Alright so this is just a start for an idea that was jumping around inside my head. Just wondering if it is interesting enough to keep it going. I really appreciate the feed back. :) If you'd like me to continue let me know and I'll work on the first chapter this week and hopefully get it posted this weekend. Thanks for reading.

Prologue: The New Leonardo

"Umph," Leonardo's breath came out in a grunt as he bumped into the wall, his plastron hitting the brick with enough force to knock the air out of his lungs.

"Leo, where's your walking stick?" Raphael asked irritatedly as he poured himself a bowl of cereal, glaring at it as the small bits of grain and raisin fell into the ceramic dish.

"I don't need it," Leonardo snapped back as he reached out a hand and gripped one of the chairs, pulling it towards him and slowly made his way around, feeling the seat for a minute before lowering himself into it. After a minute he relaxed, and he rested his elbows on the edge of the table, his blank eyes staring ahead of himself, seeing nothing. But then again they hadn't been seeing anything for a few weeks now.

It was something that they'd all been trying to get used to, although it hadn't been easy. The scars that lined from one side of Leo's face to the other were just as gruesome to look at, and none of them could look at them for long. Raphael in particular had the hardest time facing them.

"Hey, Leo," Mikey greeted cheerfully as he entered the kitchen, Klunk on his heal. The orange cat purred loudly as Mikey reached for a bag of kibble and rubbed his head against Mikey's ankle.

"Morning," Leo said curtly, nodding once from the direction Mikey's voice was coming from. Not knowing that Mikey had moved across the room now.

Raphael sighed as he lifted a spoonful of his cereal to his mouth, chewing it slowly, feeling the bits of grain crunch between his teeth. He didn't think he'd ever miss the old Leo, but the new Leo was starting to grind on his nerves.

Ever since he woke up from the accident and discovered that his vision was gone Leonardo hadn't been the same. He'd been colder, even more serious than before. He didn't tolerate any goofing around during training practices, and if Mikey in particular made even one joke he got an instant rebuff. It was something that the whole family was trying to adjust to. Splinter had taken Leo aside for extra training sessions, trying to help Leo ease into this new handicap, but even they didn't help much. Leonardo remained cold and distant from the family, rarely joining them outside of training sessions and meal times, preferring to stay locked up in his bedroom for the duration of the day. And most of the time the others let him.

Splinter had told them that Leo had to adjust to this on his own, in time he would come to accept what had happened to him. In the meantime the best they could do was let Leo know that they were there for him, to help support him as he struggled to adjust to the changes this handicap brought to his life.

Donny had spent a lot of time in his lab, researching the eyes, blindness, the chances of recovery, and how best to help a blind person. He'd learned a lot, and had tried to make things as easy for Leo as he could, but Leo had refused any help from any of them. He'd gotten angry when they'd been sympathetic and had finally exploded at Mikey when Mikey had show Leo where his fork, spoon, plate, and cup were at dinner one night by lifting Leo's hand to place them on each item. Leo hadn't wanted to be treated any differently than what they'd treated him like before. He hadn't even touched the walking stick that Donatello had made for him. It sat in the corner of his room, gathering dust.

The brothers hadn't been out on patrol since that night, not that Leo would be able to go in any case. Without his sight he wouldn't be able to measure the distance between buildings, wouldn't be able to propel his body with enough force to clear the distance to land safely on the next building and it didn't feel right going without him. Raphael had been tempted to go out and get the one who'd done this to his brother, but he'd reined that in. He was needed here. Revenge could wait.

"You want somethin' to eat, Leo?" Michelangelo asked as he reached for the carton of eggs and the loaf of bread.

Leonardo shook his head.

Raphael frowned at him. "You should eat somethin', Leo."

Leonardo's scarred face turned towards Raphael's voice, a scowl pulling at his mouth. From this angle Raphael could see clearly the thick rough scars that would forever mar his brother's face. They started at his right temple, curved slightly and directly over both of his eyes, across the bridge of his nose, across the left corner of his mouth down to his chin. Three long deep scars that had penetrated so deep Donny was worried that Leo was going to bleed out before they could really get a good idea of what damage had been done. It was a known fact that head wounds bleed worse than any other, but these had been terrifying. The only reprieve they'd had at the time, was that Leo didn't stay conscious long enough for them to hear how much pain he was in.

They'd heard him later though, when Leo had finally come around the pain had been unbearable, even with painkillers already in his system Leo could feel the wounds, he hadn't been stoic at first, but after a few days he'd gone silent. He'd stared blankly up at the ceiling, not responding to when someone called his name. Catatonic Donny had called it. Leo had escaped to the only safe place he had left, his own head. It was a few days after that Leo had finally returned and they discovered the horrific truth of what had been done to their brother when Leo had declared that he couldn't see.

"I'm not hungry, Raph," Leonardo said irritably, then without waiting for Raphael's reply he rose swiftly, bumping his knees against the table. He winced but turned away quickly and started from the kitchen, his feet shuffling a little as he felt his way through the lair with his sense of touch and smell alone.

"He's getting worse," Mikey said as he cracked an egg against the edge of the pan and dropped the contents into the sizzling butter.

"I know," Raphael said quietly as he played with the remains of his cereal, no longer interested in eating it. He stirred the contents around with his spoon then let the spoon fall. It clattered nosily against the ceramic dish.

"What are we gonna do?"

"We're gonna do what Splinter said, Mikey, just let him know we're there for him." Raphael said firmly clenching his jaw and glaring out after his brother. He heard a slightly muffled grunt and knew that Leo had probably bumped into something again. He felt his insides tighten at the noise. "We're gonna help him through this. "