Donnie looked up from his computer at the knock on his lab door.

"Come in," he called. The door opened, and Mikey stepped in with his usual wide grin.

"Hey, Don!"

He flopped down in a spare chair, stretching himself out.

"Ah… so how awesome was last night? Those girls were crazy good!"

The purple-masked turtle couldn't help but grin as well… it was good to see that air of tiredness that had hung around Mikey gone and him acting like himself again.

"They've definitely had some vigorous training," Donnie said out loud. "Even Raph said Hamari was great with her sais."

Mikey chuckled.

"That's a feat if ever there was one… Raphie-Boy's a tough nut to crack."

Donnie had to chuckle as well, then cocked his head.

"So, what's up? Did you want to ask me something?"

At that, Mikey's face changed a little; it couldn't be described as solemn, but there was an air of seriousness about it… almost nervousness.

"Well, yeah… sort of."

Donnie sat back in his own chair, nodding to show he was listening completely. Mikey shifted a bit, then looked up.

"I did okay, didn't I? Keeping it professional and all?"

That brought a frown to Donnie's face… Mikey had never worried about that sort of thing before. He quickly schooled his features before Mikey drew the conclusion that he was displeased in some way.

"Well, yeah, I think so. Why's that bugging you?"

Mikey sighed and shrugged.

"Oh, I dunno. I just really wanted to do this right."

Donnie gave his younger brother a smile, reaching out to pat his shoulder.

"Well, you don't have to worry… you did great."

Mikey looked up, then his grin came back.

"Thanks, Don." He straightened, looking curious now.

"So, did you see Hamari fighting? I mostly saw Grace, and she was awesome."

Donnie crossed his arms, thinking back to their battle the previous night.

"I saw some… she was mainly near Raph. But what I saw was impressive… they clearly haven't had the same instruction as us, but it still synced so well."

Stretching out again, Mikey joined his hands behind his head.

"I know… you should've seen Grace. We took down these two guys, and she did this awesome flip. I wanna ask her how to do it… maybe she can teach me it."

The admiration in Mikey's voice roused a strange feeling in Donnie. Of course, if they were going to be allies with the Gawa clan, it stood to reason they would be learning more from each other. But Donnie couldn't stop that feeling he got when he thought of Mikey's quick rapport with Grace. It wasn't exactly concern, more like unease. He wasn't sure why, but it was there, nevertheless.

"Maybe you can ask next time," he said out loud. "I'm sure we'll find some time."

That made Mikey's grin widen.

"Yeah, and she was asking me about a kick I did. I think she wants to learn it."

A grin tugged at Donnie's face as he raised a brow.

"I suppose you're gonna teach her a cool catchphrase to yell when she does it?"

Mikey gave him an indignant look.

"Bro, never knock a cool catchphrase! It's important for psychin' yourself up!"

"I didn't hear you yelling any last night," Donnie pointed out, still grinning.

Mikey shrugged.

"Hey, that's 'cause when you get awesome enough, ya don't need it as much."

That got a chuckle out of Donnie.

"Right."

"Besides," Mikey went on, rolling his eyes. "I'd a' heard it big time from Mr. Uptight if I did that last night."

Donnie caught the note of annoyance in Mikey's tone. Truthfully, though, he couldn't blame him.

"You've got a point," he conceded. "Leo was a little more stringent than usual. But you know how he is."

Mikey nodded, and Donnie could see his look become slightly sympathetic.

"Ya know, sometimes I kinda feel sorry for him. He's so scared of making a mistake it's hard for him to loosen up and have fun."

It was Donnie's turn to nod now, struck as usual by Mikey's insight.

"Well, being the leader has to be hard."

Mikey hung his arms over the back of his chair, frowning.

"I know I sure wouldn't wanna be. I'd probably screw it up anyway."

He had muttered that last part, as if he was saying it more to himself than anyone else. Donnie cocked his head, then gave Mikey an encouraging smile.

"For what it's worth, I don't think you would."

The look of surprise Mikey gave him struck an uneasy chord in his head… did he really think Donnie would agree he'd be bad at that?

"You really think so?" the orange-masked turtle asked, sounding almost hopeful. Donnie gave another nod.

"Sure, I do. You're as capable as any of us… the main thing is you have trouble focusing."

He raised a brow, and a sheepish smile came to Mikey's face as he shrugged.

"What can I say, bro? Sometimes my brain just won't be quiet. And besides," he added, rolling his eyes again. "I don't wanna get boring and uptight like someone else we know."

Donnie couldn't help but laugh.

"You're anything but boring and uptight, and I don't think that's likely to change anytime soon."

Mikey grinned proudly, but Donnie thought he saw a flicker of some other emotion before that. It was gone so quickly, though, that he couldn't be sure it was even there in the first place, much less place exactly what it was.

"Anyway," he said, deciding to change the subject. "Now that Grace and Hamari have seen more of the city, what do you think they think of it?"

Mikey immediately pounced on that topic with enthusiasm.

"Well, I'm not sure about Hamari, she wasn't by me much. But Grace looked like she thought it was pretty cool." His face grew a little more solemn. "I know she didn't like all the crime, though. She told me she hates seeing people get hurt like that."

Donnie let out a sigh.

"She's not alone in that."

Despite the unexplainable unease Donnie felt about Grace, he couldn't deny that she seemed perfectly suited to be a friend to his younger brother. Granted, he didn't know as much about her as Mikey, but from what he had seen there were many similarities between the two. Both were eager to succeed, fierce fighters, and had a caring nature.

"I don't think Hamari likes it either," the genius went on. "She's a little more reserved, but I saw her face whenever she saw something like that. Not to mention how focused she got."

"Oh, yeah… she was awesome," Mikey said, then smiled. "Grace was really proud of her, I could tell."

Donnie gave another nod, a smile tugging at his own face. He could certainly relate to Grace in that regard; he remembered how proud he had been when Mikey first took down a thug… they'd all been. Even Raph, though the hothead wasn't partial to expressing it. Mikey's voice drew him out of his musing.

"It was great working with them… I'm really glad Master Splinter okayed it."

At that, Donnie's thoughts turned to Splinter's order regarding Mikey and the Gawa clan. He felt a twinge of guilt; even if the intentions were good, he feared how Mikey would react if he found out, or if they told him the truth. He'd be so hurt, maybe even feel betrayed. Donnie strenuously hoped that telling him wouldn't be necessary, but he had a bad feeling about this whole thing he couldn't suppress.

"Don? You okay?"

Blinking, Donnie saw the concerned look on Mikey's face and realized he'd let his troubled emotions on his face. Kicking himself mentally, he quickly schooled his features into an apologetic smile.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Sorry, my mind wandered a little."

Mikey cocked his head, but to Donnie's relief he didn't press the subject. The genius made himself focus on the youngest turtle's casual banter. There was no sense worrying about it now… if they were lucky, it wouldn't even be necessary.

Still, the nagging uncertainty remained. If it was necessary, how would they ever make him understand? Even more troubling, was it even possible to make him understand?