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Every bone in Alex's body ached. Each bone, each muscle, every fiber of her very being ached. She'd spent the last 36 hours re-certifying for her special-ops credentials at the DEO, and it had been brutal. It all ended with eight waves of multiple attackers that she had to take out all on her own. One of them had twisted her right arm just so, and it had popped out of its socket. She'd dispatched the last in the wave and forced her shoulder back in before taking on the last wave of six.
Afterwards, Kara had flown her home, where she left her in Maggie's care. Gently, Maggie had peeled her out of her tactical outfit and had taken off her sling. She helped her change into her favourite cozy pajamas, before putting her sling back on and getting her some aspirin and some water. Maggie encouraged her to take the pain meds, if only to get a good night of sleep. She reluctantly did and, shortly thereafter, fell into a deep sleep.
Some thirteen hours later, she woke up, absolutely parched and her shoulder still aching. She managed a trip to the washroom with only one fully functioning arm, downed more water and pain meds, and crawled back into bed with Maggie.
The next day, she woke up to Maggie cooking breakfast. It smelled great.
"Morning," she croaked.
"Morning, babe," Maggie replied. "How are you feeling?"
She sat up and winced. "My shoulder still hurts."
"Yeah, that's gonna suck for a few more days. We can ice it later."
She got out of bed and readjusted the sling, sucking air in through her teeth as the joint throbbed. She stood and went over to the dining table where Maggie had just deposited a plate full of eggs, toast and bacon for her, along with another two aspirin.
After breakfast, during which she'd told Maggie all the details of the re-certification, she ran her left hand through her hair and could feel the grease. "Ugh, I need to shower."
Maggie shook her head. "Uh, no."
She frowned. "What do you mean, no?"
Maggie downed the rest of her coffee. "You need to soak in the bath first. Let your muscles relax."
She squeezed her eyes shut and made a face. "Maggie," she whined, "you know I don't like baths, not unless it's a giant hot tub thing."
"Trust me, Danvers."
Alex blew out a breath. "Fine."
She let Maggie bring her to the bathroom where she plugged the tub and started letting it fill up. She added some of her lavender-scented bubble bath, which Alex had once admitted to liking.
Maggie then turned her attention to Alex and pulled the sling off, hanging it on the hook on the back of the bathroom door. Gently, she got Alex's t-shirt off, pulling it off her bad arm with extreme care. Then she had Alex stand so she could pull off her pajama bottoms and carefully guided her to the bath.
With the door shut, and the lights dimmed, Alex had to admit the environment was relaxing. She clambered into the tub and sat down, leaning back against the far edge, protecting her right arm. She stretched her legs out and took a deep breath, the lavender aroma relaxing her.
Maggie put a folded towel down at the tub's side and rolled up her sleeves. She took Alex's loofah from the shower caddy hook and knelt down on the towel. She dipped it into the water and then brought it to Alex's left shoulder, stroking the skin there, moving down Alex's left arm.
Alex let her eyes close and hummed happily. "That's amazing," she murmured.
Silently, Maggie continued, bringing the soapy poof up to Alex's chest and wiping away dried sweat from her sternum and from under her breasts. Her touches were intimate, but not intending to arouse. She continued down, scrubbing Alex's stomach and inside her belly button. Maggie moved to Alex's feet, taking a moment or two to massage each foot, causing Alex to sigh contentedly. "Mags, your hands are magical," she said, eyes still closed.
"You may have told me that once or twice before," she teased, cleaning in between Alex's toes. She scraped the poof up Alex's left shin and calf and chuckled.
"What?" Alex asked, opening her eyes.
Maggie ran her bare hand up Alex's lower leg. "Someone didn't shave before certification."
"Oh, as if anyone was going to see my legs!" Alex complained.
She smiled as she stood up and snagged the disposable razor. "Want me to?"
Alex considered. "Sure. Don't know when my arm will be up to the task."
Maggie knelt back down and dipped the razor into the soapy water and lifted Alex's leg up. Holding her left foot, she placed the razor at Alex's ankle and lightly dragged the blade up the front of her shin. She dipped the razor into the water and shook it before repeating the action again, then moved slightly to the outside of Alex's left calf. It felt good, Alex acknowledged. Not the shaving so much as the care Maggie was putting into it.
When Maggie turned Alex's leg back to get at the inside of her calf, she laughed.
"What is it?"
"You know your hair grows weirdly here, right?" she chuckled, tapping the inner part of her calf.
She sighed. "Yes, I know."
"Like, it grows sideways, Danvers."
"I'm aware."
Maggie giggled and tried another angle and was a lot more successful doing short, horizontal swipes all down the inside of Alex's calf. "Is it the same on the other leg?" she asked, reaching for Alex's right leg.
"Yes," Alex rolled her eyes.
"That's hilarious."
"I didn't sign up for the commentary," she protested.
"Well, you're getting it, anyway." All of Alex's arguments died as soon as Maggie's hands crept up, teasingly.
Maggie finished shaving Alex's legs, getting her shirt soaked while attempting to do the far side of Alex's right leg. At Alex's request, she also shaved under Alex's arms before putting the razor back in the shower caddy and then pulling the plug on the bath.
"What, we're done?"
"Well, we'll rinse off all the loose hair that'll stick to you, but I thought I'd also wash your hair."
"Oh, so, uh, you'll be joining me?"
"May as well," she smiled.
Alex stayed seated in the bath, the warm water draining and leaving the bubbles behind. She watched Maggie pull off her shirt and her bra and then shuck her jeans and underwear and socks, throwing them all into a heap on the bathroom floor. Maggie took the removable shower head from its stand and turned on the water, testing the temperature before handing it to Alex to hold in her left hand.
Maggie climbed into the tub and pulled the shower curtain shut before taking the shower head from Alex and instructing her to turn around.
"I can't wash your hair from all the way down here if you stand up, okay, Danvers?" she quipped when Alex hesitated.
With a chuckle, she carefully turned around, her back to Maggie, and held on to the shampoo and conditioner bottles.
The hot water hitting her head caused Alex to shut her eyes again in pleasure. Having Maggie's strong fingers lather in the shampoo was absolutely delightful, and she knew Maggie was spending extra time on it to get Alex to relax even more. She rinsed the shampoo away and worked in the conditioner, spending more time massaging Alex's scalp and playing with her ears. She then stroked her temples before her thumbs dug into the ever-present knots at the base of her neck.
All too soon, she rinsed the conditioner out and helped Alex up to her feet, turning her back around. Methodically, Maggie sprayed Alex down with the water, making sure she was clean and no stray hairs clung to her.
When she finished, Maggie turned off the water and pulled a big, fluffy towel from the rack and held it open for Alex. She helped her out of the tub and then grabbed a towel for herself.
"Thank you," Alex said, sincerely. "That was wonderful."
"My pleasure, Danvers," she said, reaching up and stealing a kiss.
"It's too bad, though."
"What is?"
"All that hard work to get us clean is for nothing."
Maggie frowned. "What do you mean?"
"I have plans for you." She let the towel drop and pulled Maggie out of the bathroom with her good hand.
"Oh, well," Maggie chuckled, "I guess we'll just have to take another bath later."
"I guess we will."