Mikey

Being on the B team sucked.

Mikey never said it out loud but he knew it as well as the rest of them. There was a reason that the B team never had a running television series, or a feature length film. The B team was for side missions, for the easy stuff, for easy run of the mill tasks that any ninja could do. Master Splinter never said it, but to Mikey it was obvious. To be on the B team was to be weaker, to be not as good as everyone else.

Mikey was always on the B team. Always. Which sort of hurt a turtle's self esteem.

Mikey could only imagine what it did to Donnie's.

Because Donnie? Donnie was sensitive. Not, Raph sensitive, thank God for that, but sensitive enough to equate B Team with "not strong enough" "not fast enough" and "not good enough." Donnie already looked at himself as the weakest member of the team, as the one who was slowing them all down. The B Team moniker was likely not helping matters.

Mikey was no genius but he could do basic math. B Team + Donnie= Sadness. Which was just not on. So he added in another variable. An incentive, if you will.

"Team B secret handshake!" Mikey yelled as they got assigned another mission. He held out his hand to Donnie who rolled his eyes. It had taken quite a bit of persuading to get his older brother to start the tradition, but eventually, Donnie had caved. They always caved when Mikey was involved.

Donnie held out his hand and the handshake began. It was made up of at least 15 phases, a few slaps, three fist bumps, and once instance of jazz hands. Raph thought it was ridiculous, an opinion he voiced constantly. So did Donnie. At first. Because despite the eye rolling and the grumbled complaints, every time they did their handshake, Mikey couldn't help but notice the faintest of smiles grace his brother's face.

The handshake was a little silly. Mikey could admit that. It wasn't a television series or a feature length film. But as long as it could make Donnie smile, it was enough.

Donnie:

Donnie didn't want to learn the handshake at first.

He had plenty of reasons not to. It was stupid, it was long, and it made him feel like a total dunce. He'd refused at first, back when Mikey first brought it up. He thought his brother would let it drop.

Mikey did not let it drop. He did the handshake by himself every mission, like if shaking an invisible hand would convince Donnie to join in on the routine. It didn't. Donnie was set. He wasn't doing the handshake.

At least, he planned not to. Because as the days went on and Donnie saw Mikey's shoulders slump at every announcement that they were on the B team once again, he began to realize that perhaps his brother's request was less silly than he originally thought.

That night, he memorized the entire handshake, using only his memory as a guide.

The lack of sleep was worth it when he saw Mikey's eyes light up as he outstretched his hand.

Splinter:

Splinter never meant for the B team to be an insult.

He'd never even considered it could be one. It hadn't even crossed his mind. To him, the splitting of his sons was a tactical advantage. Nothing more, nothing less.

It was only once Leo approached him about the possible connotations of team names that he began to rethink his earlier strategy. Last thing he wanted was his sons to think he was playing favorites. He'd planned to change up the teams the next day, to set some things straight.

But when he announced the teams (Raph with Don and Leo with Mikey respectively) he didn't miss how the excitement vanished out of his two youngest son's eyes. How they went for the handshake without realizing it at first. How sad they seemed when they realized that they no longer needed it.

Leo had a point. Naming the teams A and B was perhaps not a wise decision. But paring up his two youngest sons?

That was a decision Splinter would never regret.