Brotherhood

Breaking Up Is Hard To Do

Less than a minute after Elton left, there was a knock on Blake's door. Blake had just thrown himself moodily down onto his bed and grumbled when he got up to answer it. But he forgot everything else when he saw Adam's tear-streaked face. "Adam! Come in!"

Blake drew Adam – his fiancée– inside and sat on the bed, pulling Adam into his lap. "Bad?" he asked softly.

Adam nodded. "I still feel like I love him, Blake. I thought he'd be angry, yell at me, remind me again how he risked so much to save me from Breaker. But he didn't. He just asked me why? So I told him what I remembered, and that it wasn't right, what he'd done to me, how he'd taken advantage of me to start a relationship he knew I didn't want. I didn't even mention you, Blake. He knew! He knew I wanted you when he integrated me, right?"

"You said it more than once!" Blake agreed.

"He just sounded so hurt, Blake," Adam said. "He barely said a word, but I know he was crying. He said it wasn't me talking right now, that it was Adam Levine and that he was sick and tired of that bastard interfering with us. That it was time to do something about him. I told him again that I knew I only believed I loved him because of my empathy, because I sensed the entity inside of him and my empathy made me see it as love. But he said that it didn't matter, because that's what I really was, an empath, and that's how I was meant to see him. I was Shard Seven, not Adam Levine, and Levine was past due to fade out. And that was the only time he sounded angry." He ran a shaking hand over his hair. "I asked him what he meant, and he said that I'd come back to who I really was soon enough. Then he just said he'd be waiting when I changed my mind and hung up."

That made Blake grow still. "When you changed your mind? That son of a bitch! He knows what will happen when he reintegrates you, and he thinks he'll get you back!"

"And he's probably right!" Adam shuddered. "This is already tearing me apart, Blake. I still care about him, and it's killing me to know how much I hurt him. I don't know what's going to happen."

Blake tightened his arms around Adam. "What's going to happen is that if he pulls you back into integration, I'll just pull you back out again!"

Adam looked at him in surprise. "But we still don't know my true name! Did you see more than I did?"

"No," Blake confessed. "But who picked your name? Shard Seven, or Adam Levine?"

"Adam Levine, the last thing he did. But I didn't catch it. It was something he did when he was burying his memories in that empathic safe!"

"But we know now where to look, right? Now, what is it going to take to get into that safe?"

"Another empath, honestly," Adam sighed. "But I don't know if Three's going to be able to help us much. And the only other possibility is Dr. Murray, who hates my guts."

"Well, we can try one or the other, but I'm not holding my breath either way. Because honestly? I thought about what I did see and hear, what was going through your head while you were being forced into integration. And I think maybe I might have figured it out."

"How?"

"Because that name came from Adam Levine," Blake declared, "and no one knew Adam Levine better than I did." He kissed Adam gently. "Obviously, I'm not 100% certain, and this isn't something I'm going to play with, especially since you guys have to recharge before I can pull you out again. I didn't forget my promise to One, either, which means if I can't find his name, I'll have to leave Five in for a bit longer. But I swear, if Unum pulls you back into alignment with your integration and tries to take you back? I'm trying to pull you out. He's not taking you back, Adam. And he's not touching you, not ever again!"