"Ali..."

Ali snapped out of her deep thought when she heard someone calling her name. She looked at Raph. He was still asleep in the chair next to her bed, arms folded and head down. Did she just imagine it? She looked over at the clock. Around this time, the others would be off doing their own individual things: Mikey would probably be playing videos games or hanging out in his room, Leo would most likely be meditating with Master Splinter, and Donnie would be in his lab. She probably did only imagine the voice… but then she heard it again.

"Ali…"

She froze, her eyes widened. Could it be… him? Could it be the entity?

Jittering a bit, Ali slowly got out of bed, being very careful to not wake Raph. She felt strong enough to walk around now. Moving as quickly as she could, she headed to Donnie's lab. She knocked on the door. "Donnie?" she whispered.

He opened the door, looking down at her, noticing her eyes portraying a hint of nervousness. "Ali, what's the matter?" he asked, ushering her inside.

"Donnie," she sighed, "W-What are the chances of…?" she paused, now thinking the whole thing was pretty absurd, but it never hurt to ask. "What are the chances of… someone else…" she took a breath, "…inside my head? Someone… a part of me?" The look Donnie gave her made her sigh with hopelessness. She knew it was a stupid question. "Never mind," she whispered, turning away from him.

'Someone else inside her head?' Donnie thought. 'That's impossible. Could it be the particles?'

"Ali," he said, approaching her, "that's not possible. But what are you saying?" Could this have to do with the voices she was hearing, her delusions?

She sighed, not noticing she was slightly rubbing her shoulder as she tried to put her scattered thoughts together. "It's nothing," she said quietly.

He swallowed. He could only guess what is going on in her head. He took her gently by the arm and pulled her close to him. She slightly looked up at him, but didn't reject him. Her breath suddenly hitched and she started resisting him when he tugged on her sleeve, pulling it up to reveal her mark. She flushed with embarrassment even though it was completely healed. He ran his thumb over it, his eyes portraying a bit of sadness. She felt a sting in her stomach at how clumsy she was that she was caught in the first place. He wasn't supposed to see that.

"Donnie, what are you doing?" she grunted, trying to hide her shoulder.

"Ali," he sighed, "how long have you been doing this to yourself?"

"Donnie, please. It's nothing important," she said.

He held on tighter, narrowing his eyes. "Ali, listen to me…"

"I don't want to talk about it!" she snapped a little, turning her head away from him as she tugged against him harder.

He slightly growled and grabbed her shoulders, not too gently but not too forcefully, either. He didn't have time for her stubbornness. He gave her a shake to force her to look at him straight on. With a grunt, Ali opened her worried eyes and stared at him. He looked sternly at her from behind his glasses.

"Ali," he said, his voice firm. "This could be really important. Your body in this world could react to things differently than if you were in your world. Do you understand? Maybe that's why you're are experiencing these things, or maybe it's because of the particles, which is why you think there is someone else in your head, but..." He was putting his scientific self to the side and trying to explain it as best he could. He took a breath. "Ali, I… I do care about you and I want to help, but every so often, you're going to have to tell me the truth. There is nothing I can do if you don't."

Ali closed her eyes and turned away from him again. She bit her lip, breathing heavily through her nose. She was quiet for a moment.

"Ali," Donnie said, less firmly to try to not to scare her.

"Donnie," Ali breathed, "There is nothing you can do even if I told you. It's too late." She suddenly felt a shudder run through her and she flinched with discomfort.

Donnie eased his hold on her and sighed. Even if there was something he could do for her, it pained him when he realized she was Raph's responsibility. She and Raph were together. Anything they two of them were involved with was none of his business. But he understood that Ali was hiding a great deal from Raph as well. What made it worse was that Raph didn't know her darkest secret of all. Donnie only stumbled upon it by accident and because of this accident he was now carrying a heavy burden with her. She would undoubtedly hide such a thing from him as well if he didn't see it.

"Ali, you can't go on like this alone," he whispered. "I won't allow it."

She snapped her head back towards him and widened her eyes. "You… you won't tell, will you? You promised. Donnie, you promised!" Ali felt a lump growing in her throat.

Donnie lowered his head. "Ali… Do you realize the dangers you put yourself in by keeping this from your friends? I only found out by accident, but what if Raph were to find out?"

Ali felt a painful sting of fear in her chest and she tugged hard against his hold. "No!" Donnie let her go and she backed into the wall. Her eyes started to stream tears and her shoulders started to tremble. Raph was the last person she wanted to know about this. "Donnie, don't!"

He didn't advance towards her but he continued to speak. "What kind of a friend does that make me if I don't tell, Ali? Huh? You could get really hurt someday and it might be too late to do anything about it!"

Her heart started racing and her hands started to get sweaty. She felt threatened. "Donnie, stop it! I handled this at home and I can handle it here!" she pleaded. She had an icky feeling that she was lying to herself about settling this habit but she wanted Donnie to just leave her alone about it.

He clinched his fists and finally took a step towards her. "And this is handling it?! Whether or not your particles can heal you, Ali, it is causing you more damage than it is repairing you and you know it!" He slammed his hand on the wall next to her. "Or are you just too naïve to see that, too?"

"What's going on here?!" a voice boomed.

Donnie and Ali looked towards the lab doors. Raph was glaring at Donnie, his fists clenched and his muscles tight. Donnie huffed and took a slow step away from Ali and she dashed into Raph's arms. He held her lovingly close as she snuggled up to him, breathing out sobs.

Raph's eyes narrowed even more. "What did you do to her?" he growled at his brother.

Donnie turned away and waved his hand in the air. "Nothing; nothing."

Raph gave Ali a little push back towards his room as he eyed Donnie one more time. Ali looked over her shoulder, but Donnie still had his back turned to her. When the lab door closed Donnie heaved a sigh. He made up his mind on what he was going to do.

Back in his room, Raph sat her on his bed and rubbed her back, trying to get her to calm down. She seemed a bit shaken. "Ali, are you ok? He didn't do anything to you, did he?" he asked.

Ali shook her head, but didn't make eye contact with him.

He stood up, looking down at her and snorted. "Would you tell me if he did?" he said in more of a stern voice.

She looked up at him, feeling a bit nervous. The look in his eyes made him look as if he was suspecting something, but still she nodded.

He gave her a small smile and rubbed her head. "That's a girl," he softly said. "Don't be scared. Nothing is going to happen to you."

She gazed at the ground, wanting to believe him, but she couldn't settle her doubt.

As Raph was lifting weights, Ali dozed off to sleep, feeling safe that he was with her… but someone else was there too (in her dreams.)

"You foolish, foolish girl," a deep, silky voice said. In her dream, Ali backed away, holding her hands nervously as the entity revealed himself to her again. He still had his elegant, handsome figure and his eyes stared at her in a 'tsk, tsk' kind of way.

She gulped a bit and stood her ground. "I'm not afraid of you."

He chuckled a bit, but stopped walking towards her. "Don't play tough with me, Ali. I can sense you are afraid. Why would you be afraid of me in the first place? I am you."

"No, you're not," she said. "You're my secret, but you are not me."

He cocked his head, smiling a bit. "Well, I can only guess, since I am your secret, I am a part of your mind. I'm connected to your conscious, Ali. The more you push your friends away, the stronger of a hold I have on you."

Ali shook her head, but her heart raced faster. "No. No, you're wrong. I'm my own person. You're just… just an entity of my imagination. These particles are what's making me see you. Nothing else."

He smiled at her and inched closer. "I love how you try to get yourself to believe what you know is not real." He reached out and pulled a hand full of particles from the darkness. "These particles are what makes me. They are a part of you, meaning you are a part of me. You hold the key to making me real. You don't belong in this world and you never will. So when I absorb all your particles, you will cease to exist and I will be free."

Ali gasped and backed away. She wanted to turn and run, but in a void of darkness she couldn't see where she was going. She only backed up and cornered herself. The entity closed in on her. Tears formed in her eyes. "Please," she sobbed. "Please, just leave me alone."

"Silly little girl," he said, reaching out for her face. "You can't run from your own shadow." He lightly stroked her face with her finger and disappeared.

Ali opened her eyes and sat up. Her heart was still racing but she didn't feel weak this time. Raph was still pumping iron but he looked up when he realized Ali was awake.

"You ok, Al?" he asked, putting the weights down.

Ali nodded, wiping her cheek. "Yes, yes, I'm fine." Her mind boggled with The Secret's words. The particles are a part of her, but he is created of the particles. He will draw every particle out of her to become real, and she will cease to exist. Does that mean she will disappear here and never return home? She slowly started to feel terrified when she realized this, but she had to stay calm in front of Raph.

"Ali," Raph said, she jumped and turned her attention to him. "Ali, you still look a bit shaky." He reached out and touched her head. "You're sweating a bit. Do you need water?"

She took a few breathes in and out of her nose to try to calm down. She nodded, answering his question, but her kind was jumbling.

"I'll be right back," he said. Raph dashed out of his room and into the kitchen. He grabbed a glass from cabinet and filled it with water, unaware Donnie was coming closer to him.

"Raph," he said, clearing his throat.

Raph gave him a look, still not completely forgiving him for upsetting Ali. "What do you want?" he snorted.

Donnie huffed, but let it pass. "There's something I need to tell you
about Ali."