Donnie couldn't help but smile at Mikey's enthusiastic chattering, which had been going on the whole way back to the sewers. It had been a while since he'd seen him this excited, and he could tell from the small smile on Leo's face that he was thinking the same thing. Raph was trying to look annoyed, but there was a hint of a smile on his face too.

"Will ya relax, Mikey? We still gotta tell Master Splinter."

"Oh, sure, but he'll be cool, I know! They're doing the same thing as us, and Grace said they're looking for allies!"

Despite himself, Donnie couldn't help feeling a twinge of concern. Personally, he thought the same thing, but he couldn't pretend to know what Splinter wanted. And if he said no, Mikey was in for what would clearly be deep disappointment. Despite his usually cheerful attitude, the youngest turtle tended to take bad news a little harder than his brothers.

Another thing nagging at Donnie's mind was the apparent affinity Mikey had rather quickly developed with Grace. He had always been the friendliest of the four, but this seemed kind of sudden even for him. It wasn't so much that Donnie doubted him… Mikey's feelings had been right many times before. He just couldn't shake the concern that his eagerness might be affecting his judgement a little… and how he might react if this didn't work out.

Don't get ahead of yourself. There's no likely reason it won't.

By now they had reached the door to the lair, and Leo keyed in the security code. The door clicked, then swung open. As the turtles stepped inside, Splinter, who had clearly been sitting waiting for their return, rose. His dark eyes scanned over them, but he waited for them to speak first.

The three other turtles looked at Leo right away, but the leader directed his own gaze at Mikey and gestured forward. His eager expression quickly returning, the youngest turtle stepped forward. His excitedness never faded as he recounted the meeting, and the other turtles couldn't help but smile.

Splinter, meanwhile, listened with calm and unwavering attention. His face gave nothing away, but Donnie saw his eyes widen at the sound of the other clan's name. That roused his concern again, but the surprised look quickly faded, and the way Mikey continued without hesitation suggested that he hadn't seen it… or at least didn't think anything of it. When he finally finished speaking, he kept his eyes on Splinter. He was wearing an eager expression that Donnie had expected, but there was something a little strange about it. It looked almost anxious, as if he was a little afraid of what Splinter's reaction would be. But after a few more moments, the rat gave a small nod.

"I see. Well done, Michelangelo."

Mikey's smile widened even more, his eager expression never fading.

"So, we can work together, right, Sensei?"

"I see no reason why not," Splinter replied.

Mikey pumped his fist.

"Sweet! That's awesome!" he exclaimed. Donnie thought he could see a small smile on Splinter's face as he dismissed them. But before they could leave, he spoke again.

"Leonardo, wait a moment. Come with me… I have something else to discuss with you."

Donnie felt his brow crease just a little as his eldest brother followed Splinter, wondering what his sensei was talking about. But Mikey didn't seem to be wondering the same thing; his expression and voice remained buoyant as he turned to his other two brothers.

"This is great! We've never worked with another clan before!"

Donnie saw Raph roll his eyes, but the corner of his mouth was quirked up in a half smile. The genius turtle couldn't help but smile too, knowing what this meant to Mikey. Stepping up to the youngest turtle, Donnie rubbed a hand over his head.

"You did great, Mikey."

"Yeah, nice goin' there, numbskull," Raph said in a gruff but pleased tone. Donnie glanced toward Splinter's rooms, his smile turning into a thoughtful frown.

"I wonder what Sensei wants to talk to Leo about, though."

Mikey shrugged, clearly less concerned.

"Probably more about how to work with the other guys."

A soft meow interrupted, and Mikey turned with a wide grin as a ginger cat came trotting toward him.

"Hey, Klunk! Where ya been?"

The cat rubbed against his ankles, and Mikey stooped to stroke his back. Klunk let out another meow, clearly pleased with the attention.

"Guess what, Klunkers!" Mikey said cheerfully. "We got some new friends!"

Klunk rubbed his head against Mikey's hand, purring. Raph smirked.

"Don't think he's too interested in that, Mikey."

"Aw, Klunk's always interested!" Mikey replied. "That's what makes him such a great listener."

Donnie exchanged an amused look with Raph but couldn't help feeling a tug of curiosity. He knew Mikey talked to Klunk all the time, but always wondered what he said to him when the others couldn't hear.

Too bad Klunk can't talk, he thought. If he could, we could just ask him if something's bothering Mikey.

They hadn't had an opportunity to bring it up yet due to all the excitement, but Donnie knew they still had to have that talk. He just wasn't sure if the youngest turtle would take it seriously… the way he took his brothers' problems.

As it turned out, Mikey was a pretty great listener too. He always seemed to just know when one of them needed to talk, and when to set aside his joking demeanor. But for some reason, when it came to his problems, he simply shrugged it off. None of the other turtles could figure out why, even Donnie. The only reason he could think of was that he believed they wouldn't take it seriously, but Donnie couldn't figure out why he'd think that.

Either way, having new allies wouldn't just be advantageous for tactical reasons… he knew Mikey always wished they could know more people. Maybe that was why he formed an attachment to Grace so quickly.

"So, Mikey," he said out loud. "Just out of curiosity, what made you think Grace was okay?"

Mikey straightened with a small, thoughtful frown.

"Y' know, I'm really not sure," he said. "Like I said, I just had a feeling."

Raph crossed his arms and leaned back against the back of the couch.

"Well, looks like yer feelings might a' done us some good. Nice ta know there's not more people we'll hafta hide from."

Mikey grinned, but before he could answer the sound of footsteps made them look to see Leo reenter the room.

"Hey, bro," Raph said. "So what'd Master Splinter wanna talk to ya about?"

Leo shrugged.

"Oh, nothing important."

He gave Mikey a smile.

"You did a great job, Mikey."

Donnie smiled too at the bright grin on his younger brother's face, but something was tugging at him: Leo hardly ever considered a conversation with Splinter unimportant. And it might have just been Donnie's imagination, but when he came back from this one, he could swear his older brother's expression was almost troubled. But he gave no sign of it now, and it seemed neither Raph nor Mikey had noticed.

I must have imagined it. He'd tell us if something was wrong.

With that thought, he joined in the others' banter. By all accounts, things were anything but wrong. They wouldn't be fighting their enemies alone anymore. Even better, the success of this mission seemed to have really buoyed Mikey up. He knew they still needed to talk to him, but that could wait for now… for now, they could just let him be happy.