Leo frowned to himself in thought as he headed toward Donnie's lab. He wasn't sure how this conversation was going to go, but he knew they couldn't leave the issue unaddressed anymore. Not to mention he had no idea when Mikey might be back from skateboarding, and they needed to figure out how they were going to explain the situation to him. He wasn't going to take it well, but if they just figured out the right way to tell him, Leo was sure they could work it out. Mikey might be upset, but he wasn't the kind of guy to let things get to him. With that thought in mind, Leo knocked on the lab door.

"Donnie? Can you come out here?"

He heard footsteps inside, then the door opened to reveal his genius brother looking at him with a curious frown.

"What's up?"

Leo sighed.

"I think we need to talk. Raph and Sensei are already waiting."

Before he could say anymore, understanding came over Donnie's face. With a nod, he stepped out and followed Leo into the living room. Raph and Splinter were already waiting, and before Leo could say anything the hothead spoke up.

"Think we know what this is about, Leo."

The leader let out a quiet sigh as he nodded.

"Yeah." He turned to Splinter. "Sensei, I know why you haven't wanted us to tell Mikey about the whole situation with Master Sakura, but I've been thinking a lot about it, and I don't think we should keep him in the dark anymore. It isn't fair to him, especially with how close he's been getting to Grace."

Splinter stood quietly for a moment, with a troubled expression that seemed so out of place on him. Finally, he sighed and lowered his gaze.

"Yes. In truth, I always feared this may be the eventual outcome. I only hoped that…"

He trailed off, and Donnie moved to place his hand on the old rat's shoulder.

"You didn't want him to get hurt," he said gently. "We understand that, Sensei. None of us want that either."

Raph nodded.

"But we know he'll definitely be if th' truth doesn't come from us."

Splinter looked up, and Leo saw the troubled look still on his sensei's face.

"If we explain it all honestly, as long as Mikey knows we didn't do this to hurt him or because we didn't trust him, he'll understand," he said. "And it might take some time, but he'll forgive us. I'm sure of it."

And Leo didn't doubt that for a minute. He knew Mikey… they all did, just like he knew them. He wasn't completely incapable of holding a grudge, Leo knew… there were plenty of things he'd held over his brothers' heads over the years. But Leo also knew that under his mischievous and easygoing personality was one of the gentlest, most compassionate hearts he had ever seen. He might be upset about something; he might be sad or hurt, even angry, but to hate someone… that, Leo knew, was not in Mikey's nature. They were family, and even if they had their differences, they loved each other. If there was one thing Leo knew he could trust in, it was that.

The sound of the lair door unlocking drew the leader out of his thoughts, and he turned to see his youngest brother striding in with his skateboard under his arm. As soon as he took in the sight of everyone standing together, looking toward him, he stopped short, the grin on his face turning to confusion.

"Uhh… someone call a meeting I forgot about?" He quirked a brow. "You're not talkin' about me, are you?"

He meant it as a joke, Leo knew, but the words still struck an uncomfortable chord. And when no one laughed, the playful expression changed back into confusion, with a noticeable amount of foreboding.

"Okay… seriously, dudes, you're kinda starting to freak me out. What's going on?"

Leo hesitated one more moment, then released a quiet sigh and looked at Splinter. The rat's expression remained calm, but Leo could swear he saw a flicker of fear in his dark eyes before he stepped forward.

"We have been waiting for you to return, my son. There is something that I… that we all believe we should discuss with you."

Mikey cocked his head, frowning.

"With me? What d' you mean, Sensei?"

Splinter hesitated one more moment, then slowly went on.

"Perhaps I should have told you this from the start, but the situation with the Gawa clan is… more complex than we led you to believe."

Leo watched Mikey with unease as his brother's brow immediately creased in a frown.

"What? But you said they were fine. What's wrong with them?"

Leo spoke up then.

"We don't know if anything is wrong, Mikey. It might be nothing."

Splinter let out a quiet sigh before continuing.

"You see, my Master Yoshi and Master Sakura had a troubled history. I do not know the details, only that he said she could never be trusted."

Mikey's frown deepened.

"But she… she agreed to work with us. You said it was fine too, so why'd there be a problem?"

"That's th' point, Mikey," Raph said, a softness in his gruff tone. "We don' know. We were hopin' t' find out, what with you gettin' close t' her daughter an' all…"

"Hang on!" Mikey interrupted, looking outraged. "You were gonna ask me t' use her for info?"

"We were hoping it wouldn't come to that," Donnie said quickly, clearly trying to diffuse the increasingly volatile situation. "But with you being our best link to them, we thought if Grace knew anything about it and mentioned it to you…"

He trailed off, looking uncertain. Mikey only stood in silence, barely blinking as his eyes moved from one family member to another. Leo felt a growing sense of unease at the sight; his youngest brother didn't look angry, but more appropriately he didn't look like anything. Leo wasn't sure why that was unnerving him so much, but all his years of ninja training and experience had taught him to trust his instincts, and right now his instincts were telling him this was about to take a bad turn. But before he could say anything a look of realization dawned on Mikey's face.

"So… you were lying all along," he said, and Leo's heart sank as the stunned look quickly changed to anger. "Everything you guys said about me doing such a great job, you didn't mean any of it, did you? It was all just part of your con to get something from me!"

"Mikey, no," Donnie said quickly, looking anxious. "It's not like that…"

Mikey turned his glare on him.

"And that's why you helped me! You just wanted to get me closer t' her!"

Donnie's eyes went wide.

"No!" he exclaimed. "No, that wasn't it at all!"

"Michelangelo," Splinter said, his voice calm despite the clear worry in his face. "Please, do not be angry with your brothers. It was my request that they wait to inform you."

Before he could continue, Mikey let out a sharp, humorless laugh.

"Right. 'Cause an idiot like me can't be trusted with the truth, right?"

The sinking feeling in Leo's stomach was growing worse with every moment, and he knew they had to diffuse the situation quickly before it spiraled out of control.

"No, that's not it," he said, hoping Mikey could see his sincerity. "You were so excited, and we knew you'd been down lately."

Splinter moved closer and placed a hand on the youngest turtle's arm.

"Leonardo speaks truly, my son. My intention was only to avoid causing you unnecessary hurt."

Leo's hopes were quickly dashed when Mikey pulled his arm away, narrowing his eyes.

"You didn't want me hurt? That's kinda hard t' believe, considerin' you had no problem with it before."

Splinter looked almost as startled as Leo felt.

"Michelangelo, how can you say such a thing?"

The orange banded turtle snorted, crossing his arms.

"You really have no idea, don't you?" he scoffed. "So you disregard everything I do because you don't want me hurt? You abandoned me before my rematch 'cause you didn't want me hurt?"

Leo saw their father visibly flinch.

"My son, you must understand…"

"Oh, I understand, Sensei!" Mikey snapped. "I understand you just don't care! Why would you? I'm just the screwup, the one that does nothing but disappoint you!"

"Hold it right there!" Raph's voice was indignant and angry, his body stiff as he marched up to Mikey. "I get you're ticked right now, but that's crossin' th' line!"

Mikey stood his ground, glaring right back.

"Like you have any right to lecture me on crossing the line," he growled. "Or did ya forget about that time you almost bashed my head in just 'cause you lost to me?"

Now it was Raph's turn to flinch, and his angry expression faltered. Leo was getting really concerned now, and a little unnerved… this wasn't like Mikey at all. Then a suspicion came to him as he remembered his youngest brother's unusual mood in the weeks before he met Grace.

"Mikey," he said, his voice gentle but firm. "How long have you been keeping this to yourself?"

The orange banded turtle blinked, his eyes widening as if just realizing what he'd been saying. Leo held his gaze, silently pleading with his brother to answer, to talk to them. But his hope quickly fell when Mikey's expression hardened.

"Doesn't matter," he muttered. "I don't know anything about what happened with Master Yoshi and Grace's mom… and if you think I'm gonna use Grace to try and figure it out for you, you can forget it. Unlike you guys, she actually trusts me."

He moved to step around the others, but Leo quickly grabbed his arm.

"Mikey, wait. We need to talk about this, and you know it."

Donnie moved to place a hand on their younger brother's shoulder, his eyes full of concern.

"You have to know we never wanted to hurt you," he said softly. "Now or ever. Please, let us help you."

Mikey stood in silence for a moment, looking between them. Then he let out a sigh and tugged his arm away from Leo, the anger in his voice replaced by a resigned, heavy weariness.

"Well, then it's just my lot, I guess. Thanks, but I don't want your help just 'cause you feel guilty. Just leave me alone."

With that he left the room with heavy strides, his shoulders slumped. Klunk, who had been watching from his spot on the couch, quickly jumped down, pausing just long enough to cast the others a look of clear disapproval before trotting after Mikey. Silence hung in the air, no one knowing what to do or say. It wasn't often that Leo felt completely blindsided, but he certainly did now. He'd been so sure that he knew how to reach Mikey, how to get him to let them in, but he hadn't.

Maybe I never did.

At that thought, Leo's shoulders slumped. Mikey had clearly been holding a lot of hurt inside for a long time, and none of them had ever known… Leo had never known. What kind of leader was he? What kind of brother? The eldest turtle had made more mistakes than he liked to admit, but never had he felt a deeper sense of failure than now.

I'm sorry, Mikey.