Fablehaven will be fine for a few weeks, honey.” Mom tried to reassure him, but her words just angered Dale even more. He really hadn’t been concerned about Fablehaven. He was nearly seventeen. He could do nearly every one of the groundskeeping duties that his dad handled. And if there was a job that Dale couldn’t do, Lena was more than capable of dealing with the odd task. Dale knew that Fablehaven would be in good hands, even if his parents weren’t there, but the magical reserve really wasn’t the only thing that his parents should be thinking about.

Dale took in a deep breath. He knew that getting angry would accomplish nothing. If he wanted his parents to actually listen to what he was saying, he had to stay calm. “What about Warren?”

To his parents’ credit, they looked at least somewhat ashamed. The two of them probably remembered just as clearly as Dale did what had happened the last time they had both left to do work for the Knights of the Dawn. Dale had barely been ten years old when his parents, with barely any warning, had up and left for nearly two weeks. He hadn’t been left on his own, exactly, as Lena had been around, but it just wasn’t the same.

Dale probably would have been just fine if he had known about the Knights of the Dawn at the time, but he hadn’t been told yet. Back then, all that Dale knew was that his parents had left, nobody was able to give him a good answer as to why, and he hadn’t had any idea when they would return, if they would even come back at all. It had taken Dale nearly a month after their return for him to begin to trust that they weren’t going to leave him again.

Dale was old enough now to understand why his parents were leaving, and he was perfectly capable of taking care of himself during their absence, but Warren was still just a kid. He was barely four years old for goodness sake. Dale had been pretty traumatized when his parents had left, and it still made him feel a little paranoid sometimes,

Warren was just way too young to have to go through any of that mess, and it was absolutely infuriating that their parents didn’t recognize it.

“Warren’s strong.” Mom said kindly. “He’ll understand.” He was just a kid. He wouldn’t understand anything. And while Dale agreed that his brother was strong, that didn’t mean that their parents, or anybody, should use that as an excuse to basically neglect the poor kid. It didn’t matter how strong he was, he still needed his parents around, just like most all kids did.

“Mom, he needs you guys here.” Dale pleaded quietly. Mom sighed and took his hand. She drew him closer and wrapped her arms around him. Despite his frustration, Dale leaned in to his mom’s embrace.

“We won’t be gone long.” Dad promised. He put a hand on Dale’s shoulder, even though the teenager had half expected him to take advantage of how the suitcase wasn’t blocked anymore to continue packing. His parents were trying, they weren’t cruel, but they still felt like they needed to leave.

Dale slumped and his eyes hardened into a cold glare. He knew that he wouldn’t be able to convince them to stay. They had sworn an oath when they had joined the Knights of the Dawn, they had to come when they were called. He knew this, he just didn’t understand or accept it.

But it wasn’t like he actually had a say on the matter.

“When are you leaving?” Dale asked.

“Immediately.” Dad said apologetically. “Our flight leaves first thing in the morning.”

Which meant that they would be gone before dawn. Warren had gone to bed a few hours ago, and by the time he woke up they would already be gone. Not only were they leaving Warren without any explanation, they were leaving without even saying goodbye first. Dale had never been much of an adventurer anyways, but at that moment he swore to himself that he would never join the Knights of the Dawn. He wouldn’t put himself in a position where he may have to abandon his little brother.

“What am I supposed to say to Warren?” Dale muttered, because he really didn’t know.

“You can tell him we’re off treasure hunting.” Dad suggested. “He’ll probably love that.”

Despite how upset he was, Dale couldn’t help but snort in amusement. Knowing Warren, he would be absolutely ecstatic at the thought of treasure hunting and daring adventures. Warren would probably end up being more devastated that he wasn’t allowed to go along than upset because his parents were gone.

“Watch out for him.” Mom tightened her embrace before letting Dale go so she could look him in the eyes.

“I always do.” Dale swore. He had promised himself that he would watch out for Warren four years ago, and that wasn’t changing now. “Be careful out there.” Dale may know about the Knights of the Dawn, but he didn’t know the specifics of what their assignments were. It was supposed to be a secret society, after all.

“We don’t have any plans of dying any time soon.” Dad joked, but Dale didn’t find it funny. Nobody planned for accidents to happen, that was why they were accidents. Dad must have realized that Dale didn’t appreciate his attempt at humor, because he smiled reassuringly. “We’ll be careful. We’ll be back home before you know it.”

“If you say so.” Dale said reluctantly. He finally pulled away from his parents. “I should probably get to bed.” If his parents were leaving in the morning, he had a lot more work to do tomorrow, and they still had packing to do.

“Goodnight.” Mom pulled Dale closer again and kissed his forehead. “We love you.” She brushed his long hair out of his face. He needed to get a haircut, but it looked like that would have to wait a little longer.

“Love you too.” Dale muttered. They weren’t words that he enjoyed saying easily, but he knew that it was what his mom needed to hear. He wasn’t happy with her, but he didn’t want her to leave for who knows how long thinking that he hated her just because they had just fought.

Dale pulled away from his mom again and backed out of the room. He closed the door behind him and leaned back against the wall. He really did feel absolutely exhausted, though he didn’t know if that was because it had been a long day, or because he’d just had an emotionally trying half hour.

Dale would be more than happy to just collapse on his bed and go to sleep, but he couldn’t do that yet. There was still one more thing he needed to do. Dale glanced to the side towards the couch that was against the wall. One of the sides of the couch was pulled out about a foot further than the other end. Dale had a pretty educated guess on what had caused that.

Dale sighed and walked over to the couch. He knelt on the cushions and peered over the back of the couch. Just as he expected, there was a little child curled up behind the couch. Warren looked up at Dale in alarm, the look in his eyes making it clear that he was worried that he was in trouble. Dale would normally scold his brother for listening in on conversations that he had no part in, especially when he should already be asleep at this time. Considering the circumstances, he was willing to let it slide this once.

Dale brought a finger to his lips, signaling that Warren keep quiet. Warren bit his lip and nodded. Dale signaled for Warren to come out from behind the couch. Once Warren was out, Dale pushed the couch back into place and picked Warren up. He wanted to talk to Warren, but he didn’t want to bother their parents, so it could wait until they were back up in the attic.

As Dale walked past the kitchen he saw Lena up waiting up, sitting at the table. She didn’t comment on Warren still being awake, she had probably seen him sneak down the stairs. Lena just smiled encouragingly at them. Lena probably understood how they felt, and knew that they just needed time.

Dale took Warren up the stairs. As soon as they were in the attic Warren looked at Dale expectedly. “Where are Mom and Dad going?”

Dale sighed and sat Warren on his bed. “I don’t know.” He really didn’t. Dale didn’t even know what their assignment was, let alone where they were going. It didn’t really matter though. Dale knew that his brother wasn’t really asking where they were going, but why they were leaving in the first place. “They just have a job that they need to do, and they’ll be back when they’re done.”

Warren pouted. “Why can’t someone else do it?”

Dale grimaced. He didn’t really have a good answer for that, because he was wondering the same thing. “I don’t know.” Dale had never hated so much that he didn’t have all the answers. Warren was upset and confused, and Dale didn’t know what to say to reassure him.

Warren looked so disappointed that Dale knew that he had to say something. He couldn’t stand seeing his little brother so upset. “Hey, don’t get like that. You know that if you start crying you’ll never be able to go to sleep.” Dale nudged Warren’s arm playfully.

Warren rubbed at his eyes and glared at his brother. “I’m not crying.” He insisted.

“Well, that’s good.” Dale said. While he felt emotionally exhausted when he was upset, which made it really easy to sleep, Warren took so long to calm down that it was almost impossible to get him to sleep soon after he started getting worked up about something. “I don’t want you to be sleepy tomorrow. Afterall, once Dad’s gone, I’m going to need to help around Fablehaven.”

Warren’s eyes widened. “Wait, I can help?” He sounded so excited, that Dale almost felt bad for not including Warren with the chores around Fablehaven sooner.

“You don’t expect me to do everything myself, do you?” Dale asked in faux shock. Warren giggled slightly, though he tried to hide his smile behind his hand. “I wouldn’t be very good at it, would I?”

“Nope.” Warren shook his head. “You need lots of help.”

“You bet I do.” Dale laid down on the bed and pulled his brother down next to him. “You up for it?”

“Yes!” Warren said eagerly.

“Okay, but that means you need to get some sleep.” Dale pulled the covers up over the two of them. “Maybe we’ll be able to convince Lena to make some pancakes in the morning.” Dale doubted there would actually be much convincing involved. If he knew Lena, the two of them would probably wake up to the small of fresh pancakes. It was a bit of a Fablehaven tradition, to have pancakes for breakfast for special occasions, whether they be good or bad.

“M’kay.” Warren yawned as he curled up close to Dale. He was quiet for a moment before he decided that he wanted to ask just one more question. “Will Mom and Dad be okay?”

Dale smiled gently and ran a hand through Warren’s curly hair. “I’m sure they’ll be just fine.” Even though he just wanted to make his brother feel better, Dale couldn’t help but feel like he was lying to him, giving him false hope, because he himself had these same doubts.

Dale just hoped that his parents got home safely, and that his reassurance wouldn’t end up being a lie after all.

Chapter Text

Dale swung the mallet down and hit it against the No Trespassing sign. This final hit embedded the sign’s post into the dirt. Dale lowered his mallet and tried to shake the sign with his hand. It was steady.

Dale sighed in exhaustion and let the mallet fall from his grip. He was used to physical work, and he was used to working all day, but he rarely did such manual labor for so long. His arms felt heavy as lead, and he already knew that getting up in the morning would be torture. At least he was done for now. The signs were all up, and beginning tomorrow his burden would hopefully be lifted.

After all, that was the whole point of the Sorenson’s coming here.

“You look like you’ve had a long day.” Dale turned to see Stan Sorenson pulling up in the truck. “Do you want a ride back to the house?”

“Please,” Dale gratefully made his way to the truck. He tossed the mallet into the bed of the truck and climbed into the passenger seat. He leaned back and closed his eyes as his exhaustion began to catch up to him. He felt like he could sleep for a week. Despite how tired he was, he felt the need to report on the work done. “I got all the signs up.”

“Good boy.” Stan handed Dale a bottle of water. It was lukewarm, but Dale couldn’t care less. He practically gulped the water down. Dale had to force himself to slow down. The water really wasn’t going anywhere, and it wouldn’t do anybody any good if he got himself sick by drinking too much too quickly. “I didn’t expect you to get it all done in one day. There were a lot of signs.”

“Getting it all done today frees up my schedule for tomorrow.” Dale said. There was a lot of work to do around Fablehaven. He didn’t have time to linger on one task for longer than was necessary. “What about you? Did the centaurs accept you as the caretaker?”

“They weren’t happy about it.” Stan said as he turned the truck around and began the drive back up the driveway towards the house. “But they’re not going to cause trouble.”

“At least we’ve got that going for us.” Dale looked out the window and frowned at all of the signs they passed. He had put up every single one of them. “Are the signs really necessary?”

“They’re just a precaution.” Stan said. “One can never be too careful on a preserve like this.”

“No, I guess not.” Dale shrugged. He wasn’t used to Stan’s ways of working, but he couldn’t question everything that the man did. Stan was Fablehaven’s caretaker now. It was ultimately his decision how this place was to be run. If Stan wanted signs to keep outsiders out, that was what they would have. Dale would just end up driving himself crazy if he always questioned Stan’s way of working. He just had to get used to it, because this was the way that things were now.

Things weren’t going to go back to how they were before, and the sooner Dale accepted it, the sooner he could help his brother do the same thing.

Their parents had been gone for six months, and there was no sign when they would be back, or if they would even come back at all. Dale and Warren’s parents had went on an assignment for the Knights of the Dawn, and something had happened to them there. Dale didn’t know what, nobody did. All anybody knew was that their parents were lost.

The Knights of the Dawn have been looking for them, but they were no closer to finding them than they had been before. Dale wanted to go look for them, but the Knights had forbidden it. And there was no way that he would leave Warren the way that they had.

Dale was worried about his brother. He hadn’t seen much of Warren these past few months. It wasn’t that he was trying to avoid Warren or anything. Dale just had a lot of work to do. Warren tried to help out where he could, but Dale refused to let him leave the yard, so there wasn’t a lot the kid could do. Dale did his best to be back to the house before dark every day, but it didn’t always happen. All too often, Dale didn’t get back until long after Warren was already asleep.

It was because of this that Dale finally agreed to let the Sorensons take up the caretaking responsibilities early. He didn’t have anything against the Sorensons, he actually really liked Stan and Ruth. But the original plan had been that Stan and Ruth would wait until all of their kids were grown and moved out before moving to Fablehaven. Until then, Lena would be the official caretaker, and Dale’s parents would handle the groundskeeping. Now that they were gone, that plan just didn’t work anymore. Dale couldn’t handle all of this work on his own, and Lena, though capable, wasn’t as young as she used to be. They needed help.

Dale knew that having the Sorensons around would really help, but he had been reluctant to let them come. Accepting the fact that the Sorensons were needed now felt the same as accepting that Dale’s parents just weren’t coming home, and that was a tough pill to swallow.

But after six months, Dale knew that enough was enough, so he let the Sorensons come over for good. It had only been one day, so Dale had yet to see much of a different, but he knew that if they gave it time that things would get better.

They just had to get over this first hurdle, this first week, first.

When they pulled up to the house Dale saw Ruth sitting on the porch waiting for them. As soon as Stan turned off the car Dale let himself out and went to grab the mallet from the back.

“You said you would be back before dinner.” Ruth scolded her husband. “The others have already started eating.”

“It couldn’t be helped.” Stan said. “How have the kids been? Any of them asking questions?”

“Not at all.” Ruth said in a strange tone that was hard to interpret. “They aren’t even curious about why they can’t go into the woods.” Dale frowned at these words. Ruth was talking about their kids, Scott, Sophie, and Carl. Because both Ruth and Stan were here, they didn’t have much of a choice but to bring their kids with them. Scott and Sophie were both adults, but only barely, and Carl was only sixteen. They couldn’t stay home on their own, so for this first week Stan and Ruth would be here together with the kids to get used to how Fablehaven worked. After that Ruth would take the kids home, and then she and Stan would switch off their responsibilities every two weeks.

“How’s Warren doing?” Dale asked.

“He’s ecstatic about having people around to play with.” Ruth smiled gently at him, but her words caused Dale to feel a pang of guilt. He felt bad that he wasn’t around to be there for Warren. He was his brother. Dale should be Warren’s favorite playmate, but he could barely remember the last time they’d actually played together. Dale was just too busy.

He was glad that Warren had somebody else around that he could play with, he was just disappointed that it couldn’t be him.

At least there was still time today to spend some time with Warren.

Dale walked past Ruth and went inside. He made his way into the kitchen where he found Lena, Scott, Sophie, and Carl all sitting down and eating dinner. Dale’s stomach grumbled at the delicious smell of the food. He hadn’t realized how hungry he was. He was about to pull up a chair and get some food when he noticed that his brother wasn’t at the table.

“Where’s Warren?” Dale looked to Lena.

“Oh, he’s just up in the attic,” Lena said, like there wasn’t any reason to worry about it. “Would you mind calling him to come down?”

Dale frowned as he pushed the chair in. “Yeah, I can get him.” Lena’s words made it seem like Warren hadn’t been told that dinner was ready, but Dale knew that wasn’t the case. Lena always called Warren down to eat, so Dale knew that his brother knew perfectly well that food was ready. He just hadn’t come down, and Lena wanted Dale to figure out why.

Dale made his way upstairs. He paused at the attic door and hesitated for a moment before opening it up. Warren was, in fact, in there. Dale had been worried that Warren was upset about something, and that was why he was hiding away up here, but it didn’t look like that was the case. Warren seemed perfectly content. He was just playing on the unicorn rocking horse that Stan and Ruth had brought with them, along with a number of other toys from when their kids were younger.

Dale closed the door so that he and Warren could have some privacy. “Hey, kiddo, what are you up to?”

Warren immediately stopped his rocking as he turned to Dale, an excited grin on his face. “Dale!” Warren jumped off the unicorn and ran up to embrace Dale. “You’re back!”

“Of course I am.” Dale laughed as he knelt and held tightly to his brother. “I always come back, don’t I?”

“Always,” Warren agreed enthusiastically. “Did you see any monsters today?”

“‘Fraid not,” Dale shrugged. “I just put up signs. If you want to hear about the centaurs, you’ll have to ask Stan.”

“Centaurs?” Warren said quietly, his eyes wide with awe. “Why do you get all the fun? I couldn’t even talk about these things today.”

“And you won’t be able to for the rest of the week.” Dale said seriously. He brushed Warren’s hair, which was starting to curl quite a bit, out of his face, but it just sprang back into place. “Remember, the others don’t know about Fablehaven.”

“I know.” Warren sighed in disappointment. “But it’s so boring.”

“You’ll live.” Dale chuckled. He sat down and pulled Warren onto his lap. “You know, dinner’s ready,” Warren’s pout told Dale that he was indeed aware of that. “Don’t you want to go downstairs and eat?”

“No.” Warren said easily.

Dale raised an eyebrow. “Aren’t you hungry?” Warren always seemed to be hungry. Dale would be worried that Warren was coming down with something if he said he wasn’t hungry.

“A little,” Warren admitted. “I just don’t want to eat right now.”

“Mind sharing why?” Dale asked.

“...There’s lots of people here.” Warren shrugged and tugged on the sleeve of his shirt.

Dale looked at his brother in slight shock. “You’re not feeling shy, are you?” Warren was the least shy person that Dale had ever met. The very thought of Warren being shy just felt wrong.

“No,” Warren frowned at him, almost as though he felt insulted at the suggestion. “I’m not scared,” If Dale had a dollar for every time that Warren insisted he wasn’t afraid of something, he wouldn’t have to work another day in his life. “It’s just...a lot.”

“Feeling a little overwhelmed?” Dale asked. Warren stared blankly at him, and Dale figured it was probably a little too much to expect a four year old to understand such a complicated word. “Does everything just feel a little too loud and crowded?”

“Yes!” Warren grinned. He seemed to be excited that Dale had been able to voice his feelings. “How did you know?”

“I feel that way every time I’m away from Fablehaven.” Dale said. “You’re just not used to things. I’m sure you’ll feel better about it in a day or two when you adjust to having strangers around.”

“Maybe,” Warren didn’t sound so sure. His nose scrunched up slightly. “But I like the others, they’re fun. I just…” Warren’s face went slightly red as he trailed off.

Dale studied his brother carefully. “You know, it’s okay if you want to have some time to yourself. Even if you don’t understand why.” Dale didn’t know if he could speak for everybody, but as far as he knew there was nothing wrong with somebody taking some time for themselves. It didn’t mean that they didn’t like the company of those around them, it just meant that everybody had a limit. If Warren needed a little break away from the others, then he should be able to do that without feeling bad about it.

“But what if they think I don’t like them?” Warren’s eyes shone with concern. He clearly didn’t want to hurt his new friends’ feelings.

“I’m sure they’ll understand.” Dale smiled. Scott, Sophie, and Carl were fairly close, and they liked to spend time with each other, but Dale remembered that the three of them were grateful for some alone time. Back when they used to visit Fablehaven every year or so, Dale was pretty sure that he had seen the others spend more time on their own reading a book or painting, than he had seen them spend time together.

“But here’s the thing,” Dale continued seriously. “You can’t just skip meals because it’s crowded. You don’t have to eat with the others, but you have to eat something, okay?”

Warren nodded, and that was just what Dale had been waiting for. “Great, because I don’t know about you, but I’m starving.” Dale gathered his brother in his arms and stood up. Warren instinctively wrapped his arms around Dale’s neck to steady himself. With Warren in his arms, Dale made his way out of the attic and back down the stairs.

“You okay with eating next to the pool?” Dale asked.

“Yes!” Warren giggled. “Yes, yes, yes!” Dale laughed at his brother’s reaction.

“Alright, but now I have an even more important question for you, and I need you to be completely honest with me, okay.” Dale shifted his grip on Warren so that his brother was looking him in the eye. Warren nodded, confusion and slight concern in his eyes. “Will you be okay with me eating with you, or do you want to be left alone?”

“Um…” Warren frowned thoughtfully before he nodded. “You can stay.”

Dale grinned, feeling extremely pleased with himself, even though he knew that even if Warren had wanted to be on his own, that it wouldn’t mean anything personal. “I thought you didn’t want to be around people?” Dale wasn’t trying to make his brother question his own feelings, he just wanted to understand what was going on in Warren’s head.

“Well, yeah, but you don’t count.” Warren rolled his eyes, like it was obvious. Dale snorted, too amused by his brother’s words to be insulted or hurt at the implication that he didn’t count as a person in Warren’s eyes.

“Glad to hear it.” Dale gave his brother a slight squeeze, which made Warren giggle. “Now, let’s go see what Lena has whipped up for dinner today.” When they reached the bottom of the stairs Dale put Warren down. As he expected, Warren ran off into the kitchen ahead of him. Once Warren was out of sight, Dale slumped forward and shook out his arms. Picking up his brother after spending all day swinging around a mallet maybe wasn’t the smartest plan, but he was through with letting his work at Fablehaven keep him from his brother.

Dale followed Warren into the kitchen and found him already telling Lena about their plan to eat dinner outside. Lena didn’t seem to be against the idea, there was actually very little that Lena wouldn’t allow. She did look slightly concerned though. Dale made a mental note to tell her about how Warren was feeling overwhelmed with how many people were around. Lena was around Warren more than Dale was. She would be able to help him work out his need for personal space.

Dale would also be right here to help Warren if he needed it. He may have a lot of work to do around Fablehaven, but he was always more than happy to help Warren with anything that he may be struggling with. Dale just hoped that Warren knew that.

Chapter Text

Dale trudged with half-lidded eyes back into the house. He felt dead on his feet, and just thinking about taking those last couple of steps into the house felt like an impossible task. He could easily curl up on the porch and fall asleep right then and there, but he couldn’t do that. The lights were still on inside, which likely meant that Lena was still up and about. Dale didn’t know for sure that she was waiting up for him, as he didn’t actually know how late it was, but he knew that Lena wouldn’t go to bed until after she knew that he was home safe. It wouldn’t be fair to make her wait up and worry just because he was lazy.

Dale yawned as he pushed open the front door and went inside. He turned off the lights in the hall as he made his way to the kitchen. Just as he expected, Lena was awake, sitting at the table and reading a book. She looked up when she heard him enter, and smiled, though there was also a look of concern in her eyes.

“I was wondering when you would be back.” Lena put her book down. “I’ve never seen you out this late before.”

Dale pulled up a chair across from Lena and slumped into it. He folded his arms on the table and rested his head on them. “I needed to finish my work.”

“Well, maybe I should have a few words with Stan,” Dale could practically hear Lena’s disapproving frown. “You may do a lot of work around Fablehaven, but you’re just a child, you need your rest.”

Dale tensed and lifted his head just enough to be able to see the clock on the wall. He felt his stomach drop when he saw that it was past midnight. He had been expecting this, but it felt unreal. “Not anymore.”

Lena frowned in confusion. She followed his gaze to the clock, and her gaze softened in understanding. She knew exactly what was going on. “Is that why you were out so late?”

“I had too much on my mind,” Dale muttered. He wasn’t proud of how long it had taken him to finish a day’s worth of chores. “I couldn’t focus.”

“I’m not surprised,” Lena stood up came to Dale’s side of the table. “We all have days like that every once and awhile.” Lena took a seat in the chair next to him. “But next time something like this happens, I want you to just come home, or at least stick to doing work in the yard. You know how dangerous it can be to wander around Fablehaven if you’re not completely focused on what you’re doing.”

“I know,” Dale said sheepishly. He had gotten careless that day. He knew that it would likely happen again, but he would at least try to do what Lena requested. “I’ll try,”

“I want you to do a little more than try,” Lena said. “Tell you what, whenever something like this happens, you’re going to spend the following day off.”

Dale winced and considered her words. “I guess that’s fair,” Whether he thought it was fair or not, he knew that she would force him to go through with it anyways. Dale hated having unplanned days off, so it was good motivation to watch himself. And if he was unfocused while working, then maybe he should have a day off anyways.

“I’m glad you agree,” Lena said, and Dale really didn’t like the tone in her voice. She was up to something. “You can start tomorrow.”

“I...wait,” Dale looked at her in shock. “What?” You can’t-”

“I can, and I have,” Lena in that way that was impossible to argue with. “We made a deal. I’ve already spoken with Ruth and Stan. They’ve both agreed to work around Fablehaven so you can have a day off.”

“Is that really necessary?” Dale winced. “Can’t I just get off with a warning?”

“Absolutely not, you’re spending time at home tomorrow.” Lena said. “I would think you would be happy for the chance to spend time with Warren.”

Dale paused and actually considered Lena’s suggestion. “Well, now you’re just not playing fair.”

“I never do,” Lena looked much too pleased with herself. “Now, why don’t you go upstairs and get some sleep? You look exhausted.”

“I feel exhausted.” Dale got to his feet. “Are you sure it’s okay for me to sleep up there?”

“You should both be just fine” Lena assured him. “We’ll deal with things in the morning.”

Dale wasn’t so sure that things would be okay, but he was far too tired and relieved to argue anymore about it. “M’kay, goodnight.”

“Goodnight, Dale,” Lena said gently. She gave him a quick hug before she gave him a gentle push towards the attic stairs. Dale slowly made his way up the stairs and into the attic. Because Warren was almost certainly asleep, Dale didn’t turn the lights on. He didn’t want to wake up his brother. Dale slowly made his way through the room, one step at a time.

When Dale reached his bed he kicked his shoes off and collapsed onto the bed. He didn’t normally sleep in his work clothes, but now that he was on his bed, he wasn’t planning on moving anytime soon. He could sleep in his clothes this once. If it meant getting to sleep sooner, he was all for it.

“Dale, are you awake?” Warren stage-whispered from his bed.

Dale sighed and turned towards his brother’s bed. “Yeah, I’m awake. What are you doing up? Do you have any idea how late it is?”

“Nope,” Through the darkness Dale could see Warren swing his feet off his bed and hop off. Warren grabbed his plush dragon, Scorch, given to him by Ruth for his fifth birthday, and made his way to Dale’s bed. “Why were you gone so long? Stan was back forever ago.”

“I just took a longer time getting my work done,” Dale said. He scooted over to give Warren room to join him. This past year he’d been trying to encourage Warren to not rely on sleeping with him so much, to stay in his own bed during a storm or when he’d had a nightmare, but Dale just couldn’t turn Warren away tonight. Not when he knew that this might be the last time that they could do this.

“You know, Lena said I could have tomorrow off.” Dale said. Just as he expected, Warren looked at him in awe, like he had just announced that Christmas would come early this year.

“Really? You’re going to be home? All day?” Warren started spurting off questions as quickly as he could. Dale laughed.

“All day,” He promised. “There’s still a lot of work I need to do, but none of it will take me away from the house or yard.”

“Does this mean I can help you?” Warren asked hopefully, like there was nothing that he wanted more in the world than to help Dale with his chores. Warren was always eager to help, but there was only so much that a kid like him could do around Fablehaven. Especially since Warren wasn’t allowed to leave the yard. It was far too dangerous for him.

“I’m counting on it.” Dale said. Warren smiled and clung tightly to Scorch as he snuggled closer to his brother.

“I wish you were home more,” Warren said quietly. “I miss you.”

“I miss you too, Warren,” Dale put his arm around his brother. If he could have his way, he would never let him go. “You have no idea how much I miss being around you.” The whole reason why Dale had been so distracted that day was because he’d been thinking so much about how his relationship with his brother may change because of what needed to happen tomorrow.

Irony was cruel sometimes. All of Dale’s worrying about not being able to have as much time with Warren had been the very thing that had kept him away from Warren all day. Dale knew that he had to find a balance between his work and spending time with his brother, because neither of them were handling this very well.

Dale closed his eyes and let himself begin to doze off. He still felt anxious about tomorrow, especially tomorrow night, but he couldn’t worry about it. Worrying would just ruin the moment he was trying to hold onto. He could, and would, stress about things tomorrow. Tonight, he just wanted to enjoy being with his brother.

Dale felt like he wasn’t even able to get any sleep at all, but he must have fallen asleep at one point, because all too soon he was being woken up by Warren jumping on his chest. Dale groaned and cracked his eyes open to see that it was bright out. One glance at the window with the sun shining through it showed that not only was it morning, but it was fairly late in the morning. Dale had slept in later than he usually did, and he still felt like he hadn’t gotten any sleep at all.

“Dale, Dale, Dale, Dale!” Warren emphasized each time he said his name with another bounce on his chest. “Wake up!”

“I’m, up, I’m up,” Dale grabbed Warren’s arms and held him down to keep him from bouncing. “What’s got you so excited?”

“The brownies made brownies.” Warren said excitedly. “And Lena made lemon bread.”

Now that caught Dale’s interest. “Lemon bread?” Most everything that Lena made in the kitchen tasted fantastic, but her lemon bread was one of Dale’s personal favorites. It was sweet, but not so much so that he felt he was eating dessert for breakfast. Warren wasn’t as fond of the treat as Dale was, but Warren loved scraping the glaze off of the bread.

“Alright, I’m coming,” Dale pushed his brother off of him and quickly got out of his bed. The two of them raced downstairs, practically tripping over each other as they went. Dale was a lot faster than Warren, but Warren was really good at scampering in front of him, forcing Dale to stop to avoid tripping over his brother. Ultimately, Dale beat Warren into the kitchen, but it was far closer than he would like to admit.

Dale’s mouth practically began watering when he smelled the fresh lemon bread. He hadn’t realized how hungry he was. Dale took a seat at the table and grabbed a slice. The bread was still warm and covered in a lot of glaze, just how he liked it.

Warren climbed onto the chair next to him. He knelt and reached past the lemon bread for a plate of brownies that Lena must have cut and put out earlier. Dale eyed the brownies cautiously. Lena didn’t normally leave desserts out in the morning, especially when she couldn’t supervise how much Warren ate, but a whole plate was left out unattending.

It wasn’t uncommon for Lena to make treats for a special occasion, so it wasn’t unreasonable to think that was the case this morning. However, Dale doubted it was as simple as that. She had made his favorite breakfast treat, and also left out ingredients for the brownies to make a treat that Warren would enjoy more. This just felt a lot like a bribe, and Dale knew exactly what the bribe was for.

“Warren, do you know what today is?” Dale asked as he took a big bite of his slice of lemon bread.

“Of course I do,” Warren grinned broadly. “It’s your birthday, right?”

“Yeah, it is,” Dale grinned back, though it felt a little forced. He just couldn’t bring himself to be excited about his birthday, not this year. “Do you know how old I am?”

“Uh, you’re eighteen, right?” Warren guessed, though he didn’t sound certain.

Dale nodded. “Do you know what that means?”

Warren stuffed a whole brownie in his mouth and shook his head. “Is it special?”

“You could say that,” Dale picked at the lemon bread. He still wanted it, but it didn’t taste as good as it normally did. Dale was sure that there was nothing wrong with the bread himself, his mood was just ruining everything. “Hey, I’ve got work to do. Do you still want to help me?”

“Yes!” Warren grabbed another brownie before he jumped off the chair. Dale put his slice of lemon bread down. He could always come back to it later.

“Come on, we’ve got to go back to the attic,” Dale said. “I’ve got some things I need to move to the spare room.” He said the spare room, but it wasn’t going to be very ‘spare’ soon.

“Why are we moving stuff?” Warren asked.

Dale sighed and rubbed the back of his head as he tried to figure out how to say this without upsetting Warren. Or even just how to say it without upsetting himself. Dale wasn’t quite ready to tell Warren what needed to happen, but he could stand to tell him why it had to happen.

“Did you know that there are spells around the attic that protect the ones inside?” Dale asked. Warren looked at him with wide eyes.

“Spells? Really?” Warren always got excited at the thought of something magical. His goal in life seemed to be to learn about everything magical that he possibly could. Sometimes Dale wondered why this love for magic had skipped his genes. He liked it fine, but he wasn’t as obsessed with these things as Warren was, or their parents were.

“There’s a condition though,” Dale frowned. The two of them entered the attic and he sat down on his bed. Warren didn’t know what was on his mind, but he seemed to know enough to recognize that Dale was really upset about something. Warren bit his lip and grabbed Scorch from off of Dale’s bed. He hugged his dragon tightly as he stared almost fearfully up at his brother.

“What condition?” Warren asked. “Did we do something wrong and break the spells?”

“No, no, nothing like that,” Dale assured his brother. “The spells will stay in place as long as a child is in the room. The problem is that the spells only protect kids. They’ll go away if an adult is in the room.”

“No adults?” Warren looked down at Scorch and played timidly with its wings. “But...aren’t you an adult now?”

Dale opened his arm and Warren practically dove into his embrace. Dale lifted Warren up and sat him on his lap. “Yeah, I am, which means that I can’t sleep up here with you anymore.”

“But...but this is your room,” Warren objected. “We’ve always shared a room.” Warren looked around, as though he hoped that somewhere in the room he would see something that would allow Dale to stay with him. “Can’t we just find different spells?”

“None that are as good as the ones in place.” Dale said. He would know, as he’d spent the better part of this past year trying to find anything that would allow him to stay in the attic with Warren. “You’ll be safest up here on your own.”

“But I don’t want to be on my own.” Warren pouted. “I don’t want you to leave.”

Dale didn’t want to go anywhere either, but he felt the need to reassure his brother, which meant that he needed to at least pretend that he wasn’t as upset as his brother was, for Warren’s sake. “Hey, it’s not like I’m leaving forever,” Dale said in what he hoped was a light tone. “I’m just going downstairs, not on the other side of the country.”

“...I guess so,” Warren said reluctantly.

“Come on,” Dale set Warren on the bed next to him and stood up. “You still up for helping me?”

Warren sighed dramatically as he grabbed Dale’s blanket and pulled it over his shoulder. “I’ll help, but just ‘cause you can’t do all this by yourself.”

Dale snorted and bent down to reach under his bed. He didn’t have a lot of personal belongings, and most of what he did have, such as all his books, he was more than happy to leave them in the attic. However, he did have a chest full of things that he didn’t want to let Warren get his hands on. Namely his shotgun. The chest was locked, and, upon Lena’s insistence, all of the bullets were locked away in her room, but it still wasn’t smart to leave a gun lying around in a child’s room. Especially when that kid was as curious as Warren was.

Dale had been reluctant about keeping his shotgun under his bed, but Lena and Stan had both though that if he was going to have a gun, he should keep it near him. And Warren knew better than to go through Dale’s things. Warren may be curious but he wasn’t stupid. Warren had been told dozens of times that there were things around the house that he might be tempted to mess with, but if he did then they wouldn’t trust him with other things around Fablehaven. Anything potentially dangerous around the house was a bit of a test for Warren, a way for him to prove that he could be trusted with Fablehaven’s secrets.

Warren knew what Dale kept under his bed, but he had never even tried to look through them. Warren was intrigued by Dale’s gun, but he knew that if he ever tried to play with it, then he could say goodbye to any chance of him getting a gun of his own in the future.

Still, it was better to be safe than sorry.

“You ready to go?” Dale asked as he dragged out his chest and tried get a grip on it that wasn’t too awkward.

“I’m ready,” Warren jumped off the bed, dragging Dale’s blanket behind him. They both knew that there were blankets and pillows on the bed in his new room, but Dale had been given a tied fleece blanket by his parents nearly two years ago, just a few months before they left. It had red plaid on the top, and a navy blue on the bottom. It was his blanket, and Dale didn’t want to leave it behind. And he knew that when Warren moved out of the attic, he would take his own blanket, which was made with blue plaid and red fleece, with him.

Dale lead the way out of the attic and the two of them made their way back downstairs. Dale had gradually been moving his clothes into the room. With the blanket and chest, all of Dale’s things would be in his new room, and this little move would be official. Dale didn’t feel quite ready for this, but he didn’t have a choice. He had to keep Warren safe, even if at that moment the only way to make that happen was to have some distance from him.

Dale put his chest at the foot of the bed. Warren seemed to think that the best way to put the blanket over his shoulders on the bed was by jumping on top of it, so that was exactly what he did. Warren let Scorch fall from his arms, just so his hands were free for him to try to use Dale’s blanket as a parachute as he belly flopped on the bed. It didn’t work very well, but Warren had fun with it.

“Alright, you can jump on my bed later,” Dale pulled his blanket away from his brother. “You’ve still got those brownies waiting for you, don’t you?” And Dale had his lemon bread.

“Yes!” Warren jumped off the bed and raced to the door.

“Hold up,” Dale frowned and picked up Scorch from his bed. “Aren’t you forgetting something?”

Warren skidded to a stop and looked back at him. “Uh, nope.” Warren shook his head. “It’s not fair that I get all the protections. You need to be safe too, so Scorch is going to stay with you for a little bit, until you can take care of yourself.”

Dale’s breath caught in his throat as he looked at the plushed dragon. “You’re...letting me have him?” Dale knew that it was just temporary, probably for just a few days, but considering Warren hadn’t gone a single night without Scorch right next to him since he had gotten it, it meant a lot.

“He’ll keep you safe,” Warren said confidently. “Nothing will mess with you if you have a dragon.”

“No, I guess they wouldn’t.” Dale chuckled and adjusted Scorch’s position on his bed. He had never been so happy to have a stuffed animal, even if it was only a temporary situation. He had worried that Warren would be mad at him for moving to a different room, but Warren seemed to be more concerned about Dale’s safety than his own loneliness.

Dale was being reminded more and more often just how amazing a brother he had. Even when Dale had a lot of work to do and didn’t have a lot of time for his brother, Warren didn’t hold it against him, he actually tried to find any opportunity that he could to help him. It was hard to look at a child and know what kind of person they were going to become, but Dale thought he could say with confidence that whoever Warren was, it would be somebody incredible, because that was just who he was.

Chapter Text

Dale zipped his backpack closed and slung it over his shoulder. He didn’t normally use backpacks, as any tools that his work required were too big and awkward to carry in a bag. Until recently he hadn’t had a backpack at all, but the last time that Ruth came by she had brought some old school supplies with her, including Sophie’s old backpack. Dale had never needed it before, but at that moment he wasn’t just tidying up the yard and maintaining the forest paths. He had a far more important job to do.

“Where are you going?” Dale grimaced and turned to see Warren glaring at him with all the curiosity that a child could muster, which was a lot.

“Out,” Dale answered shortly.

“You already worked today,” Warren crossed his arms defiantly. “Lena says you’re not supposed to work too much.”

“I’m not working, I’m doing something else,” Dale said. He stood up and walked past his brother. Warren scowled and followed behind him. Dale rolled his eyes and continued on his way to the front door. Warren was right at his heel. Dale hoped that they would pass by Ruth or Lena, that they would stop or distract Warren so he could leave, but he wasn’t so lucky. Warren was ready to follow him outside.

Dale sighed and reluctantly stopped in the doorway. He turned to look at his brother, who was staring up at him. “What do you think you’re doing?”

“I want to go with you,” Warren said stubbornly. “I can help.”

“Warren, we’ve been over this,” Dale said irritably. “You can’t come,”

“You never let me help,” Warren stomped his feet in frustration, and Dale nearly felt like doing the same thing.

“Yeah, because you’re just a kid,” Dale said. “I promise, when you’re older you’ll be able to help so much that you’ll be begging to have a day off. Until then, you know the rules, you don’t get to leave the yard, end of story.” Dale’s tone was harsher than he would normally have towards his brother, but they’d had a nearly identical conversation just two weeks ago. He was not in the mood to do this whole thing all over again.

“It’s not fair,” Warren glared at him.

“Yeah, well, neither is having a little brother who won’t stop pestering me,” Dale snapped. “Life isn’t fair. Deal with it.”

“You’re such a jerk!” Warren screamed and shoved Dale before running back upstairs into the attic.

Dale groaned and ran a hand through his hair. He hated it when Warren was mad at him. It seemed like everything he did or said these past few weeks set Warren off. If Warren wasn’t screaming or yelling at Dale, he was ignoring him completely. Dale didn’t know how to deal with this moodiness, which was frustrating, because Lena had told him nearly a dozen times that he was the only one that Warren was going to listen to.

Dale just shook his head and pushed open the door. He adjusted his grip on his backpack and made his way across the yard. Dale all but stormed down the path towards the edge of the yard, but by the time he was halfway there his aggression had died down enough that he had slowed down. He was still incredibly frustrated with his brother, that wasn’t just going to go away after five seconds, but he felt more embarrassed than anything.

Dale was irritated, but he didn’t even really know what he was so irritated about. Warren had been acting ridiculous and unreasonable for awhile, but he was just a little kid. Dale was three times his brother’s age, and he was letting his brother’s mood affect him far more than he really should. Just because Warren was a child didn’t mean that Dale had to act like one too.

Dale just didn’t know what to do about Warren. He didn’t want his brother to be so upset with him, but when Dale tried to do something he had only ended up making things worse, and that brought them to where they were now.

Warren, like a lot of kids, just wanted to grow up really fast. Dale tried to be patient with his brother’s desire to help, because he loved how kindhearted Warren was. The kid was always so eager to help, but he was still so young, there was only so much that he could and should do. Dale didn’t want to discourage Warren and make him think that he shouldn’t help others, but there were still some things that he couldn’t let the young boy do. There was a balance between encouraging Warren and keeping him safe, and Dale hadn’t been able to find that balance yet.

Dale reached the edge of the yard and crossed his arms as he looked up at the treehouse. It was still a work in progress, but aside from some last minute additions it was coming along pretty well. Dale felt proud of how good the treehouse looked, as he’d never made anything like this before, and he’d even been able to finish it on time.

As pleased as he was with the treehouse, Dale felt like cruel irony was messing around with him. The whole reason why Dale had made this treehouse in the first place was for Warren. Dale hadn’t failed to notice that Warren felt a little trapped being confined to just the house and yard. Warren wanted to have more freedoms, partly because he wanted to help out around Fablehaven, and partly because he had a hunger for adventure. A few months ago Dale had thought of making the treehouse. It was at the edge of the yard, so while Warren would still be safe, it would hopefully give the illusion that he was somewhere a little more exciting than their backyard.

Dale couldn’t just drop his work and focus entirely on the treehouse, so it was just something that he did for an hour or two after work, or during his days off. However, Dale had given himself a deadline, and the closer he got to it the more time he spent working on it, and he was pretty confident that this was the very thing that had triggered Warren’s irritation with him.

Warren didn’t know about the treehouse, which was the whole point, as this was supposed to be a surprise. Warren loved spending time with Dale, and was extremely disappointed that it just wasn’t happening. When Dale couldn’t give Warren any good reason why he had to work later, and stay out during his lunch breaks, that disappointment just turned into anger. The more that Dale didn’t spend time with him, the more irritated that Warren got.

And now, Dale was ignoring Warren again. He would feel horrible about it most any day, but today, a day that should be all about Warren, it made Dale feel like the worst brother in the world.

Dale grimaced and quickly climbed up the wooden boards up into the treehouse. He pushed the trap door open. Dale climbed up a few more rungs so that his upper body was poking into the treehouse. Dale rested an arm on the floor of the treehouse to steady himself as he tried to take the backpack off. It was a bit of a struggle, but Dale was able to figure it out. Dale tossed the backpack into the treehouse and then quickly climbed down the tree. He had to talk to Warren, make things up to him.

Dale ran back into the house. He didn’t stop running until he was at the top of the stairs that lead to the attic, at which point he finally stopped. Dale caught his breath and stared at the door for a moment. He wanted to talk to Warren, but he didn’t really know what he should say. After thinking about it for a moment Dale realized that he was procrastinating, and that he just needed to suck it up and do this.

Dale sighed and opened the door to the attic. He saw Warren lying on the ground in the middle of the attic floor. Warren’s feet were sticking up into the air and he was trying to balance the unicorn rocking horse on his feet, while Scorch was somehow balancing on the seat.

Dale smiled slightly in amusement. “I don’t think that’s how you’re supposed to play with that thing,”

Warren started in surprise and ended up losing balance with the rocking horse. Warren cried out in alarm as the unicorn rocking horse fell right on top of him. Dale bit his lip to try to hide his amusement, but when he saw that Warren wasn’t hurt he just let himself laugh.

“It’s not funny,” Warren sat up and pushed the rocking horse off of him. Hepouted at Dale. “And there isn’t a supposed to way to play with toys.”

Dale bit his knuckle to try to stifle his laughter. “Right, you’re right, of course.” Dale entered the attic and closed the door behind him. He picked up Scorch, which had fallen off of the unicorn when it had fallen, and handed it to Warren, who clung to it tightly. Dale sat down next to Warren, but not so close that his brother would feel crowded. Sometimes Warren was clingy and outgoing, and other times he was more withdrawn and wanted his personal space. Dale had learned that it was best to let Warren make the call on what kind of interaction he needed at the moment.

“What are you hiding up here for?” Dale asked, even though he knew exactly why Warren was up here. “Are you having a unicorn day?” That was the term that they had come up with for when Warren was feeling a little overwhelmed and crowded, because unicorns, while usually extremely kind and gentle, were often shy about being around others.

“Not really,” Warren said, though he didn’t meet Dale’s eyes. Warren was pretty open about his unicorn days, so Dale had no reason to believe that he was being lied to. Something was definitely bothering Warren though.

“Well, are you still mad at me?” Dale asked. “You know I didn’t mean what I said earlier, about you being a pest.”

“I know,” Warren shoved his face against Scorch. “But you’re still a jerk.”

“Well, I can’t argue with that,” Dale rubbed the back of his neck. “I know I’ve been gone a lot lately, and I’m sorry for that. I’ve just had some stuff to do.”

“You always have stuff to do,” Warren groaned and dramatically fell back to lie on the floor again. “You’re so busy.”

“I promise, that’s going to change,” Dale swore.

Warren rolled over so he was lying on his side, his back to Dale, and curled his legs up closer to his chest. “You always say that, but it never does.”

Dale winced slightly. Warren was really calling him out today. “Yeah, but I mean it this time.”

“Sure,” Warren said, his tone showing just how much he believed Dale, which was not at all.

“I’m being serious here,” Dale grabbed Warren’s arm and rolled him back over so that they were facing each other. “Will you believe me if I show you what I’ve just finished working on?”

Warren slowly pulled Scorch away from his face and looked up at Warren. “...Maybe,” Warren didn’t sound all that confident, but it was good enough an agreement for Dale.

“Come on, then,” Dale stood up and then held both of his hands out to his brother. Warren looked at the hands and gave a small smile as he grabbed onto them with his own. Warren also sat up and placed his feet firmly on the ground. Dale smirked and pulled at the same time as Warren jumped, which made the kid practically leap into the air.

Warren giggled as he landed on the ground. He always loved it when Dale did that. It was one of the few things that he liked about being the little brother. “Where are we going?”

“You’ll just have to wait and see.” Dale took his brother’s hand and lead him downstairs. The two of them went outside together and to the far side of the yard. Warren looked confused, as there wasn’t a lot of things they could do on this side of the yard, but he didn’t say anything. Warren just continued to follow Dale. It wasn’t too long before they reached a point where they could see the treehouse, and Warren reacted immediately.

“Is that...A treehouse?!” Warren giggled and ran to the tree. Dale shook his head with a chuckle and rushed to catch up with him. By the time Dale got to the tree, Warren had already scurried up the wooden planks. “This is awesome!”

“Glad you like it,” Dale felt himself relax as he climbed back up into the treehouse. He hadn’t realized how nervous he had been about getting his brother’s approval. “It would have been a shame if I spent all that time making something that you hated.”

Warren, who had been exploring the treehouse, turn to look at Dale in quiet awe. “You...you built this?”

“Well, Stan helped a bit,” Dale admitted. Stan was much more familiar with building things than Dale was, but he had definitely been the one to do most of heavy work. “But, yeah, this is what’s been keeping me so busy. I really wanted to get it done by today.”

“Today? Why?” Warren asked with sincere curiosity, and it just about broke Dale’s heart.

“Are you really telling me that you don’t know what today is?” Dale knelt down, bringing himself to Warren’s level. “I don’t believe it. So if you didn’t forget, did you really think that I had?”

“...I don’t know,” Warren muttered as he shuffled his feet. “You’re so busy, and things have been really weird lately.”

“C’mere,” Dale took his brother’s hand and pulled him closer. “Hey, I don’t care how busy I am, I’m never going to forget your birthday. If I ever do, you have my permission to call me much worse than a jerk. Lena would probably be more than happy to give you a few colorful suggestions.” If Dale ever forgot Warren’s birthday, Lena would give him an earful before Warren ever could.

“So...if you’re done with this, then you really are going to be around more,” Warren grinned excitedly.

“I told you I would,” Dale said. “But you know better than I do just how bad I am about not working. I’m going to be counting on you to keep me in line.”

“Always,” Warren agreed eagerly. Dale felt like Warren was far too forgiving of his negligence, but he wasn’t about to complain about it. Warren bit his lip somewhat sheepishly. “And I’ll try not to get so upset when you are super busy.”

“Honestly, that would be the best thing you could do to help me.” Dale said. Warren’s face lit up. Nothing made him happier than knowing that he was being helpful. Dale would do anything to keep that happy grin on his brother’s face. “You know, we still have some time until Lena calls us for dinner. Do you want to work on a puzzle for a bit?”

“Yes!” Warren said excitedly. Dale chuckled and reached for the backpack that he had tossed haphazardly on the floor earlier. He opened it up and took out the books and puzzles that he had shoved in there earlier. Dale put the books and most of the puzzles on the little bookcase. He brought a single puzzle to the little table in the middle of the treehouse. Dale handed the puzzle box to Warren, who happily dumped the pieces out on the surface of the table. The two of them got to work sorting through the pieces, and just enjoyed each other’s company.

Chapter Text

It was hot that day. Hotter than it normally got in the summer. Dale was always exhausted after a hard day’s work, and it was always worse in the summer. On particularly hot days it was normal for Dale to have to take breaks frequently. He hated not being able to get as much work done as he possibly could, but he had learned about ten years ago that he wouldn’t be of any good to anybody if he got heat exhaustion because he worked himself too hard.

Dale was used to taking things a little easier when it was hot out, but he didn’t think he had ever worked on a day as hot as this. He could feel his skin being burned by the sun, and he was constantly sweating. He was careful to keep himself hydrated, but there was only so much that water could do. Dale took breaks regularly, but he still felt exhausted and even a little faint. Shortly after Dale began to feel nauseous, he realized that he needed to cut his losses. It was a little earlier than he would normally break for lunch, but he knew that he would only get worse if he insisted on working. Lena would kill him if he returned to the house with heat exhaustion, or even worse, heat stroke, before it was even noon.

Dale made sure that his work was at a place where it would be safe to leave it alone for a bit before he packed things up and made his way back to the main house. He was just glad that his work for the day hadn’t taken him too far from the house. It only took him about fifteen minutes to get to the yard. It would have taken him even less time, but Dale didn’t want to push himself. Warren would probably find it hilarious if he made himself sick when he was going out of his way to keep that from happening.

When Dale reached the yard he could hear overjoyed screeches and laughter coming from the side of the house. Dale smiled and changed his destination to the pool next to the house. Leave it to Warren to have a blast on the hottest day of the year. Warren would never let a little heat get him down.

Dale reached the pool, and immediately laughed when he saw the state of things. Warren and Lena were chasing each other around the water, splashing and laughing as they went. The edges of the pool were darkened and wet more than two feet on all sides. Dale had no idea how the two of them had managed to splash around so much to soak everything nearby, but somehow he wasn’t the least bit surprised about it.

“You look like you’re having fun,” Dale laughed. Warren eagerly turned towards him, and his expression noticeably brightened.

“Dale!” Warren began hopping and spinning around in the pool.

“You’re back early,” Lena commented, though there was a slight concern in her eyes. “Is anything wrong?”

“Just a little tired,” Dale kicked his shoes off and set them aside far enough away from the pool that they wouldn’t get wet. He took off his socks and shoved them inside his shoes before he went closer to the pool. “And hot. I just thought I would take a break for a bit.”

The stern and relieved look in Lena’s eyes showed that she knew exactly what he was talking about. “There’s some iced lemonade on the table over there,” Lena gestured to where the pitcher and glasses were. Dale gratefully poured himself a glass. He sat on one of the chairs around the pool and just relaxed for a few minutes, drinking the lemonade and cooling off a bit. He knew that he should get out of the sun and probably go inside, but he wanted to enjoy his brother’s company for a little bit.

Because he was still outside, and it was still hot, it took longer for Dale to cool down than it would if he had just gone inside. Eventually Dale felt good enough to join the other two closer to the pool. Dale rolled up his jeans a bit, and went to sit at the edge of the pool. His pants got a little wet, but it felt really nice to soak his feet and legs this way.

Warren immediately swam over to join him. “Do you want to come play with us?” Dale wasn’t normally that big on swimming but the water felt really nice, and he always had a hard time saying no to Warren.

“What are you guys playing?” Dale asked. From what he had seen, it just looked like Warren and Lena had been playing tag or something.

“We’re playing revenge of the naiads!” Warren announced proudly. He dove under the water and used his legs to push himself off the wall to give himself a boost as he swam to the middle of the pool.

“Naiads?” Dale laughed and looked at Lena, who looked just as amused as he was. “Have you been telling him those stories of yours again?”

“He can’t get enough of it,” Lena said. “He’s been wanting to pretend to be a naiad for awhile now.” Dale didn’t think he would ever understand his brother’s obsession with cruel magical creatures.

“How’s he doing with it?” Dale asked.

“Honestly, for somebody who has never met an immortal naiad, I would say he’s doing surprisingly well,” Lena said.

At that moment Warren jumped out of the water and tackled Lena. “No!” He cried out in a high pitched voice. “You can’t talk to the human, you traitor.”

Dale put his fist in his mouth to keep himself from laughing. Lena wasn’t kidding. Warren was definitely the best eight year old naiad that he had ever seen. I guess I don’t have to guess what human you’re saying I am.” If Warren was playing naiad because he had been inspired by Lena’s story, there was really only one human that he could be.

“No talking, Patton Burgess,” Warren said the name like an insult, with as much disgust as he could. He was really getting into this role of his. Warren swam in front of Lena and held his arms out as though to protect her from Dale. “You’ve corrupted my sister enough as it is.”

Dale chuckled. “You can’t keep me from Lena. If you could, you would have already done something about it.”

“Well, you’ve never been this bold before,” Warren dove back down into the water, and faster than Dale could expect he swam over to Dale and grabbed his legs. Dale knew what Warren was up to, but before he could pull back the kid smirked and pushed off against the wall. Dale let out an alarmed sound as he was pulled down into the water.

Dale tried to wrap his arms around Warren to restrain him, but the kid was too wiggly. Dale had no choice but to let Warren go. The two of them swam to the surface. Dale glared coldly at his brother, who just grinned mischievously at him. “Alright, you want to do this? I call for a change of roles, Warren Patton Burgess.”

Warren’s eyes widened in alarm. He tried to swim out of Dale’s reach, but he didn’t succeed. “No!” Warren cried out as Dale grabbed him and pushed him under the water. While he had Warren surprised and thrown off, Dale wrapped his arms around the kid’s chest and held him tightly. Dale stood up, lifting Warren out of the water. Warren grunted and shouted in frustration, but he couldn’t do any more than kick his legs at the water.

“Hey, naiads are supposed to drown people, not pull them out of the water,” Warren whined.

“So I switched things up a bit,” Dale said. “It catches people off guard.”

Warren bit his lip. He stopped kicking and held still for a moment. Dale knew he had to be up to something, but he didn’t know what it could be. A moment later Warren curled his legs and rested them against Dale’s stomach. He shifted them around a little bit before he brought his legs up to his chest and then very quickly kicked them down against Dale’s stomach. Dale grunted in pain and loosened his grip on Warren just enough for him to pull out of his arms and dive back into the water.

“Wh-what was that all about?” Dale wrapped his arms around his stomach.

Warren swam to the surface and smiled somewhat shyly. “I switched things up a bit,”

“What made you think that this was a good idea?” Dale glared at his brother, and then looked over towards Lena. Warren wasn’t necessarily a violent person, but Lena kind of was. Dale wouldn’t be surprised if Lena had been teaching Warren some self defense moves, and just hadn’t gotten around to teaching him when exactly it would be appropriate to use those skills.

Lena just laughed and pulled Warren back. “Good job remembering to go for the soft spots. Knock the breath out of them, but don’t do permanent damage unless you know they’ll do the same to you.”

Dale groaned and turned all of his irritability towards Lena. “Don’t encourage him.”

“Hey, we both know that he’ll go on plenty of adventures one of these days,” Lena smiled when she spoke, but her tone left no room for argument. “I would rather teach him how to be prepared than ignore the inevitable and let him be caught unawares.”

Dale didn’t like the thought of Warren learning how to fight, he was still so young, and he got into enough trouble as it was. However, he didn’t argue with Lena about because he knew she was right. Warren was a fighter, an adventurer. It was the Burgess gene (the gene that Dale was relieved had apparently skipped him over).

“Next time can you at least tell me what you plan on teaching my brother?” Dale asked, partly so he could be prepared for how Warren could attack him, and partly so that he could know for sure that Lena wasn’t trying to teach Warren too much too quickly. Dale wasn’t an adventurer, but he was a human, and he had been one his whole life. He knew more about how fragile children could be than Lena did.

And Dale didn’t like the thought of being out of the loop when it came to his brother.

Lena’s playful but stern eyes softened. “Of course,” Dale had known she would agree, but he still felt relieved to hear her words confirm it.

“Oh, Lena’s been teaching me how to swim like a naiad,” Warren began to hop in the water. “I can swim super fast. Do you want to see?”

“Sure, kiddo,” Dale smiled. At least he knew why Warren moved so naturally in the water. There was no better swimming teacher than a naiad. “You think you can teach me a thing or two?”

Warren smiled excitedly as he jumped into teaching Dale how to hold his breath underwater for a really long time, because apparently that was the most important rule for swimming. Dale knew most of what Warren was telling him, as Lena had been his swimming teacher as well, but he kept his knowledge to himself. Warren seemed to really enjoy sharing what he knew, especially with his older brother.

Besides, Dale knew that besides experience, teaching was the best teacher. If Warren could properly demonstrate the things he had been taught, then maybe they would be more firmly set in his mind. Dale didn’t like the thought of his brother going on dangerous adventures, but if him being a skilled swimmer could end up saving his life someday, then he was all for Warren learning everything he could.

Just so long as Lena’s lessons were child-friendly.

Chapter Text

Dale let out a slow sigh as he slumped on the couch and relaxed. It was Sunday, which was the designated half day at Fablehaven. They couldn’t afford to take a full day off from working, as life around Fablehaven moved on whether they were working or not. However, if they didn’t have some break during the week then they would all just end up working themselves to death, and then what good could they possibly be?

Dale didn’t like to rest and take breaks when he was supposed to be doing something, but he had never even thought about working on Saturday afternoons, and that day was no different. It had been a really long week, and Dale didn’t think he had ever been so relieved to just take half a day off. It always felt really nice to get some sleep after a hard day’s work, but it felt even more incredible to just sit back and relax, without being so exhausted that he couldn’t even stay awake.

It was just nice to not have to worry about anything.

“Dale?” He turned towards the living room door to see Warren looking at him in slightly dazed confusion. “What are you doing here?”

Dale frowned slightly at his brother. “Where else would I be?”

“Uh, working?” Warren said somewhat cautiously, as though he was already questioning his first thought. “It’s really early...isn’t it? What time is it?”

“It’s almost three,” Dale said. “And it’s Sunday.” Warren looked extremely confused for a few moments, though Dale didn’t know if it was because he hadn’t understood what he had said, or he didn’t believe it. Warren was quiet for so long that Dale was starting to get concerned that something was wrong when the boy blinked and shifted his gaze ever so slightly so he was meeting Dale’s eyes. Dale hadn’t even noticed that Warren hadn’t quite been looking directly at him until that moment. Something was definitely going on.

“Right, right, Sunday,” Warren yawned and rubbed at his eyes. He looked even more exhausted than Dale felt.

“Are you doing okay? You’re not sick, are you?” Dale sat up, feeling his stomach tightening at the thought.

Warren shook his head. “No, I’m just a little tired, I guess.” That much was easy enough to believe. Dale was just pretty sure that there was more to it than just fatigue.

“When did you go to sleep last night?” Dale asked. He was going to get to the bottom of this. “What time did you wake up?”

“I, uh, I don’t know,” Warren said, and that confused look came right back into his eyes. “It was a while ago, but I just never really felt like leaving my bed.” So Warren had spent all day just lying in bed? He hadn’t even been playing in the attic? That really wasn’t like him, even if he was sick.

Dale was really concerned, but he knew that if he showed that concern that Warren would just push him away. Warren had always hated being coddled, and that was just becoming more and more evident the older that he got. Dale wasn’t just going to let things be though. He was going to keep an eye on his brother, and make sure that he was taken care of without making Warren feel babied.

“Have you eaten anything today?” Dale asked, though he was pretty sure of the answer. If Warren had only just forced himself out of bed, he probably hadn’t set foot in the kitchen at all.

Warren’s slightly sheepish expression was enough of an answer for Dale. He sighed and got to his feet. “Come on, let’s go see if there’s anything to eat.” Dale put his hand on Warren’s shoulder, and frowned when the kid made a strange face and pulled away from his grip.

“I can do it on my own.” Warren muttered quietly. He moved away from Dale and went into the kitchen by himself. Dale wanted to follow him, but he was too shocked by what had just happened. After standing around like an idiot for a moment, Dale shook his head and went back to sit on the couch. If Warren really wanted to be left alone, Dale would step back for a bit before letting his overprotectiveness take over all over again.

Dale had been planning on backing off for five or ten minutes, but he just couldn’t seem to relax. After what couldn’t have been any longer than two minutes Dale sighed and made his way to follow Warren into the kitchen. When he got there he was surprised to see that Warren wasn’t there, but Lena and Ruth were.

“Where’s Warren?” Dale asked.

“He was here a minute ago,” Ruth said. “He ran off pretty quickly though.”

“Did he grab anything to eat?” Dale asked, though he was pretty sure he knew the answer. “Even just an apple?”

“I’m afraid not, kiddo,” Lena smiled gently at Dale. She likely could tell that he felt distressed, and was trying to calm him. She was good at that kind of thing. “I wouldn’t worry about Warren, he’s old enough to grab something when he’s hungry.” Dale wasn’t so sure, but he knew better than to argue with Lena about it.

Dale sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “Yeah, alright.” He made his way out of the kitchen. Despite Lena’s assurances, Dale was even more worried about his brother than he had been before. He was acting really funny.

Dale wondered if Warren had gone back to bed, or at least back to the attic. Because it was as good a place to search he went ahead and made his way to the stars. He was ready to run right up the stairs, but stopped in his tracks when he saw Warren splayed face down against the steps.

Dale felt his breath catch in his throat. Had Warren tripped and hurt himself? “Are you okay?” Dale cautiously went up the stairs, going around Warren. When he was on the steps above his brother Dale crouched and leaned forward, trying to get a good look at the kid’s face.

“‘M fine,” Warren mumbled. His body loosened as he let himself slide down the stairs. Once he was at the bottom Warren groaned and lifted himself off the ground just enough to shift his body away from the stairs and flop on the level ground.

“You know, you’re really not inspiring much confidence here.” Dale hurried down the stairs and knelt at his brother’s side. Dale put a hand on Warren’s forehead, ignoring his brother’s flinch when he did so. Dale didn’t want to make his brother uncomfortable, but if he was sick and that was what was making him so lethargic, he wanted to know about it. “It doesn’t feel like you have a temperature,”

“Yeah, ‘cause I’m not sick,” Warren rolled over so he was lying on his back. He rested his arm over his eyes. “I told you, I’m just tired. I just want to be alone.”

Dale frowned. “Is that why you left the kitchen? Because Lena and Ruth were there?”

Warren sighed and nodded his head. Dale could feel the knot that had been tying up in his stomach loosen. He had an idea what was going on.

“Is it a unicorn day today?” Dale asked. Warren shrugged, which was answer enough. Warren normally just came out and said when he was having an off day, but he was even more open about his non-unicorn days. A shrug was just as good as a verbal confirmation.

Dale sighed and brushed Warren’s hair out of his face. “Alright, if you need space, I’ll give you some space. But promise me that you’ll get something to eat, okay?” Warren closed his eyes and nodded. Dale reluctantly stood up and left his brother alone at the base of the stairs. He returned back to the kitchen and sat down at the table.

“Did you find your brother?” Lena asked. She didn’t sound all that concerned, but she wasn’t completely uninterested.

“Yeah,” Dale rested his head head in his hands. “He’s having a unicorn day,”

“Ah,” Lena nodded in understanding. “Yes, I thought that might be the case.” Dale lifted his gaze to meet Lena’s. He eyed her cautiously.

“You’ve been around Warren more than I have,” Dale said, and maybe someday his stomach would stop twisting up with guilt every time he said this. “Is this normal for him?” Dale had an idea what Warren’s off days looked like, but because he worked most every single day, he hadn’t actually seen what Warren was like during the days when he was feeling off. Most of Dale’s experience had been with the after effects of Warren’s bad days, when he was emotionally tired, but beginning to get better. Lena probably knew better what Warren’s unicorn days were like overall.

“Well, that depends,” Lena said gently. “What is he like now?”

“Uh, he said that he’s been hanging out in bed all day,” Dale said. “He still seems kind of tired, almost confused. He really doesn’t want to be around anybody right now.”

“And he hasn’t eaten anything either,” Lena commented. “Those are all perfectly normal for Warren, but it’s not common that they all happen on the same day. This is definitely one of the worse ones.”

Dale groaned and pulled slightly at his hair. He was not feeling very reassured. Lena sat down next to Dale and took his hand. “I promise, Warren is going to be just fine, it’s just going to take a little bit of time.”

“Yeah, okay, fine,” Dale frowned. “I just hate feeling so useless.”

“I know,” Lena said. Dale looked towards her and saw her gentle smile. “But you can’t protect Warren from everything, not even from himself.”

Dale sighed and pulled his hand away from Lena. “He’s just a kid, he shouldn’t have to need protection from himself.” His tone was sharper than he meant it to be. Not because he was mad at Lena, but because he was frustrated with himself. He knew that she was right, but that didn’t make him feel any better. Warren was his little brother, it was Dale’s job to keep him safe and happy. What good was he if he couldn’t even do that?

Chapter Text

Dale cracked his eyes open and groaned. He rolled over and pulled his blanket over his face. He just needed five more minutes of sleep, and he would be fine. Actually, just another single moment would be enough, he just didn’t want to get up right now. He knew he had work to do,but he was still in bed, and his alarm clock hadn’t gone off yet, so there was no reason why he had to wake up.

Dale let himself fall back into a half asleep state before he realized that what had woken him up was the brightness of the room. Dale frowned in confusion and reluctantly pulled his blanket away. He looked towards the window, and his eyes widened in alarm. It was far from bright, as the sun had only just started to rise, but there was still a big difference between pre dawn light and the darkness of night.

Dale hastily sat up. He felt his chest tighten anxiously. For nearly ten years he’d been awake and working at the crack of dawn. He could count on one hand the number of times that he had slept in since he had started actually working around Fablehaven full time. Sure, it was far from late, but it was at least later than he usually slept. He was always up and working by this time.

So if today was just like any other day, Dale would have been in a bit of a rush, but he wouldn’t have been all that worried about it. He could just work a little later in the day. However, he couldn’t do that today. It was the middle of winter, and one of Lena’s rules was that in winter, they had to be done working before sundown. She was always unhappy when they worked late, but she let it slide in the summer because she didn’t have as much need to worry about them freezing to death.

Not only could Dale not work later like he wanted to, but he would probably be delayed for yet another hour. Dale was supposed to be working around the yard today, but it had snowed quite a bit last night. Dale had known that he would have to get an earlier start than usual, because he would have to shovel a bunch of paths in the snow before he could even begin.

Now he still had to shovel the snow, which could take an hour or so out of his work time. There was no way he would be able to get everything done, even if he skipped both breakfast and lunch, which Lena would never allow. Dale would just have to live with the fact that he was going to fall behind on his work.

Dale got dressed in record time, despite the fact that he was wearing multiple layers. As soon as he was ready to go outside, Dale ran out of his room and into the kitchen. He saw Lena already there, as well as Stan, though the older man seemed to be ready to walk out the door and begin his own work for the day.

“Dale, nice of you to join us.” Lena came up to Dale and practically pushed him into a chair. She could probably tell how anxious he was to get to work, and she was going to make sure that he ate a real breakfast, more than just a few granola bars. “How did it feel to sleep in a bit?”

“Horrible,” Dale grumbled. Sure, the little bit of extra sleep had felt nice at the time, but now he was just wishing that his alarm clock had gone off. Actually, come to think of it, why hadn’t his alarm clock gone off? Dale looked at Lena in suspicion. “What did you do?”

Lena laughed as she put a plate of hot eggs in front of Dale. “Don’t look at me, this was all Warren’s idea.”

Warren?” Dale frowned, feeling his anger being replaced with confusion. Warren hadn’t tried to keep him from working in years. What was going on? “Why would he do that? I have work to do.”

“That’s exactly why Warren turned off your alarm clock.” Lena put her hands on her hips and gave Dale a stern look. “You were talking so much yesterday about how much more work you had to do, so Warren decided that he wanted to help make things easier for you.”

“By delaying my work?” Dale frowned. He was irritated with Warren, of course, but more confused than anything. Warren was far from being the most responsible kid in the world, but he was usually pretty good at thinking things through before acting. And if Warren really did think that turning off Dale’s alarm clock so he would get more sleep would be a good idea, why wouldn’t Lena have stopped him? There wasn’t any why that she would actually think that this was a good plan.

Lena smiled, and that familiar mischevious look came into her eyes. “By helping you with your work.”

“What?” Dale glanced towards the front door. There was only so much work that Warren could do, especially work that Lena would allow him to do unsupervised. But Warren knew about Dale’s plans to shovel the snow before working. Was that how he was planning on helping? “Is he still outside?”

“Yes, but he should be done soon.” Lena said. “Just eat your breakfast, and then you can-Dale!” Lena’s tone became sharp when Dale got up from the table and ran towards the door. Lena may be completely supportive of Warren’s desire to help, but Dale wasn’t so sure. It was so cold out, and knowing Warren he hadn’t put on enough lawyers to keep him warm for a long period of time. How long had he been out there?

Dale opened up the front door, ready to drag Warren back inside and just finish the rest of the shoveling himself. Dale wasn’t wearing his gloves yet, but he ignored that and just ran out into the snow to find his brother.

Because Dale couldn’t immediately see Warren, but none of his work would take him out of the yard that day, he decided to check the barn. Dale shoved his hands in his pockets and ran towards the barn, following Warren’s footprints as he went. The snow wasn’t all that deep, but the paths that Warren had shoveled out were really helpful. They weren’t shoveled deep enough, and there was still an inch or two of snow on the shoveled path, but it was better than before. And at least Warren had shoveled out paths that were fairly wide. Dale may even be able to push a wheelbarrow through here if he needed to.

As Dale neared the barn he found that though Warren’s footprints lead to the barn, there was also a set of footprints coming back from there and heading towards the woods. Dale felt himself grow even more concerned and angry. It was one thing for Warren to be working in the yard on his own, and yet another thing for him to run off into the woods. If he had wandered off where he knew he wasn’t supposed to be, Warren was in so much trouble.

Dale hurried as he followed the path and Warren’s footprints. It took Dale a moment, but he realized that the shovelled path wasn’t leading straight towards the woods, but veering slightly away from it. What would Warren be doing over here? The only work that Dale did this far into the yard was when he chopped firewood.

...wait, it had been awhile since Dale had gathered more firewood. How much did they have stored up?

It wasn’t long before Dale saw Warren shoveling out a little clearing next to the stump that Dale used for chopping wood. Warren had known that they would need more firewood, and he was going out of his way to make it easier for Dale to do just that. Dale probably wouldn’t have considered their need for firewood at all, not until much later. Warren really was helping, far more than he probably thought he would.

“Oh, hey Dale,” Warren said cheerfully. His face was red, but other than that he didn’t look all that cold. There was a slight look of disappointment in Warren’s eyes. “You were supposed to get more sleep. I guess I didn’t help as much as I wanted to.”

Dale brought his fist to his mouth and bit it slightly to calm himself. Warren had gone out of his way to help him, and he felt bad because he didn’t think he had done enough. That just wasn’t right. Dale wanted to reassure his brother, but if he let his emotions get the best of him while he did so, he might make Warren think that he was mad at him, and that was definitely not the case.

Warren frowned slightly at Dale. “Are you mad at me?” Dale didn’t like how he had been taking a moment specifically to avoid leading Warren to think that he was upset with him, and his hesitence had done the same thing.

Dale shook his head. He knelt on the ground in front of Warren and just wrapped his arms around him. Dale heard Warren let out a noise of surprise. “Why would I be mad at you for being the best little brother in the world?” Dale meant what he said, but part of the reason why he said it out loud was because of the reaction he knew his brother would give. Warren groaned and tried to push him away, but Dale was a lot stronger than he was. Warren struggled for a few moments before he just gave up. As soon as Warren wasn’t trying to get away from him Dale released him from their embrace and chuckled at the embarrassed look on his face.

“You’re so dumb,” Warren complained as he hid his face in his hands. Dale didn’t know what he was trying to hide. If Warren’s face had gone red because Dale had embarrassed him, he wouldn’t even be able to tell because Warren’s face was already really red from the cold anyways.

Dale laughed and ruffled Warren’s hair, which just got another reaction out of him. Dale frequently felt proud of his brother, and he had so much affection for Warren all the time. It was hard for him to show how he felt though, especially since he never knew how Warren would receive his affection. Dale’s current solution was that he would exaggerate his affection and pride so that Warren would think that he was just being messed with.

It was just one of the perks of being an older brother. Dale could show off his pride as much as he wanted to, and fluster his brother at the same time. Was there anything better in the world?

“You look like you’re going to freeze to death out here.” Dale grabbed the shovel from Warren and stood up. “You ready to go inside?”

“Yeah, I’m done,” Warren yawned and stomped his feet slightly. “It took forever.”

“You did great though.” Dale put his arm over Warren’s shoulder . He lead them on the way back to the house. “You’ve really saved my butt today.” That wasn’t an exaggeration. Dale had forgotten all about firewood, which they did probably need. Warren had unintentionally reminded him of a very important chore he had to do, and Dale really appreciated it.

“Do you think that Lena can make some hot chocolate?” Warren asked. Dalle didn’t know what the question was for. Lena probably gave them hot chocolate every single morning, whether it was winter or not. Knowing her, she likely already had some hot chocolate ready and waiting for them. She had probably made it half as a reward for Warren, for getting some work done so early in the morning, and half as a bribe to get Dale to stay inside and actually eat breakfast.

Oh, she was going to have his head for running off on her.

“Why don’t we hurry up and see?” Warren stepped in front of his brother and knelt slightly. He heard Warren laugh before jumping onto his back. Dale adjusted his grip on his brother, holding him steady with one hand and keeping a grip on the shovel with the other hand. Once they were ready Dale began running back to the house. Because of the snow and the extra weight, as well as trying to keep the shovel from hitting either his legs or his brother in the face, the going was a little awkward. During his time at Fablehaven, Dale had been able to figure out how to move around under awkward circumstances, so he was able to make quick work of it.

Like Dale had half expected, Lena was waiting out on the porch for them, and, of course, she didn’t look happy. Dale grimaced and stopped in his tracks. “Hey, why don’t you go see if Lena has made that hot chocolate you wanted.” Lena wasn’t made at Warren for running off, so Dale didn’t feel guilty about sending his brother off into the front lines to diffuse the situation.

“Yes!” Warren practically jumped off of Dale’s back. He took back the shovel and ran so quickly to the house that it was a wonder that he didn’t trip in the snow. Dale followed cautiously behind him.

“Well, would you look at that,” Lena brushed some stray snow off of Warren’s shoulders. “It seems someone avoided freezing to death.” She looked up at Dale and raised an eyebrow at him. Now Dale was the one being messed with. It wasn’t as much fun on this end.

“I got to him just in time,” Dale kept his tone serious. “You should have seen him, Warren was practically frozen by the time I got there. It’s a wonder he’s alive at all.”

Warren pouted at Dale. “I was not.”

“Don’t listen to him,” Dale came up to Warren and put a hand in his face to shove him aside. “That’s the hypothermia talking.”

“Knock it off,” Warren pushed Dale away. “I’m not frozen.”

“Oh, well, then I guess you will need that hot chocolate to heat you up,” Lena said. Warren’s eyes widened so much that they looked like they were trying to pop right out of his head.

“No, no, I still need hot chocolate,” Warren insisted. He wrapped his arms around himself and shivered in an overly exaggerated way. “I’m so cold.”

Lena and Dale both laughed. “Well, we can’t have that, can we?” Lena said. “Come inside, both of you. There’s hot chocolate in the kitchen.” Warren was already inside before Lena had even finished speaking, leaving Dale alone with Lena, the traitor.

“Come on, you,” Lena put a hand on Dale’s shoulder as she practically dragged him inside. “You eggs have to be cold by now.”

“And I’ll still eat every bite of them,” Dale promised, because he knew that was what she expected from him. Lena didn’t seem that eager to take him on his word, because she walked him into the kitchen and stood right behind him as he sat back down in his chair. Dale knew he wasn’t going to be going anywhere until she was satisfied.

Dale immediately noticed that there was a lack of red-faced little brothers in the kitchen. “Where’s Warren?”

“I’m coming!” Warren shouted. Moments later he ran into the room with his blue plaid blanket over his shoulders. Dale’s red plaid blanket, as well as Scorch, were in his arms. “I thought this would help to warm us up even more.”

“Good thinking.” Dale accepted his blanket. Warren sat on the chair next to Dale and put Scorch on the table between them. Lena almost immediately put two mugs of hot chocolate in front of them, though Dale hadn’t noticed that she had left her spot behind him. She must have gotten their hot chocolate while Dale had been distracted with Warren. She was really tricky like that.

“You do so much around Fablehaven,” Warren commented as he sipped at his hot chocolate, probably burning his tongue off in the process. “I feel so tired, and I’ve only done a little bit of work.”

“You did a lot of work,” Dale assured him. “You just did it in a little bit of time. It’s what I do basically all day, every day.” Stan did the mentally trying, exciting work. Dale was just in charge of keeping things easy for him.

“You do this every day?” Warren looked at his brother in shock and admiration. “How do you do it?”

“It gets easier over time.” Dale said, and it really did. It was only in the past five years that Dale had been working full time around Fablehaven. When he had first started Dale had only worked a few hours at a time, and then a few years later he had moved on to half days. Just before their parents had gone missing Dale had been working for a few hours in the morning, he took a few hours off for lunch, and then worked another two or three hours after that. Dale certainly had more endurance than he used to, but it hadn’t come to him over night.

“I know you’re tired and cold right now, so this probably isn’t what you want to hear.” Dale stirred his hot chocolate and smiled cautiously at his brother. “But if you’re interested, there’s actually a lot of things you can do to help around Fablehaven. You can be my little helper.”

“Wait, really?” Warren smiled excitedly. “You’ll let me help?”

“I would love for you to help.” Dale said. “Maybe not today, because I think you’ve already worked yourself out, but later? Absolutely.” Warren had always been willing to help out around the yard, but they hadn’t done anything formal about it. Warren was still pretty young, Dale was probably a year or two older than him before he had started working with their dad, but that didn't matter. Warren didn’t have to do things the same way that Dale had.

“Awesome,” Warren looked far too pleased with the idea of doing yard work. Sometimes Dale forgot just how much Warren liked to feel useful. Well, that was going to change from this point on. Warren was still just a kid, but he was starting to be really independent. If Warren was going to be doing his own thing now, the least that Dale could do was give him a bit of guidance to what he could do. It may take some time for Dale to get used to the idea that his little brother was more capable than he thought he was, but he would get there...eventually

Chapter Text

Working around Fablehaven was hard, but somehow training Warren to do the same was even more difficult.

"Are we going to see any monsters today?" Warren asked, sounding much too excited at the thought.

Dale heaved a sigh, though thankfully it was disguised as a grunt of effort. He didn't really want to let his brother know that he was annoyed with him, not when Warren was so excited at the thought of helping him. Warren's enthusiasm may be exhausting, but Dale didn't want to discourage him from helping out around the yard, or in the forest.

"You know, just because we aren't in the protection of the yard doesn't mean that we should hope to see monsters," Dale said. "Remember, we're out here for a purpose."

"Yeah, I know," Warren picked up some large rocks and fallen tree branches and gently tossed them off the path that they had been following. It was a tedious task, but Warren didn't seem all that bored by it. "But we might see something, right?"

"Yes, that's definitely a possibility." Dale said. He used his hedge shears to clip back the bushes that had grown too big and had started to creep onto the edges of the path. Warren knelt and took the clipped away bush trimmings as Dale trimmed them. He tossed them back into the forest, just like he'd been doing all morning. Warren didn't even question why they were clearing the path by just tossing everything aside, and he didn't try to make a game out of it by throwing things as far out as he could. Warren just did as he was told. He left the forest alone as best that he could. The path was theirs, but nothing else. They shouldn't mess around with any of the rest of the forest, not if they could help it.

"You remember what you're supposed to do if you see a creature?" Dale asked as he finished trimming back one particularly nasty bush.

"Yeah, 'course I do." Warren rolled his eyes. "I'm supposed to run back to the house as fast as I can, not stopping for anything." Warren hadn't complained against the instruction, but Dale knew that if it really came to that, he wouldn't be nearly as happy to follow through with his promise.

"And if it's a friendly creature." Dale asked.

"To go anyways," Warren said automatically. "Even if you tell me it's safe, because the creature might be malicious and possess you or something."

"You'd better remember that," Dale said. Usually creatures would leave them alone because of the treaty, but he didn't want to take any chances, especially not when his little brother was involved. "You ready to take a lunch break?" Warren hadn't shown any sign or tiring or wanting to take a break, but Dale knew that his brother was just putting on a tough act. Dale was feeling tired and hungry, and he couldn't imagine Warren feeling much different.

Sure enough, Warren straightened in relief. "Yeah, I can eat."

Dale laid down his shears and reached into his bag. He pulled out two sack lunches, one for each of them. Dale gave one of them to Warren, who quickly sat on the dirt path and began to dig into his sandwich. Dale knelt on the ground next to his brother, though he kept a hand next to the gardening shears. It wasn't an ax, but it was sharp, and Dale could do a lot of damage with them if he really had to. He didn't plan to, but he would rather be ready just in case.

The two of them ate their food quickly, Warren because he was really hungry, and Dale because he didn't want to leave them completely vulnerable for too long. Despite the fact that they were eating, they both paused when they heard a rustling in the bushes. Warren and Dale froze. Dale slowly put his sandwich on his bag and grabbed the gardening shears. He gave his brother a warning look as he got to his feet. "Stay put," Dale mouthed.

Warren nodded as he slowly got to his feet as well, though he kept low. Other than that, Warren didn't move. Keeping Warren in his peripheral vision, Dale focused his attention to whatever had rustled the bushes. Dale didn't move towards it, but he was ready to attack or defend the very instant that trouble showed its face.

"Look out!" Dale felt a sense of urgency build up inside of him when he heard Warren's panic filled voice. He turned just in time to see Warren dive to tackle...something. Dale, feeling the utmost concern for his brother, forgot about the sound in the bushes and hurried to get his brother away from whatever he had tackled.

Warren had an extremely firm grip on who had tackled, and Dale wasn't quite able to seperate them, but he was able to get a better look at the legs of his victim. "Hey, hey, hey, Warren, calm down. Let the satyr go."

"Yes, please, listen to the wise Dale," The satyr said, and after he spoke Dale could hear that it was Doren. Warren's strong grip wasn't obstructing his breathing, but making it impossible for him to move. Dale wondered where Warren had learned how to pin down someone bigger than he was. He was quite good at it.

Because Dale didn't have to worry about his brother being hurt by Doren, but the opposite was definitely a possibility, he could focus on pulling Warren's legs and arms out from around Doren. It took some effort, but Dale was eventually able his brother away from the unsuspecting satyr.

"At least you've learned neutralize a threat without doing real damage right off the bat." Dale muttered. He offered out a hand to pull Doren to his feet. Dale then turned back to the bushes. "You can come out now, Newel," Sure enough, the red haired satyr came out from behind the bushes, a barely concealed look of amusement on his face.

"Hey, Dale, you finally going to introduce us to your little brother we keep hearing about?" Newel tried really hard to keep his expressional neutral, but at the end of it he couldn't help but start laughing. Doren glared at his friend.

"Yeah, laugh it up," Doren grumbled. "I'd like to see you get tackled by the little demon."

Dale sighed in irritation. He was not in the mood to be dealing with the satyrs. "What are you two doing here?"

"We could ask you the same thing," Newel said defensively. "We never see you out here, especially not with a mini human behind you." Warren frowned at being referred to as a mini human, but one stern look from Dale made him hold his tongue.

Dale gestured to his gardening shears. "We're just trimming up the path."

"We were stopping for a lunch break when you tried to sneak up on Dale from behind." Warren glared at Dale, who flinched slightly and held his hands up defensively.

"Hey, we didn't mean any harm," Doren said, and Dale knew he was probably right. Satyrs were rarely malicious creatures, especially not these satyrs. "We were just messing around."

"You mean you were just wanting to steal my lunch," Dale crossed his arms and gave the two satyrs an unimpressed look. This wasn't the first time that they had done something like this. Doren and Newel were always eager to get a quick and easy meal. It wasn't because they were starving and desperate, they were just really lazy.

"Are you guys hungry?" Warren's expression softened. He held out his own sandwich. "You can have mine if you really need it."

Doren and Newel shared a sheepish glance. Newell was finally the one to answer him. "Keep your food, we've got our own." Warren didn't say anything, he just shrugged and went back to eating his food. Dale had already finished his sandwich, but he wasn't in the mood for eating the apple or chips, so he tossed them to Newell and Doren to finish up.

The satyrs fought over the bag of chips for a moment, completely ignoring the apple before they decided to split them both evenly between the two of them. Doren and Newel sat down on the ground next to Warren, who excitedly began to chat with them. Dale didn't think it was a good idea for Warren to get too cosy with satyrs, because while they might not be malicious, they were definitely a horrible influence. As far as satyrs went though, Newel and Doren were fairly tame. There wasn't a lot that they could do to influence Warren in the few minutes that they were talking.

While Warren and the satyrs talked, Dale got back to work clearing up the path around them. He felt fairly confident that Warren wasn't in any danger, but he made sure to not take himself out of earshot, just in case.

Dale continued working on his own for about twenty minutes before he made his way back to the others. They had work to do. Dale had to continue on, but he couldn't leave his brother behind. Warren had taken a long enough break.

When Dale went back he found Warren, Newel, and Doren chatting happily with each other like old friends. Dale watched them quietly for a few moments. He hadn't seen Warren relax and chat cheerfully with someone like a friend since the last time that Scott, Carl, and Sophie had visited. They rarely ever left Fablehaven, and even more rarely had visitors. Dale didn't think there had ever been another kid on the preserve, let alone since they'd been there. Dale didn't know how he felt about Warren making friends with creatures around the preserve, not because he was against other species, but because for Warren to be able to be friends with them, he would have to leave the yard to visit them, since they couldn't very well come into the yard themselves.

But it wasn't fair to leave Warren all on his, completely isolated from the rest of the world. Warren deserved to have friends, just like anybody else did, even if those friends were satyrs.

"You ready to get back to work, kiddo?" Dale asked, because he knew that his phrasing would irritate all three of them.

"Aw, come on," Warren whined, though considering the circumstances, and the fact that it was his first complaint of the day, Dale decided to give it a pass. "Can't we stay a little longer?"

"Sorry, 'fraid not," Dale shook his head. "But if you guys want to continue this conversation later, I think that's something we can arrange." Warren looked absolutely ecstatic at the prospect, and was a lot more willing to get to work after that. Doren and Newel weren't quite as enthusiastic as Warren was, but they didn't look miserable at the thought of spending more time with him, so Dale thought it was safe to say that they were interested in seeing again in the future.

Dale hadn't been kidding when he'd offered to figure things out for them. It would be a pain, and Dale would probably be paranoid every second Warren was with the two creatures, but he was willing to give it a try. However, before anything happened, Dale had get a few things straight first.

"Hey, Warren, why don't you go on ahead and start clearing up what I trimmed." Dale suggested. "I want to have a bit of a word with Doren and Newel."

Warren raised and eyebrow at Dale and snickered slightly. "Yeah, sure," Warren got to his feet and brushed off his pants. "I'll see you guys later." Warren grinned at the satyrs before running on ahead. Once Warren was a safe distance away Dale glared coldly at Doren and Newel.

"Alright, here's the deal," Dale grabbed Newel and Doren's horns, pulling on them to send a clear message to the two of them. "Warren deserves normal friendships, so here's what we're gonna do. You guys still looking for a source of batteries for your tv?" Dale had known about their 'secret' tv and desire for batteries for years.

"Wait, you're actually going to give us batteries?" Newel asked in disbelief, which was understandable. Dale had always refused them whenever they'd bothered him about batteries, because he'd never had a reason to humor them before. Now though, he did.

"As long as Warren's hanging out with you guys, I'll get you guys all the batteries you want." Dale offered. Doren and Newel's eyes widened.

"Seriously?" Newel grinned excitedly.

"What's the catch?" Doren asked suspiciously. Of course he had to know that Dale wasn't finished with them. He was still holding them by the horns, afterall.

"The catch is that I'm going to be trusting you two with my little brother," Dale said lowly. He would probably never let Warren be completely alone with them, at least not for a few years, but the point still stood. "If you do anything to betray that trust, if Warren gets even a single scratch while he's in your care, you'll both with that you'd never even laid eyes on him."

"What are you going to do, flay us alive and use our fur to make yourself a new coat?" Newel rolled his eyes. That actually was exactly what Dale intended to do, on top of throwing their remains to the centaurs, but they clearly didn't take this particular threat seriously, so he would have to do say something else that would get their attention.

"No, but I will make it my personal life mission to make sure that neither of you even touches another battery for the rest of your life." Dale would flay them as well, but he knew that this would get under their skin much more than a threat of violence would.

Sure enough Doren and Newel's eyes widened almost comically. They looked disgusted and horrified, like he had just threatened their young or something. "H-hey, there's no need to get crazy," Newel said, his voice wavering. He clearly hadn't taken the flaying threat seriously, but this had clearly shaken him the both of them. Dale may just be a simple groundskeeper, but he wasn't just going to sit around weeding the garden when his brother might need help. He could be an intimidating person when he wanted to be.

"Are we understanding each other?" Dale asked. Newel and Doren quickly nodded their heads, and Dale released them. "Good. Now, me and Warren really have to get back to work. We'll see you two around." Dale smiled and nodded at the two satyrs as though he hadn't been threatening them just seconds before. Dale grabbed his things and ran to catch up with his brother. Who knew what kind of trouble Warren would get himself into if he was left on his own for too long? Dale may be working on taking a step back and giving his brother some independence, but he wasn't going to be taking his eyes away from his brother. He had to watch the kid's back, whether Warren wanted him to or not.

Chapter Text

Dale had thought that when Warren had started doing work around Fablehaven, the two of them would be able to see more of each other. The whole reason why Dale hadn't been able to see Warren as much as he would have wanted to was because of how much work he had to do, and because Warren couldn't stray beyond the safety of the yard. Now Warren was independent, strong, and old enough to do some of the physical work around the preserve. At first, Dale had spent so much time with Warren, because somebody had to show him the ropes, and it had been great. But after a year or so Warren knew enough about the basics that he was able to handle the work around the yard, leaving Dale open to do the work on the paths and around the forests.

When Dale had been the only one working, he had only really seen Warren when he was done working for the day, and sometimes during lunch when he was close enough to the house to come in for his break. Dale had thought that when the two of them were working at the same time that at the very least they would be back at home at the same time too, but somehow it wasn't the case. Warren woke up at the same time as Dale now, but then he would immediately head outside and swim a few laps in the pool before having breakfast. By the time Warren was coming back in, Dale was ready to head out for work.

It wasn't just before work that they barely saw each other anymore, but after work as well. Warren wasn't ready for full work days, so he should be the first done, but by the time Dale got back his brother was nowhere to be found. Dale had been concerned and freaked out at first, but Warren always came back about two hours later, looking tired, but unharmed. Lena frequently told him to leave Warren alone, that he was safe. She was completely unconcerned, and her confidence in Warren did a lot to calm Dale down, like it always did.

Dale tried to give Warren space. His little brother wasn't really a kid anymore, he was almost a teenager now, would be in about four months. Whether Dale liked it or not, Warren was growing up, and he deserved a little bit of freedom. Besides, if Lena thought that Warren was okay being out for another few hours, then Dale shouldn't argue with her. He may try to argue with her, but she always won, so he didn't even try anymore.

Dale just wished he knew what his brother was doing. Lena wouldn't let him go out looking for him, she said that Warren deserved to have some privacy. It really irritated Dale that Lena seemed to know exactly what was up with Warren, and she didn't tell him. Why couldn't she just let Dale be involved with Warren's life? If it weren't for the fact that Lena seemed perfectly fine with whatever Warren was doing, Dale would think that he was just putting in another few hours of work, which Lena would never allow. But if Warren wasn't working, just what was he doing?

Dale tried really hard to not worry about what Warren was up to. It shouldn't matter to him what Warren did with his free time, just so long as he wasn't putting himself in danger, which Lena assured him he wasn't. Dale just hoped that Warren would open up to him about what was going on sooner or later...preferably sooner.

A few weeks after Dale noticed this nonsense he came back to the house and noticed that, for once, Warren was home before him. He was sweating and looked frustrated, but at least he was home. In fact, Warren was sitting on the front porch and, based on the way that he stood up anxiously the second he saw Dale, he was probably waiting for him.

"Hey," Dale greeted his brother.

"Hey," Warren ran a hand through his hair, brushing the sweat out of his face. "Can you help me with something?"

"If it means you're finally going to tell me what you've been up to, then yeah, of course," Dale said, though he probably would have agreed anyways. He was always willing to help Warren with anything, especially when his brother was willing to ask for it. "What's up?"

Warren grinned and leaned against the porch's railing. "Just don't freak out, okay?"

"Well, that doesn't inspire a lot of confidence," Dale put his arm around Warren's shoulder. "But I'll tell you what, I'll do my best to not freak out on you."

Warren laughed slightly. "I guess that's good enough," Warren jumped off the porch and made his way towards the barn. Dale wondered what Warren had been up to in the barn. The barn was technically in the yard, which meant that it was free game for Warren to explore around, but it wasn't exactly an ideal play area. Dale was relieved when Warren didn't enter into the barn itself, but went around back of it.

That relief quickly turned to confusion when Dale saw the set-up back there.

"What have you been up to?" Dale asked as he looked around at the wood stumps, straw dummies, and bullseye targets. Dale bent down and picked up a an ax that was leaning against a log. "What are you doing with an ax?"

"I'm being careful with it," Warren said, though his sheepish expression said otherwise. "I just...can you show me how to use it? It's a lot harder to figure out than a sword of a spear."

"A...I'm sorry, what?" Dale fixed his brother with a critical gaze. "What are you doing with a sword or a spear?"

"...practicing," Warren muttered as he dug the toes of his shoes into the dirt. "I want to be okay at as many weapons as I can,"

"But why?" Dale sat on the stump, putting himself closer to Warren's eye level. "You're working around the yard, there's no need for you to be good at weapons."

"Yeah, but I want to be." Warren said earnestly. "Can you please help me?"

Dale looked around the little training area . This didn't look like something that Warren had set up on his own. He had probably gotten Lena's help with this, and possibly Stan's too. Why did everybody know about this except for him. "How long have you been doing this?"

"Uh, since my last birthday," Warren sat on the ground and continued to dig with his hands at the spot that he had been messing with with his foot. "Lena's gift to me was, uh, some of Patton's old weapons. She thought I might like to have them."

"She did?" Dale tightened his grip on his ax. He loved Lena, really he did, but he really didn't like it when she did this kind of thing. Dale wondered if Lena would be anywhere near as interested in feeding into Warren's desire for adventure if their parents hadn't named him after her deceased husband. And what was Stan thinking, encouraging this? Warren was just a kid, he shouldn't be involved in any of this stuff.

But then again, Warren had never really been a normal kid. It wasn't that Dale wanted Warren involving himself with weapons, but it seemed like he would be 'practicing' with them anyways, and apparently without supervision. Dale wasn't completely happy with it, as he just wanted his brother to be safe. Warren seemed really dedicated to this thing though, so dedicated that he did this training every single day, even after he had been doing work. If Warren was going to be doing this, and Dale's goal was to keep him safe, then he might as well make sure that his brother was doing this right.

"Alright, show me what you can do," Dale handed the axe to Warren. "What's your stance like?"

"Okay, uh," Warren adjusted his grip awkwardly on the ax. His grip looked decent enough, but that wasn't what the biggest concern of Dale's was. He got to his feet and grabbed some wood, which he placed on the chopping block.

"Can you chop this wood in half?" Dale stepped back. Warren sighed and lifted the ax up over his shoulder. Dale immediately saw the problem.

"You're going to hurt yourself," Dale picked up a long stick and wielded it like Warren did the ax. "See, if you have the axe like this then when you swing it you're going to end up pulling a muscle. What you need to do is lift the axe up over your head, like this," Dale demonstrated with his stick, and Warren did the same with the ax.

"Now, be careful to not pull it too far up over your head," Dale said. "You don't want to drop it."

"Okay," Warren nodded. "Do I just swing the ax down?"

"Make sure you keep your legs slightly apart, just in case you miss," Dale said. "We don't want you hitting your leg." Dale didn't consider himself an expert on weapons, far from it, but he had worked his way around an ax enough to know how to handle one Warren knew how familiar he was with this kind of thing, that was why he had asked him for help in the first place.

Warren slowly shifted his legs apart until Dale nodded at him that it was enough. "Okay, and remember when you swing down, don't try to rely fully on brute strength. Get momentum going, and let the weight of the ax do the job for you, alright?"

Warren nodded and swung the ax down into the wood that Dale had set up. It didn't break the wood, at least not completely. Warren put one hand against the wood he was trying to chop and used the other to wiggle the ax back and forth until he had loosened it enough to pull it out. It seemed as though Warren had gotten a decent amount of practice pulling sharp things out of wood. He really was serious about this.

"Does that make things any easier?" Dale asked.

"Lots easier," Warren grinned as he put the wood back into place, lifted the ax, and swung it down to split the wood in half. "How can I hit the wood right in the middle?"

"Well, I never really cared much about perfectly symmetrical pieces," Dale shrugged. "I only ever use the ax for firewood, and when you're burning wood it doesn't really matter how pretty it looks." However, he understood why Warren might want to be a bit more picky. If Warren was wanting to use an ax as a weapon, not just a tool, then he would have to know how to deal damage, not just make it easier to create kindle. "Something that might help though is if you rest your ax right at the spot where you're going to hit." Dale demonstrated with his stick. "So when you lift it back, when you bring it back down again, it might hit the same spot again."

Warren nodded and rested the blade of the ax against the wood. He lifted the ax back, and then slowly lowered it down to the same spot again. Warren wasn't trying to cut into anything, but just remind himself of the strategy. "Yeah, that makes sense. Thanks."

Dale still didn't know how he felt, teaching Warren how to wield a weapon. Sure, he felt better about his brother using an ax when he knew what he was doing, but he was still a little freaked out at the thought of just what Warren might use with this knowledge in the future. Dale didn't like it, but Warren had the blood of an adventurer. He wouldn't be content at Fablehaven forever. Someday, he would leave to go do whatever he did with these weapons. Dale was terrified for when that day would inevitably come, but he tried to push back his fear. Told himself that he should be relieved that at least Warren wouldn't be jumping into this mess of a life completely defenseless. With luck, and obviously a lot of hard work, Warren would be able to defend himself.

"So, uh, you said that an ax wasn't like a sword or a spear," Dale grabbed the ax back from Warren. "Maybe you could show me a thing or two?" Dale didn't really have a lot of interest in learning how to wield a weapon, especially not something like a sword or a spear. He didn't really have any need or desire to be able to hold his own with a weapon, not the way that Warren did. But this was obviously really important to Warren, and Warren was really important to Dale.

"Can we spar with each other?" Warren's eyes practically lit up at the idea. "I haven't actually been able to spar against anybody." Dale smiled slightly. Warren's excitement was contagious.

"I should probably learn the basics first," Dale reminded his brother. "But yeah, we can be sparing partners." He didn't exactly want to learn how to use a sword, but if it helped prepare Warren for when he would be out there actually using these things and fighting for real, then he could put in a little bit of effort.

Besides, if this was what Warren was going to be spending his free time doing, then Dale could do it too. It may take up some of his free time, but Dale didn't really care. If it meant spending some more time with his brother, then it was worth it.

Chapter Text

Dale frowned and tapped his fingers against the steering wheel of the truck. He hated being outside of Fablehaven. As isolated as it felt from the rest of the world, they couldn't do everything on their own. Every two weeks they had to go into town and run some errands. Get some groceries, work materials that they were running low on or needed to replace, and pick up the mail.

Years ago Dale's mom had been more than happy to do the errands. She had married into this life, and was more than comfortable among other people. Dale hadn't taken after her in that sense. He hated leaving Fablehaven, even for something as simple as grocery shopping. Ever since his parents had accepted that stupid mission from the Knights of the Dawn and gone missing and/or died, they'd all had to take over those responsibilities.

Because Dale and Stan always had work to do around Fablehaven, and Lena liked to avoid leaving the preserve unless it was absolutely necessary, Ruth was usually the one to go. Sometimes though Lena insisted that Dale needed to get out of his comfort zone and encouraged him to go into town, even if just for a little bit. Dale hated it so much. It may not be nearly as hard as working in the yard, but in Dale's opinion it was a lot worse.

On the bright side, at least he was almost done. He just had to pick up some mail and he could go home. Dale sighed and parked the truck in front of the post office. He turned off the ignition more aggressively than he had to and stepped out of the truck. Dale clutched the keys to the truck and P.O. box and entered the building. He ignored everybody that he passed and just headed straight towards their P.O. box. Dale used his keys to open the box and grab the mail. There wasn't a lot in there, as very few people knew about Fablehaven at all, but that just meant that most everything that they received in the mail was pretty important.

Dale understood why they had their mail sent to a P.O. box, but he didn't know if it was the best plan. They couldn't reveal Fablehaven's location to many people, which meant that if they wanted to get mail, it was safest to give them a different address to send things to. The problem with this plan was that they might not receive important mail for up to two weeks later, because it just wasn't feasible for them to pick up the mail every single day. Even if what was sent wasn't time sensitive, they still left letters that talked about magic and creatures. Dale just didn't think it was very smart to keep these things in a public place.

Nothing had gone wrong yet, so maybe it was okay.

As important as these letters probably were, Dale's only interest in them was that they were the last thing that he had to pick up. Letters in hand, Dale closed the P.O. box and made his way back to the truck. Dale got into the truck and tossed the letters onto the passenger seat. Dale was just about to turn the truck on when he got a glimpse of one of the letters. It had an insignia on it that Dale was all too familiar with. It was a letter from the Knights of the Dawn.

Dale knew that they were the good guys, but he couldn't help but feel suspicion and slight anger when he saw that letter. What did they want this time? Were they trying to convince Stan to come out of his retirement? It wouldn't be the first time. Dale scowled and pushed aside all of the other letters so he could get a look at the letter from the Knights of the Dawn. He froze when he saw who the letter was addressed to.

Warren Patton Burgess.

What could the Knights of the Dawn possibly want with Warren? He was just a child, though Warren would likely kick his butt the next time they sparred if he knew that he still thought of him as a kid. Warren was fifteen now. Dale still saw Warren as his baby brother, and he always would, but he was learning to recognize that Warren wasn't a little kid anymore.

However, that didn't mean that he was an adult either. He certainly wasn't nearly old enough for Dale to feel comfortable with the fact that the Knights of the Dawn knew who Warren was, let alone that they were contacting him.

Without hesitating for a moment Dale picked up the letter and opened it. He knew that this was technically illegal, and he was sure that Warren would be more than happy to tell him about the contents in the letter. But Dale wasn't just about to hand this letter to Warren, not unless he knew just what the Knights of the Dawn wanted with his little brother.

Dale opened the letter with shaky hands and quickly read it over. He tightened his grip on the paper when he read, and then reread what was inside. He didn't want to believe the words, but he wasn't foolish enough to think that he was misunderstanding them. The letter made it perfectly clear that the Knights of the Dawn wanted to recruit Warren.

An 'internship' they called it. The opportunity to train under master fighters, and professional treasure hunters. The very people that Warren looked up to and wanted to be like. Warren hadn't actually said anything about his future goals as an adventurer for nearly ten years, and he certainly hadn't said anything about joining the Knights of the Dawn. Warren pretended to be content to just stay in Fablehaven and dream, but Dale could see how anxious he was getting for something more. Dale understood that, and he had been trying really hard to be okay with it, to trust his brother to keep himself safe out there, but this...this was not okay.

Dale crumpled up the note in his hands and stuffed it in his pockets, fuming. Who did the Knights of the Dawn think they were? Offering to train a boy who just so happened to be the great nephew of the legendary Patton Burgess. They weren't interested in Warren, they were interested in a young Burgess that they could mold into being an ideal little Knight, and Dale wasn't going to stand for it. This was not okay.

Dale was so furious and worried about what could happen to his brother that he only half paid attention to what he was doing as he drove home, which probably wasn't safe, but he couldn't help it. He was desperate to get home. Desperate to see his brother. Desperate to figure out just how the Knights of the Dawn knew that Warren would be interested in what they had to offer.

All too soon Dale was pulling up the driveway and parking the truck near the house. Dale sighed and turned off the ignition. He sat silently for a moment, glaring at the steering wheel. Dale was still for a moment before letting out a shout of fury and slamming his hands on the wheel, causing the horn to blare loudly. Despite the noise, Dale didn't take his hands away, he just left the horn going for nearly thirty seconds.

Dale pushed down at the wheel with all his might before he finally pulled away, only to bring his hands to his hair and pull at it. He curled slightly in on himself and closed his eyes tightly. He couldn't do this. His brother...his brother…

"Dale," He tensed but otherwise didn't move when he felt a gentle hand on his shoulder. Lena. "Did something happen?"

"They can't have him," Dale shuddered and tightened his grip at his hair. "They took away your parents, and now they want to...they want…" Dale whimpered and tried to curl even more on himself. Lena gently took Dale's hands and brought them away from his face. She pulled Dale's hands and guided him to turn his legs so he was sitting sideways in his seat, facing out the door of the truck, which Lena had opened.

"Who wants Warren?" Lena asked quietly. She sounded concerned, but Dale didn't know if she was worried about him, or about Warren.

Dale grimaced and reached into his pocket again, pulling out the letter, which he handed to Lena. She uncrumpled it and began to read it. She didn't read the whole thing, she didn't have to. It was very clear what was being said in the first couple of paragraphs.

"The Knights of the Dawn are offering to train your brother," Lena commented. She lowered the note and looked at Dale. "You know they're not bad people. They really are trying to do good in the world."

"I know," Dale groaned in frustration. He hated the Knights of the Dawn, but it would be petty and stupid of him to let his own personal feelings influence his judgement. The Knights were trying to keep the world, and the magical preserves, safe, nothing else. "But they shouldn't need Warren."

Lena smiled and rubbed her thumbs over Dale's hands. "They're not out to hurt you, Dale, or Warren. They just want to help him get stronger and become all he was meant to be."

"How are they supposed to help him when they don't know him at all?" Dale growled. "They just want to use him,"

"Yes, in a few years they'll probably try to convince him to join the Knights," Lena admitted. She ran a gentle hand through his hair. Dale sighed and leaned into her touch. His mother used to stroke his hair when he was sick or particularly distressed. Lena had done it occasionally too, but it had been a few years. It made him feel like a little kid again, but in the good kind of way. The way that made him feel like he was being taken care of.

"They wouldn't force anybody to join them though," Lena said. She pulled Dale close and held him tightly. "But Dale, you can't force him to not join them either. Ultimately, it's going to be Warren's decision."

"And he's going to choose them," Dale's shoulder's fell. He knew his brother. Warren may not have shown any interest in joining the Knights of the Dawn, but he was eager to follow in their great-uncle's footsteps and be an adventurer. Warren was so persistent in practicing his weapon use, because he was trying to prepare himself for future circumstances that he just might stumble upon.

There were so many reasons why Warren would probably accept the Knights of the Dawn's offer. They said they would train him, and Warren was always looking for a way to learn a new skill. He would get to be around people who had seen many preserves and creatures that they'd never even heard of before, and Warren loved to hear about other places.

And, worst of all, in a few years they would give him the chance to do some good in the world and experience new things for himself. There was no way that Warren was going to let an opportunity like this pass him by.

"I'm not ready for this," Dale muttered and shook his head. He felt his eyes grow wet with tears, and he couldn't bring himself to care. "I'm not ready to let him go." Just thinking about his brother taking the Knights of the Dawn up on their offer made him sick to his stomach, and he felt like he was going to be sick when he thought about Warren actually joining them in just a few short years.

"Letting him go?" Lena pulled back and looked at Dale in confusion. "It's not as though he would be leaving forever. His training would just be for a few weeks at a time, and then he'll be back. The same would be true if he was a true Knight." Dale knew this, but it still felt like if he let Warren leave then would have to say goodbye to him forever.

And if he didn't say goodbye to Warren, then at the very least he would have to say goodbye to the part of himself that still hoped that Warren would stay at Fablehaven forever and be happy here. If Warren left, Dale knew that he would quickly see just how much he was missing, and he wouldn't want to let any of it go. Warren would come back to Fablehaven to visit, of course. He wouldn't just forget about them. But Dale could tell even know that Fablehaven just wouldn't be his home anymore, it would become just another place.

Dale didn't want his home to just be a place where Warren chose to squat while he eagerly looked for a new adventure.

Dale stared numbly at the ground, looking for reassurance that he knew weren't there. "...Were you ever afraid that Patton would want to go on more adventures and just leave you?"

Lena hummed quietly. "Sometimes," She admitted. "He accomplished so much before we'd even met. He loved to talk about his adventures, and I loved to listen to him. He always had a spark of light in his eyes when he talked about all he'd seen." Lena laughed slightly. "I've been seeing that same spark reflected in Warren's eyes more and more lately."

Dale shifted uncomfortably. He knew that Lena saw a lot of similarities between her deceased husband and Warren, he just didn't like it when she brought it up. Dale didn't have anything against Patton, he actually admired the man who had done so much for their world, but he didn't want Warren to be given any ideas. Patton may have lived a long and happy life, but that didn't mean that the same would be true for Warren if he chose to follow in his footsteps.

"What did you do about it?" Dale asked. He wanted to know how he could make these paranoid feelings go away. "How do I stop holding him back?"

"Now, you stop it right there, Dale Burgess," Lena said sharply. Dale lifted his head and was shocked at how stern her gaze was. "You are not holding your brother back, do you understand me?" Dale nodded quickly and Lena's gaze softened. "Caring about someone doesn't make you a burden."

"But I don't want him to leave," Dale said. "I know this is a great opportunity for him, and I still don't want him to go. How is that not me holding him back?"

"It just makes you human and a little selfish," Lena said, as though it was a good thing to be selfish. "There's nothing wrong with wanting something. The important thing, and the hardest thing, is that you let Warren make this decision on his own. If he chooses to leave, it's not because you chased him away, and if he stays it's not because you're forcing him too. He'll choose what he wants the most." Lena's tone implied that she was speaking from existence. Dale thought that she probably worried about Patton leaving a little more often than just 'sometimes'.

"But you have a choice to make too, Dale," Lena said, looking Dale straight in the eyes. She returned Warren's letter back to him. Dale frowned and looked at the letter. He still hated it, and he still didn't want his little brother to leave, but Lena was right, he did have a choice to make.

The choice to keep things the way they were, or to back off and let Warren make his own decisions,.

It really was a hard choice to make, even when he knew which option would be best..

Dale sighed and carefully folded the letter. He got to his feet and looked towards the barn. It wasn't too late in the afternoon, but by this time of day Warren was usually done with his work and was training.

"I'll go take this to Warren," Dale said. Lena smiled and gave his shoulder a reassuring squeeze.

"You're doing a good thing," Lena said, sounding proud.

"I still feel lousy about it," Dale said, but he knew he would feel lousy if he just kept this whole thing a secret from Warren and pretended that he had never gotten a letter from the Knights of the Dawn.

Lena was right, this was Warren's life, and he had a right to have a say in where it went from here. Dale would still prefer for his brother to stay home, but if Warren was going to leave, he just hoped that no harm came to him, because if it did he didn't know if he would be able to make this same decision to let Warren make these choices for himself.

Dale just wanted Warren to be safe, but he wanted him to be happy too. Sometimes people couldn't be both safe and happy with their lives. Dale hoped that Warren was someone that could, because he deserved both, and Dale was going to do everything that he could to make sure that Warren got everything that he deserved, and more.

It was what big brothers were for.

Chapter Text

Dale grimaced and pulled his blanket closer around him.  He felt absolutely exhausted, like he’d only been asleep for maybe three hours.  Too long to be a refreshing nap, but not nearly long enough to be a full night’s sleep.  He would normally just roll over and go back to sleep, except that someone was shaking his shoulder slightly, preventing him from dozing off again.

“Dale, I need you to wake up for me,”  Lena said quietly. He groaned and rolled over to look up at Lena, who was already in her nightwear.  

“Wh-what’s going on?”  Dale yawned. He lifted himself onto his elbows and looked at Lena.  “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing’s wrong,”  Lena assured him. She finally stepped back, but only so she could turn on the lights.  Dale groaned and pulled his blanket up over his eyes. “I would just like for you to do me a favor,”

Dale blinked and slowly pulled the blanket away to allow his eyes to adjust to the sudden light.  “What kind of favor?”

“I want you to go to the airport and pick up Warren,”  Lena said, and Dale suddenly found himself feeling wide awake.

“Warren?”  Dale questioned quietly in disbelief.  “I thought he was going to be gone for another two weeks.”  That was the whole deal. Warren would go to be trained by the Knights of the Dawn for three weeks, he would come home for a month, and then leave for another three weeks.  It had only been a single week. “Is he hurt? Is he okay?”

“Warren’s just fine,”  Lena said quickly. “He’s just coming home a little earlier than planned.”  Dale didn’t think it was that simple. If Warren was just ready to come home a little early, if there was no urgency to it, then Dale didn’t see why they wouldn’t have arranged for him to take a flight that arrived during the day rather than in the middle of the night.  This felt like a spur of the moment thing.

Dale was sure that the Knights would have told Lena if Warren was hurt, and she certainly would have told him if something horrible had happened.  But just because Warren was physically fine didn’t mean that he was actually okay.  

“Yeah, I can go,”  Dale shrugged off his covers and swung his legs off his bed.  He was always willing to do a favor for Lena, but he was mostly doing this for Warren.  He had to see for himself that his little brother was safe.

Lena gave him a small smile of appreciation.  “I’ll make sure there’s some fresh lemon bread for you two when you get home.”  Dale opened his mouth to remind her that Warren didn’t like lemon bread when she gave him a knowing look.  “And yes, I’ll make some brownies too.”

Dale frowned.  The last time she had made both lemon bread and brownies for breakfast had been the day that Dale had turned eighteen.  It was their ultimate comfort food, and Lena always seemed to be able to tell when they needed it most. The fact that she was making this for them told Dale that despite what Lena said, she really was worried about this.

“Yeah, alright,”  Dale stretched. Lena nodded and left the room.  Dale sighed and got up to get dressed. He also began to look around for anything he might need.  Dale knew that he was just going for a quick drive to the airport to pick up his little brother. He was leaving the preserve.  There really wasn’t all that much danger that they had to be worried about, at least not of the magical kind. Dale doubted that he would need all that much, but he still grabbed his gun, just in case.

He didn’t have any plans on using it, but it was always better to be safe than sorry.  He would have to hide the gun though, so Dale grabbed his blanket as an afterthought. He could use it to cover the gun in the backseat, and if Warren was tired when he picked it up, he might appreciate something a little more comfortable to nap against.

Although, if he was going to be bringing some things for Warren to sleep against during the drive home, he might as well do this right.  Dale shoved his feet into his shoes and left the room, immediately making his way upstairs to the attic. He knew that Warren would feel much more comfortable with his own blanket, as well as an old friend.

Without thinking twice about it, Dale grabbed Warren’s plaid blanket, as well as Scorch.  When Warren had left he had insisted that he didn’t need to take such personal things with him, that he would be fine without them.  If Warren still didn’t want them, then he didn’t have to use them, but Dale was going to make sure that Warren was at least given the chance if he wanted it.

Dale went downstairs, passing the kitchen as he went.  It was strange to see Lena up and about so late at night, but what was life without unusual events every once and awhile?  Dale gave Lena a small wave as he passed by. He then went to the front door, grabbing the truck keys on the way out.

Dale tossed his things in the back of the truck and got in himself.  Dale began the long drive into town, and then continued on through the next few towns.  The airport was more than an hour’s drive away, in a larger city. Dale usually hated being around town, and the last time he had been in a large city had been when Warren had been born.  It was the middle of the night though, so there likely wouldn’t be that many people around.

Besides, Dale was too busy worrying about what could be going on with Warren to really get upset about the possibility of being near so many people.

Dale thought quietly to himself as he drove.  After what felt both like an eternity, and just a couple of minutes, Dale was pulling the truck into the ‘picking up/dropping off’ area of the airport.  There were a couple of people coming and going, as well as a handful of cars waiting around. The crowd was small enough that Dale didn’t have to search for too long to find his brother.  Warren was standing a ways off from everyone else, his backpack clutched tightly to his chest.

Dale pulled up next to his brother and rolled down the passenger side window.  “Need a lift?”

Warren didn’t answer him.  He didn’t even meet his eyes.  Warren just opened the door to the truck and climbed in.  Warren drew his legs close to his chest, still hugging his backpack.  Dale watched his brother for a second before he leaned back and grabbed Scorch and Warren’s blanket.

“Here,”  Dale grabbed Warren’s bag from him and replaced it with the plush dragon.  Warren clung tightly to Scorch and Dale tossed his bag in the back before beginning the long drive home.  Dale didn’t say anything at first. If Warren was ready to talk, he would talk.

They drove in silence for nearly fifteen minutes, and Dale was beginning to feel uneasy with how quiet his brother was.  Dale knew that typically it was best to give Warren space until he was ready to open up, but it didn’t seem like that was going to happen any time soon.  Dale had a choice to make. He could either give Warren some space and time, or he could push Warren to open up now.

Dale sighed and tapped his fingers against the steering wheel.  “Do you want to talk about what happened?”

“No,”  Warren said coldly.  “I just want to go home,”

Dale briefly glanced over towards his brother, who seemed to be trying to make himself as small as he could.  “I thought you were looking forward to learning from the Knights?”

Warren was quiet for a moment, and Dale thought that he wasn’t going to answer when he finally spoke up.  “...I don’t think I’m ready for this.”

Dale looked back towards the road.  “You mean ready to be a Knight?” Out of the corner of his eye he saw Warren shrug.  That was as close to an answer as Dale was going to be getting at that moment. “You know you don’t have to be ready right now, right?  That’s why you’re doing this whole training thing.”

“I-I know,”  Warren said quietly.  “I just don’t think I should do it anymore.”

“W-wait, are you kidding me?”  Dale spared his brother a glance.  “Warren, you’ve been teaching yourself how to use swords, and spears, and axes, and I don’t even know what else for your entire life.  These people can teach you so much. I thought this was what you wanted?” Dale felt a little strange to be encouraging Warren to continue doing this when he had been so against the idea in the first place.

Dale still didn’t exactly want Warren to leave and join the Knights of the Dawn so soon.  But it felt wrong to let Warren give up on something he had been so excited about. Warren had probably had a really tough week, which made sense, because he’d never really spent all that much time away from home, and all of a sudden he was being thrown into this new situation.  It would take time for anyone to adjust.

“It was, I mean, it is, I just...I don’t think I’m any good at it.”  Warren said quickly. Dale looked at his brother like he was crazy.  This really didn’t sound like him. Dale very reluctantly turned his attention back to the road.  Maybe he should have waited to have this conversation until after they’d gotten home. It was too late to go back now though.

Dale took a deep breath and tightened his grip on the steering wheel.  Had Lena known that they would be talking about this? “Why don’t you think you’re good at it?  You’re the most determined kid I know. You’ve taught yourself how to hold your own in a fight.”

“But they’re so much better than me,”  Warren turned and pouted at Dale, who couldn’t help but roll his eyes.

“They’re teaching you, of course they’re gonna have more experience than you.”  Dale reminded his brother. Warren just shook his head.

“Not the experts, I mean the other kids,”  Warren buried his face in Scorch’s ratty old wings.  “They were all being trained too, but they already knew so much.  You should have seen it.” Warren laughed shakily, and Dale couldn’t tell if Warren was more impressed by the other kids, or jealous of them.  Maybe a mixture of both. “One of them could shoot a bow and arrow perfectly while he was blindfolded. There was this girl who seemed to know everything about magical creatures, and she’s even been collecting some of her own.  They were all just...so great.”

“You’re great too,”  Dale insisted, and he wasn’t just trying to cheer his brother up either, he really meant it.

“I’m decent,”  Warren clarified.  “Lots of people said so.  They...they said they were impressed by my range in weapons.”

“Yeah, so?”  Dall didn’t understand why Warren said it like it was a bad thing.

Warren huffed, like he didn’t understand why Dale didn’t get it.  “So I’m good at a lot of things, but I’m not great at anything.Vanessa said that I was a Jack of all traits, but master of none.”

Dale scowled.  He didn’t know who this ‘Vanessa’ was, but if she’d been the one to put it into Warren’s head that he was inferior in some way, Dale didn’t think he liked her very much.  “Again, I don’t see what the problem is.”

Warren turned and glared at Dale.  “You don’t get it. All the other Knights, they all specialize in something.   They’re masters.   Magical objects, magical creatures, hand-to-hand combat, everybody is really good at one thing.  I don’t have a one thing.  I’m just average.”

“Alright, that’s enough of that,”  Dale growled slightly. He pulled over to the side of the road and turned the car off.  Dale turned to glare at Warren, who was looking at him with wide eyes. “Look, I don’t care how great these other people are, stop comparing yourself to them.  You’re not them, you’re you.   You’re not average, you’re...you’re well-rounded.”

“The Knights aren’t supposed to be well-rounded though,”  Warren said. “They have obvious strengths, and clear weaknesses.  That’s how they decide who gets sent on which missions.”

None of this was making sense to Dale.  “There’s no way that’s the case for everybody.  I mean, our parents-”

“-Were treasure hunters,”  Warren said easily, making Dale freeze.  Warren must have seen the terrified look of confusion in Dales eyes, and he explained a little more.  “The Knights told me.”

The knights.  Dale was really starting to hate these guys.  It was their fault that their parents had disappeared in the first place, and yet they thought they had any right to tell Warren about their parents?  They didn’t know Warren, they didn’t know their parents, they didn’t deserve to say a darn thing about it.

“...Fine,”  Dale relented.  “What about Patton Burgess?”

This finally seemed to catch Warren’s attention.  “What about him?”  

“You’ve heard even more stories about that guy than I have,”  Dale said. “Patton was a Knight, so tell me, what was his ‘specialty’.  What was he the master of?”

Warren was quiet for a moment.  He was clearly trying to figure out just what he could say to that, but they both knew there was nothing.  “He...he was an adventurer?”  

“But that’s not a single skill,”  Dale said. “It’s a combination of a lot of different things.  Patton wasn’t the ‘master’ of anything, and that’s exactly what made him so great.  It may take a lot of dedication and hard work to master a skill, and that’s commendable, but it’s just as admirable to be able to be so diverse the way that Patton was...the way that you are.” 

Dale reached a hand on Warren’s shoulder.  He was just glad that his little brother didn’t pull away, like he would have done if he was too anxious and far gone in his own mind.  It at least seemed like Warren was more open to actually listening to what Dale had to say. “Look, if you’re not ready to be gone for so long, that’s okay.  We can change up the schedule of this whole arrangement. One week gone, three weeks home, something like that. But I don’t think you should give up after just one go.”

Warren furrowed his brow.  “Wait a second, you want me to keep doing this?”  Dale didn’t blame Warren for being confused.  Just a few months ago he had been so furiously against Warren having any association with the Knights of the Dawn.  He still didn’t like the thought of it, but in this short amount of time Dale had come to terms with some things.

“What I want is for you to do what makes you happy,”  Dale said. “And hanging around Fablehaven, doing your own thing, that’s definitely not working for you.  If becoming a Knight is what you want, then...then I want you to learn how to do it right. And I definitely don’t want you to go around thinking that you’re not good enough to do what you want.”

“So...you think I should give this another try?”  Warren sounded cautious, though also a little hopeful.  Despite what he’d said, Warren didn’t want to stop. He just didn’t want to fail.

“How about we wait until you’ve done this for six months before making a decision?”  Dale suggested. He thought it sounded fair. It was long enough for Warren to adjust to all of these changes and give this whole thing a proper trial run, but short enough a time that he would still be able to back out of it if he decided that this really wasn’t for him.

“Yeah, okay,”  Warren said with a small smile.  He uncurled his legs and loosened his grip on Scorch.  Dale took this as a good sign.

“Good,”  Dale let go of his brother’s shoulder and turned the car back on again.  “Now let’s get home. I don’t know about you, but I’m ready to have a midnight snack before getting some more sleep.”

Warren muttered contently.  “Lena making something for us?”

“Lemon bread for me and brownies for you,”  Dale said, and for the first time that night Warren gave him a genuine smile.  It would be a sad day indeed when Warren couldn’t be comforted or bribed by brownies.

“Sounds like a plan to me,”  Warren yawned and leaned against the window to rest for a bit.  Dale got that Warren was tired, but so was he, and they still had an hour long drive in front of them. 

Besides, it had been a week since they’d seen each other.  Dale had waited long enough to have a nice talk with his brother, one not about Warren’s insecurities.  

“So, what did you learn while you were gone?”  Dale gave his brother a small smirk. “Anything cool?”  

Warren opened his eyes and grinned, a gleam of excitement in his eyes.  “Oh, Dale, it was amazing.   You wouldn’t believe the stuff that’s out there.”  Warren needed no more prompting. He began to eagerly go over what seemed to be every detail of what had happened that week, and Dale happily listened to every word of it.

Chapter Text

Dale almost always woke up early, definitely before the sun had risen.  However, 4:30 in the morning was incredibly early, even for him. Usually when Dale woke up this early, he just rolled over and slept for another hour or so.  However, it was Sunday, which was his half day. Dale normally slept so he wouldn’t get tired later in the day when he should be working, but he would be back at the house in the afternoon, so he could nap if he really needed to.  It was early, but Dale didn’t feel tired, so he decided that he might as well begin early.

Dale headed downstairs, and was confused to find that the living room light was on.  These past few years, Dale was often the first one to wake up. Sometimes Lena beat him to the punch, but those days were rare.  Dale leaned his head into the living room and did a bit of a double-take when he saw his little brother sitting on the couch, fast asleep.

Dale frowned.  Warren had never been fond of going to bed early, but ever since he had turned eighteen and actually became a Knight of the Dawn, things had been getting out of hand.  Because Dale went to sleep early, he had no idea at what time Warren usually went to sleep. He knew it had to be fairly late, because while Warren used to at least be awake before Dale left the house to work, he was always still asleep when Dale left.

Dale knew that there was nothing wrong with waking up later than 6:00 in the morning, especially since Warren wasn’t really doing actual work around Fablehaven, since he now worked for the Knights and his time at Fablehaven was just his time-off between assignments.  But there was staying up later, and there was losing all track of time that you fell asleep on the couch while the lights were still on.

Dale wouldn’t be so concerned if Warren hadn’t been acting so strange lately.  Dale tried really hard to not just blame the Knights of the Dawn, but Warren hadn’t gotten like this until after he had come back from his first mission.  Dale still thought that Warren’s first mission had gone horribly, that he had been traumatized and was just having a hard time sleeping because of nightmares or something like that.  Lena insisted that nothing of the sort had happened, but Dale still had his suspicions.

Then again, Warren had only been home from his first assignment for about two weeks, and he was already itching to be back out there, which Dale wasn’t very happy about.  If something really bad had happened, Dale was pretty sure that Warren would be at least a little more reluctant to put himself into danger again.

Even if Warren hadn’t gone through anything absolutely terrible, Dale knew that there had to be a reason why his brother was acting off.  He had left Warren alone up to now (for the most part), but seeing him fall asleep on the couch just felt like one moment too far. Dale meant to have a word with his brother.

“Warren,”  Dale shook his brother’s shoulders.  It took a few moments for Warren to wake up, and a little longer for him to be completely aware.

“H-hey, Dale,”  Warren yawned as he sat up, wincing when he stretched his stiff muscles.  He really hadn’t slept in a good position.

“What are you doing down here?”  Dale asked. “Did you forget that you have a bed?”  It wasn’t that ridiculous of a thought. Warren had only recently turned eighteen, and for part of that time he hadn’t even been in Fablehaven.  So Warren wasn’t really used to not sleeping in the attic, and Dale knew that he had taken some time to adjust to sleeping in a room that he wasn’t used to.

“No, I just lost track of time,”  Warren grimaced and fell back on the bed again.  He looked absolutely exhausted.

“What time did you go to sleep?”  Dale asked.

“I don’t know,”  Warren shrugged. “Around three-ish?  Maybe four?”

Dale’s eyes widened.  That meant that Warren had only been asleep for maybe an hour.  No wonder he was so tired. “What were you up so late for?”

“I like being up late,”  Warren buried his head in the couch cushions.  “Everyone else is asleep.”

Dale thought he understood.  He’d started waking up early because his work made it necessary, but he had really come to appreciate being up in the early hours, when the rest of the world was quiet and asleep.  Even when those were the hours where he was hardest at work, he felt the most at peace. It felt great. So he understood the appeal, but he felt like Warren had just stayed up way too late.

“Do you really need that much alone time?”  Dale asked. With how late Warren had stayed up, he had gotten five to six hours all to himself.  That was plenty of time.

Warren groaned and lifted his arm vaguely at Dale, almost like he had wanted to hit his arm, but was too tired to put any real effort into it.  “It’s not just about the alone time, it’s...there are always just so many people around.”

“Oh,”  Dale nodded.  Now he understood it.  “You’re in one of your ‘I don’t want to be around people right now’ moods?”

“I don’t know,”  Warren muttered, sounding frustrated with himself.  “It just feels so crowded, and I can’t really escape to the treehouse or attic anymore.”

“You can go to your room,”  Dale suggested halfheartedly.  Before he had even finished suggesting it Warren was shaking his head.

“It’s not the same,”  Warren said. “It doesn’t feel like my personal space.  It’s just a room that I happen to be sleeping in.”

Dale understood how Warren was feeling, because he had seen his brother go through similar moods.  However, Dale could only relate to it so much. He couldn’t truly empathize with how Warren was feeling, he could only imagine what was going through his head.  He knew that he wanted to help him feel better, but he didn’t entirely understand how. Dale knew all too well that he couldn’t just force Warren to feel comfortable.  It just didn’t work like that.

Dale knew that there had to be a better way for Warren to find some personal space without staying up in the late hours of the night.  He couldn’t try to think of that right now though. Dale did have work to do this morning, and he really couldn’t expect anything from Warren right now except that he gets some sleep.

“We’ll talk about this some more later,”  Dale said. “I was going to get started on my work early.  Why don’t you go to my room and get some more sleep?”

Warren gave him a strange look.  “You know I have my own room,”

“Yeah, but I also know that you don’t feel completely at home in your room,”  Dale said. “You’ve always felt comfortable in my room though,” It had been a long time since Warren had actually slept on Dale’s bed, not since they had both slept in the attic, but Dale didn’t think that anything had changed in that time.  

Warren yawned again.  He didn’t look completely convinced, but he also seemed to be too tired to argue.  “Yeah, okay.” Warren pushed himself off the couch and staggered to his feet. He looked unsteady, but Dale knew that his brother would get to his room just fine.

Dale sighed and ran a hand through his hair.  It was too early to worry about his brother like this.  It was just so hard sometimes. Dale had always hated that there wasn’t an awful lot he could do to make Warren feel better, besides just waiting for things to pass.  It just didn’t seem right that Warren didn’t feel completely comfortable in his own home. Nobody should have to feel that way.

Dale shook his head and tried to shake Warren out of his thoughts.  If he was working in or around the yard then he’d be able to afford to let his thoughts stray a little bit, but he was working in the forest today.  Fablehaven was too dangerous to not give his work around the preserve 100% of his attention. His concerns about his brother had to wait until later.

Dale worked on clearing his mind as he got to work making breakfast for himself.  That was one of the most important rules to working on Fablehaven. You couldn’t work until you ate some decent food.  Lena took care of most of their meals, but that didn’t mean that Dale was completely helpless in the kitchen. He couldn’t make a lot, but he was pretty good at making scrambled eggs.  He’d even experimented with making scrambled eggs enough to know how he liked them best, made with onions and ketchup on top.

Dal finished his breakfast relatively quickly, and immediately after headed out to work.  Most of the work that Dale did around Fablehaven needed some yard tools of some kind. Dale kept most of his tools in the barn, because most of his work was at least near the yard.  Today though, he was going deeper into the forest, and he didn’t even know for sure what exactly he might need. It would be annoying enough to drag any tool he might potentially need all the way out to the forest, but it would be a real pain if he forgot something and had to go back for it.  That would just waste time. Fortunately, they’d thought ahead for this exact kind of situation.

Dale headed street into the forest, being careful to stay safe on the path.  There were a lot of dangers around Fablehaven, but especially when one was by themselves while it was still dark out.  Dal walked for about fifteen minutes before he saw his first destination. It was a large wooden shack that Patton Burgess had built.  It was where they kept some tools, and many of their weapons. This way, if they needed something while working in the woods, they wouldn’t have to go all the way back to the house to get what they needed.

Of course, it would be very foolish to leave weapons out in the open with all of the violent creatures that called Fablehaven home.  It would be way too easy for a creature to start a war with a weapon that was just left around. However, Patton had been smart enough to think of this.  When he’d built the shack, he had put the same magical wards around it that were around the main house and yard. The tools in the shack were completely safe.  

It was so safe, in fact, that Dale remembered one time his father had told him about how he had gotten injured while working in the woods, and it was so bad that he knew he wouldn’t be able to make it home before dark.  Instead of trying to struggle home at night, Dale’s dad had hid away in the shack. The shack had been secure enough that Dale’s dad had been able to safely spend the night to rest, use a first aid-kit to take care of his injury, and wait things out until morning.  Dale had always been impressed by this story. After all, it was one thing for weapons and tools to be safe, and another thing entirely for a person to be able to be safe there overnight without having to worry about being attacked.

Wait a minute...there was a thought.  Dale looked around the shack as he grabbed some tools, critically eyeing the walls and corners of the shack.  He knew that the shack was actually rather large, but he tried to imagine how it would look without as many tools, and with some furniture instead.  This might just work.

Dale smiled to himself as he headed out again.  He had an idea of what to do about Warren’s little problem.  There was no guarantee that it would work, but any idea was better than no idea.  And now that he had a potential solution in mind, he really could focus on his work.  He could come back to this later, preferably with Warren. After all, this was for Warren.  It only made sense that he should have a say.

Dale left the shack and set out to do the work that he’d been given.  He didn’t really understand why they needed a trench, but it wasn’t his job to know why.  That was Stan’s job, and Dale didn’t envy him for it.  Stan’s job was to make sure that everything ran smoothly at Fablehaven.  Dale’s job was just to make Stan’s job as easy as possible, which meant doing what he said, including digging a trench.

It wasn’t hard work, but it was tiring.  Especially when he could only half focus on the digging itself, as the rest of his concentration had to be on his surroundings, just incase something dangerous came too close.  By the time lunch time came Dale was sore and more than ready for a nap. And he was still nowhere near finished with the trench. He had gotten all of the hardest work done, breaking the ground and at least beginning all of the digging where the trench would be.  He would have to come back to it tomorrow to dig it deeper all around, but Dale still felt good about what he had accomplished. And he was too excited to get home to regret not getting more done.

Dale hurried back to the shack.  He quickly put the tools he used where they belonged.  Dale looked around one more time before he turned and made his way back to the main house.  Despite how tired he was, he ran all the way back. He couldn’t wait to talk his idea through with Warren.

As Dale approached the yard he saw Lena working in the garden.  Usually when Dale came back from working on Sundays, Lena was working on lunch.  He was either way later than he usually was, or way earlier. Lena’s surprised expression when she saw him told Dale which was the case.

“You’re back early,”  Lena stood up and brushed the dirt off of her clothes.  “Did something happen?”

“No,”  Dale answered, still making his way towards the house, though he did slow down a bit to talk to her. “I just started earlier than usual today,”

“That can’t be all,”  Lena gave him a knowing look.  “You’ve never let something like that stop you before,”

“Yeah, well, there’s something that I needed to talk to Warren about,”  Dale said, though now that he thought about it, this wasn’t just a change that could potentially affect Warren.  Dale finally stopped to properly talk to Lena. “Actually, you know that old tool shack in the woods?” Lena nodded, and Dale continued.  “Do you think we can find somewhere else to keep those things? Repurpose the shed, somehow?”

Lena’s look became slightly cautious, though she didn’t immediately shut him down.  “What did you have in mind?”

Dale leaned against the door.  “Something like a cabin. Somewhere where someone can actually live,”

Lena gave Dale a small smile.  “And I’m guessing you already have someone in mind?  Maybe someone who feels a little confined in this house?”

Dale should have known that Lena would recognize how antsy Warren was to be around people all the time.  It was probably why she hadn’t said a word to Warren about how late he had been going to sleep and waking up.

“Yeah, it’s for Warren,”  Dale said. “You think it would work?”

“It’s definitely worth a try.”  Lena said. “Why don’t you go wake up your brother and see what he thinks about it?”

Dale frowned slightly.  “He’s still asleep?” Dale knew how late Warren had stayed up, so even though it was lunchtime Warren hadn’t exactly slept for longer than was necessary.  Seven to nine hours wasn’t just normal, it was healthy. It was just really strange for Dale to think of sleeping until noon when he was done doing his day’s work by that time.

Lena laughed and shook her head.  She was almost as much of a morning person as Dale was.  She had to understand his confusion. “Go get him. I’ll get started on some lunch.”

“Yeah, alright,”  Dale opened the door and went inside.  He automatically made his way to the stairs that would lead to the attic, and was halfway up before he remembered that Warren didn’t sleep up there anymore.  Warren definitely wasn’t the only one who was having a hard time thinking of ‘his’ room as his. Dale’s little lapse in memory reminded him that Warren wasn’t even in his own room, he was in Dale’s.

He went into his room and was slightly confused to find that the curtains weren’t even drawn closed.  The sun was shining brightly into the room, and yet Warren was still sleeping soundly. Dale was slightly jealous.  He had never been able to sleep in anything less than pitch blackness, and yet here was Warren, able to sleep in a brightly lit room.

Dale nudged Warren’s shoulders, just like he had that morning.  Unlike earlier though, Warren woke up almost immediately. “H-hey,”  Warren said, looking much better than he had this morning. “It lunchtime yet?”  Warren knew perfectly well what time Dale should be home by every day. 

“Almost,”  Dale said. “I think I’ve thought of a solution for your little ‘unicorn’ issue.”

Warren rolled his eyes.  As he got older, he became more embarrassed about regularly being compared to a unicorn.  Dale was sure that if Warren had met a unicorn, he may be a little more open to the idea, but right now he just saw them as creatures of purity and light.  It was nice and all, but not things that Warren personally related to.

“What is it?”  Warren sat up. As he did so, Dale noticed as Warren subtly pulled the blanket up to hide Scorch.  When he was at home Warren never slept without his dragon, even though he tried to hide it. Dale didn’t want to make Warren feel so ashamed of his stuffed dragon that he stopped using it, so he didn’t mention it.

“What if you slept somewhere else instead of the main house?”  Dale said. A look of confusion and slight hurt flashed in Warren’s eyes.

“I thought you wanted me around?”  Warren said.

“Of course I do,”  Dale assured his brother quickly.  “I’m not saying you’d go far. But if we take that old shack in the forest and make it into a cabin instead, you can go over there when you’re feeling a little overwhelmed, but can come back over any time you want some company.”

Warren blinked.  “That...wow, that actually sounds really great.  But would it work? I mean, it’s just a shack.”

“Cabins don’t need to be big,”  Dale reminded his brother. After all, Warren was just one person, and he wasn’t exactly looking for a place to satisfy all of his needs, he just needed a place to call his own.  A bit of an escape. “And it’s a really big shack.” Warren still didn’t look convinced, so Dale played the trump card he hadn’t even realized he’d had. “Lena thinks it’s worth a try,”

Warren’s doubts immediately seemed to disappear.  “I haven’t really seen the shack very much,” Warren sounded more curious than like he was really trying to argue Dale’s point.

“Well, lunch isn’t ready yet,”  Dale grabbed Warren’s hand and pulled him to his feet.  “We have time to check out the shack, come up with a proper game plan.  I mean, if that’s something you want to do.”

Warren gave him a small smile.  “Yeah, I think it is.” They both knew that it would take a little bit of work, because it wouldn’t be as easy as just clear out the shack and put in a bed.  And Dale didn’t think that either of them were foolish enough to think that this was a complete solution for all of Warren’s problems. It definitely wouldn’t mean that Warren would never feel overwhelmed by a few people ever again.  That wasn’t their goal here.

All Dale could hope for was that his brother could at least feel safe in his own home.  If Warren was constantly getting overwhelmed, there was no way that he would, or even should, stick around Fablehaven.  Dale really wanted his brother to be around, but he wouldn’t force him to stick around at the expense of his emotional comfort.  Warren knew how much he could handle, which was probably why he’d been longing to get out and door more work for the Knights. If Warren still felt the need to get away, Dale wouldn’t stop him, but if he could do anything to give Warren a reason to come home, to still see Fablehaven as his home, he had to at least try it.

Chapter Text

Warren had been a Knight of the Dawn for two years, almost to the day. Dale still worried about his brother, and he waited anxiously for him to come home safely from each and every mission. He had learned how to back off though, because whenever Dale got too clingy, Warren quickly began to feel too restricted and soon ran off on another mission.

The more that Dale backed off and trusted his brother to take care of himself, the more that Warren trusted him in return. Whenever Warren came home, he would tell Dale about what his latest mission had been. His description started vague at first, and if Dale freaked out at him anyways, Warren would just avoid telling him any more. If Dale didn't show how concerned he was, then Warren would tell him more.

Dale had thought that the more he'd heard, the more concerned he would be, the the opposite ended up being true. It was really concerning to hear him talk about any near-death situation he faced, but then he would always hear about how Warren got himself out of these situations, and it seemed that Warren really was incredibly capable.

Dale had always known that Warren wasn't your average young man. The thought of running into magical creatures thrilled him. He'd been formally trained by the Knights ever since he was sixteen, and had been teaching himself how to use many kinds of weapons for years before then. Then there was the informal 'training' that naturally came with growing upon a magical preserve, where a naiad who had been married to one of the greatest adventurers of his time was basically the one to raise you. It would be strange if Warren hadn't grown up to be an adventurer.

But it was one thing to theoretically know that Warren was incredible, but another thing to hear how he actually put his knowledge into practice. Warren had seriously embraced his role of 'Jack-of-all-trades'. He seemed to do it all. In the two years that Warren had been doing assignments from the Knights, he'd come back with stories about treasure hunting, magical creature taming, body-guarding, teaching, acting as an assistant to specialists who needed an extra pair of hands in their work. Warren seemed to do it all, and he loved every second of it.

Warren really seemed to thrive in his work as a Knight, and Dale actually loved to see how happy his work made him. Still, Dale loved it when Warren came home to Fablehaven. Especially ever since Warren had moved into his cabin. He really seemed to like staying there. Warren could be around the others at Fablehaven when he wanted company, but when he needed an escape, he had somewhere that was all his.

Dale respected his brother's boundaries, but he hoped that Warren would be able to handle being a little crowded, because he wanted to enjoy his company. Warren came home after all of his missions, and he stayed for at least a week, but usually closer to three weeks before heading off again. But now Warren had already been promised two months off from work, and Dale was ecstatic. Warren hadn't been at Fablehaven for such an extended period of time since he'd started his training when he was sixteen. That was far too long.

Dale was also excited that his brother's birthday was during that two months that he would be there. Dale couldn't believe that his brother would be twenty years old in just a few days. Dale definitely didn't see his brother as a little kid anymore, but it was hard to see him as a young adult now. He was really growing up.

Dale had wanted to pick up Warren, but Lena had needed some extra help in the yard. Stan had bought some fairies from Maddox a few weeks ago, and they were getting touchy. These fairies lived in weeping willow trees, and for one reason or another they wanted to live in the backyard. So now Dale, with Hugo's help, had to transplant a weeping willow from the pond to the backyard. Dale didn't really like jumping through hoops to keep fairies happy, it was probably one of his least favorite things about the job, because fairies were just so finicky, but there wasn't a lot he could do about it. As the groundskeeper, it was Dale's job to take care of these kind of things. He'd had to leave picking up Warren to Stan.

Lena didn't have the physical capabilities to transplant a fully grown tree, but she helped him fix up the tree in a way that would please the fairies even more. Lena may not get along well with most fairies, but she certainly knew what they liked.

Dale was just finishing up when he heard the the truck pulling up in the driveway. Stan was back with Warren. Dale got up, not even bothering to wipe the dirt off his pants. He ran to the front of the house, in a hurry to see his brother. Dale heard Warren and Stan sooner than he saw them, and what he heard was enough to make him pause at least a little. It didn't sound good.

They were arguing, yelling. Dale only heard Stan, but the man sounded absolutely furious, which was concerning. Stan wasn't the most mild tempered man in the world, but it took a lot for him to get this angry. And considering Stan had just been in a car with no one but Warren, it wasn't hard to guess just who he was mad at, and it was a little concerning.

Dale recovered from his shock and caution and picked up the pace. If there was conflict between Stan and Warren, Dale wanted to be there as the mediator.

"Absolutely not!" Dale turned the corner of the house and saw Stan glaring darkly at Warren, as though he wasn't someone that he had known for nearly sixteen years. "I have dedicated my life to protecting this preserve and everything in it. I'm not going to let you just waltz in and endanger yourself, and everything that I've worked for, for the sake of a treasure hunt!"

"That is not what I'm doing," Warren said, his face impossible to read. Dale didn't know if he was annoyed, or upset, or angry himself. He was hiding all of it. Where had he learned how to do that. "I told you, the Captain thinks it would be best for everyone if we-"

"And I told you, I won't have it," Stan said coldly. Dale slowed down as he approached the two of them. Neither of them acknowledged him. They might not have even noticed he was there. "If the Captain absolutely needs what they sent you here for, they can come talk to me about it themselves."

"Wha-you think I'm lying about this?" Now Warren let his emotions slip in as he showed how insulted and hurt he was. "Why in the world would I do that?"

"I don't don't know, but I wouldn't put it past you to create an unnecessary adventure because you're already bored of this old place," Stan said, and now Dale found himself getting angry on his brother's behalf.

"Hey!" Dale stormed up closer to his brother, putting himself between Warren and Stan.

"Save your breath," Warren muttered. "He's not going to listen to anyone that's not himself," Warren frowned at Stan before turning and walking towards the woods, probably heading for his cabin. Dale watched him go for a moment before turning and glaring at Stan.

"What, exactly, was that all about?" Dale practically growled. The stiffness in Stan's shoulders from his frustration eased out and he looked more drained than angry. Dale was still feeling pretty mad himself. "What makes you think you can talk to my brother like that?"

"I'm just doing my job," Stan tried to insist. Dale wasn't hearing it.

"Warren's not a naive child who doesn't know any better, and you know he's not an arrogant fool who thinks he knows more than he actually does." Dale said. "If Warren says he has to get something for his boss, then that's what he's doing."

"Dale, Stan, what's going on in here?" Lena came up from behind Dale, looking concerned, but stern. She may not know what all the yelling had been about, but if she wasn't happy with what they said then they would all be getting an earful of it from her. "Where's Warren?"

"Stan chased him off to his cabin," Dale said. Stan made a noise of protest, but one look from Lena silenced him.

"Dale, why don't you go talk to your brother?" Lena phrased it as a suggestion, but it was more of an order than anything. Dale knew that only part of her motivation for sending him was to talk things out with Warren, and the rest of her motivation was she wanted some room to talk to Stan, hear what he had to say without Dale cutting in because he was irritated.

"Yeah, sure," Dale grabbed Warren's backpack, which he hadn't bothered grabbing, as he'd been too busy being scolded.

Dale made his way down the path towards the cabin. With every step he took Dale felt his frustration slipping away, making room for his concern for his brother. Neither of them were used to getting yelled at, but Dale was pretty sure that Warren would get over it. However, Stan had mentioned something about Warren endangering himself to find whatever he was looking for. Dale knew that Warren would never do anything to put Fablehaven itself in danger, but he could get a little reckless about his own safety.

When Dale got to Warren's cabin, he headed straight inside, not even bothering to knock on the door. Warren liked his personal space, but Dale knew that often, Warren's privacy rules didn't really apply to him. If Warren really didn't want him around, he would leave, but Dale wouldn't be going anywhere if his brother didn't directly tell him to go.

Dale didn't immediately see Warren in the cabin, but he wasn't worried. Dale had a good idea where he could find Warren. He climbed up to the loft that had been used as extra storage before, but that Warren now used as his bedroom. He wasn't up there, but Dale hadn't really thought he would be. There was a second ladder that led to a hatch in the ceiling. Dale climbed up the ladder and pushed aside the hatch to climb up onto the roof. Just as he'd expected, Warren was up there, sitting balcony-like platform that looked out over the preserve. This hadn't been part of the original shack. Warren had added it about a year ago.

"I thought I'd find you up here," Dale pulled himself onto the roof and joined his brother. Warren glanced over at him, but then looked back out over the trees.

"You here to tell me I'm selfish and wrong too?" Warren asked.

"You know I'm not," Dale said quietly. "I don't even know what happened,"

Warren sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "I still have the two months off, but while I'm here the Knights wanted me to look for a treasure around here."

Dale frowned. "What treasure?" He knew that there were a lot of valuables around Fablehaven, but Dale didn't think that most of it was of any interest to the Knights.

Warren shrugged. "I don't even know. They said it was an artifact that can cause a lot of trouble if it's in the wrong hands, but that's all I know. I don't know what it does. I don't have a clue where I'll find it. I don't even know what it looks like."

Dale snickered. "How are you supposed to find it then?"

"Well, I was hoping to ask Stan if he might know anything about something like this, but, well, he completely freaked out at me," Warren frowned and wrapped his arms around himself. He was understandably upset about how Stan had talked to him.

"It's his job to protect everyone and everything that calls this place home," Dale defended Stan, even though he was still frustrated with the man himself.

Warren's frown just deepened. "Do I not fall under that category anymore?"

Dale felt his breath get caught in his throat. When Warren had started to spend so much time away from Fablehaven, Dale had been worried that he would begin to stop seeing this place as his home. This was even worse. Warren was afraid that he wasn't welcome here anymore, that this wasn't his home. That wasn't okay.

Dale took a deep breath and put his arm around his brother's shoulder. Warren leaned slightly against him. "Of course this place is still your home," Dale squeezed Warren's shoulders. "Stan may be the caretaker, but he can't tell you where your home is. You're the only one who can choose that. And if you still think that Fablehaven is your home, then that's what it is."

"But if Stan doesn't want me around anymore-" Warren began, but Dale didn't let him get very far.

"Of course Stan still wants you around," Dale insisted, because he knew Stan. The man may be angry and defensive, but he didn't hate Warren, and he definitely wasn't going to banish him from the preserve. "And even if he doesn't, Lena won't let anything happen to you."

Warren chuckled slightly. "Yeah, I guess so,"

"Listen, Stan may not be very willing to be an accomplice for this work you're doing for the Knights." Dale said. "I may not know as much about the treasure around Fablehaven as Stan does, but I know my place around. Maybe I can do something to help you."

Warren turned and looked at him in awe. "You...you'd do that for me?"

"I'd do anything for you," Dale said. "I thought you would realize that by now,"

"No, I know, I know," Warren rested his head against Dale's shoulder. "It's just a little easy to forget sometimes."

"I guess I'll just have to keep reminding you then," Dale said. "So, do you have any ideas where this treasure of yours would be?"

"Uh, I've had a couple of ideas," Warren said. "If the artifact is really as dangerous as the Knight's said it is, it's going to be really protected, which means that I'm probably going to find it somewhere really dangerous. Somewhere that we've probably been avoiding all this time, because we would have heard something about it otherwise,"

Dale didn't know a lot about treasure hunting, but it made sense and sounded right. And maybe talking about and considering these places would actually teach Dale something new about the preserve that he'd lived at for his whole life. It would definitely be a plus.

"So I guess we've got some homework to do," Dale said. "I'm sure that Stan has some old maps, and we'll probably be able to find some useful information from some of Patton's old journals."

"That sounds like a plan," Warren said, sounding more relaxed than he had all day. "But, uh, is it okay if we maybe do all that stuff later?" Warren sounded cautious, almost scared. It made him sound younger than he was. "I don't really feel like being at the house right now."

Dale didn't know if this was because Warren actually wanted his space, or if he was still worried that he wasn't welcome back at the house. He was too scared to ask about it though. Maybe after he gave his brother some time, Warren would be in a better mindset to handle talking about that kind of thing without getting scared off.

Dale didn't think that it was good for Warren to try to avoid Stan. They were basically a family. Warren shouldn't be afraid to be around family. But Dale didn't want to push his brother to do something he wasn't ready for. So maybe it would be okay to have an off day. They didn't want to avoid any of this, but maybe there was nothing wrong with procrastinating for just a single day.

"Yeah, we can tackle those things tomorrow," Dale said. "You're probably tired after the long drive." Both from the drive itself, and the tense conversation he'd tried to have with Stan. "We can just spend the night here...I mean, if you don't mind me being here."

Warren gave him a small smile. "Of course I don't mind. You know you're always welcome here," Dale was so welcome in Warren's cabin, in fact, that in addition to the bed up in the loft, there was another one on the ground floor just for Dale. This had become a safe place not just for Warren, but for both of them.

"I bet after a day like this, you're not exactly looking forward to being here for two whole months," Dale tried to joke, but his chest twisted up at the thought that they were chasing Warren away from Fablehaven so soon after he'd come back.

"Yeah, not really, no," Warren's joking, relaxed tone was about as believable as Dale's was. "But however I feel about Fablehaven right now, it's really great to see you. I am actually looking forward to hanging out with you for two whole months. It's been way too long."

"Yeah, it has," Dale agreed. He could tell how sincere Warren was. Dale could barely imagine having so many conflicted feelings about coming back to Fablehaven. Warren clearly wanted to be around him, but being here also meant returning to the place where he felt restricted, where the person that ran things was really mad at him.

Dale wanted to help his brother to not feel so conflicted. Warren shouldn't have to force himself to go through things he didn't exactly want, just to be able to spend some proper time with him. Dale loved Fablehaven, and he loved the work he did, but he loved his brother even more. He knew that Warren was fond of Fablehaven, but he wasn't as attached to it as Dale was. The reason that Warren's home was here was because this was where his family was. Warren would probably be able to find his home anywhere as long as people that he was comfortable with were there.

Maybe...maybe Dale could look into work on other, smaller preserves. One that wasn't so secretive and important, and one that didn't come with all of the baggage that came from staying somewhere their family had lived for generations.

It was definitely an idea worth looking in to, but not today. Right now they weren't thinking about important thoughts about the future, they were just hanging out and enjoying each other's company. They wouldn't be able to do this for too long, but they could afford one day of not stressing. They could allow that much for themselves.

Chapter Text

Three days. Warren had been gone for more than three days, and none of them had any idea where he was. Dale was going mad.

Dale shivered and wrapped his arms around himself, and it was only partially because he was cold from sitting out on the porch all night. Dale didn't normally stay up all night, but sleeping was the last thing he wanted to do. Warren was missing. Dale wouldn't be able to sleep soundly again until his brother was back home, safe and sound.

Dale had never felt more helpless in his life. These past few days he, Lena, and the Sorensons had done everything they could to try to find Warren, but they hadn't had any luck. The first day that Warren had been gone, none of them had thought a lot about it. Warren had disappeared first thing in the morning, leaving Dale a note that said that he had an idea of where to find the artifact that the Knights had wanted him to look for. Warren had promised that he wasn't actually going to get the artifact, he was just looking for it. Warren's note said that he shouldn't be gone for more than a few hours.

When Warren hadn't come back the next day, Dale worried that something was wrong. He went to Lena and the Sorensons for help, and when Dale saw the way they all paled when he mentioned that Warren was looking for an artifact, he knew that something was wrong. The four of them had spent the entire day in the woods, looking for Warren wherever they could think of, but they didn't have any luck.

The third day, they tried a different strategy. Lena spent hours going over Patton's old notebooks, looking for a clue of where the hidden artifact may be. Stan and Ruth went all over the preserve, talking to dozens of creatures, offering high-risk favors in exchange for any information about Warren, but they'd learned nothing. Dale had spent the entire day going through the woods again, because he didn't know what else he could do.

But now, after two full days of practically non-stop movement, and three nights with little to no sleep, Dale was almost too exhausted to even more.

"Are you still out here?" Dale blinked and turned slightly to see that Lena had come outside. He hadn't heard her coming at all. He'd been too focused on staying awake and watching the trees.

"I couldn't sleep," Dale rubbed his eyes, though it didn't make him feel any more aware. "I had to wait out here, in case he comes back," If Dale couldn't actively look for his brother, the least he could do was wait here for him.

Lena gently took Dale's hands and pulled him to his feet. "You've barely slept at all," Lena had to support Dale when his legs threatened to give out under him. He really wasn't feeling well. "You need to get some rest."

"But Warren-" Dale started.

"You won't be able to do anything for him if you make yourself sick," Lena said as she lead Dale back into the house. "I know you're worried, we all are, but we need to be smart about this. Go get some rest for a few hours. I'll keep an eye out for your brother while you sleep."

Dale wanted to argue. He wanted to get out there and look for his brother. It didn't feel right to sleep when Warren was out there and could very well be in danger, or even seriously hurt. But Dale couldn't say anything. He barely had the energy to keep his eyes open. As much as he hated to admit it, Dale needed at least a little sleep before he completely shut down.

Lena brought Dale to his bedroom and laid him on his bed. The second that his head hit the pillow, he was out of it. He didn't bother changing out of his work clothes, or even taking his shoes off. He was down. Dale fell asleep almost instantly.

He probably would have ended up sleeping the day away, but he was dragged out of his rest by a pounding, insistent sound. In his dreams, Dale had just thought that the sound was an unseen monster in the darkness who was threatening his brother. Dale regularly had nightmares about his brother being in danger, but at that moment they were even worse, and the thumping noise wasn't helping.

When Dale woke up, it took him nearly a minute to realize that he wasn't asleep anymore, and that it wasn't just his head that was pounding. There was an actual sound somewhere, though now that Dale was no longer sleeping he realized that it was more of a harsh tapping than a true 'thump'.

Dale sat up and grimaced. His head was hurting. He definitely hadn't gotten enough sleep, and he thought that he felt even worse than he had when Lena had forced him to sleep. Dale rubbed his head and turned towards the window where the noise was coming from. He had a curtain covering the glass, so Dale pushed it to the side to see outside. He was greeted by a fairy outside. She was pounding her fists against Dale's window, and she seemed relieved when she saw him.

It took a moment, but Dale realized that he recognized this fairy. He normally couldn't differentiate between most of them, but this particular fairy, a pretty little thing with silver hair and sparkling wings, was always hanging around Warren. Ever since Warren was a little kid, she had paid attention to Warren. Not a lot, but when it came to fairies, any attention they gave to humans was seen as a lot. Dale was just glad that, for the most part, the fairy was gentle towards Warren. At least, she hadn't done anything to hurt him.

Dale wouldn't go so far as to say that the fairy was in love with Warren the way that Lena had been with Patton, but there was definitely something there. Dale was usually annoyed with the fondness that the fairy had for his brother, but today he was grateful for it. This was the first time that the fairy had come to Dale, and she seemed to want something from him.

Considering the fairy had barely ever looked in Dale's direction, but she enjoyed fluttering around Warren, Dale had an idea of what she was doing there.

Dale quickly unlatched the window and opened it. He leaned his head out, looking at the fairy desperately. "Do you know where he is?"

The fairy pointed desperately towards the gardens, which Dale could barely see from his room. He could see enough though to tell that there was something, or someone, out there, sitting in the flowers. From this distance Dale couldn't see who they were, but the body didn't even remotely resemble the older adults who lived here, and there were only so many beings who were allowed in the yard.

"...Warren," Dale stared breathlessly. His grip on the windowsill tightened for a moment before he pulled himself up and jumped out. Dale was glad that he slept on the ground floor of the house, because he was sure that he would have jumped out the window regardless. This way, he didn't end up hurting himself, and he could run straight to the flower garden.

Dale ran faster than he ever had before. He had to get to his brother. He had to make sure he was okay. It was just a few moments before Dale was close enough to tell that it really was Warren sitting among the flowers, there was no mistaking that much. It took just another moment for Dale to realize that something was very, very wrong.

For one thing, Warren's normally dark hair was white, and his skin was also strangely pale. It was obvious just by looking at him that something had happened, but just because something had gone wrong didn't mean that it was still wrong. Dale might be able to think that Warren's physical appearance had been cursed, but overall he was okay, if it weren't for the fact that Warren wasn't moving.

He was so still, and for someone who was as hyper and active as Warren was, it was just disturbing. Dale couldn't even entertain the hope that his brother was just sleeping because he was too stiff, and he was sitting too awkwardly.

Dale knelt on the ground in front of Warren and put his hands on his brother's shoulders. "Are you okay? Where have you been? Do you have any idea how worried we've been?" Dale's tone was sharper, louder, and a lot faster than he meant it to be, but he'd had a long, exhausting, and very stressful past couple of days.

Warren didn't answer him. He didn't even look up at him. In fact, Warren didn't react at all, he just sat there, unmoving. Dale felt his breath get caught in his throat. He didn't know what was going on, and he already thought that this was worse than anything his imagination could think of.

"Come on, Warren," Dale said quietly, desperately. He brought a hand to Warren's cheek and lead his brother to look at him. Dale froze when their eyes met. Warren's eyes were usually so bright and full of life, but Dale couldn't see any sign of that. Warren's eyes were completely dull, blank, empty.

...lifeless.

"W-Warren!" Dale quickly put two fingers at Warren's neck. He immediately felt a pulse. It wasn't a particularly strong one, but it was constant, and it was there. Warren was alive, which Dale was relieved about, but a moment later his concern came back with a vengeance. Warren may be alive, but that didn't mean that he was okay.

Dale blinked back the wetness in his eyes. He couldn't cry, not right now, not when his brother needed him. "...Please, talk to me," But it was hopeless. Warren may physically be there, but Dale suspected that his mind was somewhere else. Warren hadn't reacted to anything that Dale had said or done so far. There wasn't even a subtle indication in his eyes to suggest that he was remotely aware of anything. Warren's eyes may be facing him, but Dale could tell that he wasn't actually seeing anything, or if he was he wasn't registering it.

Dale had thought that he'd seen Warren's eyes dull before, and his brother's unicorn days. On Warren's really bad days, he was unfocused and slow to react, like everything was happening in slow motion for him. Dale had never been fond of seeing that look in his brother's eyes, but this was a thousand times worse. At least during Warren's unicorn days there was at least some emotion in his eyes, usually confusion, anger, fear, not the kinds of things that Dale liked to see in Warren's eyes. At that moment though, Dale would give anything to see his brother scared or upset, because even negative emotions had to be better than the absolute nothingness that he saw at that moment.

Dale swallowed thickly and tightened his grip on Warren's shoulder so tightly that he could feel his fingernails digging into his brother's skin. But he couldn't bring himself to relax, and the way that Warren didn't give even the smallest of reactions wasn't helping. It took Dale a few minutes to calm down enough to focus. He had no idea what he could do, but he couldn't just sit here helplessly anymore. He had to do something.

Dale finally let go of Warren's shoulder, only to wrap his arm around it instead. Dale's other arm went under his brother's legs. He stood up, making sure that he had a secure grip on Warren before running back towards the house. "Lena!" Dale gripped his brother tightly, like the younger man would vanish if he let go of him for even a second. "Lena!" He didn't know if the Sorensons were working, or if they were at home, but Lena, she rarely ever left.

Lena came outside just as Dale was running up the porch steps. She was usually the calm and incontrol one, but when she saw the state that Warren was in she froze and seemed unable to even move.

"Please," Dale said breathlessly, which had nothing to do with the little running he'd done. "I don't know what's wrong,"

Lena broke out of her shock. She went to Warren and brushed his hair away from his eyes, though a lot like Dale, she didn't like what she saw. "What happened?"

"I don't know!" Dale growled, more frustrated with himself than with Lena. "I just found him sitting in the garden."

Lena took in a shaky breath. She looked as scared as Dale felt, but she was a little better at working around her emotions instead of letting herself be blocked by them. "Bring him in, let's get him taken care of."

Dale didn't know how they could take care of Warren when they didn't know what was wrong with him, but he didn't have any better ideas. He followed Lena inside, not saying a word as she lead him to his own room instead of going to the living room or the room that Warren had used before he'd started living in his cabin. Lena probably knew just as much as Dale did that in this house, Warren felt most comfortable in Dale's room.

Dale laid Warren on his bed as Lena went to go get anything she could think of that might help, though it would probably do little good. When Dale set Warren on his bed, his legs were still curled up the way they'd been when he'd been carried. Dale had to physically uncurl Warren's legs, because he still wasn't moving for himself. Dale had half expected this, but that didn't make it hurt any less.

Dale knelt next to his bed and put his hand in Warren's hair, finally allowing a couple of tears to fall. His brother had gone missing for three days, and while he may have returned, he still wasn't back, not really.

Dale wanted to make everything right. He wanted to bring his brother back, completely. He wanted to be the older brother that he was supposed to be and keep his brother safe, but he couldn't. Warren needed him, and Dale couldn't do anything.

"I'm sorry," Dale sobbed as he looked at Warren, who was just staring blankly towards the ceiling. "I'm so sorry."

Chapter Text

Dale frowned as he leaned over for the fiftieth or so time to look towards the backseat, where Warren was curled up. He was glad that Stan had taken up the task of driving, because Dale wouldn't be able to properly focus on the road. Not with Warren sitting in the back.

Stan gave Dale a sidelong glance before he looked in the rear view mirror to get a look at Warren for himself. The young man wasn't moving or reacting to anything. He wasn't even looking out the window like he used to enjoy doing. Warren looked like he hadn't moved an inch since Dale had set him in the car, but Dale knew that wasn't the case. Warren hadn't moved a lot, or very quickly, but when they'd started the drive Warren had been sitting upright, with his feet firmly on the ground. Now, more than an hour later, Warren's legs were drawn up to his chest, his feet sitting on the seat next to him.

Warren had been unresponsive for nearly two weeks, and they still didn't know what had happened to him, let alone how to fix it. They weren't going to stop trying to help him though, which was why Stan was driving them to the city. Dale had arranged a meeting with the Sphinx. The mysterious man knew a lot about their world, and he almost always seemed to have a solution or idea to any problem they were faced with.

Dale, on the other hand, was taking Warren to see a doctor. Most injuries or ailments they were faced with had magical causes. Usually, magic was a much more reliable and faster cure than non-magical cures. But they'd tried nearly every magical cure they could think of, and nothing helped. Lena, in her time exploring the world and traveling after Patton died, had seen a lot of natural, unmagical treatments. They couldn't work miracles, but Lena said that they deserved more credit than people in their community gave them.

This was a long shot, but what Lena believed was that if magic could be used to heal natural injuries and illnesses, then maybe natural cures could work to treat magical issues.

Stan had to force his gaze away from the rear view mirror so he could focus on driving. There was so much concern in Stan's eyes that he almost looked pained. Warren recognized the look, because he felt that was the exact look reflected in his own eyes every day since Warren had gotten like this.

"He doesn't normally curl up this quickly, does he?" Stan asked. Dale shook his head.

"It usually takes him a few hours," Dale said, though there had been a couple of times when Warren had curled up like this fairly quickly, even faster than this. Dale still had no idea just what made Warren do this, so he had no idea if it was something he should be concerned about, or relieved about, because at least Warren was making some movements on his own. "Maybe the doctor will have an idea of what makes him do this."

"Let's hope so," Stan said, though he didn't sound completely convinced. Stan was definitely of the opinion that magical problems required magical solutions, but at this point he was willing to try anything. All of them were.

The two of them fell into silence as they continued the drive. By the time Stan was pulling up to the hospital, Dale's neck was sore from looking back to his brother. He was really starting to wish that he had sat in the back with Warren.

Dale had been anxious to get to the hospital, but as Stan parked the car, he didn't move right away. He was nervous that the doctors wouldn't know what the problem was, and that they wouldn't have any idea how to fix it. He didn't know what he would do if they'd come all this way, only to get nothing out of it.

Stan could see Dale's hesitancy. "If you want, I can go in with Warren and you can talk to the Sphinx."

Dale's expression darkened. "I'm not talking to that man," They didn't know for sure, but they believed that the Sphinx was the Captain of the Knights of the Dawn. If that suspicion was true, Dale wanted nothing to do with him. Warren had only gone looking for the artifact because the Captain had asked him to. What had happened to Warren wouldn't have happened if it weren't for the Captain or the Knights. Dale was sick and tired of his family being taken from because of the Knights.

Stan gave him a sympathetic look. He knew how Dale felt about the Knights right now. "The Sphinx just wants to help us,"

"I know," Dale admitted reluctantly. He knew how much good the Sphinx had done, but it was still hard to forgive him for the unforeseen consequences that he may have caused. "I just...I'll be fine dealing with the doctors." He would much rather deal with the strangers who will probably know even less about how to help Warren than he did than talk to the Sphinx. Dale unbuckled and stepped out of the car. He opened Warren's door and gently picked him up, with one hand under his legs, and the other around his back.

Stan turned off the car and came out. Dale may have said that he could deal with the doctors on his own, but with his hands full he would need some help with the doors, and Stan knew that much. The older man closed Warren's door while Dale adjusted his grip on his brother. They made their way towards the doors to the hospital, which Stan opened for him.

Dale set Warren down on a chair in the waiting room and went to go talk to the front desk while Stan kept an eye on his brother. Warren may be still and unmoving, for the most part, but every once and awhile Warren could move on his own. After all, he had wandered from wherever he'd been all the way back to the yard all by himself. Dale didn't want Warren to wander off on his own, so as often as possible they tried to make sure that he was being watched.

Dale never really went to the hospital. The last time he had been here was twenty years ago, the day that Warren was born. He wasn't happy about being back here, but he was willing to do whatever he had to do.

Dale had already called ahead and made an appointment for Warren, so they were expecting them. Dale was just letting them know that they were here. The person working the front desk gave him some paperwork to fill out while he waited for the doctor.

Dale spent the next few minutes going through the medical papers, making sure to get as much of Warren's information on there as he could get. He tried to be as thorough as possible, to give the doctor a better idea of what he could do to help Warren.

When Dale finished filling out the papers, he handed it back to the person at the front desk and went back to join Warren, only to be taken aback when he saw the state that his brother was in. Warren had slid off of the chair completely and was curled up on the floor. Not only were his legs to his chest, but his head was buried in his knees. He looked really distressed.

Dale hurried to his brother and knelt at his side. Dale put his hand on Warren's back. He could feel the tension in his muscles, but a few moments after Dale began to rub Warren's back, he slowly began to relax. Warren gave no physical signs of calming down, but Dale could feel the tension ease out of him.

Once it felt like Warren was at relative ease, Dale looked up at Stan, who had been watching warily, not knowing what to do.

"He got like this almost immediately after you left," Stan said. "I couldn't get him to move at all," Dale was a little confused by this. Warren may show some resistance to moving from whatever position he was in, but Dale had never really had to fight all that hard to get him to move. Just to try things out, Dale put one of his hands on Warren's arm. He gently pulled on it, not hard enough to hurt, but enough to persuade him to move.

To Dale's surprise and concern, Warren actually resisted him slightly. Not by too much, but enough for it to be noticeable. Dale had to be a little more insistent before Warren was willing to move his arm, and even then it wasn't by a lot. Warren really didn't seem eager to move from his position.

"Is this Warren Burgess?" Dale looked up from his brother to see a middle aged man watching them, a concerned but calculated look in his eyes. From his uniform Dale guessed that this must be the doctor.

"Yes, it is," Dale returned to rubbing Warren's back, letting his brother's arm fall back to where it had been before. Dale looked up at the doctor. "I'm his brother, Dale,"

The doctor knelt down in front of Warren, looking at him in concern. "Can you understand me, Warren?" The doctor's tone was quiet, gentle. Dale knew that the doctor wouldn't get any response, but he didn't answer for him. Dale couldn't let the doctor think that he was just speaking for his brother because he was controlling. The doctor had to see how unresponsive Warren was for himself.

The doctor waited for a moment before he turned to Dale. "Is it regular for him to shut down like this when he's nervous?"

Dale began to shake his head, but stopped himself. "Well, not when he's nervous. Sometimes when he gets a little upset he used to kind of shut down, but it's never been like this before." To Dale's knowledge, even Warren's worst unicorn days weren't anything like this.

"So he's not just anxious about coming to the hospital?" The doctor noted. Dale shook his head.

"Honestly, I don't think he even understands where we are. Dale looked down at his brother, who was still as curled up as ever, oblivious that they were talking about him. "I don't understand what's wrong with him,"

"Hopefully we'll be able to figure that out," The doctor looked towards the person at the front desk, who was watching them with concern. "Can we get a wheelchair over here?"

Dale looked at the doctor in alarm and slight shock. "Is that really necessary?"

The doctor nodded. "If Warren is unresponsive and won't move on his own, then this is the safest and most efficient way to move him." It made sense, but somehow knowing that they would need a wheelchair for Warren made this whole thing feel just that much more real.

A nurse brought the wheelchair over. Dale and the doctor worked together to put Warren in the wheelchair. At the doctor's insistence, Dale had to uncurl Warren into a more normal sitting position. Dale didn't like forcing Warren to do anything, but he would do whatever was necessary.

To Dale's relief, the doctor let him push the wheelchair towards the back. He was worried that he would have to wait out here while they looked over Warren, or at the very least that they would insist that somebody else push the wheelchair. He was glad he was allowed to go with them.

As Dale followed the doctor, he looked back to see Stan getting ready to leave. He had come in to make sure that they were situated, but now he had a meeting with the Sphinx to get to. Dale watched Stan for a minute before turning his attention fully on his brother.

The doctor lead Dale to an empty exam room. Dale didn't have a lot of experience with hospital rooms, but he was still surprised with how bare this room was. There was a table for someone to sit, and a couple of basic tools, but that was about it. There was no fancy machinery here.

At the doctor's prompting, Dale brought his brother from the chair to the table. Immediately Warren began trying to curl in on himself. Dale put his hands on Warren's back again to calm him, and was glad to see that it at least made Warren pause.

The doctor grabbed a chair and pulled it up in front of Warren. The doctor had papers in his hand, the papers that Dale recognized as the ones he had filled out earlier. "How long has your brother been like?"

"Uh, about two weeks," Dale grimaced as he remembered the morning that he had first seen Warren like this. He would be having nightmares about that day for the rest of his life. "I don't know exactly how long it's been, because he wasn't home when it happened. Warren went missing for three days, and when he came back, he was like this,"

The doctor hummed thoughtfully as he put his hand on Warren's arm and tried to move it the way that Dale had before. Dale could feel Warren's muscles tense as he seemed to fight the doctor. He really didn't seem to want to move his arm. The doctor tried for a moment before he gave up and looked to Dale. "Since getting like this, has Warren resisted movement?"

"Not to this extent," Dale said as he rubbed his brother's back. "Warren seems to be having an especially bad day today."

"It happens to the best of us," The doctor said, though they both knew that most people didn't have bad days that even remotely resembled what was going on with Warren. The doctor hummed to himself as he tried to move more of Warren's limbs, or tested his reflexes. Warren's reflexes seemed fine, but he even seemed to be fighting those. It was strange and somewhat unnerving to watch.

The doctor also checked the condition of Warren's skin. "It's not uncommon for people with albinism to be ostracized by their peers. Do you think that may have something to do with what happened to your brother?"

Dale blinked. It took him a moment to understand the question, because it just didn't make sense to him. "Oh, Warren didn't always look like this. His skin and hair weren't this pale until after he'd come back," The doctor paused and looked at Dale in disbelief. "Here, I can show you." Dale reached into his pocket and pulled out his wallet, where he always kept a picture of Warren. The picture was a few years old, but you could tell it was him. Dale handed the picture to the doctor, who looked at it curiously.

"I've never seen albinism like this before," The doctor commented. He looked at Dale. "I think it would be best if we do some sample tests, just to make sure that this isn't something more."

"That's what we're here for," Dale agreed. He let the doctor take some samples of Warren's hair, blood, saliva, and skin. Warren, predictably, put up no fight. He just sat there and stared blankly at the wall

"Do you know why my brother might have shut down like this?" Dale asked the doctor as he

Checked on Warren's breathing.

"Honestly, this looks a lot like a catatonic stupor," The doctor said. "Although, there are usually underlying symptoms of other mental issues, which probably wouldn't have showed up so suddenly," The doctor looked at Warren's eyes next. "And catatonic stupors usually only last for a few hours, or possibly a few days. It's not very common that one lasts for two weeks,"

"Is there are cure?" Dale asked desperately. He felt his hopes plummet when the doctor shook his head.

"As of right now, there aren't any cures," The doctor said. "We have treatments for the conditions that may cause catatonia, but unless we know what caused it for your brother, trying any of these treatments may do more harm than good."

Dale slumped and looked at his oblivious brother, feeling more useless than he ever had before. "So we can't do anything?"

"The best that can be done is we can make sure your brother is physically taken care of as much as we can," The doctor wrote something down on his notepad. Because of how pale his skin is now, I would suggest not letting him spend too much time in the sun, as he would get easily sunburned. You would also need to make sure he gets enough food and water. If possible, try to find a way to help your brother be a little more physically active."

Dale stared at the doctor in shock. "He barely moves on his own. How am I supposed to get him exercising?"

"Sometimes people who are in catatonic states can be influenced to move their body in certain ways if they're guided, or if there's an example in front of them," The doctor explained. "You'll want to be careful to not make Warren do anything that could hurt him. Remember, if your brother's physically uncomfortable, he won't be able to tell you while he's like this."

Dale grimaced as he looked at his brother, who was leaning back ever so slightly to Dale's touch on his back. He wanted to take care of his brother, of course he did, but Dale especially didn't want to do something that would accidentally hurt Warren. That was the last thing he wanted.

The doctor seemed to notice his hesitation. "If you feel like this is too much for you, or if you need any help with Warren, there are places and people that specialize in taking care of people who need some extra help."

Dale stiffened and put the hand that wasn't on Warren's back up to his mouth. Dale bit his fist, a habit he had to try to contain his emotions when he was too excited or upset. He gave himself a moment before he trusted himself to say anything. "I'm not sending Warren anywhere." He wasn't abandoning his brother to be cared for by a bunch of strangers who didn't know a thing about him.

"It's something at least worth considering," The doctor said, completely unbothered by Dale's angry insistence. "I won't make you do anything, but at the very least, if Warren's condition doesn't improve in the next two weeks, I want you to bring him back, just so we can be sure that his physical condition doesn't hasn't gotten any worse."

That sounded reasonable to Dale, so he nodded his agreement. If it meant making sure that Warren was okay, Dale would definitely be willing to make the drive out here again in two weeks, and then again two weeks after that if necessary. As long as it would take to make sure that Warren was taken care of.

Dale may not know what was going on in his brother's head, and he didn't know how to help him, but there were a couple of things that he could do to at least make sure that Warren was physically taken care of. Clearly it would take a lot of effort, and if today was any indication it would be emotionally trying for Dale too. But it was worth it. Dale would do anything for his brother, even this...especially this.

Warren may not be aware enough to know that he needed help, but that was exactly why he needed him, and Dale wasn't about to let him down, not if there was anything he could do about it.

"It'll be alright," Dale whispered to Warren, who had finally managed to draw his legs up to his chest again, and no amount of Dale rubbing his back was getting him to relax. "I'm not going to leave you" Dale had sworn to do whatever he could to help Warren, and nothing had changed. As long as it took, Dale wasn't going to stop taking care of Warren, and he wasn't going to stop trying to find a way to get him back to normal.

No matter what happens, no matter how long Warren was like this, Dale would do anything for his brother, and he always would.

Chapter Text

Dale yawned and rubbed his forehead. He could feel a migraine coming on, and he didn't really know what had caused it. Maybe it was a lack of sleep, maybe it was because he'd been doing the same slow, tedious work all day. Maybe it was just because everything that was going on with Warren was just now catching up to him. Whatever the reason, he was exhausted, but he wasn't ready to sleep, not yet.

Since bringing Warren to see the doctor a week ago, Dale had spent almost every waking moment watching over his brother, trying to help him. Warren's condition hadn't improved, but Dale's understanding of it certainly had. Since the doctor had told him that he could get Warren moving, Dale had dedicated as much time as he could to figuring that out, while still being careful to not work Warren too hard.

Warren wasn't very eager to move, but Dale worked patiently with him. He'd found that if he moved Warren's limbs in a habitual pattern, after some time Warren's short term muscle memory kicked in and he would continue moving on his own, even without Dale guiding him. Warren wouldn't begin moving unless Dale got him going first, and his movements only mimicked the exact way that Dale guided him in the first place, but it was something.

The first few days Dale had mostly just tried to get Warren to move his hands or arms in simple ways. Every day he built up on it a little more. Dale had managed to get Warren to move two different limbs in two different patterns. Finally today Dale had spent hours trying to get Warren's legs to move in a walking motion. It had taken a long time, but Dale had finally figured out how to get Warren walking on his own. Dale still needed to be there to guide him where to go, but he was unspeakably relieved that he could get Warren to do this much.

Dale would love to work more with Warren, but he was tired, which meant that his brother had to be too, even if he couldn't show it. Dale had quickly decided that he wouldn't try to work with Warren like this at night. Not only did this give them both time to take things easy, but Dale had noticed that Warren was much more withdrawn and reluctant at night, or even if it was too dark in the room they were in.

Warren's reactions were subtle, but Dale was learning how to read them, which was a relief. He may not know exactly what was going on in Warren's head, but at least he had a better idea now.

Dale just wished that he could figure out how to get Warren to sleep.

Dale glanced at the clock in his room and sighed. It was after midnight, and Warren was still wide awake. He was just curled up on a cot that they had brought into Dale's room. Warren stared blankly at the wall, which was what he'd been doing for the past four hours. Dale usually tried to leave his brother alone, trusting that he would sleep when he really needed to. Dale had figured that he couldn't just assume that Warren actually slept, so he'd decided to watch him tonight, to see if he slept at all, or even rested his eyes. If not, Dale would have to figure out a way to get Warren to go to sleep.

Dale had tried to do anything he could to encourage Warren to sleep. He'd given Warren both of their fleece blankets, as well as put Scorch in his arms. Dale had even turned the lights off, but all that did was get Warren to curl up more than he had before.

Dale just didn't know what to do at this point. He was at a loss.

Dale started slightly when he heard a knocking on the door. He turned to see Ruth standing in the doorway. "Ruth...what are you doing still awake?"

"I was going to ask you the same thing," Ruth entered the room and sat down on the edge of Dale's bed. She looked at Warren in concern. "How's he doing?"

"He won't go to sleep," Dale sighed. "We may have to get some sleeping pills or something."

"I'll pick some up when I go into town tomorrow," Ruth said. This explained why she was still awake. Going into town was basically an all day chore, but didn't require as early a start as yard work did. She could afford to stay up a little later, even if it wasn't exactly recommended.

"You really should get some sleep yourself," Ruth said gently. "You've barely left your brother's side in weeks."

"I'm worried about him," Dale said.

"We all are," Ruth assured him. "And I'm not saying you shouldn't try to help Warren, but you need to think about yourself too."

Dale frowned slightly. "If this is about my sleeping patterns, I've been meaning to get better,"

"It's not just that," Ruth said gently. "I'm talking about your work around Fablehaven."

Dale winced and looked at his brother. "Oh…" He hadn't done any work around Fablehaven since Warren had gotten like this. Dale may have worked at Fablehaven for years, and he loved it, but he loved his brother more. Warren came first.

"If you really want to stay with Warren, then do that," Ruth said. "We can handle the work ourselves." Dale knew that she meant it. He may do a lot of the heavy work around Fablehaven, but Stan, Ruth, and Lena were resourceful. Between the three of them, and with Hugo's additional help, they could manage the work. Dale knew that it wasn't the work itself that Ruth was concerned about, but him.

"Lena usually has to drag you inside to get you to stop working," Ruth said. "You are even more dedicated to your work around Fablehaven than Stan is, and that's saying something." Her tone was joking and teasing, but she wasn't wrong. "It just doesn't feel right for you to give up on something that I know you love."

"I haven't given up on it," Dale said, though he didn't sound all that convincing. "I just have other priorities."

"Maybe you need to figure out how to balance your priorities instead of picking one thing over another," Ruth advised. Dale sighed and ran a hand through his hair, nodding. He knew she was right, but it was still a little hard to really accept. It would take him a long time to truly believe that he could focus on his work without feeling like he was betraying his brother somehow, or letting him down.

Dale turned towards Ruth. She was right, he had to learn how to balance work with Warren's wellbeing. Maybe he should try to take some simple steps to ease himself back to work. "...How about if I go into town for you tomorrow?" He wouldn't be doing the work around the yard itself, as at this moment he wanted to save his energy for Warren, but he still wanted to do something to help. Maybe going into town would do some good for him, even though on principle he usually hated leaving Fablehaven's grounds.

Ruth looked surprised at his offer. "Are you sure?" She knew how much he didn't like to leave Fablehaven, and she definitely knew how clingy he'd been to Warren these past few weeks. Still, it was just a few hours. Dale could handle it.

"I'm sure," He nodded.

"In that case, you really should be getting some sleep," Ruth said. Dale felt slightly embarrassed at the stern, almost scolding tone in her voice. He was a full grown man, and here he was being talked to like he was a child. At the same time though, he didn't really mind it. He talked the same way to Warren sometimes too, even though he knew that Warren wasn't a little kid anymore. It just meant that Ruth was concerned about him. It wasn't something he wanted to hear all the time, but every once and awhile, it was okay.

I will," Dale promised, and he actually meant it. He really was tired, and even if Warren didn't get any sleep tonight, well, like Ruth said, there was always sleeping pills. "Goodnight,"

"Goodnight," Ruth stood up. She gave Warren one more sad, concerned look. "To both of you," Ruth left the room, closing the door behind her. Dale sighed and stretched. He brushed some of Warren's hair out his face. It was growing too long, but Dale felt weird about cutting it. Warren had always been weird about his hair. These past few years he'd insisted on cutting his own hair. He wasn't very good at it, so Warren's hair was always a little long and really uneven, but it didn't look half bad, and Warren seemed to like just letting his hair do his own thing, so they let him do what he liked.

Now though his hair was longer than Warren usually liked it to be, and it fell in his eyes way too often, which always used to bother Warren. Just because Warren didn't express his displeasure didn't mean that he was suddenly just fine with things that had bothered him before. So maybe it was time that Lena cut his hair again, something she hadn't done since he was twelve.

Dale had to force himself to turn away from Warren. No more letting himself get distracted, because it would be all too easy to allow himself to just watch his brother for the next four hours. It wouldn't do either of them any good though, so Dale just took back his blanket, pulled Warren's blanket up to cover him better, and went to his bed.

Dale laid down and pulled his blanket close. He hadn't had to rely on his blanket for emotional comfort for almost thirteen years, but these past three weeks any time he tried to sleep, he'd started to cling tightly to his blanket. It reminded him of easier times, when he didn't have to worry about Warren's work as a Knight. When it was socially acceptable for him to get upset when things were hard.

Back when most of Dale's biggest problems were mostly shouldered by his parents..

Dale tried to relax and get some sleep, but it was really hard. As exhausted as he'd been a few moments ago, he couldn't get his mind to calm down enough for him to rest. He just laid there, waiting for sleep to come to him. Dale had no idea how long he was there before he heard some slight shuffling from the other side of the room. It was quiet, but definitely there.

Dale blinked and rolled over. His breath got caught in his throat when he saw Warren shuffling silently towards him. Dale didn't dare to move. He had barely seen Warren move willingly on his own, and this was a lot all at once. Warren had sat up, stood up, and started walking on his own, without Dale encouraging him first. And if that wasn't impressive enough, Dale could see that Warren held Scorch in his arms and had his blanket wrapped around his shoulders. Dale wondered if he was dreaming, because this seemed like a lot of independent movement.

Dale sat up. "Warren?" He was quiet, afraid of upsetting Warren even a little bit, in case he might shut down all over again. Warren didn't react to Dale at all, he just kept slowly walking towards him. Warren didn't stop until he got to the bed, and even then he only stopped because the bed made it impossible for him to move forward anymore. That didn't keep Warren from trying though. He automatically tried to take a step forward, but began to fall forward.

Dale frowned and steadied his brother, pulling him onto the bed. Warren crawled over Dale, still not acknowledging him at all, like Warren wasn't even aware that he was there. Warren didn't stop until he got to the side of the bed near the wall where he just laid down and curled up slightly, like he'd been laying there for hours.

Dale stared at his brother for a moment, taking a few tense moments to recover from his shock. "...don't you think we're a little old for you to crawl into bed with me?" They hadn't done this kind of thing since Warren had been six. Dale wondered if Warren was doing this because it was just a natural instinct. Like he wasn't even thinking about it.

Dale wished that he knew, or at least that he knew how to go about figuring it out. Was this going to be a one time thing? Would Warren just move on his own when he thought he was the only one there? Did Warren even realize what he was doing, or was it just subconscious movement, kinda like sleep walking?

Dale didn't know, but he knew he would drive himself crazy worrying about it. Ruth was right, he couldn't spend all his energy worrying about it. It wasn't getting him anywhere. He would continue trying to figure out how to cure Warren, and he'd definitely keep trying to help him, but maybe it wasn't so important just why he did things the way that he did.

Dale sighed and adjusted his position, giving Warren a little more room. Warren had always hated it when he crowded him. Dale was practically hanging over the edge of the bed. The two of them were too big to be doing this, but this seemed to be what Warren wanted, and Dale wasn't going to deny his brother one of the only things that he specifically seemed to want.

Dale could tolerate a night of cramped sleeping. He would tolerate anything for his brother's sake.

"Goodnight, Warren," Dale muttered as he rested his head on the pillow again. He closed his eyes and found that he had a much easier time falling asleep than he had before. As he dozed off, he was slightly comforted by the thought that maybe Warren was also having an easier time falling asleep now. Dale had always been strangely proud that Warren could be calmed by his presence. Maybe with everything that had changed about Warren, that much had remained the same.

Whether it was true or not, it was nice to think about. It meant that while Warren may not be acting like himself, Dale still have reason to hope that his brother was still there somewhere, buried, waiting to be brought back.

It was just a matter of finding the way.

Chapter Text

The first few days of getting back to work had been hard for Dale. He was reminded of way back when they'd begun to realize that their parents weren't going to be coming back. He hadn't wanted to be away from his brother back then either. It had been hard at first to adjust to his increased workload without his father there, and it got even worse when he'd tried to act a bit like an additional parent for Warren, who had only been four at the time and was far too young to lose both of his parents so suddenly. Any time Dale was with Warren, he'd felt the need to get back to work, and whenever he was working, all he'd wanted to do was get back to his brother.

Dale was struggling with the same dilemma now. He was figuring it out though, and gradually getting back to work. It was hard though. It would probably be a lot easier if Dale didn't have to worry about the fact that Warren could wander off on his own. Warren may not move around of his own free will very much, but it still happened a little bit, and just that little bit was more than enough. Dale had been terrified when he'd returned to the house one day to find a distressed Lena trying to dry off a soaking wet Warren.

Apparently Lena had been doing some work in the yard, and she'd brought Warren out with her so he could get some fresh air. Lena had been weeding in the garden, and she'd thought that Warren had been sitting right next to her. Everything had seemed just fine until Lena had heard a splash. She'd turned and was alarmed to see that Warren had up and walked right into the pool. Lena had been able to get him before anything really bad could happen, but it had been a really horrible scare for all of them.

After that they'd all started to keep a closer eye on Warren, especially when he was outside. None of them wanted Warren to wander off and hurt himself, which was a very real possibility at a place like Fablehaven. None of them wanted to imprison Warren or anything like that, but they'd all thought that it would be best to take to locking the doors to the house, and even locking Warren in Dale's room at night or when none of them could be at the house to keep an eye on him. Dale felt guilty every single time, but he didn't have much of a choice. Warren's safety was his first priority.

Dale had always been a bit of a workaholic, but after what had happened to Warren he'd finally started to end his work earlier in the day. Without fail, he was home before the sun went down, just in time for dinner. He was coming home for Warren's sake, so the first thing that he asked about when coming home was his brother's wellbeing.

When Warren came home a little earlier than he normally would, because Maddox was planning on coming over for a visit, and they had to prepare for him, Dale looked for his brother. He immediately found Lena and Ruth preparing dinner in the kitchen. Warren wasn't anywhere in sight, so Dale quickly made his way to Stan's study. He'd seen Maddox' car in front of the house, so he knew the man was already there. He and Stan had to already be in the study.

Dale didn't think that Maddox had already started showing Dale the fairies that he'd brought, as they usually waited for after dinner, but he knocked anyways, just to be safe.

"It's unlocked," Stan's voice came from inside. Dale eased the door open and poked his head into the study. He frowned when he didn't see any sign of his brother. Dale noticed his frustration. "Is something wrong?"

"Where's Warren?" Dale asked. Stan's expression immediately fell.

"He may be in the living room," Stan said, though he sounded concerned and unsure. "Are any of the doors open?"

"Not that I can tell," Dale said, though he hadn't completely checked. "I'll go check,"

"I'll come with you," Stan said, giving Maddox an apologetic glance as he stood up. Maddox didn't seem all too disappointed though. In fact, he stood up and followed them as well. As Dale went to make sure that the doors and windows were closed and locked, Warren made his way to the living room.

"It's a shame what happened to Warren," Maddox said as he joined Dale in the living room, watching as he looked behind all of the furniture. Dale paused in his search and looked at Maddox, who actually seemed sincerely upset. Maddox had always been fond of Warren. There weren't very many people as young as Warren who knew about magic and creatures. Warren, on the other hand loved to ask Maddox about all of the different preserves he'd been to. It didn't matter how much of this world Warren saw, he reacted to something new with enthusiasm every single time.

"Yeah, it's taking us all some time to get used to," Dale looked behind his usual chair and breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Warren curled up behind it. He was glad to see that Warren was relatively safe, but still worried when he saw how stiff he was. Warren was curled up so tightly that he seemed to be trying to disappear completely. His hands were placed flat over his ears. Warren didn't seem to be trying to block out noise, as he wasn't actually putting pressure on his ears and was just gently covering them, but Dale saw this as a sign that Warren was upset.

"It's okay," Dale said, automatically slipping into a quiet, soothing tone of voice. He tried to ignore Maddox watching him curiously behind him. Dale put his hand on Warren's back and grinned slightly when he felt his brother's tense muscles immediately relax. He had been worried when he'd seen Warren so closed off, but he seemed to be calming down fairly easily. Maybe Warren had just been feeling overwhelmed.

"Come on," Dale moved a hand to Warren's hand and gently pulled him to his feet, grinning when Warren was quick to cooperate. "Maddox is here for a visit. You like Maddox,"

"You really are albino now," Maddox commented with a small frown. The man reached for Warren, putting a hand on his arm. Warren's facial expression revealed nothing about what he was thinking, but Dale could feel the miniscule, barely noticeable flinch of tension in Warren's arm. By Maddox's frown, he had noticed the same thing and he immediately let go of Warren's arm.

"He doesn't usually do that," Dale said, though he didn't actually know for sure. Warren may have been like this for more than a month, but Dale was still just learning things as he went. He was able to find patterns in Warren's behavior, but there were also odd moments that seemed to happen without reason.

"Maybe he just has a hard time being around other people," Maddox suggested. Dale blinked and looked at his brother. That...actually made a lot of sense. Dale had taken Warren to visit the doctor twice now, just to make sure that nothing else was going on, and both times Warren had been extremely tense and quick to curl in on himself. Was it just because being around people made him nervous?

It would actually explain a lot. Now that Dale thought about it, the times that Warren had been quickest to close up in distress had been when Dale, Lena, Ruth, and Stan had all been at the house.

"He's always had a tendency to get overwhelmed by larger groups of people," Dale commented thoughtfully. Even before all of this had happened, Warren had a tendency to get unnerved when spending too much time around people, even people he liked.

"The windows and doors are secured," Stan said as he entered the room. "Did you find...oh, he's here," Stan relaxed. "Is Warren okay?"

"Feeling a little unicorn, I think," Dale said. "But otherwise, I think he'll be fine." Other than this whole catatonic business. In that way, Warren was anything but fine.

Stan still looked guilty, and Dale understood why. They were all worried about something happening to Warren should any of them take their eyes off of him for even a moment. Despite their concern, none of them were used to the need to constantly watch Warren. All of them had experience with young children, who needed a lot of supervision, but even after a month it was hard for them to see Warren as a person who they shouldn't take their eyes off of for even a moment.

They really had to learn quickly, before something terrible happened to Warren that they could prevent.

Lena came into the room. "If the four of you are done socializing, dinner's ready, but it would be nice to have some help getting the food on the table." Like usual, Lena's tone left little room for argument, though it wasn't necessary. Stan and Maddox were both more than happy to help. Usually Dale was too, but after what Maddox had pointed out, he was wondering if joining the others for dinner would be such a good idea.

"I think me and Warren will eat in here today," Dale decided, looking at his brother. Lena gave him a small smile.

"I'll grab some plates for you then," Lena said as she returned to the kitchen. Dale turned to his brother and lead him to the couch. The moment that Warren was sitting he pulled his legs up onto the couch. Warren didn't know why his brother seemed to feel most comfortable when his legs were drawn close to him.

Dale sighed and began to clear off the coffee table so they could have a place to put their food. Warren's gaze was turned towards him. At this point Dale knew that his brother probably wasn't really seeing him, or at least not registering it, but Dale liked to think that he was at least somewhat aware of things.

A moment later Lena returned with two plates of dinner, which she placed on the table. Dale was hungry, and the meatloaf and mashed potatoes, along with the cooked vegetables, looked really good, but he couldn't eat quite yet. He had to make sure that Warren was taken care of first.

Dale had gotten pretty good at guiding and encouraging Warren to move in a way that he wanted him to, but it was a very time consuming process, and some things were harder than others. Warren really struggled with eating. He could eat the food itself just fine (thank goodness for that), and he could get the food to his mouth with little issue, but Warren had a hard time getting food on his spoon (no matter what they were eating, Dale didn't want Warren handling a fork or knife in his state. He thought that encouraging Warren to put something sharp in his mouth when he didn't have any idea what he was doing was just asking for trouble).

For the most part, Warren's meals consisted of small finger foods that he could handle himself, but Lena insisted that he needed at least one full meal a day, So Dale took it upon himself to make sure that Warren ate.

Things went smoothly for a few minutes, with Warren reluctantly eating what Dale brought to his mouth. It was slow, but simple work. Suddenly, with little warning, Warren let out a distressed sound that sounded like a whine from the back of his throat and he drew back, pulling his legs up to his chest.

Dale frowned. He tried to get Warren to eat, but he refused to open his mouth. Warren was just drawing in on himself, and Dale had no idea why. Nothing had changed, nobody else was in here. It was just the two of them. The others were all in the kitchen, though now that Dale thought about it, he could hear the others talking from here. He couldn't hear what they were saying, but it was obvious that they weren't entirely alone.

Dale looked at his brother. "Is it the noise that's bothering you?" He didn't know why he was bothering to ask when he knew that Warren wouldn't be able to answer him. It was just habit. Of course, Warren said nothing, but a moment later Dale heard the others in the kitchen laughing. It wasn't all that loud, but definitely more noise than earlier. Warren whined again and buried his head in his knees. Dale had only seen Warren like this when they were in the waiting room at the hospital...a place with a lot of people and a lot of noise.

Dale grimaced. It was clear that Warren was distressed either by being around other people, too loud noises, or both. Dale was glad that he had a better idea of what bothered his brother, but now he had the problem of not knowing what to do about it. With five adults living in the same house, as well as occasional visitors, there was almost always going to be people around, which meant that Warren would frequently have to be in situations that made him nervous and uncomfortable. It just didn't seem fair.

Dale looked towards the kitchen. He knew that with Maddox here tonight, things would get pretty chaotic. Warren was pretty upset right now, and Dale didn't want to see him get any more distressed. Dale wanted Warren to feel okay, but not for the first time he was starting to see that Warren wasn't doing so well at the main house.

Before, Dale had tried to solve this problem by turning the shed into a cabin for Warren to stay in. Dale hadn't really considered bringing Warren to his cabin since the incident, but now he was beginning to think that it was a real possibility. It was at least worth a try, and considering how loud things would get tonight, it would probably be a good time to test it out.

Dale straightened and gave his brother's shoulder a small squeeze. "I'll be right back," Dale grabbed the two nearly full plates and made his way to the kitchen. Dale knew he couldn't leave his brother alone for very long. "Lena, can I talk to you?" Dale said, keeping his voice low. Lena frowned slightly in concern but got up. Dale put the plates down on the table and retreated back into the hallway with Lena following him.

"Is something wrong?" Lena looked at Warren and frowned. He looked like he was trying to become one with the couch. Lena went to Warren and began to run her fingers through his newly cut hair.

"Maddox has pointed out that Warren may not like being around people," Dale said quietly, voice barely above a whisper.

"Well, that's nothing new," Lena hummed. "He's always been a little reluctant to be in a crowd," It was something that they'd all known about Warren, but none of them had really taken it into consideration now.

"I think he also doesn't like noise," Dale gestured to his brother's current condition. "He got like this when you guys got to talking."

He could see Lena processing all of this. "So it may not be in his best interest to be here while Stan and Maddox are doing their business." Lena had foreseen the same problem that Dale had.

"I was thinking of bringing Warren to the cabin and seeing if he does any better there," Dale shared his idea. He would probably go through with it regardless of what Lena thought of it, but it was always nice to hear what she had to say.

Lena mulled the idea over in her head as she watched Warren, who was leaning ever so slightly into her touch. "It's a good time for a test. But if you're spending the night at the cabin, you'd better get going," Lena looked at Dale, a stern, scolding look in her eyes. "I don't like anybody being in those woods at night, but especially not your brother in his state." Dale nodded in complete agreement. There were dangerous creatures in Fablehaven, and Dale wasn't going to take any risks when it came to his brother.

"I'll make sure we get there before dark," Dale said.

"I'll go pack some things for the two of you," Lena leaned closer to Warren and gave him a small kiss on his forehead before standing up. "I noticed neither of you really ate, and you'll both need some breakfast in the morning, so I'll get some food for you two,"

Dale let out a sigh of relief and took Lena's place next to Warren. "Thank you," Dinner hadn't really been the first thing on his mind, and he hadn't considered breakfast at all. He was glad for Lena's help. She considered things that he never would have.

"I swear, we'll figure all of this out eventually," Dale rubbed Warren's back with one hand and used to other to try to encourage him to straighten his legs. "You have to be patient with us though. We're going through a lot of trial and error here."

It was a few minutes before Lena returned with a duffel bag, which she handed to Dale. "The cabin should have anything you would need in case of an emergency," Dale was well aware of that. The shack still had weapons and tools that they hadn't moved from when it was a shed. There was first aid equipment, sleeping stuff from when they'd regularly slept over there, and anything else that they would need to be comfortable at least for the night.

"I grabbed your blankets and Scorch," Lena said, gesturing to the backpack. She knew them well. "And there's food in that bag as well, so don't go justling it too much. Dale shouldered the bag, letting it rest on his hip. He then bent down, his back to Warren, and pulled his brother up onto his back. Dale had mostly been trying to get Warren to move by encouraging him to walk for himself, but it took time to get him started, and even once he got going Warren's walk resembled a shuffle, and it just wasn't smart to walk leisurely through the woods. The cabin wasn't too far away, Dale had no doubt that he could carry his brother there with little issue.

"Be safe," Lena advised. Dale nodded and stood up. He didn't like how tense Warren was, but it came in handy in this particular instance. Warren trying to curl up caused him to instinctively wrap his legs and arms around Dale, making him a lot steadier on his back than one would think from someone who was so unresponsive.

As Dale went into the living room he passed by the kitchen. The others were still enjoying their dinner, but Maddox paused slightly in the conversation to give Dale a reassuring smile, which he returned with an uneasy one of his own. Dale made his way to the back door and left the house, heading towards the woods.

It wasn't dark out yet, but Dale could tell by looking at the twilight that it wouldn't last long, maybe another half an hour or so. That was alright, as Dale knew that he had more than enough time to get to the cabin. He just couldn't go for a casual stroll.

Dale made his way down the path at a speed that was between a walk and a jog. It was fast enough that he felt comfortable that they wouldn't be vulnerable on the path for too long, but slow enough that Dale didn't think he was justling his brother too much.

Before too long Dale was coming up to the cabin, so he finally slowed. Dale used one hand to keep his brother steady while the other opened the door. The second that Dale entered into the cabin, Warren relaxed slightly on his back. Dale hurried to Warren's bed to set him down on it before his brother relaxed so much that he ended up completely falling.

"So, I guess you're happy to finally be back here," Dale said with a slight laugh as he positioned Warren slightly so he was sitting at the edge of the bed, his legs hanging over the side. After what had happened, Dale had only seen Warren sit up straight without something to lean one a handful of times, and yet he was doing it here. Dale couldn't help but smile when he saw that Warren was showing no signs of wanting to curl his legs up. He was content to just sit there.

Dale took the duffel bag and set it on the ground. He knelt down and opened it, immediately grabbing Warren's blanket and Scorch. He put the blanket on the bed, and set the stuffed dragon on Warren's lap. He then wrapped his brother's arms around the dragon. Once Dale was content that Warren seemed as comfortable as he was going to get at the moment, he turned his attention to what else Lena packed into the duffel bag. Their dinner.

Dale pulled out two lunch bags that were labeled 'dinner'. Dale looked in one of the bags and was pleased, but not surprised, to see that Lena had thrown together some meatloaf sandwiches. At least he could still appreciate some part of the dinner he would have had back at the main house.

Because sandwiches were basically finger food, and Dale took advantage of any time that he could get Warren to do something for himself, he put half of one of the sandwiches in his brother's hand. Dale gave closed Warren's fingers around the sandwich, firm but not too tight. He brought Warren's arms up until the sandwich was at his mouth. Dale patiently probed at Warren's mouth until he opened it. Dale guided the sandwich into Warren's mouth and watched as Warren took a bite.

Warren needed help getting food, but actually eating was something he could do for himself. Dale made sure that Warren didn't take too large of a bite, and that he properly chewed his food, but his supervision had yet to truly be needed. Warren couldn't do a lot, but he remembered how to eat.

It usually took a few minutes for Dale to get Warren into the habit of doing something, such as bringing a sandwich to his mouth, but to Dale's surprise he just had to guide Warren four times before he began to do it for himself.

"...Huh," Dale stepped back and watched Warren, putting his hands on his hips. Warren wasn't normally so cooperative, and certainly not so soon after he'd been so upset. Maybe being out here in the cabin really would do Warren some good. "I really should have known that you'd do good out here. You've always thrived in your personal place."

Dale watched his brother for another moment before grabbing the other dinner bag and grabbing the other sandwich for himself. He sat down on the bed next to Warren and began to eat, though still keeping an eye out for when Warren was done with his first half a sandwich so Dale could give him the rest of it.

Dale hadn't forget about Warren's condition, he didn't think he ever could, but sitting here with his brother, both of them relaxed and eating, enjoying being out in the cabin, for the first time in more than a month Dale actually felt like things were normal.

For the first time, he felt like maybe even if things couldn't be great again, they could at least be okay, and after the month that Dale had been through, okay was just about the most amazing feeling in the world.

Chapter Text

Dale sighed as he trudged from the main house to the cabin. He was sore all over. This would probably be another one of those nights that he stayed in the cabin with Warren, because he was just too tired to make the return trip.

Dale had yet to find a balance between his work, his time with Warren, and his time with Lena and the Sorensons. It had been hard enough before, but now with Warren living in the cabin, it had gotten even harder. Every day Dale would wake up earlier than he normally would and get to work straight away. He would work for a few hours until about eight or nine, at which point he would go to the cabin and make sure that Warren was awake and got some breakfast. Dale would then go back to work for a few more hours until lunch, at which point he, once again, returned to the cabin.

Lunch was the one time of the day where Dale could allow himself to relax. Once he got Warren snacking on the sandwich and fruit that made up his regular lunch, Dale could take his time and enjoy his own lunch. Dale normally didn't like to spend a lot of time breaking for lunch, but Warren wasn't exactly the fastest eater, so he had to wait for him. Dale had learned to see this as a gift, his time to relax and breathe for more than two minutes.

It had taken Dale a little time, but he thought he could tell when his brother had his fill. Since bringing Warren to the cabin, Dale had noticed that Warren's previously blank and emotionless eyes were more expressive. It was just a slight difference, but after seeing nothing in Warren's eyes for weeks, Dale clung to the small amount of emotion that he did see.

When Warren was upset, or hungry, his eyes would return to their old blank state. When he was done eating, there was almost a look of awareness in his eyes, like he would make the conscious decision to stop eating if he was capable of it.

When Warren was done, Dale would lead his brother outside to give him his daily exercise. Dale didn't enjoy this part of the day nearly as much as he liked to just sit and eat with his brother, but he bore through it anyways. Warren needed his exercise, and as uncomfortable as it made Dale feel to guide his normally active brother through basic exercises, he was willing to bare through it for Warren's sake.

After working with Warren for about half an hour, Dale would lead his younger brother back inside the cabin, lock the door just to be sure that he couldn't wander off to places that he shouldn't, and got back to work. Dale would work until an hour before sundown and then go to the main house for dinner. He felt bad for eating before Warren, but he had to think about himself. He needed a hot meal.

After eating and spending at least a few minutes with Lena, Ruth, and Stan, Dale would make his way back to the cabin to get Warren his dinner and make sure he was ready for the night. Sometimes Dale would go back to the main house to sleep, but more often than not he just stayed the night with Warren. It just depended on what Dale's work was in the morning, and Warren's state and mood.

That was basically what Dale's day to day life was now. It followed a very strict schedule. If anything happened to disrupt that schedule, like when a task around Fablehaven was taking longer than normal, or Warren was having a bad day and not being very cooperative with eating or exercising, then Dale's whole rest of the day just got screwed up. It was difficult to deal with, and absolutely exhausting.

Dale sighed when he got to the cabin. He was exhausted and felt like he needed a nap. Dale was glad that he didn't have any more work to do that day. He just had to make sure that Warren got some dinner, which wasn't an easy effort, but it wasn't as physically trying as most of his other work. He yawned as he took the key out of his pocket and unlocked the door. Dale entered the cabin and frowned when he saw that Warren was curled up on the bed.

It wasn't unusual for Dale to have to wake Warren up for breakfast. He didn't worry too much about it, because Warren had always been in the habit of sleeping in much later than Dale could ever remember doing himself. But when Dale came by for Warren's breakfast he would pull his brother out of bed. Whenever Dale came back for lunch, and then again in the evening, Warren would still be out of bed. He may be sitting on the ground, and once lying on the floor, but he didn't touch his bed until Dale lead him back to it for the night.

Now though, not only was Warren in his bed, but he was also curled up with his legs drawn close to his chest. Warren normally curled up when left alone for too long, but it had only been three hours since Dale had last been here. That wasn't normally long enough to cause Warren to draw in on himself like this. Unfortunately, it looked like this was going to be a tough day for the both of them.

Dale didn't think that he'd be able to get Warren to eat an actual lunch, so he was just going to focus on getting his brother to snack on some little finger foods. If he could get Warren to eat anything, he would consider it a victory.

It always took time for Dale to get Warren to eat, but it felt much longer today. Maybe it was just because he was so tired already, but Dale didn't feel like he had the patience to deal with it. Dale was just about ready to pull back and take a break before he let his impatience get the better of him and he took it out on his brother. Fortunately, Warren picked up on it. He was just munching on crackers and cookies, but it had to be good enough for now.

Dale sighed in relief and fatigue. He began to snack on some food himself. Dale knew he would have to eat an actual meal before getting back to work, but he wasn't in the mood for it right now. He would get something later, but if snacking could be enough for Warren, it could be enough for him.

When Warren was done, Dale had been able to rest up enough that he felt a little better. He was ready to get Warren outside. "Let's go," Dale stood up. He pulled Warren to his feet, frowning when he actively seemed to try to resist him. It was normal for Warren to not want to move, as he had little will for himself so it was like dead weight that could stay in a position that you put them in. However, it seemed like Warren was actively pulling away from him, which shouldn't be happening.

Dale frowned. He began to rub circles on Warren's hand with his thumb. Warren was really stiff, and hopefully he would relax more with a soothing touch. It didn't always work, but it was certainly worth a try. It took a few moments, but Warren reluctantly stood up.

"That's it," Dale encouraged. Warren didn't normally respond well to talking, but it made Dale feel better. "You can do it." Getting Warren to his feet was just part of the battle. Dale now had to get Warren outside, and walking was always a pain.

It took longer than it normally would to get Warren walking, and Dale knew that he would have to keep the exercise simple. If he gave Warren something to do that required movement of a lot of his limbs, it would take longer for him to get into the habit of doing.

Before bringing Warren outside Dale grabbed the large sombrero that Ruth had found at a yard sale while she was in town. Warren looked a little silly wearing it, but Dale wasn't worried about his brother's style and appearance right now. The doctor had advised that Warren not be exposed to sunlight, because of his pale skin. Dale definitely didn't want Warren to get badly sunburned, so wearing a wide brimmed hat was the way to get around that.

On the way outside Dale spotted an old hoe as well as his work gloves. Maybe that was something to go for. Dale grabbed them and brought Warren outside. Dale put the gloves onto Warren's hands, making sure that they were tight enough to not fall off or cause unnecessary friction on Warren's hands.

"Here," Dale put the hoe in Warren's hands, making sure he had a solid grip on it. He brought Warren to a small garden in front of the cabin. It had been Lena's idea to make a vegetable garden for the cabin. It would not only give them some nice, fresh fruits and vegetables, which was good for Warren, but also provide him with a simple but still physically trying exercise. Gardening was a lot harder than most people thought.

Dale began to move Warren's arms to get him hoeing. For once Warren's stiffness worked to his advantage. Hoeing was physically trying work. You couldn't really do it if you didn't put the work behind it. If Warren's arm muscles weren't tense, he would just be dragging the hoe across the ground, not really getting anywhere with it.

Dale had expected it to take a while to get Warren to hoe on his own, but that didn't make it any easier to deal with. Half an hour later Dale finally got Warren to hoe on his own. It wasn't the best technique, and if their main goal was to prepare the garden for planting, Dale would have made sure that it was done right. Right now though, Dale's goal was to get Warren working and moving. He could always work on the garden later himself.

It wasn't really hard to get Warren working, but it was long and tedious, and Dale was already exhausted. By the time Warren was ready, Dale felt half asleep. He had to sit down, at least for a few minutes.

Dale sat down on the porch and watched Warren carefully as he worked. He needed to make sure he didn't let Warren take things too far. It was his responsibility. Watching Warren was easy enough in principle, but it was the hardest thing that Dale had to do that day. Sitting there, doing nothing but watching, Dale's exhaustion started to catch up to him. He was struggling to keep his eyes open.

Dale shifted and moved his position, leaning forward slightly. He could relax, but he couldn't truly rest, not quite yet. He had to stay alert and make sure that Warren was okay. He could look after himself later.

Things were going okay for ten or fifteen minutes. Warren was slowly but surely making some progress on the weeds in the garden. Dale could see that he was getting a nice workout, but nothing too bad. Warren could probably continue like this for a little bit.

Dale leaned back and closed his eyes, just for a second. Warren seemed to be doing fine on his own. Dale was just planning on resting his eyes for a few minutes, then he would feel okay. Just a power nap, ten minutes, that was all he needed.

Dale hadn't truly meant to fall asleep. He had just meant to doze for a few minutes, just enough to last him until he slept tonight. When Dale's mind started to wake up and become aware, he somehow felt even more tired than he had when he started. Dale instinctively knew that he had slept for longer than he'd initially meant. Despite the deep need for more sleep, Dale forced himself to open his eyes. He needed to make sure that Warren was okay.

The first thing that Dale noticed was that it was dark out, like, there was no sign of sunlight. There was also a slight chill in the air. Dale felt his stomach tighten. The sun had barely started setting when he'd gotten Warren started, but now if Dale had to take a guess he would think that the sun had actually set hours ago. That wasn't good...it wasn't good at all.

Dale shot to his feet. It was too dark for him to see more than Warren's vague form, and that wasn't good enough for Dale. He wanted to see more than just Warren's shadowy form. He wanted to see just how much he had screwed up. Dale opened the door to the cabin and turned on the porch light, allowing him to see the state of the garden. It wasn't a pretty sight.

The whole garden and most of the surrounding yard had been completely hoed and churned. It looked like someone had taken a bulldozer through the place, except Dale knew that all of this had been done by just one person who didn't have the best form or technique, and who was still hoeing away.

"Warren," Dale whispered. He felt sick to his stomach. Dale's legs shook and felt like they were going to give out beneath him, but he somehow made his way to his brother anyways. Dale's breath caught in his throat when he saw that Warren's legs seemed to be shaking too, as were his arms, but he was still hoeing, not having the will to stop himself.

Dale grabbed the hoe with one hand and used his other hand to still Warren's arm. He was just glad that it was easier to get Warren to stop doing something than it was to get him to start. Warren stopped hoeing and Dale carefully pulled his hands away from the hoe. In doing so, Dale felt Warren's hand and arm muscles twitch like he was instinctively trying to pull away.

"It's okay," Dale said quietly, even though there was nothing about this situation that was anywhere near okay. He dropped the hoe and let it fall to the ground. "It's okay. How about we get you off your feet?" For a moment Dale completely forgot that he would have to get Warren's leg's moving first to get him to walk. Dale's mind was so foggy and scattered with panic that he tried to just take his brother's hand and guide him along without getting him started first.

As soon as Dale grabbed his brother's hand, Warren's whole body stiffened and he seemed to try to pull away again. Dale was scared that something was wrong with Warren's hands. He was wearing gloves to protect his hand, but Dale was scared that after working with the hoe for so long, it had gotten through the gloves anyways.

Dale take a deep breath to try to calm down. Freaking out now would do no good. He had to make sure that Warren was okay, which meant that he had to remain calm. "Come on," Dale pulled Warren's arm over his shoulder and then put his own arm under Warren's legs, picking him up bridal style. Dale rushed into the cabin, barely pausing to pull the door closed behind him.

Dale sat Warren on the bed and grabbed his blanket from nearby. For some reason, Warren seemed to prefer Dale's blanket to his own. Dale draped his blanket over Warren's shoulders, pulling it tight around him. It was a chilly night out, and Warren wasn't even wearing a jacket, because it had been nice out that afternoon, so Dale's first concern was to get Warren warm.

Dale's next step was to get Warren a little more comfortable. He took off the sombrero, tossing it aside, and then got to work on the shoes. Last, Dale got to work on the gloves. Because he didn't know Warren's hands were hurt or not, he took it slow and easily. He wanted to be careful.

The gloves were tight, but shouldn't be completely restricting, so Dale started to get scared when he had to struggle to get the gloves off. Every small tug he made on the gloves caused Warren's hands to twitch, though he didn't seem to be aware of it. Dale knew there was something wrong, and he hated not knowing just what it was.

After struggling for a few minutes Dale was finally able to pull a glove off, and he froze. Warren's hands weren't just bleeding, they looked like they'd been put through a shredder. Warren's palms were torn to pieces, full of blisters that were either red and sore, bleeding, or somehow blisters forming over blisters that had already broken.

No wonder Warren's muscles had instinctively caused him to try to pull away, his nerves were out and sensitive.

This was all Dale's fault. He'd gotten careless, and now Warren was hurt. Dale grimaced and brought a hand to his mouth. He bit his knuckles so hard that he was sure it would leave marks. He felt like screaming or crying. He was upset about Warren's condition, and furious with himself, but he couldn't focus about how he himself was feeling. Warren needed him right now. He had to focus on him, save freaking out for when he could afford it.

After taking a minute to compose himself Dale pulled his fist away from his mouth and turned his focus to Warren's hand. It looked like there was a lot of blood, but Dale knew that didn't necessarily mean that the injuries themselves were horrible. Some places on the body just bled a lot, and with the gloves the blood would have just spread and gotten everywhere. Dale had to clean up Warren's hand so he could properly judge just how bad the situation was.

Dale didn't want to take the time to get the other glove off carefully, he just wanted to treat Warren's hands. So Dale got up and grabbed a pair of scissors, which he used to carefully cut a wider hole in the gloves so he could pull it away from Warren's wrist easier. He was ruining a glove, but that was the last thing that Dale was worried about at the moment.

With both of Warren's hands freed from the gloves, Dale got what he needed to treat them. He grabbed the first aid kit that he kept in a cupboard. Dale also grabbed a bowl and filled it with water. He brought these things, as well as a clean hand cloth, over to Warren.

"This is going to hurt," Dale warned as he took the cloth and soaked it in the water. He wrung it out until it was just damp. "I'll try to be as careful as I can," Dale bit his lip and gripped Warren's wrist with his left hand, keeping it steady as he put the cloth on his palm. Dale tried to be as gentle as he could as he wiped at Warren's palm, but he knew it had to hurt. He was touching open wounds and irritating his blisters, but he needed to clean his hand so he could clean the wound.

Working on one hand took a few minutes, and then he had to move on to the other hand. Once Warren's hands weren't a bloody mess, Dale felt much calmer. It wasn't as bad as it initially looked. It would take a long time for Warren's hands to heal completely, but Dale was confident that they would, indeed, heal. No permanent damage had been done, at least, not to Warren. Dale, on the other hand, would forever be haunted by this. Warren had gotten hurt, and it was all Dale's fault. That wasn't something that he would ever forget.

"The easy part is over," Dale said. If someone were to ask, he would say that he was trying to comfort his brother, but he knew that he was just trying to make himself feel better. Dale put the cloth in the water, which was now tinted red. He then grabbed some antibiotics from the first aid kit. Dale knew how to treat blisters, as he used to get them all the time before he had formed proper calluses and toughened his skin up. He'd just never dealt with this many blisters at one time, especially not all in one area.

Dale had taken his time with cleaning Warren's palms, but cleaning and disinfecting the wounds directly needed even more care. He went at a snail's pace. A part of Dale was actually glad that Warren was currently incapable of showing his discomfort or pain. Dale didn't know if he'd be able to continue on if Warren made any indication that he was hurt.

Dale focused on the blisters, taking his time. He didn't want to cause Warren any more pain, but Dale knew that if he didn't get these taken care of, Warren would be in much more pain later on. This was for the best.

Dale had no idea how much time had passed, but finally he felt like he had done all he could for Warren. He put away the antibiotics and grabbed the role of gauze bandages. He carefully wrapped the gauze around Warren's palms, trying to find a balance between covering and protecting the blisters, and not irritating them. Finally, after what felt like far too long, Dale was confident that Warren's hands were well taken care of.

Once Warren's hands were taken care of, Dale laid his brother on the bed and pulled the blanket over him. He knew that Warren had to be exhausted, so hopefully he'd be able to get some sleep. As for Dale, he didn't dare to sleep at all. He'd really screwed up earlier, and he wasn't about to make that same mistake. He wasn't about to get any more sleep tonight.

Now that Dale was no longer focusing on his brother, he had nothing to distract him from freaking out. Dale let out a shaky breath and sat on a chair just near Warren's bed. He leaned forward and tugged at his hair with his hands. Dale had made a lot of mistakes in his time, but he couldn't remember the last time he had felt this ill and guilty about it. The thing was, all of Dale's biggest mistakes either affected just him, or his work around Fablehaven. But this...Warren was the one who was paying for this mistake.

"I'm sorry," Dale pulled his hair and squeezed his eyes shut tight in a vain attempt to keep tears from falling. He didn't know what else he could do for Warren at this moment. He had never felt so useless in his life. He hated that he couldn't do anything to fix this mess that he'd tossed his brother into. "I'm sorry."

Chapter Text

Dale anxiously watched Warren as he slept. He still felt slightly ill, but there wasn't much he could do about that. He couldn't shake the feeling that he was forgetting something. Dale wanted to ignore the feeling completely and push it aside, but he couldn't do that in good conscious. Dale had gotten sloppy a few hours ago and fallen asleep when he really should have been watching over Warren. He'd thought that everything would be okay then, and he didn't want to make that mistake again. It was better to be paranoid than to be sorry later.

Dale wracked his brain, trying to figure out just what he could be missing, when he noticed that though Warren was lying on his bed, he wasn't curled up the way he normally was. Warren's legs were bent, but they weren't drawn all the way to his chest. Warren's arms were also in a position that they normally weren't.

Dale frowned and got up from his chair. He moved to Warren and put a hand on his upper arm. Dale felt swelling and something that seemed like a bump under Warren's skin. A bump, or possibly a knot.

"Oh, no," Dale grimaced. He moved his hand to Warren's shoulder, frowning when he felt more knots on both of his shoulders. Dale felt Warren's legs too. Even through the pants he thought he could feel that his legs were swollen, so there were probably knots there too.. Dale swore under his breath. Warren had been on his feet, hoeing, for hours. He should have known that Warren would get some muscle damage.

Dale had a lot of experience with knots in his muscles and strains. It came with physical labor, but it was still never fun to deal with. Dale clearly remembered one time when he was fifteen he had a knot in his shoulder. At the time he'd thought that it was just another sprain, so he'd done what he always did at the time. Dale had gone right back to work and tried to be careful to not push his shoulder too much.

The next morning, Dale had woken up with his shoulder in so much pain that he could barely move it without it flaring up, and he had a headache to go along with it. Lena had felt his shoulder, immediately found a knot, and had declared that he was taking the day off. That was the first time that Dale had gotten a massage from Lena, as she tried to ease the knot. It was also the first time that Dale had gotten a little lesson on how to give himself a small massage should he need to, and she'd also shown him to to prevent forming knots in his muscles.

He still strained and pulled something sometimes, but it was never as bad as that knot had been, so to feel that Warren had multiple knots, it was scary. Dale knew what to do to take care of his own muscles, but he wasn't exactly the best at it, and Warren's care was much more important. Dale had to make sure that Warren was okay, and he had to make sure it was done right. To do that, Dale knew that he would need some help.

"Let's go," Dale carefully and slowly pulled his brother up into his arms. To his relief, Warren stayed asleep. He must be so exhausted from the work he'd done earlier. Dale felt bad seeing Warren so dead tired, but he was relieved anyways, because as long as Warren was sleeping, he wouldn't feel pain. "Hopefully Lena will have an idea what to do."

As Dale picked up Warren, he kept the blanket wrapped around him. It was still dark out, so Dale assumed that it was still chilly. Warren was hurt enough as it was, there was no need to make it any worse.

Dale brought Warren outside, kicking the door shut behind him. He didn't know how late or early it was, as the dark could be any time after eight in the night and five in the morning, so Dale didn't know for sure if Lena or the Sorensons were already awake, but he didn't want to wait any longer. Lena was usually a pretty early riser, with luck she may already be up and about.

Dale didn't usually like to walk around Fablehaven after dark. There was always danger around the preserve, and it wasn't necessarily any more dangerous at night, but it certainly felt like it. But Dale's concern about getting his muscles taken care of trumped his fear of walking around after dark.

Besides, as long as they stayed on the path, things should be alright.

Dale took his time, because he didn't want to wake up his brother. As they approached the main house Dale breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that there were lights on. At least someone was awake.

Dale went up the front steps. Because his hands were full, Dale couldn't open the door himself, or even knock properly, so he kicked at the door instead. Because the kicking sounding more like pounding than knocking, Dale called out as well, to let whoever was up that it wasn't a threat. "Hello?!" Dale sounded much more desperate than he would have liked. "I need help!"

A moment later the door was opened by Stan. The older man had a crossbow in his hands, but Dale didn't take it personally. It was not the typical time that they normally got visitors, and for caretakers it was always better to be safe than sorry.

When Stan saw Dale he lowered it slightly. When he saw Warren in Dale's arms, he nearly dropped it completely. "What happened?"

"I-I messed up," Dale took a deep breath, feeling suddenly exhausted. "Is Lena awake?"

"She's in her room," Stan stepped back, allowing Dale to come in. "Go take your brother to the living room, I'll go get her."

Dale nodded, feeling so grateful that he didn't have to deal with this on his own. Lena and Stan were willing to help. Dale made his way into the living room and set his brother on the couch. Warren was still sleeping. Dale hoped that it lasted. Warren deserved some rest and relief from the pain that Dale was sure he was feeling from his tense muscles.

"Dale," He turned to see Lena rush in. She looked like she'd barely come out of bed. "What's wrong?"

"I...I fell asleep while Warren was hoeing the garden." Dale said, his voice cracking slightly as his gut twisted up in guilt again. "I only woke up about an hour ago, and he was still…" Dale trailed off with a small sound that was something between a groan and a whimper. Lena gave Dale a look that he couldn't interpret. She could be trying to comfort him, she could be absolutely furious with him, Dale had no idea, and Lena turned her focus to Warren before he could properly figure it out.

"His hands were hurt," Lena commented.

"Yes," Dale said, feeling ashamed of himself as he looked at Warren's bandaged hands. "I was able to take care of it, but I felt knots in his arms, shoulders, and legs."

Lena frowned slightly as she began to rub her hands over Warren's arm. Almost immediately she found the knot. "I'm not surprised." She began to knead at the knot, massaging it out and soothing it. "Hours of non-stop work can be hard on one's muscles, as I'm sure you know. But if you're unable to recognize when you need a break, or can't stop even if you wanted to, it can be easy to do some real damage to your muscles."

"Can you help him?" Dale asked. Lena turned and gave him a small, gentle smile.

"I will do what I can," Lena said. "But I think your brother is going to be just fine."

"Lena knows what she's doing," Stan came in and put a hand on Dale's shoulder. "Your brother's in good hands."

Dale knew that he was right. Lena was a master masseuse, and there was nobody he trusted more with Warren's well-being than Lena. It was hard to calm down though. Dale was terrified for his brother, he was anxious, and that wasn't a feeling that he could make go away by being logical.

Lena seemed to know that Dale was unable to relax. He was stressed and felt the need to do something useful. "You said that he has knots on his legs as well?" Dale nodded. "If we're working with his legs, we will need more room to work with."

Dale knew what she was talking about. "I'll go get your massage table," Dale said as he rushed out of the room. Anything to feel like he was actually doing something to help his brother. Lena didn't use her massage table very often, as she didn't actually give all that many massages, but when she did give one, she wanted to do it right.

As Dale grabbed the table, he also saw Lena's massage lotions. He vaguely remembered her mentioning using lotions or oils when she gave massages, to make it easier to manipulate the skin. Dale didn't know why there were so many different kinds, but that was why Lena was the masseuse here.

Dale returned to the living room and began to set up Lena's table. He'd only set it up once or twice before, but he had no problems with it. He knew how to work with his hands, it was what he was best at.

While Dale set up the table, Lena rubbed circles on the knot on Warren's arm. She would probably need the lotion and table to properly get into the knots on Warren's legs and shoulders, but because of the location of the knots on his arms, and the smaller size, Lena could handle it fine.

When Dale finished with the table, he lifted Warren again and laid him face down on the table, making sure that his positioning was comfortable. Lena frowned and put her hand on Warren's leg, rubbing it slightly.

"Where are the knots in his legs?" Lena asked.

"I felt swelling on his thighs," Dale put his hand on Warren's upper thigh, halfway between the back of his knee and his lower back. Lena put her hand where Dale had, frowning at the swelling she could feel.

"We can't roll up his legs to reach them," Lena said. "I need you to get his pants off." Dale didn't hesitate to do what she said. Warren's modesty wasn't exactly his main priority at this point.

Dale's mind was blank. Now that he was no longer actively doing something to help Warren, he had nothing to focus on, but he felt like he had to do something. He couldn't concentrate enough to think of anything though.

"If there's swelling, ice may help," Stan commented as Lena got to work. Dale numbly nodded and made his way into the kitchen. He was moving on autopilot at this point. Fortunately, he'd gotten enough work related injuries that preparing an ice pack was second nature to him. He didn't have to think about it at all.

They had three ice packs in the freezer, all of slightly different makes and sizes. Dale grabbed all of them. He set two of them on the counter and turned on the sink faucet. Dale began to twist and press at the ice pack in his hands as he held it under the stream of water. He was trying to loosen it up a bit. Dale didn't know if this method was actually better than keeping the ice packs frozen solid, but this was the way that Lena did it, and it was what Dale was used to. It always worked for him in the past, and he wasn't about to mess with what he knew.

After Dale had slightly warmed all of the ice packs, but not nearly enough for them to begin melting, he took them in hand. He grabbed some hand towels so the ice packs wouldn't freeze Warren's skin, and returned to the living room.

Lena was still working on Warren's leg when Dale returned. Without asking what he should do, Dale took the largest ice pack and wrapped it up in one of the hand towels. He couldn't take Warren's shirt off without moving his brother completely, so Dale settled for just pulling it up over his shoulders so he could have access to the knots. Dale then laid the ice pack on Warren's right shoulder, right where the worst of the swelling was.

Because of the positioning of Warren's arm, instead of putting the ice pack right on top of it, Dale had to instead lay the cloth against the knot and then lean the ice pack against it. With the last ice pack, Dale wrapped it up and put it on the leg that Lena wasn't working on.

The second he was finished with the ice packs, Lena didn't give him a second to rest. "This is going to take some time. Can you go wake up Ruth? I'm going to need her help." Ruth was nowhere near as good at giving massages as Lena was, but she was still incredible. Better than many massages he could pay for.

Dale nodded and made his way to Ruth and Stan's bedroom. He knew that Stan would probably be the better choice to wake his wife, but Dale appreciated the opportunity to do something to help Warren, even if that help was to just get someone else who could do more than he could.

Dale knocked on the bedroom door. He waited a moment, just in case she was awake, before letting himself in. "Ruth?" Dale approached the bed. "Ruth, we really need your help." All of them were fairly light sleepers. Dale didn't have to do more than just talk to her before Ruth woke up.

"Dale, what's going on?" Ruth sat up. She frowned in concern when she saw him. "You look absolutely exhausted. Did you get any sleep last night?"

"Y-yes," Dale whined. He brought a hand to his eyes. This whole disaster had happened because he'd been sleeping when he shouldn't have. Ruth looked even more concerned about him, but Dale didn't want her concern. He didn't need help here, Warren was the one that needed help. "Please, Lena needs your help to help Warren." It wasn't a lot of information, but Dale wasn't up for revealing his shame all over again. He couldn't.

Fortunately, Ruth didn't need much more information. She pulled back her covers and got out of bed. Dale knew that she would, but he was still relieved. He may not be able to do a lot to help Warren, but at least Lena and Ruth could help him.

With Ruth following behind him, Dale returned to the living room. Lena didn't even look in their direction as they arrived, she just set Ruth straight to work. "Ruth, I need you to come take my place dealing with this knot here so I can get started on his shoulders." Even though she didn't know what was going on, or what had happened, Ruth didn't hesitate to do as she was told. She immediately found where the knot on Warren's leg was, and she began to rub and knead at it while Lena moved on.

For a moment Dale stood awkwardly to the side, unsure of what he should do now. He wanted to help Warren in a more direct way, but he definitely didn't want to get in the women's way. Dale glanced around anxiously, looking for something, anything, that he could do to help his brother.

In his looking around, Dale's eyes were drawn to Warren's hands, though he wasn't entirely sure why. He stared at them for a moment before he saw them twitch slightly. Dale blinked. Warren must be waking up. Instinctively Dale got down on his knees, kneeling at the side of the table, looking at his brother, whose eyes were open.

Like usual, Warren's eyes were way too blank for him to truly be looking at Dale, more like through him. Something different that Dale noticed though was that Warren was blinking rapidly. He didn't know if this was because Warren was tired, uncomfortable, in pain, confused, or if he just had an eyelash stuck in his eyes, but whatever the reason Dale wanted to help him.

Dale took Warren's hand, being careful of the blisters. He was barely touching Warren's hand. He felt his breath get caught in his throat when he felt Warren's fingers twitch slightly. It was probably just a reflex, but when Warren's fingers stayed curled towards Dale's, he couldn't help but wonder if it was more than just a muscle twitch. If his brother was looking for comfort, even just instinctively.

Dale shifted his position slightly to get more comfortable. He couldn't have moved for more than an inch, but to his surprise Warren's eyes shifted slightly. It was just a small movement, barely noticeable, but Warren was still staring straight in his direction instead of an inch or two to the left. Warren may not truly be seeing him, but he was still looking straight at him.

It wasn't a lot to go off of, but these two little things that showed Dale that his brother was at least subconsciously aware of him. For the first time since Warren had gotten like this, Dale felt like he was finally reaching his brother. He didn't know why it was happening now, but he was too relieved and emotionally exhausted to overthink it.

"Hey," Dale said quietly as he gave his brother a small, weak smile. "I miss you," Warren didn't answer him, but Dale didn't need him to. In the past thirty seconds he'd gotten a lot of personal response from Warren, and it would just be unrealistic to expect more from him. Dale was content to just kneel here and hold his brother's hand.

He still felt like he should do something more to help Warren more directly, but at the same time he was fine to just stay where he was. When's gaze had followed him. Warren's fingers had twitched towards Dales like he'd been trying to hold his hand. Warren seemed to want Dale there with him. Dale may not be helping his brother physically get better, but he was giving Warren what he wanted, and that was really important too.

"I'm here," Dale said. Warren blinked and for a moment Dale thought that he saw a small spark of awareness in his eyes. "I'm not going anywhere." This was what Warren needed right now, and Dale was only too willing to give it to him.

Chapter Text

The most stressful days of the year at Fablehaven were the days just before the summer and spring solstices and spring and fall equinoxes. On the days leading up to the festival, the creatures around Fablehaven were always especially rowdy, and Dale also had a lot of work to do to provide some additional protections around the house. They all had work to do.

Years ago Dale had done a little bit of everything. He'd helped Stan to reign in the extremely rowdy creatures. He'd recruited fairies for the fairy lanterns with Lena. He and Ruth would go around the yard and make sure that anything that could be used as a weapon, or something that could compromise them, was brought inside.

Years ago though they'd all realized just how much of a natural he was at carving out Jack-o-lanterns for the fairy lanterns to stay in. He could easily carve out hundreds of pumpkins, which was good, because using fairy lanterns was one of the most important precautions they took on festival night.

While Dale was good at carving, he'd never been very good at pulling out the slimy guts. He didn't mind the slimy guts, he was used to getting his hands dirty, he just wasn't very quick at it, for one reason or another. Warren was the one who was great at pulling out the guts. He was almost as quick at gutting pumpkins as Dale was at carving them.

It seemed like some things never changed.

"You seem to be having a good day today," Dale commented as he finished carving out the top of a pumpkin, which he then held out to Warren. His brother practically snatched the pumpkin and began to clean it out. Dale hadn't even had to get Warren going. It was just one of those things that he remembered how to do, like eating. Not only that, but Warren seemed fairly relaxed while doing this. His eyes weren't as completely blank as they normally were. He was looking right at the pumpkin that he was working on. When Dale said something to him, Warren would look towards him before turning his attention back to the pumpkin.

Dale didn't know what had changed, but ever since the whole hoeing incident, Warren seemed to be more aware. Or maybe Dale was the one who was more aware of his brother, because he didn't want a repeat of what had happened. It had been a few weeks, and though Warren's muscles seemed to be doing just fine, thanks to Lena and Ruth, his hands were still a little sensitive. The blisters had healed over, for the most part, but Dale knew that just a little too much friction could undo everything, so he was watching Warren carefully.

Dale gave Warren a small smile as he got to work to work at carving out a Jack-o-lantern from a pumpkin that Warren had already de-gutted. He was not working as quickly as he normally would, so this may take awhile longer than usual, but Dale didn't mind. He enjoyed working with Warren, especially since it seemed like Warren was enjoying this just as much as he was.

By the time the two of them finished with their pumpkins, it was late afternoon. Definitely a few hours later than Dale would normally like to be, but he didn't mind it so much. There really was nothing else he would rather be doing with his time than to work side by side with his brother. But they didn't have all day. They had to get the rest of these pumpkins set up around the house, and get back inside the house before sundown. They still had an hour, but on festival nights, it was always better to err on the side of caution.

"Come on," Dale said aside his pumpkin as he finished carving it and took back the pumpkin that Warren had been working with. Dale quickly began to carve into it. "We've got to get these back to get these up and get inside." Dale practically tore through the pumpkin. It was the fastest, sloppiest fairy light he's ever carved, but it would get the job done. Dale put the pumpkin with the other dozen or so they'd just been working with in a wheelbarrow. At least Lena and the Sorensons had come by to get the rest of the pumpkins and set them up already. They just had to deal with these last few.

Dale grabbed Warren's hand and pulled him to his feet. Dale knew he should try to get Warren moving on his own, but they were running out of time. They needed to get inside. So Dale bent slightly and led Warren to get onto his back. Warren had been working all afternoon, so Dale didn't feel any guilt about carrying his brother the few yards into the house.

As Dale brought Warren inside, he passed by Stan, who was speaking to some fairies on the front porch. Many of the fairies retreated into their fairy lanterns as they approached. Dale had realized awhile ago that creatures tended to avoid Warren, even ones that wouldn't normally be afraid of him. Even Newel and Doren, who were actually really fond of Warren, were awkwardly avoiding him like the plague. They were concerned about Warren, and they came by the cabin every once and awhile just to see if he was doing any better, but they refused to come within twenty feet of Warren. And they were the brave ones.

Fairies were much more uneasy around people in general, so as soon as they saw Warren, they skittered off. All but just a couple of them, and even though there were hundreds of fairies around Fablehaven, Dale recognized every single one of them. There was the fairy with silver hair and sparkling wings who was interested in Warren, but she wasn't the only one that seemed to go out of her way to try to get Warren's attention. Especially as he got older.

Lena had once told Dale that it had been the same way with Patton, even before he'd become fairystruck. Fairies were creatures of beauty. They had a tendency to get jealous of beautiful women, unless those women recognized that the fairies were more beautiful. As for men, fairies went looking for recognition from handsome young men, and Warren was only too happy to provide that. Obviously, he hadn't been able to since getting like this, but these few fairies were at least interested enough to stay nearby.

Stan looked at Dale and Warren. "Did you get the work done?"

"With some help," Dale gestured to Warren, who was staring blankly at the fairies. "He's still the best at getting the guts out of the pumpkin,"

Stan gave the two of them a small smile. "He always liked feeling useful,"

"Especially on festival nights," Dale said with a slight frown. He remembered the way that Warren would run around, doing anything he could to help someone who needed some additional assistance. He'd done this partially to be helpful, and partially to pester them all with questions about the creatures that would be coming into the yard.

Warren's curiosity had always been especially annoying to deal with on festival nights. He always wanted to look out the window. Dale was eighteen before he'd first looked out the window, but Warren had been given permission when he was just fifteen, the first festival after he'd been offered training from the Knights of the Dawn.

Dale hadn't been all that eager to let his brother look out the window. He still got nightmares because of what he'd seen, but as Lena had pointed out, Warren would be seeing a lot of horrible creatures as a Knight, and it might be best to at least have an idea of just how horrible their world had to offer.

Warren's excitement had waned slightly after his first glance out the window, and at the next festival he didn't even ask about the window, but the festival after that, he was right back to his old habits. Warren hadn't been at Fablehaven on festival night since becoming a Knight, but Dale knew that his brother had probably seen some things out there on his adventures that were worse than what could be found on festival nights at Fablehaven. Dale had expected Warren's first festival back at Fablehaven to be an absolute nightmare, that Warren may just get extremely bold and decide to not just take a peek outside, but leave the curtains open all night.

Dale should be relieved that there shouldn't be any problems tonight, but he really wasn't. He would definitely prefer that Warren be opening himself up to endless sleepless nights if it meant he was back to his old self again.

"Oh, before I forget, I found something for Warren," Stan opened the door and lead the way inside. Dale brought Warren into the kitchen, where Ruth was finishing up on dinner. They would eat a large, hearty meal just before sundown, like they did on every festival night. Ruth nodded at Dale, as she acknowledged that she would keep an eye on his brother. Once he knew that Warren would be okay, Dale followed Stan into his study.

"You know how I feel about technology on the preserve," Stan said as he went through a drawer in his desk. "But we both know how crazy things can get on festival nights, and I don't think that ear plugs would be enough for Warren, so I decided to make an exception to my rule." Stan pulled out a large pair of headphones that resembled the kind that Dale would sometimes see construction workers wear. These headphones were plugged into an iPod.

"...You did this for Warren?" Dale took the headphones and slipped them on. He could already tell that they would do well to block out sound, and what little it couldn't block out could be toned out with some music from the iPod. Dale took the headphones off and gave Stan a grateful smile. "Thank you." He knew that Stan hated the thought of technology at Fablehaven. It had taken a lot of persuading to talk him into getting a landline phone. For Stan to go against his own personal beliefs for Warren's sake, it meant a lot.

"I'm trusting you to not let any creatures get their hands on those," Stan said sternly. "Not even the satyrs." They both knew that a pair of headphones wasn't truly dangerous in the hands of anything on the preserve, and some music wouldn't corrupt anything, but it was the concept of the matter, and Dale was more than happy to respect that.

"They'll just be for Warren," Dale said, and he meant it. "What kind of music is on here?"

Stan smiled. "Lena recorded her singing some of those old naiad and fairy lullabies that Warren loved so much," Dale remembered those. It had been years since he'd heard them, as Lena didn't sing very much anymore, but he still frequently found himself humming to the old tunes. They were incredibly soothing.

"I'll be sure to thank her as well," Dale said quietly. Lena and the Sorensson's were doing so much to help Warren, going out of their ways to accommodate him and make him more comfortable, and Dale couldn't ask for more.

"Stan, Dale, dinner's ready," Ruth called in from the kitchen. She would normally come in to see them, as Ruth didn't like to shout needlessly in the house, but she was still in the kitchen keeping an eye on Warren. She didn't want to leave him on his own, even for a second.

Dale and Stan left the office immediately. It was a little earlier than they would normally have dinner, but as it was a festival night, they wanted to be completely done before the chaos really began at sundown. They needed to be ready.

In the kitchen, Ruth was in the process of getting the food on the table. Dale went to go help her while Stan made his way outside to make sure that all of the fairy lanterns were set up and to fetch Lena. Dale set the headphones in front of Waren before assisting Ruth even more. When the table was ready, Dale sat next to his brother and started putting a plate together for him. He could get Warren starting to eat while he waited for the others to return.

A few minutes later Stan and Lena returned inside. By this time, Warren was already eating on his own. Warren was in such a good mood today, he just needed the smallest amount of goading to do something.

Lena smiled when she saw Warren. She gently ran her fingers through his hair. He leaned ever so slightly into her touch. Warren seemed to be at least slightly aware of his surroundings. Dale felt so relieved. He had a good feeling about tonight.

"I see you got Warren's headphones," Lena said. "Have you had the chance to try them out yet?"

"That's what tonight's for," Dale said. "How's everything looking outside?"

"As secure as we can get it," Lena said. "The fairy lanterns are all in place. You and Warren did good." Lena hadn't commented on Dale's pumpkin work since he was a child. But she wasn't just complimenting him for his pumpkin work, she was commenting on his work with Warren, and Dale was proud.

"It's almost sundown," Ruth said. "Let's eat and get ready." They all sat down to eat. Dale kept half an eye on Warren as he ate. Warren was just finishing his food, looking slightly in Dale's general direction. Dale wondered what was on his mind.

As the minutes passed, Lena got more and more tense. She had always been the most sensitive to the goings on of festivals. She could feel when things were about to get started. Lena rarely said anything about her concerns, but over the years Dale had come to recognize when she was worried. And on festival nights, when she was visibly unnerved, Dale knew that things were about to begin.

Dale pushed his chair back and stood up. If creatures were going to start to show up in their yard in the next few minutes, Dale wanted to have his shotgun at his side. He probably wouldn't use it, but it was better to be safe than sorry on festival nights. As Dale left the kitchen he noticed that Warren's gaze followed him, or at least remained in his general direction. Dale felt a little bad about leaving the room when his brother seemed to be drawn to him right now, but he pushed the guilt away. Keeping them all safe was the most important thing, keeping them happy came second.

By the time Dale grabbed his gun, made sure he had enough ammo to make it through the night, and returned to join the others, there were already creatures coming into the yard. Lena and the Sorensons had brought Warren into the living room, and they were all waiting tensely for trouble.

Dale set his shotgun on the table and sat down on the couch next to Warren, who was wearing his headphones. Warren seemed just as content as he had been all day, but there was a strange look in his eyes, something like confusion, with just a hint of caution. Warren's eyes were also glued to the closed and curtained windows, like he somehow knew what was out there.

Dale frowned as he pulled Warren closer, almost protectively. That good feeling about Warren being almost aware of what was going on around him had been covered with concern that maybe it wasn't such a good thing. Dale was all for Warren being aware and acting like himself, but on a festival night, when there were so many creatures of shadow so nearby? Maybe it would be for the best if Warren stayed oblivious to the darkness.

Dale glared at the window, making sure that the shotgun was within reach. If there was even a hint of trouble from the creatures outside, if they gave Dale just a single reason to think that they were threatening Warren's safety or sanity, he would destroy them.

As the minutes passed, Warren seemed to become more distressed. He drew so close back against Dale that he almost seemed to be trying to sink right into him. Warren had brought his hands up to his ears and was pushing them against the earphones. There wasn't actually that much noise outside yet, and Warren's headphones were so thick that Dale doubted that his brother could actually hear anything aside from his music. There had to be something else that was bothering him.

Warren's distress was incredibly gradual, but then something that Dale wasn't aware of and couldn't actually identify happened. One second Warren was just frowning at the window and leaning against Dale, and the next he was letting out whines from the back of his throat and turning his face towards Dale's chest.

Dale was shocked, and beyond concerned. Ever since he'd tried to go after the artifact, Warren had been incredibly subdued with his emotions and reactions. It was really concerning for him to suddenly be so visibly distressed. And Dale didn't even know what had happened.

He looked towards the window. Everything looked and sounded fine, at least as far as festival nights went. But just because Dale wasn't aware of trouble didn't mean that it wasn't out there.

Lena shuddered slightly and wrapped her arms around herself. "There are some dark forces in the yard tonight." She didn't exactly seem concerned, as she knew that they were perfectly safe, but she was obviously troubled. Just like Warren was.

Dale drew his brother close. "Do you know exactly who is out there?" Lena shook her head.

"I have no idea," She said in a tone that suggested that she was just fine with it that way. She didn't want to know. "But creatures have always been able to have a vague sense of the more powerful forces. I may not be a naiad anymore, but I can still feel it. Especially on festival nights."

Dale frowned and looked at his brother, who was clutching tightly to him like he was his only lifeline. "What if someone has been cursed or something? Would they be able to sense the darkness too?" They didn't know if Warren was truly cursed, but Dale didn't know how else to refer to it.

Lena looked at Warren, who was still whining slightly. "There are dark creatures all over Fablehaven. I think we would know by now if Warren was able to sense all of them. If he was somehow connected to one though…" She trailed off. Dale's expression darkened. The only way that Dale could imagine someone being connected to Warren was if they were responsible for whatever had happened to him.

Dale felt a hot, boiling anger build up in him. There was a very real possibility that whoever or whatever had hurt Warren and taken his will from him was just outside the house right now, and would be there all night. Dale hated this with a passion, and Warren holding tightly to him was the only thing keeping him from grabbing his shotgun and storming outside to destroy whoever had done this to his brother.

Dale had been so focused on just what was wrong with Warren that he hadn't thought a lot about why it had happened. Tonight was the first time that Dale was even considering that there was likely someone responsible for all of this.

Dale had never been a violent person, but at that moment he desperately wanted to hurt the one who had essentially taken his brother from him. He wanted to make them pay. But going out on a festival night was suicide. He wouldn't accomplish anything, except getting himself killed, and where would that leave Warren?

Dale's anger was overwhelming, but he was forced to focus when he heard Warren's whine turn into a whimper. He was getting more distressed. At first Dale just became angrier as he wondered just what was out there, and what it was doing to upset Warren like this. His anger wasn't doing his brother any good though, so Dale forced himself to take a deep breath.

"It's okay," Dale ran his hands through Warren's hair. "Nothing can get us in here." Dale held his brother close to him and adjusted the headphones, just to make sure that they were blocking out the noise. He wanted to reassure his brother that he was safe, and he wouldn't let anything happen to him, but it didn't seem right to say. Even if Warren couldn't understand what he was saying, Dale couldn't bring himself to tell Warren that he would protect him, because clearly he couldn't. Even before this whole disaster had happened, Dale had never been very good at protecting his brother.

What Dale could do though, even now, was to help ease the pain coming from Warren's own mind. He held Warren close, like he would never let him go again. Dale pet Warren's hair with one hand, and rubbed his back with the other. It felt a little odd to do, but Dale remembered when he was really young his dad used to do this when he was feeling sick. It hadn't taken away the physical pains, but it had made Dale feel more secure, and that was what he wanted for Warren.

Dale closed his eyes and quietly hummed an old naiad lullaby, like the kind that Warren was listening to. Dale knew that his brother couldn't hear his humming, but he did it anyways, because he didn't know what else to do. It may not do any good, but if there was even a minuscule chance that Dale's efforts may make Warren feel even the smallest bit better, then it was worth it.

Chapter Text

Dale's stomach was really bothering him. He was hungry. Warren hadn't been having a very good day, so Dale had been more focused on him at lunch time than on getting some food. He'd been able to ignore it while working, but now that he had stopped for the evening, he was ready to get some dinner.

As Dale entered the main house he immediately knew that while something wasn't necessarily wrong, it certainly wasn't normal. Dale couldn't smell dinner being made, even though most of the time Lena or Ruth were finishing up dinner by the time he got there. He also couldn't hear Lena or the Sorenson's. It seemed like nobody else was home, which was incredibly unusual.

Dale wasn't worried. It may not be normal for the house to be this quiet and peaceful this time of day, but unusual things happened in Fablehaven all the time. The others were probably just fine, and were all just busy with something. That was fine. Dale could entertain himself for the evening. It would actually give him the chance to get some research done.

First though, dininer.

Dale wasn't an incompetent cook. He wasn't as masterful as Lena was, but she'd taught him a lot, and if he had to make all of own meals, he wouldn't starve and he wouldn't get bored of overly simplistic food. However, sometimes Dale wanted something simple and easy, and since he had stuff he wanted to do that night and was feeling really hungry, he decided to make something really quick.

Dale went to the fridge and pulled out two eggs and ketchup. He then went to the pantry and grabbed an onion. Setting the ketchup aside, Dale began by chopping the onion. Once he had small pieces, Dale grabbed a bowl and cracked his eggs into it. He beat the eggs, and once they were all mixed he stirred in the onion.

When his egg and onion mixture was ready, Dale poured it into a buttered pan and began to scramble it. It only took a few minutes for his scrambled eggs to be done. Dale dished his food onto a plate, and finished it up by drenching it in ketchup. Perfect.

Dale sat down as he ate his dinner. For a few minutes Dale sat and ate in silence as he tried to think of all the powerful and dangerous creatures around Fablehaven. They'd all been trying to find a safe cure for Warren. They have been looking at things that were both natural and magical, but they weren't getting anywhere.

Dale knew that the others were starting to run out of ideas, and out of hope. Dale was feeling pretty hopeless himself, but he wasn't about to give up on his brother. Dale would do anything to protect his brother. Even things that he normally wouldn't, and probably shouldn't, do.

Dale thought he had an idea of how he could better know how to help his brother. He may not have access to a cure, but someone in his position actually had access to very little of the magic that their world had to offer. There were some incredibly powerful creatures, even just in the boundaries of Fablehaven, who may just have the power to help Warren. Or, at the very least, they may have the resources and influence to know what to do for him.

The problem with going to these creatures for help was that most of them were dark or evil, and all of them were incredibly dangerous. Going to these beings for help was risky business. One would either have to be able to outsmart the creature, or be prepared to face the consequences. Even asking the more benevolent creatures, such as the Fairy Queen, for help was probably going to do more harm than good.

Dale didn't exactly want to, but at this point he felt like he had no other choice. Right now it wasn't a matter of whether he should go to one of these creatures for help, but which one had the best chance of helping Warren with minimum risk. He'd been spending his spare time these past few weeks trying to find enough information to make a good decision.

Dale hadn't been able to find someone that he dared to ask for help yet, but he'd been able to narrow down who he knew he wouldn't ask, no matter what. Beings like Muriel and the Fairy Queen. If Muriel had at least one more knot keeping her bound, Dale would probably want to go to her for assistance, but it was way too dangerous to allow her to get down to one knot. Especially since they didn't actually know for sure if she had the power to help Warren. As for the Fairy Queen, Dale had heard way too many horror stories of what happened to people who went to her for help when she didn't think they were pure or worthy enough. He would rather not get turned into dandelion dust.

It was a little discouraging that he'd only been able to figure out what wouldn't work or who he couldn't go to, but Dale tried not to lose faith. He told himself that the more options he eliminated, the closer he was to figuring it out. He just had to keep looking.

When he was finished eating, Dale made his way into Stan's study. They kept most of their books in the living room, but the official information and records about Fablehaven was kept in the study. Dale frowned slightly when he saw the room. It had been reorganized since the last time he had been in here, which had only been a few days ago.

Dale looked in all of the drawers, cupboards, the entire room, but he couldn't find any books that might contain the information he was looking for. Actually, Dale couldn't find anything that might be considered sensitive information that would normally be kept in here. Dale frowned. Had Stan moved things?

Actually, Ruth might have. For awhile now Dale had noticed that Ruth had been looking in some of the exact same books that he'd been interested. She wouldn't tell him just what she was looking for, but he couldn't really begrudge her for that, because he hadn't exactly been open with his plans either. Dale knew that Stan wouldn't approve of asking creatures for help. As the caretaker at Fablehaven, Stan knew how important it was that they not free dark creatures who were imprisoned, or owe anybody any favors, and those were the exact kinds of things that they'd be asked to give in exchange for help. Dale knew these things too, and he was trying to be careful, but he was definitely willing to be a little less careful if it meant getting his brother back, and he didn't need to hear Stan's scolding warnings.

Dale didn't know why everything had been moved, and he didn't like not knowing where all of Fablehaven's vital information was, but he had an idea of where to look for the books he'd come in here for in the first place. If Ruth had been looking in them, she might have brought them to her room.

Dale made his way to the Sorenson's room. He didn't go in there very often, but he didn't usually have reason to. He barely spent very much time in his own room, let alone anyone else's. When Dale got to the room he found that the door was open, where it usually wasn't. One glance inside showed Lenta and Stan, both looking extremely distressed. Stan was sitting on the bed, and on his lap was something that Dale had never expected to see. A chicken.

"What's going on in here?" Dale asked slowly. Stan grimaced and adjusted his position. The chicken screeched in distress and bit Stan's finger. The chicken then flapped away from Stan and scurried to Lena. Stan gave the chicken an irritated, but slightly heartbroken glare.

"I don't know why you're acting like this. I warned you that something like this might happen." Stan's words were scolding, but his tone was one that Dale had heard only a handful of times. It was a tone of raw emotion that implied that Stan almost regretted coming into this life. In the first place.

"We all thought it might work," Lena said.

"What might?" Dale asked. He felt like he was missing something important. "What happened?" He didn't ask about the chicken, but he hoped that they would know that the question was implied.

Stan sighed and put his hands on his hips. He still hadn't taken his eyes off of the chicken. "What happened was that Ruth thought she had an idea of how to help Warren,"

"A similar idea to yours," Lena gave Dale a knowing look. He may not have told her what he'd been up to, but it didn't surprise him that she knew anyway. "She's been wanting to ask the genie in the dungeon for help with Warren, and today she finally did. As you can see, it didn't go very well."

Dale's eyes widened. He hadn't considered the genie at all. He had a bit of a philosophy that creatures in the dungeon were off limits, because they had to be down there for a really good reason. He didn't judge Ruth for resorting to going to the genie. He was getting to that level of desperation himself.

Dale glanced at the chicken next to Lena. "That's...that's Ruth?"

Stan slumped slightly. He looked completely drained. "Very first question the genie asked was one she wouldn't answer, so she had to face the penalty."

Dale swallowed thickly. He knew that Ruth was smart. She wouldn't have jumped into this situation without planning ahead first. That must have been what all of her own research had been for.

A lot of good that did her.

This was a very sobering reminder to Dale that no matter how careful he was in going for help, it could still end up horribly for him. There was nothing about this idea of his that was safe, which he'd already known, but it was one thing to know something, and another to see a result right in front of him.

"Let me guess," Dale said thickly. "This isn't a curse that will just wear off."

Stan shook his head. "Knowing the genie, probably not." Dale let out a slow breath and ran a hand through his hair. They already had one person who was changed by a dark creature who they had no idea how to help, and now they had another.

Stan finally looked away from Ruth to give Dale a level stare. "I know you want to help your brother, and I know I can't stop you." Dale stiffened. He knew this tone of Stan's. He mostly just reserved it for his grown children when he thought they were about to make a mistake, but knew that they were grown adults who had to learn for themselves. "But whatever you think you can do, whoever you think you can go to for help, I'm begging you to reconsider. "You can't trust these creatures."

Dale glanced at Ruth again. Maybe this was a mistake, but he couldn't give up on Warren. Not when there was a chance that someone out there could help him. "Where are the books that were in your study?"

Stan sighed, but he could see the determination in Dale's eyes. He knew that arguing with him wouldn't change his mind. "They're in the attic."

Dale gaped at him. "What are they doing up there?"

Stan gave him a knowing little smile, but it was shaky. "It's the last place you would think of looking isn't it?" Dale nodded. "Well, we tried to take some precautions before Ruth went to see the genie. She couldn't know any sensitive information that the genie could ask about."

Well, that explained that.

"Thanks," Dale muttered as he retreated back. Time to go check out the attic.

"Be careful," Stan said quietly, but Dale barely even paused. He felt horrible about what happened to Ruth, and he knew full well that something similar could very easily happen to him, but he couldn't let that stop him. He had to help Warren, no matter the risk to himself.

Chapter Text

Even though both Dale and Warren had been raised in Fablehaven, Dale thought that the magical preserve was no place for a child. It was really dangerous, both for the curious kids who were often far too excited about magic to be cautious about it, and for the creatures who weren't used to humans going out of their way to mess with them.

Warren had been a handful as a kid, but he hadn't caused all that much trouble. For the most part, Warren followed the guidelines that were given to him. Warren had been smart enough to know that he wasn't smart enough to sneak around Dale, Lena, and the Sorensons. If they told him he couldn't do something, he fought and argued, but ultimately did as he was told...for the most part.

Dale had gotten so used to Warren, that having any other child around Fablehaven just felt unnatural. It didn't happen very often, but Stan and Ruth occasionally invited their grandchildren to the preserve. They never stayed for longer than a few days, but it was still hard. It had been one thing to keep the magic of the preserve a secret when Scott, Sophie, and Carl had come to visit, because at that time they'd all been older teenagers who had outgrown their child-like curiosity and desire to explore. They had barely ever left the house, let alone the yard.

Stan and Ruth's children had been easy to handle, but their grandchildren, who were younger, more curious, and more prone to getting bored, were a challenge.

Dale had felt awkward around all of the grandchildren because keeping secrets while keeping the children safe from danger that they didn't know about was exhausting. However, that was nothing compared to the chaos and headache that came when the latest grandchildren, Seth and Kendra, learned about Fablehaven's secrets and then decided that they wanted to know everything.

They were good kids, and complete naturals at being part of this world, but they were far too young to be as reckless as they were. Sometimes Dale thought that Seth and Kendra were too eager about all of this magic business. They reminded him a bit of how Warren had been these past couple of years, after he'd gotten himself involved with the Knights of the Dawn. Warren's eagerness for adventure had landed him in a lot of trouble that they were still trying to figure out. And unlike the children, Warren had had years of training and experience.

Kendra seemed to have a better head on her shoulders than her brother did. She was more cautious, and she actually seemed to think about the consequences of the actions of her and those around her.

Seth was just excited. There wasn't necessarily anything wrong with that, but it did get old sometimes. After all the excitement with Muriel and the demon Bahumet, they'd all wanted nothing more than to take a day, or a week, off from all work. Unfortunately, not all of them could afford to take that much needed break.

After the disastrous festival night, there was a very good chance that Muriel hadn't been the only one that had taken the opportunity to cause trouble. Stan had to go around Fablehaven and make sure that there wasn't any trouble that was going to sneak up on them. With Lena gone, Ruth took up the responsibility of fixing up the yard and making sure that Seth and Kendra stayed out of trouble.

Dale would have normally helped either Stan or Ruth, but he had a bigger priority to worry about. He hadn't been able to spend as much time with Warren as he would have liked to lately, because Stan had wanted another set of eyes keeping an eye on Kendra and Seth while they were there. Dale had only put the bare minimum into taking care of his brother, because he couldn't afford to do more.

Dale didn't like leaving his brother to his own devices, but he'd told himself that it was just temporary and Warren would be okay. However, there was a big difference between just seeing Warren for a few minutes at a time, just a few times a day, and not seeing Warren at all. Dale knew that the cabin should be secure and safe, but the main house should be as well, even on festival nights. Dale didn't want to just assume that Warren was safe. So as soon as he knew that all of the Sorensons were okay, he'd immediately headed to the cabin.

Warren ended up being just fine. Dale could tell that he was really scared, and considering that Dale hadn't been by in a full day, he knew he had to be hungry. However, Dale had seen Warren in worse condition. He could handle fear and hunger.

Dale would love to stay at Warren's side for the next few weeks, at the very least, but he had other things he had to do. Dale gave himself a full day with Warren before he figured that he should return to the main house, just to make sure that Stan and Ruth had everything under control.

Dale got back to the main house in the mid morning. At Fablehaven it was a time of day when the house would normally be quiet, too late for breakfast, and too late for lunch. However when Dale arrived he saw Stan, Ruth, and Seth all sitting at the table eating a late breakfast. Stan and Ruth looked as exhausted as Dale felt. Only Seth seemed to have recovered completely from all the excitement.

"Hey, Dale," Seth greeted him with way too much energy. "Where've you been? I was beginning to think you had been carried off by the fairies like Lena was." Seth's tone was friendly enough, but after nearly two years of dealing with Warren and his condition, Dale had gotten pretty good at reading subtle glances. He could see the lingering fear and relief in Seth's eyes. The boy had been genuinely worried about him.

"I was with my brother," Dale said.

"How is he?" Stan asked. "Any trouble?"

"None," Dale shook his head. "It didn't look like any creature had even stepped past the garden."

Stan's expression darkened with annoyance. "Everybody was too busy trespassing the home to think twice about your brother." That was true, but Dale thought that at least part of what had happened was that none of the creatures dared to step close to Warren. They were all still too scared of Warren's condition.

Seth looked towards Ruth. "You said that Warren was catatonic. What happened to him?"

Dale grimaced. Thinking about Warren made him feel terrible, no matter how much time had passed. "We don't know. You could say that he was cursed."

Seth blinked. Dale could practically see the gears turning in his head. He didn't know what was on the boy's mind, but it was a lot. Seth looked at all of them, and he seemed to be confused or curious about something. "If he was cursed, couldn't the fairies have helped him the way they helped all of us?"

Dale froze. His body seemed to react before his mind fully processed just what Seth had said. Dale felt the air leave his body with so much force it was like he was hit by a truck. He felt nauseous like he was going to be sick. The blood rushed from his face so quickly it left him feeling slightly dizzy. And then Dale realized just what Seth had said.

"He...he could have.." Dale felt like he couldn't breath. Ruth got up from her chair and hurried to Dale's side. She laid a hand on Dale's arm and gently pulled him over to a chair. Dale all but collapsed into the chair. He closed his eyes brought a fist to his mouth and bit down until he could taste a hint of iron. He had broken the skin, and he couldn't bring himself to care.

"Dale, honey, it's okay," Ruth said soothingly. She seemed hesitant to touch him. It was clear that she didn't know how to help Dale. It wasn't like him to freak out like this., and he knew he should feel embarrassed, but he couldn't feel anything but horrified at the thought of Warren and what they hadn't done for him.

"It's not okay," Seth said in a quiet tone that Dale hadn't heard from the boy before. Dale blinked in shock as he felt a cold, wet touch on his fingers. Dale opened his eyes and saw Seth pressing an ice cube against his hand. Seth gave him a gentle smile. "Try biting this instead." It might help."

Moving on autopilot, Dale accepted the ice cube and bit down on it until it broke in two pieces. Dale then started to chew on the ice. By the time he had chewed the ice to bites, Seth was right there with another cube, which he immediately handed to him.

Dale alternated between biting and sucking on the ice. It took him a few ice cubes, but he was finally able to begin calming down enough to talk. "I-I'm okay now,"

Seth looked unconvinced, but he didn't call him out, which Dale appreciated. Ruth seemed to want to say something, but Stan seemed to tell that just because Dale was up for speaking words didn't mean that he was ready to really talk. Stan turned to Seth. "Where did you learn that trick?"

"School," Seth said somewhat sheepishly, like he was reluctant to admit that he had remembered something that they'd tried to drill into him at school. "There was a bit of a self-harm issue a couple of towns over, so a bunch of people came to our school and gave assemblies about it. They talked a little bit about what exactly qualifies as self-harm," At this Seth paused and gave Dale's bleeding knuckles a meaningful look. "But they mostly gave us alternatives to it. I actually completely forgot about the ice thing until I saw what you were doing."

"Well, thanks," Dale said. He hadn't meant to hurt himself, he'd just been trying to ground himself. He hadn't meant to get carried away.

Seth frowned and slid a cup that was full of ice to Dale. "I'm really sorry about your brother. I can't even imagine what that feels like."

"Sometimes, I even have a hard time imagining it myself, and I'm living it," Dale said. There were some mornings when he was just half awake and thought that all of this was just a terrible nightmare. The rude-awakening he always ended up getting a few moments later left him feeling slightly ill and terrible for the rest of the day.

"Well, I'm sorry about bringing it up," Seth apologized. "I didn't really think it through, I was just curious. Sorry."

"It's fine, I just…" Dale grimaced as he remembered just what he'd gotten so upset about. They'd had fairies come by and cure them from all sorts of terrible curses. The fairies had even been able to take imps and turn them back into regular fairies, which none of them thought had been possible. Dale didn't have a doubt in his mind that the fairies would have been more than capable of curing Warren, but he hadn't been there.

Dale had been looking for a way to help his brother for years, and now that he'd finally found something that might have done it, it was too late. They'd missed their chance with the fairies, and if this was the only chance they'd ever be given to help Warren...the thought made Dale feel sick, and furious, and absolutely hopeless.

Dale stood up suddenly, pushing his chair back. He felt the need to do something with himself. He may not be able to help Warren, but he had to do something with himself. He couldn't make his mind shut off, but if he was doing something with his body, then he wouldn't automatically turn to biting his fist, or punching a wall, which he also felt like doing.

"Is there any work for me to do?" Dale asked. He could normally find things to do for himself without any problem, but he couldn't focus on any thinking right now. He just wanted to work.

Ruth didn't look very eager to answer. Being around Seth and Kendra was bringing her maternal side to the forefront of her mind, and him freaking out like this was bringing that protective nature out. Dale could barely remember the last time he'd felt like he was being treated as a child. It wasn't a pleasant feeling.

Stan had always been much more reasonable about what people could handle. He was just as protective as Ruth was, but he also knew that people shouldn't be babied. Especially not adults who were just having a vulnerable day. "The yard is still a big mess," Stan said. "Raking, trimming, it all needs to happen."

"I'll get started," Dale said. He was about to head back outside when Ruth pushed him back into the chair.

"Oh no you don't." Ruth said sternly. "If you think I'm letting you work yourself to death before getting a good breakfast first, you've got another thing coming."

Dale didn't want to waste any time, but Ruth's expression and tone made it clear that there was no room for argument. Dale had to give in. As Ruth pushed a warm plate of food in front of Dale, the excitement seemed to return to Seth's eyes.

"Hey, when you're done and begin working, can I help you?" Seth asked excitedly.

Dale eyed the boy suspiciously. He hadn't worked with help for years, not since before Warren had joined the Knights of the Dawn. Warren had always been eager to help. It had always been hard for Dale to say no to him. Dale was about to refuse Seth and tell him to find something else to do, but the look that he'd always seen in Warren's eyes, it was now in Seth's eyes.

The boy wasn't just looking for excitement or adventure. He didn't want to help Dale because there was a chance that he might meet a monster, he wanted to help because he wanted to be helpful, not to Fablehaven, but to Dale.

"...Okay," Dale agreed reluctantly. Seth lit up, and if he'd reminded Dale of Warren before, he looked just like him now. It was unnerving and a little painful, but it felt really nice as well. It was incredibly bittersweet. "But you have to understand, you're going to have to do exactly what I tell you. We're not going to be playing games or messing around. We're going to be working."

Seth nodded, no less eager than before. "I understand." And Dale thought that he really did get it. Seth wasn't scared at the idea of putting in hard work, he actually seemed a little excited about it. Dale couldn't say for sure, as it was far too early to tell, but he thought that while Seth maybe didn't have the mindset to be a caretaker, he may just have the drive to be a decent groundskeeper.

Dale quickly finished his late breakfast. He stood up again, and Seth was quick to follow his lead. Dale looked to the young boy. "Are you ready to get started?"

"Yeah," Seth said, looking determined. "Let's go,"

Chapter Text

Dale grunted as he dropped a box of Patton Burgess' old books and journals on the ground. He knew he shouldn't be so rough with these journals, as they'd meant a lot to Lena and they needed to use them pretty soon, but he was too annoyed to really care. He was sore all over because he'd been pushing himself far too hard, and there was no Warren or Lena to pull him back. Dale knew that Ruth was concerned, but she hadn't said anything because she knew they couldn't afford it. At the moment, he and Ruth were the only able bodied adults who could take care of Fablehaven.

Stan had had a run in with an imp, and was now in a wheelchair. He couldn't do his normal work around Fablehaven, so Dale and Ruth had both had to pick up the slack, and it was exhausting. Dale got annoyed when he was tired, and frustrated when he didn't have the chance to spend as much time with Warren as he wanted, so he'd had very low patience since his work load had increased. And Stan's mood since the incident had not helped one bit.

"Be careful with those," Stan snapped. "Just because Lena's not here doesn't mean that you should disrespect her things,"

Dale had to clench his teeth to keep himself from taking his anger out on Stan. "I'll do better," He said tensely as he pushed the box closer to the ones he'd brought down earlier. He really hadn't meant to drop the box, but it took muscles to gently set something heavy down, and Dale's arms just didn't have that muscle strength right now. He was so tired from his work lately, he really couldn't handle much more, but more was exactly what Stan was asking for.

Stan sighed and grew more tense. He seemed to reflect just what Dale was feeling. They were both ready for a fight, but neither of them truly wanted it. It took a moment, but Stan gathered himself enough to let it go. "Are all the rooms prepared for our guests?"

Dale scowled. "Yeah, they're ready," Dale didn't even try to hide his irritation. Stan looked at him curiously.

"Are you unhappy that we asked if you were willing to give up your room?" Stan asked. The main house was big, but it wasn't a mansion. They were about to have three new people come to stay at Fablehaven for no one knows how long, and the house only had four bedrooms besides the attic. One was Stan and Ruth's, one was Lena's old room, one was Dale's, and the last was a guest room that used to be Warren's before he'd started to stay in that cabin of his.

Since the accident, Stan had been sleeping on a cot in his study, to make things simpler, but Ruth was still staying in the master bedroom. That left just three bedrooms for their three guests, so Dale had agreed to give up his own room for one of them. He could easily just stay with Warren while they were here. Dale often spent nights with Warren anyways.

"It's not that," Dale sat down on the cot. He was drained and just wanted to sleep.

Stan's expression softened. "This is because they're Knights," It wasn't a question.

Dale felt the old, familiar cold anger that he frequently felt in his chest when the Knights of the Dawn were so much as mentioned. "It seems like every time the Knights involve themselves with Fablehaven or the people who live here, my family gets screwed over." First his parents had been called on that assignment and never returned. Warren had barely been more than a child before the Knights had snatched him up and practically tossed him head first into the most dangerous aspects of their world. And most unforgivable of all, Warren had been looking for an artifact for the Knights when he'd run into whatever had hurt him.

Dale knew that the Knights were trying to do what they thought was best for the sake of the world, but that didn't mean that he had to forgive them for all the painful results of their actions.

Stan gave a barely audible sigh. He'd heard all of this from Dale multiple times before. "They're just coming here to help us,"

"With what?" Dale asked. Stan and Ruth hadn't actually told him that much about what these Knights were coming here for, or even who they were. At first Dale had thought that they'd be helping around the preserve while Stan recovered, but if that was the case then why were they bringing in Knights instead of someone who had experience working on a preserve? And while Dale was feeling overworked, it wasn't so bad that they needed help from three people. The Knights had to be coming here for a different reason, and Dale didn't like being in the dark.

Stan eyed Dale carefully before he seemed to come to a decision. "We were hoping they could help us to find an artifact that is somewhere at Fablehaven."

Dale stiffened. This was all sounding very familiar. "Do you mean the artifact that Warren was looking for?"

"We think so, yes," Stan said gently. His careful tone did nothing to calm Dale down.

"After what happened to Warren you're going to just send three strangers to go walking right into whatever did this to him?" Dale asked, only barely keeping himself from shouting. "What's so important about this artifact anyways?" What trinket could be so important that it was worth what had happened to Warren?

"I'm sorry, but I can't tell you," Stan said, which Dale was annoyed about. His brother had gotten hurt to go after that thing. Dale thought he had the right to know why. "And our guests aren't strangers. One of them is Coulter, you know him,"

"Only vaguely," Dale reminded Stan.

"And while I haven't met the other two, I certainly know of them," Stan continued. "I've thought carefully about this, and I trust all three of these Knights to come here. We've warned them that there would be risks involved with finding this artifact, they know what they're getting into,"

Dale narrowed his eyes coldly. "You told them about Warren?" His brother's condition wasn't exactly a secret, but that didn't mean that Dale wanted Stan to turn Warren into a cautionary tale. He deserved better than that.

"Only enough so that they're not walking blindly into danger," Stan said. "They're all experienced and know how to find and handle rare, valuable, and dangerous things, but I still want all of them to be as prepared as they can for the task at hand."

Dale wanted to stay frustrated, but Stan's tone was so even and his words made so much sense that it was hard to hold on to his anger. Dale gave in. He still didn't know how he felt about having Knights staying in his home, but he was at least going to try to give them the benefit of the doubt and act civilly towards them.

At that moment they heard the front door open. "Dale, come help our guests with their bags!" Ruth called out. Dale gave Stan a small smile that probably looked more like a grimace.

"I'll play nice with the others," Dale promised. Or, at the very least he would certainly try. He left the study and made his way to the entryway where he saw Ruth with three people that Dale didn't recognize, one young woman, an older man, and a rather large man.

"So, you're Dale," The young woman eyed him, looking amused about something. She stepped towards him and held her hand out. "I'm Vanessa Santoro. Warren's told me all about you."

Dale was taken aback. He knew that Warren had worked with many Knights, but he hadn't actually considered that any of their guests would know him personally. "You know Warren?"

"We were both trained by the Knights," Vanessa said. "We've worked together a couple of times," Now that she had mentioned it, Dale thought that Warren had mentioned Vanessa a couple of times. "Where is Warren anyways?"

If Dale had been surprised to hear Vanessa mention Warren, he was unnerved to hear her asking about him like this. He didn't know how to answer her. He was saved from having to answer when the larger man approached him, gently encouraging Vanessa to step aside.

"Dale, I'm glad to finally be able to meet you," The larger man said. "You look so much like your mother,"

Dale blinked. That was something he hadn't heard before. "I do?" He then realized that for this man to recognize him as his mother's son, he must have known her really well. "Did you work with her a lot?"

"Your mother used to help me find ingredients for my potions," The man said. "My name is Tanugatoa Dufu," He held out his hand and Dale shook it. "But please, call me Tanu," This meant that the older man must be Coulter Dixon. Dale would have introduced himself to him, but Coulter had already made his way to Stan's study, probably to see his old friend.

"Dale, why don't you show Tanu where your room is," Ruth suggested. "He's also got potion ingredients still in the truck,"

Dale frowned slightly. "How heavy are your things? And on a completely unrelated note, how fragile are they?"

Tanu chuckled and passed the bag in his hands to Dale. "If you're worried about it, you can take my non-breakable luggage and I'll handle the ingredients." Tanu made his way outside and Dale followed behind him. "There's no shame in admitting you have weakness," Tanu said.

"I've already dropped a box of books today," Dale said. "I didn't want to do the same with your ingredients,"

"And I appreciate that," Tanu grabbed a large bag as well as a smaller box from the truck. Dale could have probably handled helping him, but Tanu seemed to have it covered. "Now, Ruth said I would be staying in your room. I hope you don't mind,"

"I don't," Dale led the way back inside the house. "I have somewhere else I can stay while you're here." Tanu didn't look completely convinced. "No, really. There's a cabin in the woods where my brother stays. There's plenty of room there for me."

When they got inside Vanessa and Ruth were no longer by the door. Ruth must have taken her to Lena's old room. Dale felt somewhat relieved. He didn't exactly want to talk about Warren with her right now.

But Vanessa apparently wasn't the only one that was curious about Warren.

"How is your brother doing?" Tanu asked quietly. Dale took a deep breath to keep himself calm. He didn't know why he was so bothered about them asking about Warren. "It's fine if you don't want to talk about it, I was just concerned. I heard in passing that Warren ran into some trouble, but none of us were told how bad it was, or what exactly happened."

Dale hadn't actually thought a lot about what the Knight's knew about Warren. He didn't know how he felt about the Knight's not really talking a lot about Warren. At least this explained why Vanessa had so unapologetically asked about Warren. She might not know about the condition he was in at all.

"Warren's not doing very well," Dale said truthfully. "None of us know what happened, or how to fix it," They got to the room that Tanu would be using. Dale put the man's bag down at the foot of the bed.

Tanu put the box down on the ground and set his bag on the bed. Tanu began to go through his bag, pulling out all kinds of vials and potions. "What are Warren's symptoms? I can't guarantee anything, but I have a lot of potions. I may be able to do something to help."

Dale froze. For two years he'd been trying to find a way to solve the problem that the Knights of the Dawn had landed them in. He hadn't even considered that a Knight could do something. "He's in a bit of a catatonic stupor," Dale began. "He's almost completely unresponsive. He rarely moves on his own. I haven't heard him say a word for a year and a half."

Tanu set a couple of potions aside. "And you don't know what caused it?"

"No," Dale said quietly. "We think it was a creature of shadows. It turned Warren albino as well." Dale didn't know if this information would really help, but Tanu had more experience than him. Maybe he knew of a shadow creature that specifically caused albinism.

"Would you mind if I saw your brother for myself?" Tanu asked. "I don't think I have anything with me right now to cure him, but I have a couple ideas that I would like to try."

"Would any of it hurt him?" Dale asked.

"No," Tanu assured him. "All of it is perfectly safe, but also temporary. I also have antidotes for all my potions, just in case Warren has a bad reaction to one," Tanu certainly sounded like he knew what he was doing. Dale thought it was a risk, but he thought it might be a risk worth taking.

"I would really appreciate any help you can give," Dale said. "I don't know how receptive Warren will be though. He has a hard time being around other people. He doesn't handle noise well."

"I'll give him however much space you think he needs," Tanu said, and for Dale that was good enough.

"Would it be okay to do this now?" Dale asked. If Tanu was too tired from the journey here, then it would probably be better to wait until tomorrow. It was still early in the day, but Dale knew that when it came to doing something with Warren, it was better to get started earlier rather than later. Because it took time just to get Warren to move in even the simplest of ways, especially when he wasn't having a very good day, it could be very time consuming to help him, depending on just what that help looked like.

"I'm looking forward to it," Tanu put some of his potions in a smaller bag than the one he'd originally brought in. He seemed just as eager to help Warren as Dale was, which was a huge relief. Ever since Ruth had gotten turned into a chicken, the Sorenson's had all but given up on Warren. They hadn't said as much, but Dale could tell. They cared about Warren, but they didn't know what to do for him anymore, and probably thought it was too dangerous to continue. Dale didn't blame them, but he felt like his own burden had increased. Knowing he had someone else who wanted to help, it was nice.

As the two of them made their way through the woods to the cabin, Dale told Tanu about some experiences he'd had with Warren for more than a year now. He'd originally intended on just giving Tanu a better idea of what Warren was like now, but he ended up focusing a lot more on himself than he'd meant to. Dale talked about everything he did for Warren, how much stress he was under, how terrified he was. Dale hadn't truly talked about these things with Stan or Ruth, or even Lena.

Tanu didn't try to tell him that it would be okay, or that he was doing everything he could. Tanu just listened to him. Even when Dale mentioned the hoeing incident, Tanu just nodded. No judgement, no comfort, just listening, which was just the thing that Dale needed.

When they got to the cabin Dale felt like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders. He felt incredibly similar to how he'd felt after he'd finally allowed himself a good cry after he'd realized his parents weren't going to come back. He still felt lousy and vulnerable, but in a cathartic way.

Dale took the key to the cabin and opened the door. Tanu watched him curiously. "Warren has a tendency to wander off," Dale explained in a quiet voice, so as to not upset Warren. Dale went over to the bed, where Warren was sitting. He was still curled up, but Warren wasn't laying down like he normally was, and he had pulled Scorch up close against his chest, which took at least some conscious effort. This was one of his better days.

"Warren, I want to introduce you to someone," Dale rubbed his brother's back until Warren lifted his head away from his knees enough to look at him. "This is Tanu. He was a friend of our mom."

"I'm here to help your brother," Tanu said. His tone wasn't condescending, as though he was talking to a small child, but completely normal. Maybe Tanu was like Dale and thought that Warren could understand him, even if he gave no indication that he could. Warren didn't acknowledge Tanu at all, but he didn't flinch away from him when the older man touched his arm either, so Dale took that as a good sign.

Tanu waited patiently and just observed Warren. The way that Warren subtly leaned back into Dale's touch. The way Warren's face, but especially his eyes, remained blank. After a long moment Tanu turned his attention to Dale. "Is he always like this?"

"More or less," Dale said. "Sometimes he's more shut off, sometimes he's more open, but it's not a large spectrum."

"I thought so," Tanu commented. He stepped away from Warren and set his back down. Tanu pulled out five small vials. He held them out to Dale. "These are some bottled-up emotions. For most people, even just a small amount of one of these potions could cause an emotional change. I want to see if any of these potions could bring something out of Warren."

Dale didn't have a lot of experience with potions, but this was clearly Tanu's work. And Tanu had assured him that the potions were safe. Dale just had to trust him. Dale nodded as he held tightly to Warren.

Tanu began to prepare one of the potions, carefully measuring out two potions. He combined them carefully in a small, paper cup before handing it to Dale, who didn't hesitate to make Warren drink it. Dale and Tanu watched and waited tensely, looking for a change in Warren. After about thirty seconds it became clear that nothing was going to happen.

"...Maybe it wasn't strong enough?" Dale suggested, though he doubted it. Tanu started shaking his head before Dale even finished speaking.

"I give him a stronger dose than I would normally give people." Tanu said. "Just a few drops of these potions should be enough to cause a reaction."

Dale felt his stomach sink, but Tanu wasn't discouraged. He just started to mix up another set of potions. "Generally, everybody is affected by the same emotions in the same ways, but there are always exceptions. Though rare, some people are immune to some of the potion effects, but I've yet to meet anybody who is unaffected by all my potions." That may be the case, but Dale knew that Tanu had also never met someone who was in a condition like Warren's.

Tanu went through another three potion combinations before there was finally a reaction. Mere seconds after drinking Tanu's most recent concoction Warren's eyes widened and he somehow seemed to pale even more than before. Tanu looked intrigued and leaned closer. Warren became tense and nothing Dale did could help him to relax. Warren's breathing picked up and he began whining slightly. Dale instinctively took Warren's hand, and was shocked when his brother squeezed his hand, actually squeezed it.

Dale looked at Tanu in alarm. "What's going on? What emotion is this?"

Tanu didn't answer him right away, but asked a question of his own. "Have you ever seen your brother like this? Whether while he was like this, or even before."

Dale frowned slightly. "Before, not like this, but...but he was a lot like this during the last festival night."

A strange look flashed in Tanu's eyes. He leaned back. "The emotion I gave him, that was fear."

Fear. That actually made a lot of sense. "I thought that whatever had done this to Warren was in the yard that night, and that he could somehow sense it.

"If fear is an emotion that Warren can still fear, I might have something else I can try." Tanu put his five vials away and pulled out another potion. Dale didn't know how, but this one felt different.

Where Tanu had previously combined the other potions with another, he just poured some of this potion into another paper cup. He didn't give it to Dale right away though. Tanu waited a few minutes, until there wasn't any sign that Warren had ever been under the effect of the fear potion.

Finally Tanu gave Dale the potion to give to Warren. Dale was a little concerned about what this potion could do, but Tanu had made more progress with Warren today than Dale normally did. Dale knew if he was going to trust the man, he had to trust him completely.

Dale waited with bated breath for the potion to get into Warren's system. It took a few moments, but Warren blinked and seemed to relax slightly. Dale was still holding his brother's hand. It had gone lax when the fear potion had worn off. Now Warren was once again squeezing his hand, but more in a way that offered comfort than one that sought it out.

Dale froze. He couldn't believe it. "Warren? Are you in there?" Warren blinked again and uncurled slightly, all on his own. Dale had never seen his brother relax from being curled up all on his own. Warren turned ever so slightly and looked towards Dale. Not necessarily at him, but definitely towards him.

"Has Warren been like this since the incident?" Tanu asked.

"Not exactly like this," Dale said breathlessly. He watched as Warren turned his gaze away from him and looked towards Tanu. Warren looked confused, like he didn't understand what he was seeing, but not concerned. "Sometimes he's more aware of his surroundings, or more willing to move or uncurl himself, but this is still…" Dale trailed off and shook his head. "What was that potion?"

"Courage," Tanu said plainly. "I'll be honest, I haven't exactly seen anything like this, but I have seen many things that are similar."

"Really?" This was news to Dale.

"There are some powerful creatures that can give off an aura of fear when you're near them," Tanu said. "For most people, this fear makes it almost impossible to move or even think about anything else except your own terror." Tanu held up the remaining potion. "Something like this can be used to fight off that fear."

"You think that fear is what's doing this to Warren?" Dale asked. It just sounded so simple, but it made so much sense. "Is that why he's so pale?" Dale had never quite understood what Warren's albinism had to do with his catatonic state.

"It could be," Tanu nodded. "And I know you want to ask, but courage potion isn't a cure for your brother's condition. I'm sorry. The fear seems to be too deep for my potion to cut through." Dale had guessed as much. Warren had taken the courage potion, but he hadn't gotten completely better. He was still clearly in his own mind, and Dale could tell that the effects of the potion were already wearing off.

Dale thought that he should be disappointed, to come so close to finding something that could help Warren only for it to fall apart at the end, but he felt fine. In fact, Dale felt relieved. "None of us could figure out what was wrong with him," Dale said with a small smile. He held his brother close. "Maybe now that we have an idea, we can make some progress."

Tanu returned his smile. "I sure hope so," Tanu put a hand on Dale's shoulder and one on Warren's. "I have a job to do here at Fablehaven, but whenever I have the time I will do whatever I can to help you with Warren. Whether it be looking for a cure, or helping to take care of his basic needs so you can have a break, I'm here to help the two of you."

Dale barely knew Tanu, but he trusted the man's words. Their mom's old friend, Dale's new friend, really did want to help them, and Dale couldn't even express how grateful he felt.

Chapter Text

Having Tanu, Coulter, and Vanessa coming to Fablehaven was supposed to make things easier. In a way, they definitely did help. Vanessa had a lot of ideas on where to find the artifact they were looking for. Coulter did some work around the yard, as well as kept Stan company, improving both of their moods. Tanu did whatever was asked of him, but he also continued to help Dale look out for Warren.

But no matter how many perfectly capable people there were around, they still had to deal with a lot more trouble than they had signed up for. At least, it was more trouble than Dale had signed up for. He wasn't ready for it.

Somehow, Kendra and Seth seemed to bring trouble with them wherever they went. Dale had been hoping that what had happened to the children last summer was just a fluke, but then they come here and bring a demon in their wake. A demon that wanted to devour Seth, who had a tendency to walk right into trouble anyways.

Dale had thought that Seth had learned to not go looking for trouble, but then Kendra woke up to find that Seth wasn't there, and neither was Coulter. They were both gone, and so was their gear.

All signs suggested that Coulter was the traitor, but they couldn't worry about that. Saving Seth was their priority right now, and they would deal with the rest later. Dale, Tanu, and Vanessa spent a few minutes collecting gear and tools they might need before they headed out. It was easy enough to follow the tracks that Hugo left, but every step of the way Dale felt himself getting more and more anxious.

None of them knew exactly why Coulter had led Seth away, but they all had an idea as to where they were going. The grove in the valley of the four hills. One of the most cursed areas of Fablehaven. The place where Warren had apparently been headed when he'd gotten hurt.

If there was anywhere in Fablehaven that Dale thought he could find information about not only what happened to Warren, but how to help him, it was at the four hills. Ever since Coulter had found out where Warren had been heading, Dale had wanted nothing more than to go there. The only reason he hadn't gone there already was because Stan and Tanu had spent a long time convincing him to be careful about this. He couldn't be reckless.

But they were actually on their way to the four hills, and the closer they got the harder it was for Dale to focus on the task at hand. They were out here to find Seth to bring him to safety, and Coulter so they could bring him to justice. Dale had to focus on them right now, not his brother. He could always return to the four hills when they didn't have to worry about a child-eating demon. Dale knew this, it was just a lot harder to actually remember than he thought it would be.

"Are you okay?" Tanu asked quietly as he walked right next to Dale. Vanessa was a few feet ahead of them, following Hugo's tracks and leading the way. She was completely determined, it was almost frightening.

"...I don't know," Dale said honestly. He knew that Tanu wouldn't believe him if he claimed he was fine.

"I know you're worried about Warren," Tanu said. "I can only imagine how you must be feeling right now, but Seth needs our help right now."

"I know," Dale frowned.

"I promise, when all of this is over, once everyone else is safe, I will go to the four hills with you to look for a way to help your brother," Tanu said. Dale looked at him in shock, but Tanu seemed to be completely serious. He was willing to go to the valley of the four hills, which they all knew was really dangerous, not to find the artifact, but to look for a solution that they didn't even know for sure existed.

"Guys, I think…" Vanessa paused and held her arm out to stop them as well. "Is-is that Hugo?"

"What?" Dale's eyes widened. Hugo had gone off with Seth and Coulter. If the golem was there, then maybe the others were too. Dale hurried to Vanessa's side and looked ahead. They were almost at the valley of the four hills, so the terrain was a lot more overgrown and uncared for than the rest of Fablehaven. With all the greenery it took Dale a moment, but he did eventually see Hugo making his way towards them.

"Hugo!" Dale ran to the golem. He was missing an arm, looked as upset as was possible for a golem to look, and most alarming of all he was on his own. Dale felt his stomach sink. Something horrible had happened. "Hugo, where's Seth?" Even as he asked the question, Dale felt ridiculous. Hugo couldn't speak and answer him.

Hugo grunted and glanced behind him, where his footprints seemed to go. "Is that where Coulter is?" Vanessa asked. She sounded angry, but also slightly excited. Or perhaps Dale was just hearing things.

"And Seth," Dale said. At the moment, he couldn't care less about bringing Coulter to justice. He wanted Seth to be safe, that was most important.

Hugo nodded. "Show us," Tanu said. Hugo nodded again and began to hurry back. Hugo could go really fast when he wanted to, but none of them complained. For all they knew, the others were in danger. Time was of the essence right now.

Suddenly they came to a clearing. All of the brush of the valley of the four hills was gone. It was a grove...the grove. Dale felt shivers go down his spine and his hair stand on end. He had no idea if the chill was from the grove itself, or just his own thoughts and fears getting the better of him.

Hugo didn't enter the clearing, and Dale got the feeling that he actually couldn't. Anywhere that had protections that kept the golem out, it wasn't anywhere that someone should go out of their way to go. But...But this had to be the place where Warren had gone. This chill, this fear, it was all something that Warren had dealt with, and much worse. Dale was just standing outside the grove, Warren had gone in there, and whatever he'd found in there, it had cursed him.

Dale felt his breath quicken and his hands shake, and it had nothing to do with the cold. He was afraid, but there was another feeling that he felt much stronger. Anger. His brother, his little brother, had just been doing what he'd been told, and now he was hurt and Dale felt useless in how to help him.

He wouldn't just sit out here and twiddle his thumbs when the very thing that had hurt Warren, possibly the only thing that could help him, could be just a few feet in front of him. He couldn't. Without thinking twice about it Dale ran towards the grove, completely determined to find whatever had done this to Warren. If Dale couldn't find a way to cure his brother, he at least wanted to avenge him.

Dale was just inches from entering the grove when he felt a large, firm hand grab his arm and pull him back. "Dale, no!" Tanu said harshly.

"Let me go!" Dale shouted. He struggled, but Tanu's grip was strong. "Get off!"

"Absolutely not," Tanu used his larger size to his advantage to drag Dale back. "You can't go in there,"

"It's dangerous,' Vanessa said. "We don't know what's in there, or what it can do,"

"I know exactly what it can do," Dale growled. He tried to fight out of Tanu's hold, but the man had a grip of iron. He didn't let up at all.

"Which is why you shouldn't go in there," Tanu tried to reason with him, but Dale wasn't in a good mindset to listen to logic or reason. His emotions were in control, and his emotions wanted him to do whatever he could to help his brother. "Dale, think about it, if you go in there you might find a way to help Warren, or you could end up exactly like him."

Tanu was right, Dale knew he was, but that wasn't what was important to him at the moment. "I don't care!" Dale bucked. Tanu's grip tightened and he whirled Dale around to face him.

"Dale, stop," Tanu wasn't scolding as much anymore, he was pleading. Tanu sounded terrified, and Dale didn't think it had anything to do with the grove's influence. "Please, your brother needs you aware and around right now."

Dale made a sound that was a gross between a gasp and a sob. He felt all the fight drain out of him. He was still desperate to help his brother, but...he couldn't. He couldn't do anything. Physically, he was so close to helping his brother, but Dale had never felt farther away.

"I can't...Warren…" Dale let out a low and pained desperate growl.

"We'll figure something else out," Tanu said gently, apologetically. "But it can't be this...I'm sorry."

"Guys, we have work to do, remember?" Vanessa said impatiently, though not unkindly. "We need to find Coulter." They also had to help Seth. Dale knew they did, but he couldn't stop thinking about Warren. He couldn't focus on anything else.

"Right," Tanu loosened his grip on Dale, but he didn't let him go completely. "Look for any tracks from Coulter and Seth, going in or out of the grove. Vanessa nodded and began her search. Dale heard what Tanu said, but he didn't completely process it. They were just words that had little meaning.

Tanu walked around the perimeter of the grove, pulling Dale behind him. Dale knew that he should be looking for ways to help Seth before he got into some really serious trouble, but his mind just kept going back to how he was failing his brother.

Dale felt like he was failing everybody, and he didn't know how to make it stop. There was nothing he could do.

Chapter Text

Dale had been concerned and bored being locked up in Fablehaven's dungeon with Coulter. He couldn't even talk to the older man about what was going on and how to get out of the situation, because he'd been unresponsive and albino, just like Warren. Suddenly, and with little warning, Dale heard Coulter moving around. It had been too dark to see him, but Dale didn't think that he sounded especially lax in movement.

"...Coulter?" Dale said quietly, hesitantly.

"Dale?" Coulter asked. Dale sat up, alarmed. "Where are we?"

"...The dungeons," Dale said cautiously. "Are you...you're actually here?"

"Where else would I be?" Coulter said in a tone that was just shy of a scoff. "Although, how did I get here? Last thing I remember was...the grove," Coulter's tone wavered slightly. "Seth, where is he?"

Dale didn't know how to answer that, but his silence was telling enough. Coulter sighed. "Why did you ask if I was actually here?" Coulter didn't seem to want to think about what had likely happened to Seth, and Dale couldn't blame him. He didn't especially want to think about it either.

"I meant mentally," Dale said. "When we found you, you were albino, just like Warren was, and now, you're just not." For all Dale knew, Coulter was still physically albino, as it was too dark to really tell, but the way he talked showed that he certainly wasn't catatonic anymore.

"How odd," Coulter said quietly. "I didn't think it was something that wore off,"

"It isn't," Dale said breathlessly. What had happened?

"What did I miss?" Coulter asked. "Why are we in the dungeon?" Dale began to explain everything about Vanessa being a narcoblix and what she'd been doing to them.

A few minutes later they heard a door get thrown open. Someone began to hurry down the stairs. "Dale, Stan, Ruth, are you down here?"

Dale moved towards the cell door, which had a window out that was just barely brighter than the pure darkness in the rest of the cell. "Tanu," For a second Dale was worried that his friend was still under Vanessa's control, but he didn't think that was the case. What would she have to gain by trying to fool them at this point? "Tanu, Coulter's back to normal,"

"Yes, I thought he might be," Tanu came up to the cell and unlocked it. He opened it and though it was still dark in the hall, Dale could see enough to see that Tanu was really pale and his hair was white.

"Vanessa sent you to the grove too?" Dale frowned. She was really determined to get whatever was in the grove. "But how are you two okay?" Why would the catatonic state just wear off for Tanu and Coulter when Warren was still stuck like that, unless...unless he wasn't. "Is...could Warren be?"

"It's a very real possibility," Tanu said. Dale felt his breath get caught in his throat. After nearly two years, after all this time and energy and pain, Warren may just be alright. Dale didn't know what could have done it, but he didn't care.

"I have to see him," Dale practically pushed past Tanu. He had to get to the cabin.

"Wait just a minute," Tanu said. He held up the dungeon key in his hands. "I need to get Stan and Ruth out.

"Come back for us later," Stan called out from another cell. "Vanessa can't get the artifact," Dale clenched his teeth. He really couldn't care less about the artifact at this point. It had caused way too much trouble. "And I'm worried the children may be in danger,"

That made Dale pause. Children, meaning pleural, meaning more than just Kendra? "You mean Seth,"

"He's okay," Ruth said. "As unbelievable as it is, he's alive," That was a weight off of Dale's shoulder's. He hadn't wanted anything bad to happen to the boy. "I'm worried they might do something reckless,"

Dale knew that they would. Seth and Kendra, in their own ways, were both extremely reckless. Dale would normally rush to find the kids, except that he was desperate to see his brother. If Warren was really back to normal, even if he was at the cabin, there was no guarantee just how long he would stay there for. Dale would be horrified if he prioritized the kids' safety and later learned that something horrible had happened to Warren because he'd won off when he really shouldn't.

Maybe Dale should trust his brother more, but after taking care of him for nearly two years Dale wasn't eager to take any chances with him.

"The cabin isn't much of a detour from the grove," Tanu said. "We can check on Warren, keep an eye out for the kids, and go stop Vanessa," That sounded like a fantastic plan to Dale. He was fine with not prioritizing over everything important.

"Here," Tanu quickly unlocked the Sorensons' cell. "Fix any issues that Vanessa might have caused around the house and call the Sphinx. We'll take care of everything else." That was all Dale needed. He rushed up the stairs, with Coulter and Tanu right behind him. Dale knew that they should probably find some tools or weapons, something that they might need, but he was far too concerned about finding his brother.

They reached the cabin in record time. Dale went to the front door and brought out the key to the cabin. He was alarmed to find though that door was unlocked. Dale always locked the door, because he didn't want to risk Warren leaving the cabin and hurting himself. Dale felt slight panic at first before he reminded himself that if Warren was okay, they wouldn't have to lock him in for his own safety.

Dale opened the door. "Warren, are you in here?" Dale called out. He was concerned and surprised when he saw that the cabin was empty. Dale froze. He'd known, logically, that it was a very real possibility that Warren might be okay, since both Tanu and Coulter were alright, but it was one thing to know it and another to see a sign of it for himself.

Dale couldn't see Warren, but he looked around frantically to see just any sign of him. Dale had gotten so familiar with the cabin that he almost immediately saw the subtle changes. There were cookies sitting out on the counter, where Dale wouldn't ever leave them, and the ax that Dale kept in the cabin was gone.

"No one's here," Dale went back outside. "And my ax is missing,"

"They might have gone to get the artifact," Coulter suggested. Dale wanted to ignore his suggestion, except he knew it was probably true. Warren, Kendra, and Seth were all far too quick to run into danger and put themselves at risk. They all wanted to save the day, which was great, Dale just wished that they weren't so careless with their own lives about it.

"Then that's where we're going," Dale said. He wasn't really the kind of person to save the day. Dale stayed home and made sure that all the domestic issues were taken care of. It was the kind of person he was, and he was content with it, but that didn't mean that Dale was unwilling or incapable of doing things more dangerous.

Though they had just run to the cabin, the three of them ran along to the grove. By the time they got there, they were all tired, but they weren't there quite yet. Dale had never been in the grove itself before, but he'd been outside it, and he'd felt completely chilled to the bone to just be near the grove. At this moment though, the grove felt completely normal. It almost felt nice.

Dale didn't know exactly where they were going, but after they passed by a skeleton Dale and Tanu began to notice signs that people had passed through lately. It was hard to tell just how many people had been through here, but it hadn't been that long ago that they'd come through here. The deeper they went into the grove, the plants were extremely overgrown. And had recklessly been pushed to the side.

At least Dale knew they were going the right way. It was a lot easier to find where they needed to go when those that had come before them had been in such a hurry that they'd left such an obvious path.

Dale led the way, pushing past the remaining plants that had fallen back into place. It wasn't long before they found themself at a tower. Dale knew that this was their destination. With any luck, this was where Warren was.

Tanu took over leading them at that point. He and Coulter seemed very comfortable in the tower while Dale just started to feel awkward. He was out of his depth here. He wasn't like his parents or brother. He didn't run around and fight monsters or look for treasure. He did, however, look after his family, and that was what he was here to do.

Because Dale didn't know what he was doing, he kept close behind Tanu and Coulter. He only stepped where they did, and did as they said. The tower was like nowhere that Dale had ever seen, but Dale and Coulter were acting like this was par for the course.

Eventually they came to a room with paintings of different monsters on the walls. Two of the paintings were bare, though Dale could see bodies of a minotaur and a cyclops. There was a door in the room, but it was locked. Each of the monsters in the paintings had a key, while the minotaur and cyclops didn't.

"We're going to have to fight one of these guys," Tanu said what they had all realized.

Coulter put his hands on his hips and looked at the remaining paintings. "Any preferences?"

Dale didn't know anything about fighting monsters, but looking at their weapons he realized that he was on familiar ground. "I know my way around axes." Dale said.

Tanu and Coulter exchanged a glance before Tanu looked at him. "How confident are you in your fighting skills?"

"I never dedicated myself to fighting the way that Warren did," Dale said. "But if I can get my hands on one of the axes, I will be able to use it well." Dale wasn't helpless. Though he wasn't a fighter, he was strong. He just had to pretend that this hobgoblin was a tree he needed to chop down. Sure, it was a tree that was attacking him back, but that was something that had actually happened before.

"We'll help as much as we can," Tanu said. "Without getting in your way,"

"Or making ourselves targets," Coulter said with a frown. "It would do us no good to get all the way here if we all get too hurt to move on,"

"I'll handle it," Dale went to the painting of the hobgoblin and, not knowing what else to do, touched the painting. It wavered and disappeared. A moment later Dale heard Coulter call out a warning and Tanu pulled him to the side just before he could be hit by an ax.

"Careful," Coulter said. "Hurry up and get an ax. It'll put it at a disadvantage, and give you a weapon to work with,"

"I know," Dale muttered. Fortunately for him, he vividly remembered what little sparring he'd done with Warren. Because Dale knew his way around an ax, he had taught Warren how to use it. They'd spared against each other a little bit, not with the intent to harm, but the intent to disarm. They'd both learned how to get an ax out of someone's hands, and how to keep a better grip on their own weapon.

When the hobgoblin growled and brought one of his axes up to attack Dale, he dove to the side, out of the way. The hobgoblin immediately turned to attack Dale with his other ax, but he was prepared. Dale ducked under the ax and grasped at the handle. Dale held firmly to the ax and took a page out of Warren's book. While the hobgoblin raised the ax that he was holding onto, Dale jumped and kicked hard at the hobgoblin's chest.

Using his force from the kick, Dale was able to force the ax away from the hobgoblin. The monster quickly tried to attack him again, but Dale blocked the hit with his own ax. The hobgoblin was a lot stronger than Dale was, and he could feel his arms just about giving out. Tanu jumped in and saved him by tackling the hobgoblin while it was distracted with Dale. The hobgoblin was thrown off from him.

Dale held the ax with his left hand and shook out his right arm. He was going to have to be careful with it. Dale only allowed himself to rest for a moment before he ran towards the hobgoblin, raising his ax. Dale swung at the hobgoblin, thinking that he the monster was too big to be quick enough to dodge fast enough. Dale was aiming for the hobgoblin's unarmed side, but he got careless. Even without one of its weapons, the hobgoblin was strong, and it wasn't a fool.

The hobgoblin swung its tail, which Dale hadn't even known about, around and wrapped them around Dale's legs, tripping him up. Dale was barely able to move the ax out of the way before he could fall on top of it. Before Dale could get up the hobgoblin brought its fist down on Dale's legs.

There were two loud cracks and Dale screamed. His vision went white and Dale's legs felt like they were on fire. He felt nauseous. For a long moment Dale forgot all about the hobgoblin. He forgot about everything except for the pain in his legs. He probably would have been killed in a moment if Tanu hadn't been right there to pull the ax from his grip and hit the hobgoblin in the chest, killing it.

Dale laid down, but couldn't relax at all. His arms were burning, his legs were likely broken, and he couldn't focus on anything else. Dale heard a sound buzzing in his ears, and it took him a minute to realize it was him whimpering.

"Dale, are you alright?" Tanu helped him to turn over and so he was lying on his back instead of his stomach. Dale groaned when his legs were upset, but the pain settled when he stopped moving.

"'M fine," Dale grabbed Tanu's arm to help him to sit up. "Did you get the key?"

"Yeah, I have it," Tanu said as he held it up. "We can move on,"

"Me and Tanu can move on," Coulter said as he knelt and felt Dale's leg's gently. "You, on the other hand, aren't going anywhere. Your legs are probably broken, and even if they're not I doubt you'll be able to walk."

Dale felt his chest tighten, and it had nothing to do with the pain in his legs. "I-I can't stay here," Dale had come here to help Warren. He needed to make sure that his brother was alright. He couldn't do that if he was stuck waiting uselessly in this room. "I need to help my brother,"

"The best way you can do that is by staying put," Coulter said gently. "Me and Tanu can focus on helping Warren if we don't have to worry about you too,"

Dale hated it, but he knew that Coulter was right. "Go," He said. "Find Warren,"

Tanu stood up. "We'll be back as soon as we can. Try not to move too much,"

"I don't think I'd be able to if I tried," Dale said honestly. Tanu and Coulter gave him one last concerned look before they used the key to unlock the door and move on. Once they were gone Dale groaned and leaned back. His legs were hurting, and Dale almost thought that he could feel the actual break. Just the thought of it made him feel sick. No wonder Stan had been so moody since breaking his own legs. It hurt a lot, and it was hard to think about anything that wasn't the pain.

Dale glanced towards the hobgoblin, which wasn't moving around anymore, but being so close to the hobgoblin was really unnerving. Especially when both of the axes were still really close to it. Though Dale knew he shouldn't move his legs so much, he didn't feel safe having the weapons be right there so he stretched and reached to grab the weapons so he could toss it away from it, out of it's reach.

Dale would feel much better if he was away from the hobgoblin altogether, but that wasn't necessarily possible without upsetting his legs, so Dale had to be content with just where he was.

Dale had nothing that he could do but wait, but as the minutes passed he realized that the pain was dying down a little bit. It still hurt, but the initial shock was wearing off, and it was much more tolerable now.

Once Dale no longer had the pain around to distract him, he found himself worrying about Warren again. He didn't know for sure if Warren was even there at the tower, and he hated the uncertainty. Dale didn't know where else to begin looking for Warren if he wasn't here, but he also knew that this tower was extremely dangerous, and he didn't particularly want Warren anywhere near here. He didn't know which case he would prefer.

Dale didn't really know just how long he was lying there, just waiting, until he heard the door that Tanu and Coulter had gone through being opened up. Dale sat up and caught his breath. Someone was here. Kendra stepped out, with Tanu dragging a bound Vanessa behind him. Dale blinked in shock. It hadn't been that long since he had seen Tanu, and yet the man wasn't even albino anymore. What had happened?

Tanu met Dale's gaze and gave him a big smile. Tanu looked back behind him. "Hey, Warren, someone out here really wants to see you,"

"Wa-Warren?" Dale froze. Could this be happening? Could this actually be happening? Seconds later Tanu stepped aside and Warren stepped into the room. It was actually Warren, no longer catatonic, no longer albino, it was just...him. "Warren!" Dale shouted, absolutely ecstatic and excited. This was unbelievable.

Dale instinctively tried to get up to move towards his brother, but his legs flared up. Dale's shout of excitement turned to one of pain. Warren's eyes widened and he ran to Dale. Warren knelt next to him and forced him back down. Dale wrapped his arms around Warren's shoulders and pulled him close. Warren tensed and made a noise of surprise, but he didn't pull back.

"It...it's okay, Dale," Warren said, and Dale couldn't help but let out a sob. Two years. It had been nearly two years since Dale had heard his brother's voice. He was better. He was back. He was actually back.

"You were gone," Dale tightened his grip on his brother and leaned against him. "I didn't know what to do. I couldn't get you back,"

"I'm sorry," Warren said. "I really didn't mean it,"

"I know," Dale said. "It wasn't your fault. I was never mad at you for it, I promise," He didn't want Warren to blame himself for this. He'd just been doing his job. Warren really hadn't meant to get in trouble. He really shouldn't blame himself for anything.

Warren pulled away just enough for Dale to really take a good look at him. "Kendra said you really took care of me all this time...thank you."

"I had to," Dale said. "You would have done the same thing if our positions were switched."

Warren gave him a small smile. "I really would." Warren's smile slipped away. "How long was I…"

"Just shy of two years," Dale said. "I was almost starting to think that you would never get back to normal." Dale smiled at his brother. "I wasn't ever going to give up on you though,"

"I never thought you would," Warren glanced towards Dale's legs and cringed. "I think you need to get that taken care of," Warren moved to back away and give him room, but Dale grasped desperately at his arms. He didn't want Warren to go anywhere. He'd just gotten his brother back, he wasn't ready to let him go.

"Hey, I'm not going anywhere," Warren took Dale's hand. He backed up just enough to make room for Kendra to come to Dale. She was holding what looked like a teapot in her hands. Kendra poured some dust out of the teapot onto his legs. Almost instantly Dale felt the burning pain in his legs suddenly disappear. He stared at them in awe and experimentally pulled his legs towards him. He didn't even feel a slight flare. His legs felt just fine, like they'd never been broken in the first place.

"Amazing," Dale muttered. Warren pulled him up to his feet.

"It was able to heal our albinism," Warren ran a hand through his hair with a slight grin. Dale had been wondering how they had been healed so suddenly. He looked at his brother in awe. Seeing Warren standing there, talking, grinning, it was almost like these past two years had never happened. Dale felt tears come to his eyes. All the pain, all the exhaustion that he'd felt when trying to take care of his brother, this moment right here made it all worth it.

"Now I've seen everything," Dale wiped his eyes and embraced his brother again. This time, Warren didn't just stand there. He hugged him back, and for the first time in nearly two years Dale actually felt relieved and okay. He felt happy.

Chapter Text

Dale sighed and felt his stomach fill up with dread. He was at the naiad pond, somewhere he had refused to go since Lena had been sent there. He knew that Kendra had found some closure in talking to Lena after she'd been forced to become a naiad, but Kendra really hadn't known her nearly as long as Dale had. Lena had always been around, for as long as Dale could remember. She'd been a constant in his life, and Dale really didn't want to see her as a naiad. He had good memories of her, he didn't want those good times to be corrupted by seeing her act like someone that she wasn't.

But Dale wasn't here for himself. He was here for something even bigger than him. He crouched close to the pond, but out of arm's reach of the water. "Lena, I need to talk to you,"

There were splashes, ripples, and mutterings all across the water. He hadn't just caught Lena's attention, but that of all the naiads. He didn't care though. He wouldn't be so reckless as to go too close to the water. He knew they wouldn't reach him, that wasn't what he was nervous about. He really didn't care about himself at this moment.

Dale waited a moment, but nobody made an appearance. He felt himself becoming impatient. "Lena, I'm serious, this is important," He waited again, but still nothing happened. Dale hesitated for a moment before bringing out his trump card. If this last plan didn't look, he didn't know what would.

"Lena, it's about Warren." Almost immediately Lena poked her head out of the water. It was odd to see her look so young. It was almost like looking at a completely different person, except there was still something about her that looked distinctly 'Lena'.

"Dale, I'm surprised to see you here," Lena said, and even the way she spoke sounded wrong to Dale. He hated it and just wanted to leave right now, but he forced himself to stay. Lena may have changed, but part of her was still the Lena he knew, and part of why he was here was out of respect to that part of the woman he knew and loved. "I thought you said you were never going to come visit,"

"I did," Dale said. Ruth and Stan had both briefly tried to convince him to at least talk to Lena, say goodbye, but he'd refused and he'd made it clear that they should tell Lena as much. Apparently they had. "But things changed,"

"Warren," Lena came out of the water ever so slightly more. She seemed to be trying really hard to act like she didn't care and wasn't emotionally invested, but Dale could tell she was concerned. "Has something happened to him?"

"He's okay," Dale said. "Completely cured. He's not even albino anymore."

Lena stared at Dale in shocked silence for a long moment before her expression darkened. "If you think you can lie to try to get me to come out-"

"You think I would lie about this?" Dale scowled. The Lena he knew would know him better than that. "I'm serious, Lena, he's okay." Dale glanced back over his shoulder, towards the gated entrance where he had left Warren. "He's actually here with me."

Lena looked around and quickly noticed that Warren wasn't in sight. "Well, where is he?"

"I need to set a few ground rules first," Dale said sternly. "Warren's not going anywhere near the water, and if you try to get him to come closer, we're leaving,"

Lena sighed impatiently. She was acting a lot more like a petulant young woman than the grandmotherly figure that Dale was used to. "Yes, alright,"

"Second," Dale continued. "No mentioning anything about Patton," Lena's expression darkened. This was another thing that Dale really didn't like about Lena being a naiad again. Even just mentioning Patton seemed to rub her the wrong way. Dale wasn' afraid of her though. "I mean it. You can't say that Warren looks like Patton, or acts like him, or reminds him of you in any way." Dale had always been a little annoyed with the way that Lena occasionally compared Warren to Patton, this wasn't just because it was a mild annoyance, it was downright dangerous. Dale had heard from Lena just how angry the other naiads had been with Patton Burgess. Dale didn't want any of that anger to be projected to Warren.

"Fine," Lena said stiffly. "Now let me see Warren."

"Why are you so eager?" Dale asked in genuine confusion. Kendra had told him how Lena's view on humanity had changed. She no longer saw humans as equals. They were a little like animals in her eyes now, something to be fond of, but not get overly attached to. She was practically immortal now, humans just lived such short lives compared to her. "I thought human lives were so short, they barely mattered at all,"

"I never said that," Lena scowled. "But it's because of your short lives that I'm shockingly concerned about him. It would have been a shame if Warren had spent the rest of his life completely lost in his mind." Lena swam closer to the shore and Dale hurried to scoot back. She wasn't trying to grab him though, she just rested her elbows on the ground and leaned against it.

"I know this isn't something you'll want to hear, but if Warren couldn't be cured, I think it would have been best to put him out of his misery," Lena said in a gentle, sincere tone that just made shivers go down Dale's spine. He almost would have prefered it if Lena had sounded cold and cruel, uncaring. This tone of hers almost made it seem like she thought that Warren dying would have been a mercy.

"You," Dale growled.

"Just think about it," Lena said. "Warren's a free spirit, always has been. They way he was while cursed, he was completely unaware of what was going on around him. The only feeling he knew was fear, and he couldn't take care of his most basic need. That's no life, especially not for someone like Warren." Lena shook her head. "But if he's cured, none of that matters. He's no longer mindless, and he's able to enjoy what life he has left,"

"It matters,' Dale glared at Lena as he stood up. "And he was never mindless," Even on Warren's worst days, he was aware, at least a little bit, of what was going on around him. Dale knew that he didn't like Lena as a naiad, but now he believed he hated her. She had absolutely no right to talk about Warren in this way.

Dale stormed to the gate. He really regretted coming here, and he had half a mind to just walk out and drag Warren away right now. He knew if he did though, Warren would just come back without him, and if there was one thing that Dale wanted less than to be here with Warren so he could talk to Lena, it was to let Warren deal with her on his own.

When Dale left the pond, he found Warren waiting impatiently for him on the other side of the hedge. Warren looked up at him desperately. "Is she there?"

"She's there alright," Dale muttered. "Just...don't get your hopes up too much. Lena's not exactly herself right now."

"I still want to see her," Warren insisted, like Dale thought he would.

"I know," Dale sighed. He led Warren through the gate where they saw Lena waiting for them. She grinned when she saw them.

"I thought you weren't coming back." Lena said, she began to reach her arm out to them but stopped when she saw Dale's cold glare. This was her first and last warning. If she made even one more attempt to draw them closer to the water, they were leaving. And Dale would make sure that his brother didn't come back.

"It's against my better judgement," Dale said. He held out his arm to stop Warren a good ten feet away from the edge of the water. It was definitely farther than necessary, but Dale thought it was better to be safe than sorry. "Not a word of what we talked about earlier,"

"Of course not," Lena frowned. "Despite what you may think, Dale, I'm not cruel." Oh, Dale definitely begged to differ.

"Let's just get this over with," Dale said. Warren frowned at Dale in concern before looking back towards Lena.

"You're okay," Lena smiled. "I never thought I'd see the day." Dale stiffened. She knew that as a naiad she would outlive Warren, so she just thought that him being cured would never happen. Dale hadn't liked other people being pessimistic about Warren's recovery earlier, but after what Lena said, it made him feel sick to hear it from her. And she tried to claim that she wasn't cruel.

"I didn't think I'd ever see you as a naiad," Warren said sadly. "Honestly, I wish I never had."

"This isn't a bad thing, Warren," Lena said. She splashed the water. "I prefer my life like this,"

"You wouldn't," Warren said. "Not if you were human," Warren sighed. "I'm not here to argue with you though. I know I won't be able to change your mind about this, and you won't be able to change my mind either. That's not what I came here for,"

"He's just here to say goodbye," Dale said. "You were gone before he woke up. He deserves peace of mind," Dale sighed and glared at Lena. "And I thought the old you deserved to know his fate."

Warren grimaced and sat on the ground to bring himself closer to Lena's eye level. "For a few days after I came back, I didn't even know what happened to you," Warren said. Dale felt guilty all over again.

"We don't really like to talk about what happened to you," Dale said to Lena. They all acted like Lena had died, because she might as well have. Occasionally Dale would think that it would be kinder if Lena had died, but that was almost exactly what Lena thought about Warren's albino state, and it wasn't a thought that Dale wanted to entertain anymore.

He hated this. He hated all of this.

"I just wanted to see you," Warren said. "It took me so long to convince Dale to let me come though."

"I haven't changed my mind," Dale gave Lena a sharp look. She knew how he felt right now.

"You're...a lot different," Warren said. He had no idea, and yet Dale thought Warren was even more distressed about this whole thing than Dale was. It made sense. Lena had been around for as long as Dale could remember, but she hadn't played much of a role in raising Dale, while she'd practically been the only one around to bring Warren up. Dale understood why Warren was so upset.

"Change isn't a bad thing," Lena said. Dale scowled at her tone. He had never seen her sound more patronizing, even when she'd been dealing with a four year old Warren.

"I think this change is," Warren crossed his arms defensively. "I...I don't think I can be here for very long," Dale relaxed for the first time since they had come here. He didn't want Warren to be here at all, let alone for a long time. The sooner they got out of here, the better.

"We can go whenever you want," Dale said. He wasn't here for his own sake, but for Warren's.

"I...yeah, I want to go," Warren said with a regretful, longing look at Lena. "Please, can we just go home now?"

"I would say I hope to see you again, but we both know that your brother would never allow it," Lena said. She definitely knew Dale decently. He wasn't going to expose Warren to this mess again, and Warren hadn't even seen the worst of it.

"...I miss you," Warren said. Lena gave him a small smile.

"I miss all of you too," Lena said. "But we're where we belong now. This is what's best." Lena pushed away from the surface and slowly went back under the water.

Warren took in a shuddered breath and brought his hands to his face. Dale sighed and knelt down next to his brother. He put his arm around Warren's shoulder and just sat there for a moment. He didn't know what he was supposed to say to Warren, so he said nothing. He just sat there with his brother and held him.

It took a few minutes for Warren to gather himself. When Warren took his hands away, his eyes and cheeks were wet. "I want her to come home,"

"So do I," Dale said honestly. He may not like Lena as she was right now, but that didn't mean that he didn't miss her. Dale took a deep breath and gave his brother's shoulder a squeeze before he stood up and pulled Warren to his feet. "I have some cleaning up around the yard to do, do you want to help me?"

"Please," Warren nodded. What Dale really thought Warren needed was a break, but he knew his brother. Warren didn't calm down by relaxing, he did it by taking his mind off of what was bothering him. He needed a distraction, and Dale was more than happy to provide it.

"Let's go," Dale led his brother out the gate again, and he swore to himself that he wasn't going to visit this pond ever again. There was nothing here for him or his family, not anymore.

Chapter Text

When Dale came home from his morning work, he was immediately greeted with the smell of lemon bread. His first reaction was excitement, as he loved lemon bread, and his second reaction was suspicion. They hadn't had lemon bread for breakfast since Lena had become a naiad again, as Dale was busy with work, Ruth didn't like sweet things for breakfast, Stan didn't like all the effort it took to make them, and Warren didn't appreciate lemon bread at all.

Dale wondered who had made the lemon bread, and why.

"I'm home," Dale called out. He made his way into the kitchen where he saw Warren sitting on the counter, swiping his finger through the leftover glaze in a bowl.

"Hey," Warren grinned at him. "Glad I timed this right," Warren gestured to a plate with a few slices of lemon bread on it.

Dale frowned and grabbed a chair. He pulled it closer to where Warren was sitting and turned it around so he could straddle the chair. He grabbed a slice of lemon bread. It felt heavier than Lena's lemon bread did. "You made this?"

"I don't know how good I did," Warren shrugged. "The glaze is great though," Warren smirked as he licked his glaze covered finger.

Dale tried a bite of the lemon bread. It was definitely denser than he was used to, as well as both sweeter and stronger with the lemon flavor, but it wasn't exactly a bad thing. Dale liked it. "Not bad," Dale took another bite and leveled a stare at his brother. "What's the catch?"

"What, I can't just make something nice for my brother?" Warren tried to put on an innocent face, but it didn't work very well. Warren took a knife and used it to put some more glaze on a slice of lemon bread. He put so much on it that it was almost more glaze than bread. It was only then that Warren decided to try it.

"Yeah, no, you're definitely up to something," Dale leaned against the chair. "What's going on?"

"Alright, yes, I'm up to something," Warren said sheepishly. "I won't beat around the bush. You know how Kendra's powers let her recharge artifacts?" Dale nodded. "Well, don't freak out, but the Knights want her to help retrieve and recharge another artifact."

"They what?" Dale was horrified. "She's a child."

"Yeah, I know," Warren grimaced. "I don't like it either. I mean, I was older than her when I started just being trained by the Knights, let alone joining them, but Stan and Ruth have talked it over, and they think this is for the best, so Kendra's going to join the Knights." Dale's scowl deepened, but before he could protest, Warren held up his hands. "I'm not done yet. There's more."

"More?" Dale glared at his brother. "What else could there be?"

"Well, Kendra doesn't have a lot of experience in this kind of thing, and it's way too dangerous for her to go on her own, so...I volunteered to go with her." Warren said this last part very quickly.

Dale frowned. He was shocked and thrown off for a second before Warren's words really processed. "No," Dale put his bread down. "No,"

Warren sighed. "Dale,"

"No!" Dale stood up and leaned closer to his brother, who stood his ground. "Look, you're a Knight, I get that, I'm not going to stop you from doing what you want to do, but going after another artifact? No, absolutely not!"

"This is important," Warren said.

"So is your life," Dale growled. "These artifacts are dangerous. Last time you were sent after one, you...you…" Dale closed his eyes and rubbed his forehead.

"I know," Warren frowned.

"No, you don't," Dale shouted. "You have no idea. You were so completely out of it, you don't remember a thing. I was the one who had to take care of you and deal with all of this!" Warren stared at Dale in shock, looking extremely taken aback and concerned. Dale sighed and tried to calm his emotions. "I just mean…"

"I know what you meant," Warren said quietly. "Look, Dale, I know you're worried, and you have every right to be, but I can't just stay behind and let Kendra walk into this on her own."

"Let someone else protect her," Dale said. "You're not the only capable Knight."

"But I am one of the only ones that Kendra actually knows," Warren said. "She's a child. She has so much pressure on her shoulders. She needs to have some familiarity to fall back on."

"But why does it have to be you?" Dale asked.

"It doesn't," Warren admitted. "But I want to."

"Why?" Dale said.

"Well, why did you watch out for me even though somebody else could have done it?" Warren asked. Dale didn't answer, but Warren continued. "You did it because you felt responsible for me. You wanted to make absolutely sure that I was okay. You couldn't in good conscience leave me, and that's how I feel about Kendra. I feel like I need to protect her."

"Warren," Dale sighed. He wanted to argue with Warren. He wanted to tell him to stay. He just wanted to keep him here, but he couldn't. Warren wasn't a child, and he wasn't completely catatonic and needed someone to watch him. He was an adult. He had his own life, and Dale couldn't hold him back.

"I'll be careful," Warren hopped off the counter and wrapped his arms around Dale. "I'm not going to go out of my way to put myself in danger. The whole point of me going is to make sure that Kendra is kept as far away from the dangerous stuff as possible. Other Knights will deal with the danger, and I'll be there as backup, like her bodyguard. I just...I can't let her do this alone,"

"I get it," Dale held onto his brother. It was odd. He'd hugged Warren a lot in the past, but it wasn't often that Warren initiated the hug. Dale only now noticed that Warren, though he was twelve years younger than him and had spent nearly two years in a catatonic state, was bigger than Dale was. "I don't like it," And he really, really didn't. "But I know I can't stop you, so just be careful."

"I'll be back before you know it," Warren said. "I promise,"

"You'd better be," Dale pulled back. "Because if you get hurt, I'm going to have to put everything in my life to the side so I can take care of you all over again."

"And we both know you'll do it," Warren laughed. He took another bite of his overly glazed bread. "You've given up enough for me."

"I'm willing to give up everything for you," Dale said. "You're my brother, it's part of the job description." Dale moved back to the chair and collapsed onto it. He grabbed his bread and ripped a piece off. "Just come home safe."

Chapter Text

Working at Fablehaven had never exactly been the safest career in the world, but Dale had hoped that after the artifact had been removed from Fablehaven, things would be safer. Just their luck though, nothing got better. If anything, it got worse.

Dale looked out towards the exit of the cave that he was hiding in, trying to avoid looking at his own body. Being a sentient shadow didn't hurt, exactly, but Dale didn't like the reminder of what he was at the moment. He cursed this shadow plague that was going through Fablehaven, and hoped that the kids would be able to find a way to fix this problem, like they'd been able to figure out how to fix all the other big problems that seemed to be happening in Fablehaven lately.

Dale hated having to rely on these kids. They were so young, they really shouldn't have this kind of responsibility on their shoulders, but Dale didn't know what choice they had. He was stuck as a shadow that only Seth could see. He couldn't communicate with the kids, and he couldn't even go out in the sunlight, or else he would feel a chill so cold that it burned.

Dale knew that Coulter and Tanu were planning on going out and finding a way to help the kids, despite all the obstacles in their way. Dale admired their determination, but he couldn't go with them. He didn't know how much good he'd be, and he had a very important reason to stay in the cave and out of trouble.

'Dale?" Warren's panicked voice called out to him in his head. Dale turned to see the shadowy form of his brother curled up on the ground. 'Dale?!'

'I'm here,' Dale hurried back to his brother's side. As they were shadows, they couldn't have physical contact with each other, but Dale wanted to be as close to his brother as he could be. He needed Warren to know that he wasn't alone here. 'I'm right here. Are you okay?'

'It's cold,' Warren sounded tired. He began to curl tighter around himself than before, which was the last thing that Dale wanted. 'So cold…'

'I know,' Dale needed his brother to focus, or else he'd fall back into the shadows again. They didn't just look like shadows, but this plague was infecting them on the inside too. While the sun made everything feel freezing, just being shadowy came with a constant chill. It wasn't all that bad, just uncomfortable, but it wasn't all they had to deal with.

Since becoming a shadow, Dale had felt nearly empty, void of all emotion. It felt like the only thing he should do was curl up on the ground and just let the emptiness take over, because it was just too much effort to try to fight it. The only thing that helped Dale to fight off the temptation to do just that was for his brother's sake.

Dale was sure that this feeling of desolation just came with the shadow territory, but just because he could overcome it didn't mean that he should expect Warren to do the same. Especially since this cold that Dale felt reminded him so much of the grove.

Dale had never actually set foot on the grove, but Coulter, Tanu, and Warren all had. Coulter and Tanu had confirmed that the chill was almost the exact same, and Tanu had also said something about the feeling of emptiness almost being like a weaker version of the catatonic state they'd all been in.

Warren, he'd been in that state for nearly two years. Dale had always thought it odd that Warren seemed to have no remaining side effects of the catatonia. It was a little unnerving to Dale, just how normal Warren behaved , like the past two years hadn't happened at all. Dale had just started to get used to it, just started to hope that Warren really didn't remember it at all.

It may have been horrible for Dale, but he didn't want his brother to remember this at all. Nothing would make Dale happier than to know that his brother's catatonia was nothing more than an old nightmare for him. Something that he knew had happened, but wasn't at all affected by.

But they weren't so lucky. Warren may say that he didn't remember, but it seemed to have stuck with him, at least subconsciously. Dale didn't exactly enjoy being a shadow, but it seemed to be shaking Warren up quite a bit. When Dale had found Warren, he had been almost completely shut down. It had taken Dale several minutes to get any kind of response from him.

Warren wasn't in the exact same state that he'd been in for nearly two years, but it was close enough that it scared Dale to death. Warren didn't want to move at all, he seemed to not hear or be aware of ninety five percent of what was going on around him. It wasn't safe for them to stay in this cave, Dale knew that Ephira was looking for them, and she would find them if they stayed here, but he couldn't leave. Warren was in no state to go anywhere, and there was no way that Dale was going to leave him behind.

They may get caught by Ephira, but they were just shadows, she couldn't hurt them. Getting caught by her wasn't ideal, but Dale thought it was the better of two evils.

'Not safe,' Warren still sounded completely terrified, but at least he was responding now.

'No, it's not safe here,' Dale agreed. 'We'll be okay though. I promise, we'll be just fine,'

'It's cold,' Warren's tone was quiet, completely unfocused. Dale didn't know if Warren even knew he was there, or if he was just talking to himself.

The empty nothingness that Dale had been doing his best to push away got stronger. It was really hard to push back the emptiness for Warren's sake when this was the sixth or seventh time that Warren mentioned how cold it was. Warren wasn't in nearly as bad a state as he had been before, but it was still really bad, and Dale didn't have any clue what he should do about it.

'I know,' Dale answered, because there was nothing else he knew to say to his brother to help him. As useless as he felt about this whole plague situation in general, he felt even more helpless about what to do about Warren. This was all supposed to be over, but Warren just couldn't seem to escape this magically induced inner darkness, and Dale could do very little to help him.

'Kendra and Seth,' Warren's tone was similar to when he'd called out to Dale.

'They're okay,' Dale assured him quickly. 'Coulter and Tanu are going to help them fix everything.'

'They're okay?' Warren sounded scared. Dale was exhausted. He just wanted all of this to end.

'Where are we?' Warren asked. Dale relaxed ever so slightly. Warren was becoming gradually more focused. He may still be repeating himself, but at least he was able to focus enough to move on.

'We're just in a cave to stay out of the sun,' Dale said.

'It's not safe,' Warren repeated. They were back to going in a circle again. Dale wished he knew how to knock Warren out of this. Right now, all he could do was wait and stay by his brother's side.

'We'll be okay,' Dale sat down on the ground next to Warren. Ephira may be after them, so they were far from okay, but Warren didn't need to know that. Maybe Warren should know about the threat in front of them, but he had enough on his mind right now. Dale doubted that Warren could even focus enough to understand the Ephira threat even if he was told of it. Dale thought it was best to just leave Warren in the dark about this matter

'Where's everyone else?' Warren asked.

Dale didn't even know how to begin saying this. Warren couldn't remember when Dale had said that Coulter and Tanu were with Kendra and Seth. As for Stan and Ruth, Ephira already had them.

'They're not here,' It was the only thing Dale could say. 'It's just me and you right now,'

'And you won't leave?' Warren asked. Now this, Dale didn't have to think about the answer.

'I'm not going anywhere,' Dale said. He wasn't going to abandon his brother now.

Chapter Text

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.

Chapter Text

Dale hated how dark and somber things were at Fablehaven these days. Dale knew that the world was in danger, and things would only get worse before they got better. During days like this though, Dale wasn't worried about the state of the world, he was worried about the state of his people and the people he cared about. They were facing far too many losses too quickly. First Lena, and now Kendra.

Dale still didn't know what had happened to Kendra, he didn't think that anyone did. She had died just after she'd been caught trying to send out information about the Knights of the Dawn. They were all grieving, but they had more than their own feelings to worry about. There were a number of Knights who were concerned about Kendra being a traitor, and Stan and Ruth had to deal with that on top of the death of their granddaughter.

Dale helped however he could. He put his work around Fablehaven on hold for a bit as he focused mostly on helping the two people who seemed to be taking Kendra's death the worse, Seth and Warren.

The two of them seemed to be having an incredibly similar experience with Kendra's death. They both blamed themselves, and refused to even consider the thought that Kendra was really a traitor. Dale couldn't blame either of them, as he had a hard time entertaining the thought himself. He didn't try to convince them to do anything that they weren't willing to face. They had enough people doing that.

Knights kept on coming to Fablehaven to interrogate Warren and Seth. Dale understood why, as besides the two of them there was only one other person who had been there to see exactly what had happened with Kendra. Dale understood it, but he still didn't approve. Seth was a child, he was trying to grieve his sister, he shouldn't be interrogated about whether she was guilty or not.

Fortunately, the Knights weren't completely heartless. They talked to Seth, but they were willing to give him some space when he needed it. Of course, this meant that they kept on turning their focus to Warren, which Dale had little patience for, and it seemed that Warren would only tolerate it so much as well.

Dale had thought that Warren would never question the Knights or their decisions, but it seemed that unquestioning loyalty was weakening. Warren had let himself be questioned once by the Knights, and then he'd caught them trying to do the same thing to Seth and he'd lost it. Warren had shouted at the Knights who tried to talk to Seth, and then he'd refused to talk to any of them himself.

When the Knights came around now, they said it was to talk to Stan, but they clearly wanted to see Seth and Warren. They underestimated Warren's determination to avoid them. When they came around, Warren would make sure that Seth was around Ruth, Dale, or Tanu, as they would make sure that the boy would be left alone. Warren would then come up with any excuse to be out of the house. He was either working in the yard, training, or researching Patton's old notes.

It was hard for Dale to see Warren and Seth be going through so much, but he couldn't help but be amused and proud when Warren avoided his fellow Knights. Maybe he was acting immature and childish, but mentally Warren was barely twenty years old, and as far as Dale was concerned, that could still be considered a child.

While Dale was pleased that Warren was standing up to himself against the Knights, and he understood why his brother didn't want to talk to the Knights about what had happened with Kendra, Dale thought that he really should talk to someone. As Warren's brother, Dale felt that it was his job to make sure his brother was okay.

When Warren slipped out of the house for his latest avoiding scheme, Dale was quick to follow him. Warren made his way to the back of the barn, where he kept his weapons. He seemed to be looking for training today. That was fine, Dale could work with that.

"Would you like a partner?" Dale asked as he picked up one of Warren's battle axes. It was lighter than what Dale was used to, but he could adjust to using it quickly. Warren smirked and grabbed a sword. He spun it around like a master.

"Always," Warren ran at Dale with his sword. Dale ducked to the side and knocked back Warren's sword. Warren was quick to recover, but Dale was quicker to hit him in the back with the handle of his axe. The hit wasn't hard enough to do any real damage, but Dale knew that it would leave a bruise. He also knew that Warren expected no less. If Warren didn't walk away from a spar with at least a few cuts or bruises, he would think that his opponent was going easy on him, and Warren hadn't tolerated such a thing since he was fifteen.

Warren growled to himself and swung around to slash at Dale. His swing went ride though, Dale barely had to shift to avoid being cut. Dale raised an eyebrow at his brother. "You're getting sloppy," He had known that this would get to Warren's head, but the complete fury and pain in Warren's eyes was much more than he had expected.

"I know!" Warren shouted. He drew the sword back and threw it at the barn wall. It was such a terrible throw that the blade didn't even imbed into the wall. The sword bounced right off. Warren sighed and carefully picked up his sword. He looked it over for dents. "I know. I need to get better,"

"You're just fine," Dale took the sword from Warren and set it aside. He didn't think his brother was in any state of mind to be wielding a weapon. "You're just distracted."

"I can't allow myself to be distracted," Warren leaned against the barn, resting his head against the wall. "It's not good enough. I'm not good enough."

Dale frowned. He'd thought that Warren had grown out of this self-deprecating phase of his after his first assignment as a Knight. Why was he suddenly coming back to this. Dale suddenly realized what had changed. He sighed and set down the sword and axe. Dale leaned his back against the barn wall and crossed his arms.

"What happened to Kendra wasn't your fault," Dale said.

"I was supposed to protect her," Warren's voice shook. "What good am I if I can't even protect her from herself?"

"If you could have stopped it, I'm sure you would have," Dale said. Everything that Warren was saying was sounding very familiar. Dale could think of multiple times when he'd said similar things about protecting Warren. Now Dale understood why Lena was always quick to put a stop to his frustration with himself. Knowing that Warren was going through this pain, it hurt.

"There were a lot of things I could have done," Warren said. "If I had kept a closer eye on her, or talked to her-"

"You can't think like that," Dale cut Warren off before he could really spiral. "Trust me, it only makes things worse." Warren stiffened and his breath hitched. Dale leaned his head back and looked towards the sky. "For two years I was plagued by thoughts of what I could have possibly done to protect you better. I thought maybe if I was a better fighter, you could have trusted me to join you in looking for the artifact. I could have found the artifact myself and healed you. I could have kept you from becoming a Knight or righter in the first place. I couldn't stop thinking about everything that I could have done differently or better."

Dale swallowed thickly. "Of course, wondering so much about what could have been, I sometimes neglected what was right in front of me. I didn't take as good care of you as I could have," Even now, Dale couldn't help but wonder how things would have been if he'd known in the past what he knew now.

"It's hard. Trust me, I know how hard it is to move on and accept just how little you can do," Dale said. "But you have to at least try, or else you might miss your chance to do the things that you can do."

Warren let out a broken sob and turned so he was leaning against Dale's shoulder. "I wanted to protect her!"

"I know," Dale put an arm around his brother's shoulder and drew him close. Dale held Warren against his chest and just listened as his brother shouted and cried about the unfairness of it all. "I know."

Chapter Text

Finally, after far too many years, the Society of the Evening Star had been defeated. Or, at the very least, they had been foiled in their attempt to open the demon prison, and the Sphinx was now under the careful watch of the Knights. Things were far from perfect, as there was still a lot of cleanup that had to be done everywhere, not just in Fablehaven. They weren't out of the woods yet, but they were all optimistic that the worst of it was over.

There had been a big, official celebration hosted by the Knights. Everybody had been happy and cheerful, while Dale had nearly started counting down the minutes to when it would end. Formal meetings of this size had never interested him much. He had much preferred it when they had a smaller, much more casual celebration of their own at Fablehaven. The only ones there had been the Sorensons, the Larsons, Tanu, Vanessa, Dale, Warren, Bracken, Kendra, and Seth.

Four hours the eleven of them just sat in the living room and talked about what they had been up to this whole time. Dale couldn't help but feel a little out of place. Everybody else had some epic adventure to share, and Dale could only talk about his work trying to get Fablehaven fixed up. He didn't resent it though, he liked his work around Fablehaven, and while it was weird to be the only one who hadn't had a direct hand to prevent the demon doors from being opened, Dale wouldn't change a thing.

The eleven of them talked for hours and just took advantage of and enjoyed the fact that there wasn't a threat of the world being destroyed. At least, not one that they were aware of yet. After some time, when Kendra had dozed off and Seth was trying his hardest to stay awake, Dale glanced at his brother. He hadn't meant to, it had just been instinctive, but when Dale saw his brother's state, he was glad he'd checked.

At some point during their discussion, Warren's position had switched from lounging on the chair, taking up as much space as he possibly could, to sitting with his legs drawn up onto the chair next to him. He wasn't quite curled up tightly, and he still looked really relaxed, but Dale couldn't help but get nervous.

For two years Dale had gotten used to watching out carefully for Warren's automatic tendency to curl inwards. He recognized it as a sign that Warren was anxious and uncomfortable. Dale knew that Warren's behavior wasn't necessarily going to be the same as it was when he was catatonic, but old habits die hard. Dale couldn't help but look for the other signs that Warren was feeling overwhelmed.

The first place that Dale looked was Warren's eyes. He was relieved, but not surprised, to see that Warren's eyes were nowhere near as blank as they'd been when he was in his catatonic state. Warren was conscious and aware, but just because it wasn't as bad as it could be didn't mean that Warren was feeling particularly great.

The look in Warren's eyes reminded Dale a little of his unicorn days, when things were just beginning to feel like too much. Over the years, Warren had gotten pretty good at hiding some of his more obvious feelings, but after two years of looking for every little thing that might tell him how Warren was feeling, Dale had learned what his more subtle tells were.

Dale stood up and stretched slightly, feeling a little sore from sitting for so long. "There's a lot of work to be done around Fablehaven. I think I'm going to get started," He looked at Warren. "I could use an extra set of hands."

"Come on, Dale," Vanessa complained. "We all deserve a break. If you insist on working, at least don't drag your brother into it."

"No, I don't mind," Warren grinned and stood up. "I'm great at providing an extra set of hands." He really was. Dale could go so far as to say that Warren's specialty was to assist others. "Besides, Fablehaven's a mess right now. Someone's gotta make sure you don't get yourself killed."

"I appreciate the confidence you have in my skills." Dale said dryly. Warren just laughed and followed him out of the room. Dale grinned to himself. It was nice to hear Warren laughing so casually. Dale knew his brother well enough to know that while he could fake things pretty well, he couldn't fake that. If Warren really was feeling overwhelmed by being around people for so long, Dale had caught it before it got too bad.

When they got outside and out of ear and eyeshot, Warren's grin slipped a little bit. He looked at Dale in confusion and slight suspicion. "Is something going on? You never ask for my help unless you have ulterior motives,"

"I thought you would appreciate getting away from the others for a bit," Dale said. "You've never really liked being around so many people for such an extended period of time."

"That's not always the case," Warren said. He looked a little embarrassed, as he often did when Dale pointed out his social issues. Warren liked people, and he wanted to be around them, he just wasn't always able to handle it for very long.

"But it is now," Dale said. He gave Warren a knowing look. "Isn't it?"

Warren grimaced and put his hands in his pockets. His shoulders fell slightly. Either Warren was letting his physical exhaustion from these past few days show, or he was curling inward to make himself smaller, like he did when he was feeling overwhelmed.

"How can you tell?" Warren asked. "Is it really that obvious,"

Dale shook his head. "I only noticed because I've had a lot of practice," They reached the barn and began to grab any yard-clearing tool they could find. Usually when Dale worked he focused on one thing, but Fablehaven was such a disaster that he didn't even know where to start. Dale figured the best thing to do was just clear up everything they saw, which was why the variety of tools was needed. If they didn't know what to expect, they couldn't really plan for it. It may be a pain to carry so many tools around with them everywhere, but Dale thought it would be better than running back and forth whenever they thought of a new tool they needed.

Warren picked up a billhook and spun it around slightly. "Is it because of my albinoness?" Dale nodded. "I thought you said I didn't show any emotion when I was like that."

"No, I said you showed little emotion," Dale said. "It took me awhile, but I could tell when you were feeling overwhelmed, and that's what I saw in there,"

Warren frowned. His eyes were a little more closed off than they'd been before, which worried Dale. He had been trying to help his brother feel better, not worse.

"What's on your mind?" Dale asked. Warren gave him a curious look. "Your eyes, I can see that you're upset,"

"Just from my eyes?" Warren asked. Dale nodded. Warren's frown deepened. "You said it took you awhile to read how I was feeling. How much time did you spend taking care of me every day?"

"On average?" Dale asked, because there had been quite a few days where Warren had needed quite a lot of attention, but there had been a couple where he'd barely needed more than supervision. "Just a few hours,"

"Don't say that like it's not that much," Warren said. "What, exactly, did you do for me?"

"It varied depending on the day," Dale said. Sometimes taking care of Warren had been incredibly monotonous, but other times it felt like things were always changing. "Most of what I did was make sure you ate, and you weren't always in the mood for that. Meals could take just ten minutes, or they could drag on for nearly an hour." Dale was glad that he had reached a point where he could talk about taking care of his brother.

Warren took a deep breath. He looked a little upset. Dale may be ready to talk about this, but he wondered if Warren was ready to hear it. So far, he'd told Warren very little about the specifics of what he'd done for him. He didn't want to make Warren feel like he owed him anything, and he didn't want to force Warren to think about something that he just saw as a bad dream.

"Kendra told me that you made sure I exercised," Warren said quietly. "How'd you do that if I was catatonic,"

"With a lot of effort and patience," Dale said. He watched Warren carefully. "You don't want to know how long it took me to figure it out,"

"Yes, I do," Warren looked at him, determination in his eyes. "You did so much for me, and I barely know any of it. I...I want to know. I want to understand,"

Dale was cautious. "You don't have to hear this,"

"You didn't have to take care of me," Warren said. He gave Dale a small smile. "I want to hear. How did you figure out how to get me to exercise? How long did it take you to be able to read me so well? What was the worst day you had taking care of me,"

The worst day, that was an easy question. Dale was still a little uncertain about opening up to Warren about this, but he couldn't continue to treat his brother like a child. Warren had a right to know. And maybe it was for the best that Dale started by telling him the worst that it got. If Warren didn't like what he heard, Dale would know to not tell him more.

"The worst day was the time that I tried to get you to hoe the yard in front of your cabin," Dale began to tell his brother what had happened. It was a more detailed account than what he'd given to Kendra and Seth, but if anybody deserved to know the specifics, it was Warren.

Dale spoke as they began to work around the yard. Warren listened attentively, taking in his every word. He didn't interrupt except to ask a clarifying question. He left most of the talking to Dale, which was actually really nice. Dale had never realized just how much he needed to talk about this, and he'd underestimated how much Warren might need to hear it. Just talking about it was really therapeutic, and Dale appreciated the chance.