"Hey, Raph?"

The hotheaded turtle took his eyes off the wrestling match he was watching and saw Leo approaching.

"Do you know where Donnie is?"

"Where else?" Raph said, rolling his eyes toward the lab. He looked at Leo again, and his amusement turned to unease at the slight frown on his brother's face. He knew that look. Something was up, and the odds were he wasn't going to like it.

"Something wrong?" he asked, frowning himself.

Leo let out a quiet sigh.

"C'mon… we need to talk."

Shutting off the screen he'd been watching, Raph immediately rose to his feet and followed Leo toward the lab.

"Wait," he said, hesitating. "Shouldn't we wait till Mikey gets back?"

Leo shook his head.

"No… just the three of us need to talk."

That statement, along with Leo's troubled tone, made Raph's frown deepen.

"Is it about him?"

Leo glanced over at him.

"Well…" he said slowly. "Yes."

That set more alarm bells off in Raph's head. None of them ever kept something from the others unless it was serious. He found himself thinking back to Leo's conversation with Splinter just last night… it was something to do with that, he was sure.

When they entered the lab, Donnie turned to face them, and a frown came to his face too.

"Hey… what's going on?"

"Fearless says we gotta talk about something," Raph replied before looking at Leo. "So what's up, Leo?"

Leo sighed again, crossing his arms.

"Well… it's about that new clan."

Raph immediately felt even more uneasy.

"Somethin' wrong with 'em?"

"Not so simple as that," Leo said. "Master Splinter told me that their sensei and Master Yoshi, well, sort of have history."

That made Raph's eyes widen.

"What kind of history?" Donnie asked, looking just as startled.

Leo looked between his brothers, still frowning.

"Well, that's the thing," he said. "He doesn't really know. All he knows is that Master Yoshi knew their sensei, Master Sakura, back in Japan, and he never really trusted her."

Raph watched Leo for a few moments, then let out a heavy sigh.

"Ah, man… Mikey's gonna be crushed when he finds out."

Leo pressed his lips together.

"That's another thing," he said slowly. "Master Splinter doesn't want him to know."

That made both of the other turtles frown in confusion, but before they could ask any questions Leo went on slowly.

"You know he's gotten attached to Grace, and she is Sakura's daughter. She might tell him things about their clan, things she wouldn't tell us."

Raph and Donnie stood in silence for a few moments, then Donnie's eyes widened.

"Wait," he said slowly. "Master Splinter wants Mikey to be a spy, without knowing he is?"

On hearing that, Raph bristled.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa… we're gonna trick Mikey? Use him t' get information?"

"It's not just that," Leo said quickly. "Master Splinter knows how excited he's been about all this. He doesn't want to hurt him by saying he doesn't trust these people…"

Raph glared at him, his temper rising.

"An' is he thinkin' about how hurt he's gonna be if he finds out we're basically usin' him?!" he demanded.

Leo directed a frown at him as he bristled as well.

"Look, I don't like it any more than you do. But I do think Splinter has a point. And he doesn't like it either, but he wants to find out why Master Yoshi didn't trust Sakura. Like it or not, Mikey is the best link to her clan we have."

"Yeah, but to trick him?" Donnie said, sounding as troubled as he looked.

"We won't be keeping him in the dark forever," Leo went on. "Just until we find out Sakura's history with Master Yoshi. It might be nothing, or at least something we can work out."

Raph kept scowling at him.

"That's an awful big risk t' take," he growled. "If Mikey finds out about this…"

"And that's why we have to be very careful," Leo finished. "Splinter doesn't want to unnecessarily hurt him any more than we do."

Raph directed his scowl at the floor, crossing his arms and tapping his fingers.

"I really don't know, Leo," Donnie said slowly. "Doing that to Mikey… it just doesn't feel right."

Raph looked up again; from the look on his face, Leo was thinking about the same thing. But he only sighed once again.

"This is Splinter's decision," he said, his voice troubled but firm. "Until he says otherwise, we have to abide by it."

"Not so sure I like this decision," Raph muttered. But Leo was right… this was an order from their sensei, and honor bound them to follow it.

To himself, though, Raph made up his mind right there. If Mikey ever got suspicious, ever figured it out, asked what was going on, he wasn't going to lie. He would tell him the truth, no matter what Splinter said. As far as he was concerned, there was no more honor in keeping secrets from your brother than disobeying an order.

The faint sound of the lair door unlocking broke the silence, and Leo gave both Raph and Donnie a stern look. Begrudgingly, Raph sighed and nodded, seeing Donnie do the same. The three of them exited the lab just in time to see Mikey step inside, skateboard under his arm, and he looked up at them as the door latched shut again.

"Hey, bros… what's up?"

Raph felt a temptation to tell him the truth right now, regardless of what Splinter said. With some considerable effort he pushed it down and gave his youngest brother a small grin.

"Nothin' important, Mikey."

The youngest turtle cocked his head, but before he could ask any more questions Leo spoke up.

"So, you figure out that new trick yet?"

Luckily, that distracted Mikey from any further questions as he grinned and shrugged.

"Not yet but getting close. You guys should've come, it's not as fun doin' it alone."

"We'll come next time," Donnie said with a smile. "It's important to have time to yourself too."

"Yeah, I know," Mikey said, heading toward his room. "Mental wellbeing and all that jazz."

Raph glanced over at the others, and as if sensing it they looked back at him. Well, there was one thing they could talk to their brother about…

Leo stepped forward.

"Mikey, wait up a minute."

The youngest turtle stopped, looking at him curiously.

"There's something we've been wanting to talk to you about," Leo said. Mikey turned to face him fully.

"Okay…"

He sounded a little suspicious, and Leo quickly went on.

"We just want to know if everything's okay with you."

Mikey blinked, then a slight frown came to his face as he cocked his head again.

"What do ya mean, Leo?"

"It's just… you've seemed kind of, well, tired lately," Donnie said carefully.

"An' if ya need t' talk, we can listen," Raph finished. The three older turtles waited as Mikey scanned his eyes over them, his expression unreadable. Raph was sure he would just shrug and say everything was fine, but to his surprise Mikey sighed.

"I don't know what I wanna talk about, really," he said quietly. "Things've just been… kinda stale, I guess."

That brought a slight frown to Raph's face; he could sympathize with that, really… more than once he'd found himself wishing for more action. It was just strange to think that Mikey would feel that way when he always faced every situation with so much exuberance. Then another thought came to him: Donnie had mentioned that he was a little uneasy about how quickly their youngest brother had formed an apparent connection with Grace, who was essentially still a stranger. Could this be why, because he just wanted a change?

But it probably wasn't just that. Raph understood well that theirs was a pretty lonely life, and he also knew that was especially hard for Mikey. The kid would make friends with everyone in New York if he could. And Raph hesitated to admit it, but he deserved that many friends.

After a moment of hesitation, the hotheaded turtle walked over to Mikey and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"You should know ya don't have to keep somethin' like that to yourself, Mikey," he said, a rare softness in his gruff tone. "From us, 'specially."

Mikey looked at him with a surprised expression, one that normally Raph would find irritating. But he could hardly judge… he was probably the last one Mikey expected to get all touchy-feely with him. And frankly, he normally wouldn't. But his usual brusqueness wasn't what was needed right now. Raph might not be as good at reading people as Mikey, but even he could tell when it was a good idea to swallow his pride and just be there for his brothers.

"That's right," Leo said as he and Donnie walked over too. "You can always turn to us, whatever the problem is."

Mikey's eyes scanned over all three of them, his expression unreadable at first. Then a smile tugged at his face.

"Yeah. Thanks, bros."

Raph gave him a teasing smirk and tapped a fist against his head.

"No problem. Someone's gotta keep that rock-hard head in line."

Mikey grinned back as he pushed Raph's hand away.

"Now that sounds like the Raphael we know and love."

Even Raph had to laugh at that.