Vibration

Sometimes he would forget that tea, training, and meditating could not be the way to heal everything. No matter how much honey was used.

He coughed very quietly into the latest tissue, but it wasn't quiet enough. His bedroom door nudged open and his most agile, slippery brother slid through like a shadow.

"Hey," Michelangelo chirped. "Rhea says that eucalyptus and peppermint chest rubs can help. So guess who's getting a cool rubdown!"

Leonardo sighed and lay back against the pillows, smiling. No point in scowling anyway.

Mike approached him with a jar of sticky salve and sat literally on his lap, grinning. "Chin up, bro. This needs to go on the throat, too."

Leo just smiled and watched thick green fingers dig into the strong-scented balm. He didn't even flinch as Mikey slowly rubbed the balm in wide circles into his upper plastron, the skin above, the neck, the throat, under the chin. Already, the vapors were soothing his throat and nose.

Unexpectedly, Mikey tapped Leo's beak and thoroughly massaged, and Leo automatically took a huge breath. This time when he coughed, things felt ready to break apart in his chest.

"Awesome, it's working!" Mikey cheered. "Now, both Donnie and Rhea said I shouldn't, but you're our leader and we need you up and well, so I'm gonna do it anyway." He placed one hand flat against Leo's throat and the other against his plastron.

"Ohh, no," and Leo grabbed both wrists. "I forbid a healing, Mikey. Especially this. It's just a cold, it's not an open wound or a bone break."

"Nah, nah, bro, it's fine. Look, I talked it out with Neural Mike. There's a way I can shield myself from channeling the, you know, the thing…into me. I don't have to take anything in, I just push it out, poof, like breathing!"

Leo put on his best Older Brother face. "No."

"Yes."

"No, Mikey."

"You wanna spend another week stuck like this, dude?"

"..."

"Thought so."

"Fine, but can you at least bring April or Gaia down before you do it?"

Mikey's head tilted with honest curiosity. "Why?"

Leo raised an eyeridge. "So you don't get sick or badly affected? So you don't, oh, have a seizure or a three-day migraine?"

"Hah! Leo, I'm hurt you would assume such a thing. I can handle this on my own."

Coughing, Leonardo pushed himself upright and gave a Leader Stare. "Mikey. It's been merely one month since you came out of a four-month coma due to a falling building, in which you were essentially crushed, broken, skull-fractured, brought to the edge of death, and came this close to permanent brain damage. I'd feel so much better if you had backup."

Michelangelo said nothing, just blinked at him. Leonardo took that opportunity to look him over. A thick red scar decorated the right side of his head, with dozens more red scars adorning his upper plastron. Sometimes his eyes would become glassy right before he was about to perform a complex task, as though his brain had to first remember how to command his body. Sometimes, the muscles on his left side would have odd spasms. Donatello had mentioned how the right hemisphere controlled the left side of the body; Leo already suspected something, especially after a gentle kata session with Gaia, when she'd explained that lack of oxygen during a preterm birth and scarring injuries to her right brain hemisphere had caused the cerebral palsy on her left side. Rhea had told them that physiologically, they were more hominid than chelonian, and it was possible that Michelangelo had developed a mild case of dyspraxia, which had caused Donnie to have an anxiety attack right in Rhea's private office, but luckily Rhea was a veterinary tech and also had very comfortable chairs.

Mikey either didn't notice or didn't care. Somehow, the psionics were already compensating. And Leo wanted to yell at him, to force a meditation session and dive into his head, see all the true genuine damage, confront Neural Mike until the subconscious personality screamed at him.

Michelangelo was one of the best ninja he knew, once his focus and discipline were proper. But with brain injuries, with neurological damage like epilepsy and fibromyalgia, it might be…different. Not necessarily enough to stop Mikey's ninjitsu, but possibly just enough to…to slow him down, just a little.

Except he was already and still the fastest, most agile, most acrobatic, most athletic…

Leonardo blinked, watched his little brother draw in a huge, over-dramatic sigh. "Fine, I'll call Gaia. But while we wait I'm gonna make you soup."

"Deal." And Leonardo settled back and massaged his chest and neck, enjoying the satisfying smells of mint, enjoying his sinuses openings slowly again. He closed his eyes and wondered if those mantras would work.

Time must have passed, because he felt a humanoid cat paw on his forehead, an arm across his upper plastron, and a deep, low-register purr thrumming through his body. When he opened his eyes, he found Gaia curled up directly against him, her black hair draped over his arm like a scarf, her unique body heat flowing into him, and the specific cadence of her purr making him feel abruptly better.

"Cats are really good at that," she smiled against his shoulder. He smiled back. Mikey was, again, sitting on his lap, grinning. He was holding a bowl of tomato soup with herbs and spices that Leo couldn't quite place. "Om nom, yo," he said, lifting the spoon.

"I can feed myself," Leo griped. Gaia sat up and edged off the bed, grinning.

Mikey shrugged and stood up, and Leo again adjusted himself to a sitting position and held out his hands. The bowl was warm, the spoon had a good weight, the soup was extraordinarily tasty, and Leo had finished it all before he knew it. Gaia took the bowl and left his room.

Mikey sat at the edge of the bed, crossing his arms. "Did ya know that a cat can purr at frequencies that can heal muscles and bruises and illnesses and even broken bones?"

"I did know that, yes," Leo said, concentrating on the warmth spreading through his belly.

"She really likes doing it after we-"

"I know, Mikey, sometimes I hear it when walking past your room."

Michelangelo's eyes widened. "Really?"

Leonardo winked. "You're not that loud. But I can feel the vibrations."

"Ah. And here I thought you were jealous."

"Oh, I'm happy my little brother is getting sexy times." Leo grinned and coughed. "Just didn't think it'd be so soon."

"What can I say. Feels like we've known each other for years. Telepathy is funny like that."

When Gaia returned, it was with a bottle of water, a washcloth, a bowl of warm water, and an empty bowl. Leonardo looked at the empty bowl in confusion but when he felt himself cough harshly and wetly, she put the bowl under his chin and told him to spit. She then gave him the water to swish and spit again.

"So," she looked between the two, "are we healing?" Mike nodded with enthusiasm, Leo nodded with reluctance.

She placed everything on the table by the bed, gently wiped Leo's face and neck with the damp warm cloth, then curled up with him, draping her torso across his, purring as hard as she could. Grasping his bicep, she very gently began to knead, and Leo couldn't help but notice that she had clipped her claws. Her other arm was under his neck. The hooded glance she gave him was somewhere between friendly and seductive. Apparently, Mikey was completely fine with this, because he rubbed his hands together, grinning widely, and said, "Okay, Gaia, you nuzzle, I press!"

The warmth of Gaia's body and the familiarity of Mike's hands instantly relaxed him. He leaned back, watching his little brother intently. Mikey had both palms pressed hard against his abdomen, where the bottoms of his lungs were. Electricity softly cracked around Mikey's hands. Gaia giggled in the middle of her purr; the vibration was interesting.

Leonardo watched, fascinated, as his baby brother's summer blue eyes clouded over and at the same time became glassy. His entire body went incredibly still for several seconds, and then, as the bizarre electromagnetic blue and purple light appeared on his skin, he started to sway just the tiniest bit. Gaia turned her head to watch, her kneading on his arm and neck increasing.

Leo felt the irritating phlegm and heat in his lungs begin to move upward. He coughed with his mouth closed. Gaia lifted her head, smiled at him, then sat up, still purring, hand still on his neck, and massaged his throat. Her hand was incredibly silky, her fingertips exactly like the pads of a feline paw.

Leo grabbed the bowl and spit again, noticing how thin his phlegm was. In fact, it felt as though it was beginning to dissolve in his chest. He looked at Mikey. Those blue eyes were nearly gray, extremely shiny, and sweat covered his face.

Seeing the alarmed look on Leo's face, Gaia grabbed the wet cloth, wrung it out, and wiped Mikey's face; Mikey didn't move or blink. And Leonardo felt the heat, the thickness, the dampness, the rawness in his body start to fade, like a parting mist. He drew in a deep breath. There was no wheeze or rattle.

He widened his eyes, and watched as Gaia cupped Mikey's face in her hands, pressed her nose to his beak, and whisper something. He watched as her feline hands caressed his face, then his neck, then the back of his neck. And when Michelangelo began trembling with myoclonic jerks, Leo sprung up and sat up straight, instinctively reaching out the way he would when they were children.

He knew he shouldn't feel jealous, he knew he should have felt relief, as Gaia settled herself so she was sitting on her heels, pressing her lips to Mikey's forehead, purring in a register Leo could barely hear. But his eye twitched, and then Gaia's eyes slid to his, soft and friendly, and she smiled and tilted her head just a little, and he scooted over and rubbed his brother's arm and held his hand, and when Michelangelo woke up he smiled brilliantly because he was surrounded by two people he really loved.

Half an hour later, the three of them sat on Leo's bed, as Leo enjoyed a bowl of ramen, Gaia and Mikey shared a bowl of chocolate ice cream, and Raph and Don sat in chairs next to the bed. Don kept listening to Leo's breathing and glancing at Mike's face. Mikey, his head in Gaia's lap, merely smiled, a little tiredly. His eyes were bright and glimmering, and he looked very proud of himself.

Leonardo decided that the next time he sat with Michelangelo for a mediation session into the spiritual plane, he would make sure he invited Gaia, to hold Mikey's hand and purr loudly, just in case.