Later on, Ali took a shower. The warm water helped clear her head. She dried off and pulled on some sweat pants and a tee. As she left the bathroom, she kept an ear out for Donnie. He was extremely quiet in his lab, not wanting to attract any attention to himself.
Ali peaked in the lab, just in case he was in here. "Donnie?" she said, quietly.
"Y-yes?" Donnie replied. He seemed to be just a little less awkward than last night. He approached Ali, looking at her this time.
"Hey," Ali greeted with a smile. "You look better today. You feeling ok?"
"Yes, I suppose a good night rest did me some good," he replied.
She sighed with relief. "That's good to know. So, what are you doing? You need help?"
Donnie nodded his head. "Yes. That would be perfect." He walked back to his desk and she followed. "I am going to analyze some material on a molecular level to see if its basic structure is different from this universe," he told her. "I am trying to get some readings. Would you mind giving me an object from your universe? Like a clothing or anything else you brought with you?"
"My shirt," she shrugged, that being the only thing she brought over to this dimension. (And her pants, of course.)
"Mind if I can take a look at it?" he asked.
"Sounds like a plan," She smiled. She headed back to Raph's room to get her clothes. She came back moments later. "Found it," she said. "I hope this will work for you." She gave the shirt to Donnie and stood close to him to observe everything.
Donnie tore off a small piece as a sample and returned the shirt to her. "Sorry about messing it up. I just needed one sample."
"It's fine," she said, watching him closely.
Donnie placed the piece of clothing into his microscope inspecting it. "Hmmm... that's strange... it seems as though your shirt is covered with... microscopic diamond particles."
"What? How'd that happen?"
I'm not sure," replied Donnie scratching his head. I need to analyze this further."
"Need me to do anything else?"
"I would like a sample of your hair, please," said Donnie, impersonally as if he has been doing this kind of stuff for years.
Ali cocked her head. "Uh, sure." She shrugged. "How much you need?"
"Not too much. I want to see if the same dust is on your hair too," he said, lifting his eyes to her. "You've taken a shower here right? Washed your hair and everything?" he asked her with a little blush.
She nodded. "Yeah. Oh, is that not going to work? Would the particles have washed off?" She plucked off a strand and gave it to him.
Donnie placed the hair under microscope. "We will see if the particles are still present even after the shower," he said focusing the lenses. "Yup! Looks like they are. That's very peculiar. It is like they are permanently glued to you," he said in thought rubbing his chin.
'Well, that is very strange,' Ali thought. "What do they mean?" She asked Donnie, hoping he had the answer.
Donnie shrugged surprised he did not have an answer. "I do not know. They might have something to do with how you got here. Hmmm... I must analyze this further."
"You still need me?"
"I'll take it from here. Thank you, Ali." He went to computer programming on his desktop. As she turned around to leave, Donnie quickly said, "And... one more thing, Ali." He suddenly blushed. "Please do not tell about what happened last night to anyone, okay?"
Ali gave him a questioning look. "Did I miss something? Of course I won't tell, but what happened last night? Your nightmare?"
Donnie looked down on the floor, blushing. "Umm, yes! I would rather you not tell anybody about that. I am afraid not everyone would be so... understanding."
Ali walked back next to him and rubbed his shoulder. "It's fine, Donnie," she said. "I promise not to tell, but we all need to talk to someone about our problems sometimes." She was referring to her confession of her nightmares to Raph. "I'll be here."
Donnie smiled a 'thank you' and went back to work.
She left. She was feeling tired. It was around noon and she didn't get much sleep last night either. She silently yawned and headed to Raph's room, hoping he didn't mind if she could take a quick nap in his bed.
She knocked on the door. "Raph?"
He wasn't in his room. She walked in and laid down on his bed. She really hoped he didn't mind.
She curled herself up. Her sleepy eyes struggling to stay open as she watched the door.
"Yah tired?"
Ali jolted in surprise. Raph walked in and she didn't even notice it.
"Sorry," she said, eyes half open, her mind cloudy with sleepiness. "Do you mind? I'll move to the couch." She pulled her arms in and slowly pushed herself up, but Raph gently pushed her back down. Ali looked up at him. He smirked and shook his head.
"You should know better than moving to the couch, Al. You know I want to make sure you're as comfortable as possible," he told her.
"But, Raph..." she tried to say, trying to get up again.
"Ali," he said, narrowing his eyes at her. "Is something wrong?"
She looked up at him. "Would you mind... staying with me... for a while?"
"I'll stay with you as much as you like," he told her, rubbing her check with the back of his hand.
She closed her eyes, cuddling into his touch. Raph smiled. She was like a cat, clinging to the warmth of a friendly hand. It relieved him that she was able to trust him a little more. He sat next to her and stroked her hair, lulling her to sleep.
Once Ali dozed off, Raph gave her head one last rub before going to the kitchen. He bumped into Donnie on his way there. "What's your hurry," he asked.
"Just looking at samples and running some tests on some particles I found," Donnie explained.
Raph rolled his eyes. Science. As he turned to get to the kitchen, Donnie nervously said, "I-Is... Ali... with you?" He fidgeted his fingers as he waited for a response.
Raph raised an eye ridge. "She's sleeping right now."
"Oh... ok," Donnie said, and he walked back to his lab.
'What's with that?' Raph thought. Donnie had become really nervous around Ali, and he really hoped it wasn't for the reason he thought it was. But he shook his head at his thoughts. Nuh, Donnie was just being Donnie, a shy, geeky brother.
Donnie was in his lab. He wanted to ask Ali to give him samples of her dead skin cells layer, but maybe thought she would be too freaked out by that. He was really curious to see if those diamond particles were on her skin, too.
Ali started waking up moments later. That was a refreshing nap. Raph was sitting on the end of the bed, pumping a weight with one hand. He looked concentrated, deep in thought. She stretched and sat up. "Hi," she smiled, still waking up.
"Donnie's looking for you. I don't know why. Do you?"
"What?" She asked, wide awake now. "What's wrong? What happened?"
I don't know. He told me he is doing some sort of experiment. Some sciencey stuff. You know anything about it?"
"Oh, yeah." She placed her feet on the ground. "He said he found something that could help us figure out how I go here. You know, in this different dimension." She hoped she didn't sound too excited, because if getting closer to solving this mystery means she will be home sooner, she didn't want to sound like she was in a hurry.
"Oh, I see. It makes sense now." Raph smiled at her.
She waited for permission to stand up. "Can I go see what he needs? I'll be back real soon."
Raph chuckled. "Of course, babe. No one is holding you hostage."
She smiled, got up, and headed to Donnie's lab. Hopefully, he was still there. "Donnie?" Ali said opening the door a little.
"Oh, Ali! Come in! Make yourself comfortable," he told her, standing up suddenly from his computer chair. I wanted to ask you… if it would be ok… for me to extract more samples for investigation of the diamond particles."
She walked in. "Sure, Donnie. Whatever you need." She stood beside him.
"I… um… oh dear. It might sound weird, but, Ali, I need samples of your skin cells. I am analyzing if the diamonds stay and engulf the whole body or just the hair..."
'Please don't think I'm weird, please don't think I'm weird," Donnie rambled in his head.
"Skin cells?" Ali curiously said. "No, I don't think it's weird at all. Just, how are you going to get them?"
"Well, umm… I'm gonna have to rub some sand paper against your skin. I hope that's ok with you." Donnie was shy and his voice was trembling. Was he asking too much?
"Umm... sure," Ali complied. Sandpaper? That will be discomforting. But what made her even more uncomfortable was the way Donnie was acting. He was nervous again. But, she brushed it off, thinking nothing of it.
"Ok, Ali. Give me your elbow, please," Donnie said in a squeaky voice. She did and Donnie's hand wrapped around her forearm gently as he was scrubbing her bent elbow. Once he had enough skin he poured the small pieces of her DNA into a flat, thin microscope glass, adding saline to it. He got the sample ready while Ali curiously watched him. He looked into the microscope and adjusted the light and focus.
"Interesting..." he said under his breath, "... how well did you wash your body, Ali?" His words were out of his mouth before he realized how inappropriate they sounded. He instantly turned red. "I'm asking this for scientific purposes, of course."
"Umm... well enough, I guess," she answered, smiling a bit. "Why?" The question did seem a bit funny, but if it was for scientific purposes, it was alright with her.
"The particles... it seems as though your skin is covered with them too... it is like they are attractive to your tissue," he said rubbing his chin in thought. "I still do not know if they are only in the dead tissue or the living tissue as well..."
Ali didn't know how to reply to that. She was never any good at science, so she just let Donnie think this through while she waited for an explanation. Apparently, whatever was happening was fascinating to Donnie, but she didn't fully understand what was going on.
"Can I have a blood sample too?" asked Donnie, looking at her. "I would like to see if they have entered your body or not, and if or how they interact with your organism." he said rubbing the back of his head. "That is, if it is not much to ask." he smiled, shyly.
She looked at him with an eyebrow raised and a nervous smile. "I guess," she shrugged. Needles never bothered her anyway.
"Ok, I just need one poke," he said smiling, taking out what resembled a needle. He took her hand in his, cleans the spot with alcohol, and poked her index finger, using a thin glass tube to collect the blood. He gave her a cotton ball to stop the bleeding. He transferred the blood into the new microscope glass and looked through the lenses.
"Hmmm... interesting... even your blood seems to have them... they are stable and non-reactive. I am surprised your antibodies do not attack them. It is like they are a part of you..." he said looking at her.
She nervously stepped back. "What does that mean?" She asked. "Am I nonexistent? Am I even alive?" She held her arms, feeling her panicked state rising.
"Hmmm. You're definitely alive. You're made out of living tissue. It is just these particles. I think they have something to do with the teleportation... whatever they are, I think they are what got you here in the first place... which means, they can get you back home too..."
'I can go back home?' she thought. She felt a split. She did want to go home... but Raph; everyone. "How will these things inside me help me get home?" She asked.
"That's the thing. I don't know. It seems as though they need to be activated by something... but they are diamond. And diamond is stable. I have no idea how but... it seems as though YOU'RE the key to the trans-dimensional jump."
Ali placed a hand on her dizzy head. "So, all this time, I could have gone back home?" Did she want to go back at the chance she will never see Raph and his brothers again?
"Yes and no. Though you're the key and it is still un-known who or what initiated the jump in the first place," said Donatello.
She nodded. "I understand," she said. Still, the fact that she herself was the key to get home was mind boggling. On top of that, she was still thinking if she wanted to go back.
"I need you to take me to place where you first appeared. i wish to analyze the scene," Donnie said. "Do you remember the exact spot?"
Ali thought for a moment, then her eyes started to widen with worry and she another took a step back. The last time she "found" the spot where she came from, that frightening illusion appeared. On top of that, she didn't want to get too close to the building and accidentally teleport herself back.
"Donnie," Ali said, nervously fiddling with her hands when the thought hit her, "what's going to happen if I stay too long? Will the particles mess up my biology? Will my mind dissolve? Will I evaporate into thin air? Will I even be existence if I get back to my dimension?" Panicky what-ifs clouded her mind.
"I am not sure. I cannot really tell you since I have never seen it before. But, theoretically speaking, I believe it will not do anything to you physiologically or biologically."
Ali felt a jump in her stomach. He was basing this all on a theory? A guess? And what if she does get back unharmed, will she ever return?
