You all wanted a sequel, so I thought I'd give you a second chapter. It took me a little while to write this; I haven't been too happy with Adam lately on the show. But I finally cooled down a bit and was able to write this. Enjoy, everyone. I don't own Lab Rats or "I'm Nobody! Who Are You?" by Emily Dickinson.

* * * Crumble * * *

Adam stared at the big "D" marring his math test. He tapped his pencil on his fingers and sighed. Mr. Davenport wouldn't be happy about that. Then again, it wasn't unexpected. If Adam came home with an A on one of his papers, that would be much more shocking.

"Hey, A-Dumb," Joey hissed from the seat behind him. Adam cringed. Joey had found a way to break apart his name and turn it into an insult. It wasn't very clever, but it hurt anyway. "Fail another test?"

"I didn't fail," Adam mumbled quietly.

The class was dismissed and Adam stood up, hoping to hurry out the door before Joey could follow him. No such luck. He followed Adam out of the classroom and into the hallway.

"You always fail," Joey said with a barking laugh. "You fail at English, at math, at history . . ." Joey paused, and Adam could tell that he was waiting to strike with something particularly cruel. "At life."

"You know nothing about my life," Adam said without turning around.

"I know that you're not going to get anywhere with a brain the size of a walnut. Face it, you've got nothing going for you."

Adam clenched his fists. He was so close to telling Joey about his bionics. That would shut the kid up. But he couldn't. Adam would never do that. "I . . . I . . ." he stammered, trying to find a comeback. Why was this so hard?

Joey laughed. "You're an idiot. You know that? Why are you even here? No one likes you. No one needs you. You're useless."

"That's not true!" Adam said loudly. His breathing quickened and he felt the anger grow bigger and bigger.

"It is. Even your siblings don't need you. I've heard the way they talk about you. You're dead weight. Your whole life is pointless. You're worthless."

When Adam, Bree, and Chase were growing up in the lab, they argued a lot. But there was one thing that they could always agree on, no matter what the circumstances: never make a bionic superhuman angry. And Joey had just made a bionic superhuman angry. That was his mistake.

Adam dropped his backpack, turned sharply, grabbed Joey by the neck, and slammed him into the lockers, all in one swift motion. Kids in the hallway gasped as Joey began to claw at his neck and Adam's hands, trying to loosen the grip. Adam only tightened it.

"Hey, muscles, drop him!" a harsh, grating voice yelled.

Adam let his eyes roll up into his head. He dropped Joey and he fell to the ground, coughing and gasping for breath. Adam slowly turned around, ready to face his punishment.

Principal Perry was standing there, hands on her hips. "Into my office, meat sack. Move it!"

"Care to explain what happened today?" Mr. Davenport asked sharply.

"No, I'm good," Adam replied, leaning back into the couch.

"Adam!" Mr. Davenport said exasperatedly. "Principal Perry called me and said you were picking a fight at school. Tell me what happened!"

"Nothing," Adam said. He glanced at his three siblings, who were watching him curiously.

"That's not like you, Adam," Leo pointed out.

"Maybe it is now." Adam was starting to get uncomfortable. He just wanted to go down to the lab and do a bit of training to calm himself down. He didn't need his family to interrogate him.

"Adam, what's up with you?" Bree asked. "You've been acting really weird lately."

"Nothing is wrong." Augh, just shut up and leave me be! Adam thought.

"Why were you fighting that kid?" Chase asked.

"No reason!"

"So you just randomly started punching him?" Mr. Davenport asked.

"N-No," Adam stuttered.

"Then why would you do it?" Leo asked.

"Because it's Joey!" Adam shouted. He buried his face in a pillow.

There was silence for a few seconds until Chase said, "What does that have to do with anything?"

Adam groaned and mumbled something into the pillow. His family asked him to repeat it, so he did . . . into the pillow again. They sighed and Mr. Davenport said, "Adam, tell us, not the pillow."

Slowly Adam lifted his head, but he didn't lift his eyes. "He called me worthless," he whispered.

The silence was thick and almost deafening. Adam wanted to disappear. After months of keeping it from his family, he had finally told them what was the matter. What happens next? he thought. They think I'm weak? I needed to ask my family for help. How pathetic am I?

When Adam finally lifted his gaze off of his shoes, he saw the others staring at him incredulously. Finally Bree said, "But Joey's so nice."

"No, trust me, he's not," Adam said, shaking his head. "He's always saying that I'm dumb and that I'll never do anything with my life and I'm just a big idiot who fails at everything."

"How long has he been saying those things?" Mr. Davenport asked.

"Pretty much ever since I started going to school."

Mr. Davenport pursed his lips and stood up. "I'm calling the school right now," he said, walking towards the phone.

"No, please don't!" Adam cried, shooting to his feet.

"And why not?"

"Because . . . because I can handle it!"

"Obviously not!" Chase insisted. "You choked him this morning!"

"I overreacted, but I promise it won't happen again! Don't call the school!"

"Adam, what's the matter with you?" Bree asked.

Adam sighed. "I'm . . . I'm the strong one. I shouldn't need help. I don't . . . I can't . . . I don't know." Adam walked back over to the couch and flopped onto it.

"Adam," Bree said gently, walking over to him and sitting by his feet. "We're a team. We're supposed to stick together."

"Yeah," Chase agreed. "I mean, you stick up for us when Trent teases us. We would do the same for you, if only we knew!"

"You've stood up to Stephanie before," Bree said. "How hard can Joey be?"

"Harder than you think," Adam groaned. "He's the 'perfect kid' with the 'perfect grades' and everyone loves him. Besides, the teachers never see it. And he never attacks me, so it's not like he actually hurts me."

"Yes he does," Leo whispered. "Adam, I know how much words can hurt. That sticks and stones saying is completely wrong. Sometimes words hurt more than getting physically hurt."

Adam looked up to meet the gazes of his siblings. "You guys don't think I'm worthless or pointless or useless, right?"

"Trust me, Adam," Bree said, "if we did, we would've gotten rid of you a long time ago." She chuckled a bit before adding, "But seriously, you're not worthless. Don't ever think that."

"Yeah, come on, buddy, you know better than that!" Chase said. "You're essential to our team. We'd fall apart without you."

"You're really good at making jokes," Leo added. "You can make anyone smile, no matter what kind of day they're having."

"You're a great big brother," Bree said. "I don't know anyone else who would quit the cheerleading team for their little sister."

"Thanks guys," Adam said quietly. The hurt was still lodged in his heart like a splinter that was too deep to remove, but he felt much better now. It would be a while before he felt completely better, but it was a start.

"That's sweet of you guys to make him feel better," Mr. Davenport said with a smile. "I'm still calling the school."

Adam sat down at the desk in Mr. Davenport's library. The notebook was open in front of him and another paper was sitting nearby. He grabbed his newly sharpened pencil and put it down carefully.

"I can do this," he whispered. "I . . . I can do this."

Adam had waited until the very last moment; this paper was due in the morning. Still, Adam had a very good idea of what he wanted to write. He felt surprisingly confident as his fingers began to draw the shaky print that was his handwriting.

The poem "I'm Nobody! Who Are You?" by Emily Dickinson is about how amazing it is to be a nobody. But even when you're nobody, it's nice to have another "nobody" to be friends with. Even nobodies can hold each other up . . .

"Ms. Donahue, Mr. DeWhite, Mr. Davenport . . ." Adam accepted the paper from Mr. Kramer and bit his lip. As he stared at the red marking on the top, his heart skipped a beat. It was a solid "A," something Adam never thought he would see on one of his papers.

When the bell rang a few minutes later, Adam approached Mr. Kramer's desk. "Um, sir?" he asked quietly.

Mr. Kramer glanced up. "Yes, Adam?"

"You, uh, you gave me an A."

"Yes I did. You did an excellent job explaining what you thought the poem was about. I was very impressed."

Adam couldn't stop smiling. "Thank you!" He walked out of the room, his heart swelled with pride. He felt less happy as soon as he saw Joey lurking outside the door.

"Fail again, A-Dumb?" Joey said.

Adam smirked and held up his paper. "Actually, Joey, I think I did pretty well."

Joey frowned. "One A doesn't make you a genius. You're still an idiot, no matter what grade you get. You know that next time it will be a big, fat F."

"Hey Adam!" a familiar voice called. Adam turned to see Chase running up. "What's up?" Chase shot a cold glare at Joey.

"Nothing," Adam said with a gulp, wondering what would come next.

"You're Adam's brother, the nerd, right?" Joey said, folding his arms across his chest.

"My name is Chase."

"Whatever. I can't believe that a genius like you is related to this dummy."

"Hey, don't call my brother a dummy!" Chase spat. "Only I can do that!"

"Me too!" Bree called as she ran up, Leo behind her. "Get lost, Joey."

"Yeah!" Leo shouted.

Joey scowled. "Whatever. You're still a failure, A-Dumb."

"No, he's not!" Chase shouted.

"My brother is not a failure!" Leo yelled. "And he's more amazing than you'll ever be!"

Joey frowned, opened his mouth, and closed it again. Finally he stormed down the hall to his locker. Chase glared after him.

"What are you doing?" Bree asked her younger brother.

"Calculating how many dead fish I could cram into a locker the same size as the one Joey has," he answered.

"Please don't," Adam said. "But thank you guys for standing up for me."

"Any time," Leo assured him.

"How'd you do on your English assignment?" Chase asked.

Adam held up his paper proudly. "I've never gotten a grade like this."

"Enjoy it, because you probably won't again," Bree teased.

"Great job, Adam!" Leo cheered.

"Thanks for all your help with proofreading, Chase," Adam said.

"Of course," Chase said, patting his brother on the shoulder. "It's what I'm here for."

The group of siblings walked down the hall together, and Adam felt himself getting lighter and lighter. He knew that his problems were far from over, but at least it was the beginning of the end. Now things could start to get better.

The walls Adam had built up around his heart began to fall down. They had blocked out his siblings and kept him from loving and appreciating them the way he should. They had made him believe the horrible things he was told about himself. They had made him feel like he needed to be strong constantly.

Adam built up new walls, but they weren't made out of bricks. His new walls were built with his siblings around him, holding him up and supporting him. They would never fall down like the old walls; they would never crumble. They were steadfast, and they were there to stay. They were the source of Adam's true strength. Without them, he could do nothing.

And that made all the difference.