Summary:Something is happening to the turtles. The mutagen they fell into all those years ago is slowly starting to change. The effects of the mutagen are starting to turn deadly. With his brothers falling sick around him one by one, Donatello must find a cure to stabilise the mutagen before he and his brothers perish. Racing against the clock, Don needs to find a solution to his family's predicament before time runs out. But along the away, whilst studying their blood in hopes for a cure, Don learns more about his family, and his heritage then he ever thought he would.

Disclaimer: Insert the usual, I do not own TMNT. All I own is an idea. The characters and rights all belong to their respective owners; I'm just having some fun.

Author's Note: Hello all! *runs away and cringes in corner* I am so, so, so sorry for the awfully long delay and no updates to my previous stories. I can give you the usual excuses of life being hella' busy, as usual, but in truth, I have all but lost my inspiration which is devastating. I hope a new idea will get me back on track but I cannot make any promises nor can I promise regular updates, however I shall do the best that I can.

I want to thank everyone for your continued support with my work and you undying patience. I hope that this story will play a small part in making up to you the lack of updates and commitment over the past few months.

Some things to know about this story; it will (hopefully) be a series. I have had this idea running around in my head for a while and have written a few chapters here and there and finally decided I should post the first part. So, this is technically *book* 1 in what I hope will become the 'Bound By' series. So please enjoy *book* 1, Bound By Blood. Apologies for the rambling author's note. Now please sit back and enjoy.

Chapter One:

First Strike

Raphael woke up with a splitting headache. It felt like he had been hit by a bus. Every sound revibrated through his skull and made him cringe in pain. His temples felt like they were being crushed in a vice and behind his eyes, it felt like there was a miniature Satan drilling into his skull.

"Ugh," Raphael mumbled, slowly sitting up in his hammock. The faint light in his room almost blinded his suddenly super-sensitive eyes, burning holes straight through his retinas. Each movement he made sent a stab of pain straight to his temples, making Raphael want to grip his head in his hands and scream. He had never had a migraine before, but he guessed this is what it felt like to have one.

With that thought in mind, he wanted nothing more than to curl up in his hammock, shut his eyes tightly and stay in bed forever. But the rational part of him told him to go find Donnie, and take some pain medication. Raphael hated taking pills. He didn't like having his reactions lulled by sedatives and unknown chemicals. But right now, Raphael didn't care. He just wanted the unbearable pounding in his head to stop.

Slowly, ever so slowly, Raphael placed his feet on the ground. Taking deep breaths, he prepped himself for what was about to come next, and slowly, ever so slowly, stood up. The pain hit him instantly, like he knew it would. He swayed dangerously on his feet; his head feeling like it weighed a million pounds. White spots dotted his vision and for a moment he thought he was going to pass out. Forcing himself to take deep, slow breaths, the overwhelming dizziness slowly went away and his vision returned to semi-normal. It still hurt to open his eyes and with every step he took, Raphael thought he was going to puke his guts up, but he forced himself to keep going, putting one foot in front of the other. He had to lean against the wall for support, and stop several times as another bout nausea and sudden waves of dizziness overtook him.

It felt like hours had passed by the time Raphael finally made it into the kitchen. It had taken him over five agonising minutes just to make it down the stairs, each jolt sending stabs of pain lancing through his skull.

Mikey was already at the table eating breakfast, a bowl of brightly coloured cereal drowning in a sea of milk sat in front of him. Mikey looked up from his breakfast mid-chew as Raphael entered the room, a frown forming on his features at the sight of his older brother.

"Hey dude, are you okay? You look like death," Mikey said around a mouthful of food, dribbling milk down his chin.

"Thanks, Mikey," Raphael grumbled, not having the energy to say anything witty back. "I got a killer headache; do you know where Don is?"

"He's in his lab, as usual," Mikey said, swallowing another mouthful of cereal. "Do you want me to make you some breakfast? There's still a bit of cereal left."

"No thanks, Mikey," Raphael replied, slowly shuffling in the direction of Don's lab. "If I eat anything I'll puke."

Raphael slowly made his way to Don's lab. Cringing from the insistent pounding in his head, Raphael stopped and leaned against the closed door, trying not to pass out. The sound of typing came from inside the dimly lit room. Raphael leaned heavily against the doorframe, fighting down the bout of nausea that attacked him, before pushing the door open. Don looked up from his computer, his face illuminated in the faint blue glow. A look of worry crossed his features when he saw Raphael.

"Raphael, are you ok?" Donnie asked, quickly getting to his feet.

"I'm ok, Donnie," Raphael assured his brother, stumbling into the room. "I have a killer headache though. You got any pain meds?" He felt light headed and the pounding in his skull was reaching a crescendo.

"Of course," Don said, moving to rummage through the medicine cabinet on the far wall. "Take a seat," he said, gesturing to one of the spare chairs in the room. "I want to check you over."

"I told ya', Donnie, I'm fine," Raphael assured his brother, taking a seat nevertheless. "It's just a bad headache."

"I'm sure it is, I just want to be sure," Don explained, grabbing what he was looking for out of the cabinet and making his way over to Raphael.

"Follow the light with your eyes," Don instructed, crouching down in front of his brother and shinning a small torch into Raphael's eyes.

"Agh," Raphael mumbled, raising a hand to shield his eyes from the sudden bright assault.

"Hmmm, just as I thought, you have a bad migraine," Donnie confirmed.

"Told ya," Raphael mumbled, his eyes still hurting from the harsh light.

"Take two of these," Donnie instructed, handing Raphael two white pills. "It should help. I'll get you a glass of water to wash them down with."

"Thanks, Donnie," Raphael mumbled weakly after his brother.

Don returned quickly with a glass of cold water. Handing it to Raphael, he made sure his brother swallowed both of the pills; he knew what Raphael was like when it came to taking medicine. "Now, you can have another two in four hours," Don explained. "You'll need to rest, so no training for you today. Try to sleep if you can and keep drinking. I'll check up on you every two hours. If you need anything or if it gets worse, let me know."

"Thanks, bro," Raph said, getting shakily to his feet.

"You can crash on the lounge if you want," Don suggested. "I'll tell Mikey he has to keep quite."

"Good luck with that," Raphael mumbled, managing a weak smile.

He slowly made his way over to the couch, gingerly lowering himself on the sofa cushions.

Raphael curled up on the couch, squeezing his eyes shut and waited for the pain meds to kick in. Don had told Mikey to keep quiet, and so far, his youngest brother was surprisingly complying. Raphael hadn't heard a peep out of the orange-banded turtle, for which he was grateful. Don had also told Master Splinter and Leo the condition he was in and they had excused him from training for the day, another thing Raphael was thankful for. But no matter how much he tried, he couldn't sleep. The pain in his head wasn't going away. If anything, it felt like it was only increasing. He felt nauseas and dizzy and couldn't move without the threat of passing out. He kept his eyes squeezed shut, forcing himself to take slow and even breaths. He felt like death and prayed that the drugs Don had given him would take affect soon.

When Raphael awoke the lair was in darkness. Blinking in confusion, Raphael pushed himself into a sitting position, waiting for his eyes to adjust to the gloom. He noticed that his headache was almost completely gone. The dizziness and nausea he had felt was no longer present. He had no idea how long he had been sleeping for, but the quietness and darkness of the lair indicated that it had been for quite awhile.

"Good, you're awake," Don's voice came from the shadows of the room.

Raphael looked around, his eyes quickly adjusting. Don leaned down next to him, a small smile on his face.

"How long have you been here for?" Raphael asked, his voice hoarse.

"Three hours," Don replied. "I wanted to see you when you woke up."

"How long have I been out for?" Raphael asked, sitting up on the couch.

"All day and most of the night," Don answered. "It's two a.m."

"Damn," Raphael muttered, "what did you give me?"

"Only Aspirin, I promise," Don chuckled. "It's good that you got some sleep though. I came to check on you earlier and you were fast asleep. I didn't want to wake you."

"Well, that Aspirin you gave me is a miracle cure," Raphael said. "My headache is almost completely gone."

"That's strange," Don said with a slight frown. "From what I saw this morning, you had a pretty sever migraine. I only gave you two Aspirin- that was a pretty quick recovery."

"I ain't complaining," Raphael said. "It was shit."

"I bet it was," Don sympathised. "Don't get me wrong, Raph, I'm glad you're feeling better too, it's just strange that it happened so quickly, that's all."

"Maybe you slipped me the wrong pills," Raphael joked, his voice still hoarse.

"Maybe," Don smiled. "Stay here, I'll get you some water."

Raphael stretched his cramped limbs. He felt oddly re-energised.

"Here," Don said, returning from the kitchen with a cold glass of water.

"Thanks," Raph said, accepting the glass and gulping the cold liquid down quickly. The coolness of the water soothed his hoarse and aching throat. It felt wonderful. Raphael's stomach chose that moment to growl, letting both him and Don know that it was hungry.

"You must be hungry," Don chuckled. "You haven't eaten a thing all day."

"Yeah, starving," Raph agreed. Slowly, he got to his feet. No wave of dizziness or nausea assaulted him, so he took that as a good sign. Don followed him to the kitchen, standing close beside him in case he fell.

"There's some pizza left over in the fridge," Don said. "Peperoni, I think."

"Sweet," Raphael said. Peperoni was his favourite.

Grabbing the box from the fridge, Raphael took it to the table and sat down, eating it cold. He liked cold pizza the best. He cautiously ate one slice, chewing slowly, waiting to see if he would vomit it back up again. But the pizza stayed in his stomach so he quickly ate the rest, feeling the day's hunger.

"Well, I'm impressed," Don said when Raphael had finished. "I guess Aspirin and sleep really does help."

"Ha, yeah, I guess," Raphael chuckled. "Thanks for staying up with me, Donnie, and making sure I was alright."

"It's okay, Raph, I'm glad you're feeling better," Don smiled.

"Get some sleep, Donnie," Raph said. "You need some rest."

"What are you going to do?"

"I'm gonna hit the showers," Raph said, getting to his feet.

"Okay, let me know if you need anything," Don said.

"I will, thanks, Don."

Raphael made his way to the bathroom and closed the door behind him. He had always found the shower to be a place of peace and solitude. The warm water washed away the dirt and grime of the day, and on some days, blood, both his own and a strangers'. Raphael turned on the faucets and stripped his gear off before stepping under the stream. The hot water cascaded down his shell, steam quickly rising in the air. Raphael sighed in content, feeling his muscles begin to relax under the hot stream. He always felt relaxed in the shower, must be the turtle side of him relishing in the water.

After a few minutes, Raphael turned off the faucet and reached for his towel. A sudden wave of nausea hit his stomach and a sharp pounding in his head flared back to life. Raphael grunted in pain and surprise, stumbling forward, leaning on the tiled wall for support. His vision went blurry as white dots danced in front of his eyes. Raphael groaned and gripped his suddenly pounding head in pain.

Maybe his migraine wasn't completely gone after all.

Author's Note 2: Well, I hope you all enjoyed this little teaser slice of what I hope will turn out to be a series. I would love to know what you thought; a review would be very kind :)

If you have any questions/comments/qualms, please feel free to comment in a review or PM me.

Until the next time,

~Cat