Disclaimer: I don't own them but I think they look pretty! Please don't sue!

A/N: Hello! This is my firstfull fledged TMNT story, meaning I am pretty much open to sugestions about anything and everything.Are the chapters long enough? Am I being repetative with my language? Do you think I need more sad soppy scenes? I don't mind flames as they often times just give me more insperation towrite. I hope you guys like this first chapter!

"Raph! No! Get away from there!" Leo screamed. But it was too late. A loud explosion sounded throughout east side. Raph was thrown into a near by alley wall. Leo tried to rush to his aid but a group of Foot blocked his path. With a loud scream of rage he attacked the evil do-ers keeping him from his brother.

They never should have come here. It really didn't have anything to do with them, but Don had heard about some break in mission over his new fazzled radio scanner. He had insisted that they go topside and check it out. Leo had told him that the police could take care of it but Don continued to explain that it wasn't a police scanner he had heard it on. It was just a radio scanner. It picked up walkie talkie signals for about a two mile radius and if set right could even pick up on some telephone calls despite the background fuzz.

So they went topside and not a half mile from their warehouse sure enough they found a pack of Foot breaking into a house of all palaces. An old lady was being held by one of the masked ninjas as five more entered her house. Burning bottles of liquor were thrown through the windows. The five inside could be seen through the windows trashing the place as best as possible before the flames got too out of hand. Leo gave the order to attack and attack they did. The upper hand was theirs until the old lad yelled that her granddaughter was still in the building. Raph had gone running in right as the Foot came running out. He was blasted away from the house just as he made it to the threshold.

Leo was finally able to come to his brother's aid. He sheathed his katanas and helped Raph to sit up.

"Raph! Raphael, are you ok Bro?"

Raph blinked and shook his head from side to side to clear away the flashing white spots still dancing before his eyes.

"Yeah 'm fine. It just kinda stunned me a think."

A bulky grisly man, a horror to be hold, stepped up to the threshold of Saki's tower. He turned his square face skywards, taking in the enormous structure. A few pedestrians passing by slowed upon noticing the barbaric man but quickly went about their own business when they noticed the old, well used military gun strapped to his back.

Cobart didn't care what others saw. They were frightened enough not to confront him and that was just that way he liked it. His thick callused fingers wrapped around the old wrinkled and worn business card in the pocket of his grungy military issue pants.

He would have looked like a sergeant or lieutenant if not for the dark, dead look held in his deep set eyes. His head was shaven, revealing a few nicks and old battle scars. Even his eyebrows were shaved, or maybe singed off. One couldn't tell.

He took one last glance at the address scrawled on the card before taking an expensive lighter out of the same pocket and igniting it. He watched it catch fire and burn for a few moments before he threw it carelessly on the ground, not even bothering to stamp it out before entering the skyscraper before him.

He knew exactly where he was going. Many tried to stop him but he charged ahead until he reached the door of Saki's chambers.

"What is the meaning of this?" Saki stood defensively as Cobart strutted in.

His voice was deep and grating, almost the voice of a chain smoker. "I hear you need a mercenary."

"Focus Raphael. I just cut your head off while you were in la-la land."

"Huh?"

Raph's eyes came back into focus as he found Leo's katana still poised mere centimeters from his neck.

"Yeah. Right" Raph muttered as he pushed the offending weapon out of his personal space. "Let's get back to it."

He brought up his sais and tried to forget the black dot that had just bounced across his vision moments before, watching for his brother's next attack.

Leo prepared for a charge and had covered half the distance to his brother before he realized that Raph had straightened up and wasn't concentrating again. He pulled back hard to keep from slamming into him and nearly tripped over himself as a result.

"Raph." Leo sighed. "What is up?"

"I donno Leo." Raph said as he once again took notice of his brother's close proximity. "I'm just tired."

"Well then go get some rest cause it looks like you aren't going to be getting any practice in today."

"Yeah. I'll do that."

He put his sais in his belt and shuffled out of the dojo, up the stairs, and into his room. Shutting the door he fell onto his bed with a sigh.

What was wrong with him? First it was only being able to see things if he held his head up higher than normal now it was a weird black dot floating around his line of vision.

Raph rubbed at his eyes with the heel of his hands. Something was defiantly wrong. The question was what. The explosion last week couldn't have been the cause of his vision playing games with him, could it?"

He sighed again as he rolled over on his side and turned on his stereo. The booming music would echo through the Lair and he knew it, but everyone was used to it by now.

Maybe all he needed was a good nap. His eyes could be strained from something or other. Yeah a nap would do him good.

A chair was brought in for Cobart. If it weren't for his dirty features and the military gun laying on his lap, the scene might have been funny. The large man barely fit in the seat. It was clear that at one time he had chiseled, rock hard muscles, but over years of misuse a layer of fat covered them, making his appearance even more grotesque.

"I'm not sure if you are the mercenary I want. This is not a blow off job."

"Damn straight. I never failed on a mission, ever. Yer lucky I even decided to come. Had a job down in North Carolina that looked like a bit of fun, but this one seemed like a plain old hoot"

"The turtles are not to be underestimated."

"Cobart kept his eye contact with Saki, something very few people dared to do."

"I don't care if you have me killing ants Saki. I'm just in it for the fun." He leaned back in his chair, an expression of thought passing his features. "and the money. The Army didn't want me, said I was too… loose cannon, so now I do free lance work. It gives me a few jollies and I can make a livin by it, but get one thing straight Saki. I'm in charge. I decide my pay and I plan the take down. If we agree to that I'm all yours."

"You can take down the turtles though?"

Cobart grinned an evil grin. His eyes sparkled with the thought of murder.

"You bet your ass I can."

"Raph! It's show time!" Mikey hollered as he burst into Raph's room, dragging him out of bed by his ankles.

Raph's shell hit the floor with a clack as he shot up in a sitting position glaring daggers at the younger turtle.

"What'd you do that for?" He screamed as Mikey bounced around the room grabbing Raph's belt and bandanna.

"Time to go to work Bro. Don intercepted an order by radio from the Foot."

"Since when did Donny have a radio scanner?" Raph asked as he tied his belt.

"Who knows? But they are planning on robbing the bingo hall on forth street."

"The bingo hall? Oh come on! That's pitiful."

"All it means is more top side time Bro. So get your shell in gear!"

Raph stumbled out of his room, after the rambunctious Mike, into the hall where Don and Leo were waiting.

"Feel any better Raph?" Leo asked as they all headed towards the exit.

"Uh… yeah. I guess."

"I can't believe this. Banks, I can understand but really. It's a Bingo hall for goodness sakes! What do they get by robbing a bunch of old ladies?"

"Hearing aids and Senior Citizen discount cards."

"Stop fooling around Mike. There they are. Don you stand guard here to make sure none of them slip past us. Seeing one of the Foot would probably give one of those poor ladies a heart attack."

"I'll say." Mikey piped up.

Leo gave him a glare and continued.

"Raph you take the far side. Mike, the near side and I'll handle the roof. Questions? All right then, let's get to it."

The three of them jumped off the roof to get in position while Don started on his perimeter patrol from afar.

Raph rounded the corner of the building to find a dozen Foot soldiers about to break through a ground level window.

"You're supposed to respect your elders." Raph announced his presence as he pulled a sai.

The Foot didn't waste anytime chit chatting. Four of them charged head on while the others held back to see the outcome. Raphael face split into a grin as he drew his other sai.

One of them came at Raph with a kamma in each hand, carelessly taking a swing at his head with both weapons. Raph caught both kammas in one of his sais and used the other to disarm his opponent, pushing him into the ninja behind him. Three more soon jumped into the fray to replace their fallen comrades.

A tall ninja with a long sword held steadily over his right shoulder with both hands came forward to stand in front of Raph. Raph grinned wider and beckoned the young kid to fight. He came running, sword swinging left and right.

Raph's smile dropped suddenly. His eyes were playing that weird trick on him again! There wasn't one sword anymore wielded by a naïve child. Now there were many long blades seeking out his neck, commanded by an experienced, seasoned warrior.

"Donnay!" he roared at the top of his lungs. "Need some help over here!"

Don came flying over the roof to Raph's side. His bo slipped in front of Raph, intercepting the sword and sending it flying seconds before it sliced Raph's face in half. Don disposed of the remaining Foot while Raph shook his head and rubbed his eyes, trying to clear his vision.

"What's up Raph? You haven't be acting yourself lately. You shoulda been able to handle that dude back there." Don climbed beside Raph as they headed towards the roof of a nearby building.

"It's my eyes. I donno what's wrong with um. But that kid back there looked like he was at least fifth-dan with the way he was swingin that sword, or at least the way I thought I saw him swinging it."

"I'll check it out when we get home. Just take my spot for now on being look out. If you see anything give a shout. I'll go finish up back there. You'll be ok by yourself here?"

"Don. I'm a ninja. I'll be fine. I can finish the job myself."

Don gently pushed his brother into a sitting position.

"Dude you thought that guy was a fifth-dan. He wasn't more than a fourth-kyu. Just sit down. I promise next time we are out you can beat the stuffing out of my share of Foot too."

Raph grinned wide at this and promptly sat on top of one of the AC units.

"Ok but if I see any Foot scum I'm not going to scream like a girl. I'm just gonna clobber um. Got it?"

Don smiled and nodded once, knowing that that was the best he would get out of his stubborn brother. He backed up and did a flip down into the alley to finish up Raph's job.

Raph sighed as he slumped over, his hand on his chin. This just wasn't his week. He rubbed absently as one of his eyes with a balled up fist. It was bad enough that he had those problems last month with his eye sight. Now he was going to have to wear glasses or something. Anything would be better than the sight of a ninja wearing glasses. He would have Don make contacts if it came down to something like that. He was sure that if Don put his mind to it he could do something like that. He briefly wondered if maybe his eye sight being on the fritz had something to do with his scuffle with the Mob last month. It would make sense.

"Where's Don?" Leo asked as he came vaulting over the edge of the roof.

"He went to go finish off my wanna-be-ninja-scum." Raphael grumbled.

"Why?" Leo questioned, slightly concerned. "What happened Raph?"

"Nothin." His reply was curt. Raph turned his shell to his brother and folded his arms.

"Well it had to be something other wise you wouldn't be sitting here." Leo stated, taking a step towards his fuming brother.

"It was nothing Leo, so just drop it. It's between me and Donny."

"Raph if it's something important I need to know."

"It's not Leo! Alright?"

Mike bounced lightly between his two brothers who were touching beaks and glaring daggers at one another.

"Well I took care of all my Feet. How about you guys?"

Raph turned to him, an expression of utter confusion on his face.

"Feet? What are you talking about Mike?"

"It's improper to say Foot when there are more than one." Mike tossed his head as if he had hair and held his head high."

"Feet? Mikey your a weirdo."

Don appeared beside Mikey.

"I'm all done."

"Good can we leave now?" Raph didn't wait for an answer. He stalked towards the edge of the roof and was gone before and one could protest.

"What's eating him Don?"

"I'm not quite sure yet Leo, but I hope it's not what I think it is."

"and what's that?"

"I don't want to say anything until I can do some tests."

"Tests? Don I need to know! What is going on here?"

"You'll get to find out when the rest of the family does."

"Hey Raph, you wanna come topside with me?"

"Not really."

Raph had his feet propped up on the coffee table flipping through TV channels while Don put on his topside cloths.

"Why don't you come with me anyway?"

"Why would I?"

"Raph let's put it this way. If you don't come with me then Master Splinter, Leo, and Mike are going to find out about your secret."

"Raph's head snapped up to stare at Don.

"Don you wouldn't."

"I would. Come with me. It's for your own good."

"Yeah sure it is." He grumbled as he pushed himself off the couch to go find his topside cloths.

"Ok Don. If you dragged me up here for nothing you're dead meat."

"I didn't. See that building over there? It's the local optometrist. I did some research on the symptoms you told me about and there is a few possibilities as to what it is but I don't have the equipment to run the tests."

Raph's mouth formed into a silent 'oh' with one nod of his head.

"If this turns out to be nothing Don you promise not to tell the other guys?"

"Yeah, but if it is something I have no choice but to tell them."

"Alright let's get this over with."

For the better part of half an hour Don ran test after test, his face getting more grim with the passing of each one. Finally he sat back with a sigh and rubbed at his temples with the tips of his fingers.

"So?" Raph paced around the room wringing his hands.

"Everything points to one conclusion. It looks like your retinas are in the process of becoming detached from your eye wall. There are tares in both of them which is extremely rare but it happens, normally from extreme trauma to the eyes. When you got hit by that flash bomb it created strain in your eyes. Additional strain from everyday use has caused the retinas to deteriorate."

"But you checked out my eyes after that Don. You said they were fine."

"Yeah I checked them with a flashlight, but a flashlight can't see into the back of the eye and that is where the problem is."

"It can be fixed with meds or something though right?"

"They use surgery to reattach the retina to the eye wall but I'm not capable of that. Raph, your going blind."

Those words hit Raph like a ton of bricks. He sat down hard in the nearest chair.

Blind? How could he go blind? He was Raphael. Millions of questions ran through his mind but only one managed to escape his lips.

"Permanently?" His voice had suddenly become horse and he did didn't even look up as he aimed his question at the only other turtle in the room.

"Once the retinas detach completely and blindness sets in it is irreversible."

Raph flopped down on his bed and turned the music up on his stereo some more. Don was telling the rest of the family about what he had discovered and Raph didn't really want to be there to see the expressions of sympathy directed towards him when the punch line came.

He was going to kill that scrawny little Weasel punk who threw that flash bomb Don had said that's what started all of this. He was quick to also state that Raph could have had eye problems before and just not have noticed them but Raph wanted to blame someone and Weasel was it. A sai across the throat would be an interesting concept. The scum deserved it after all, but maybe that was too quick. Maybe he could...

A knock on the door interrupted his morbid thoughts. Leo poked his head through the door and for a brief moment Raph felt like smashing his brother's head between the door and the frame. He knew what was coming and he didn't want to hear it.

"Hey Raph." Leo tried to break the ice nonchalantly.

"Hey what?" Raph snapped back, shooting the friendly banter right out the door.

"I was just making sure you were ok."

"Why wouldn't I be?" Raph slammed down the magazine he had been pretending to read for the last half hour. "
I've been ok for that last fifteen years. Why wouldn't I be ok now Leo?"

"I just thought that maybe," Leo started but Raph cut him off.

"Yeah well you thought wrong."

Raph got up from his bed and pushed Leo back out the door and slammed it shut. Going over to sit on his bed again he turned his music up another two notches. Maybe if someone else knocked on the door he wouldn't hear them and they'd just go away.

Out in the living room Mikey sat talking quietly with Don.

"Should we treat him any different?"

"If we do we're all going to get our heads chopped off. He's acting like it's nothing so we should just treat him the same." Leo butted in as he walked by towards the kitchen. "Where's Sensei?'

"He's off meditating." Don pointed a large finger to Splinter's room.

"I'm sure he would agree that we should go about our daily business. If anyone needs me I'll be in my room." He grabbed an orange off the table and scooted off to the upper levels.

"So like everything is same old same old?" Mike asked hopefully, his eyes pleading with Don.

"Yeah as far as I can tell I guess so."

Mikey jumped up and raced for the door.

"Where are you going?"

He turned and grinned one of his trade mark grins.

"Well if everything is back to normal then this is the perfect opportunity for a Mikey prank! That's as normal as you can get!"

He raced off with a skip and a whoop of joy.

A/N A Kyu and Dan are levels in Ju jitsu. There are different levels of black belts and each level is called a Dan. Kyu are all the other pretty colored belts. That's what Don and Raph meant when they were talking in the alley. I hope you guys liked this first chapter! Please review as I am very review deprived from my last fandom. Thanks all!