A/N: Well, this was a little bugger of a fic. I didn't mean it to be any more than a small ficlet, 1000 words tops, but the damn thing spiralled. To somewhere nice, I hope, but spiralled none the less. Assumes an established relationship between Taylor and Wash and really, who doesn't love that?
Thank you to all of you lovely ones who listened to me whine about this on ffnet and tumblr. I love you guys!
Alicia Washington considered herself a patient person. Working with Nathaniel Taylor for so many years, you really had to be.
But this was really testing her. Really testing her.
Every time he moved there was a hiss of pain, or a grunt of discomfort. Sometimes he even allowed himself a long groan if they were out of earshot of others and it had been a particularly long day.
A week of such behaviour would have challenged the patience of a saint, let alone one woman.
She'd tried to get him to take it easy (too busy, he'd replied). She tried to get him to take a muscle relaxant (beginning of a slippery slope, he'd claimed). She'd even been tempted to spike his dinner with painkillers, but had thought better of that idea almost as soon as it formed.
In the end, it was Jim Shannon who came up with the solution - as unwittingly as he had done so.
They stood at the side of Taylor's office after a planning meeting wrapped up, watching the man himself as he slowly crossed to his desk.
"Elisabeth's going mad that he won't take anything for it." Jim said quietly.
"He never does." Alicia said, wincing in sympathy as Nathaniel collapsed into his chair.
She noticed Jim's jaw drop a little at her words. "It's happened before? How long did that last?"
"Two weeks." She said.
"And then what? It just got better?"
Wash shook her head. "He broke his foot. Bed rest and physiotherapy fixed the back and the foot in one go."
Jim couldn't hold back a snort of amusement. "So, you tried breaking any bones this time?"
"I'm tempted..." Alicia let a smirk tug at her lips.
Taylor looked up at the pair of them talking, and gave them a pointed glance. "Didn't I dismiss you two?"
"Yes sir." Alicia said (sounding a little more like she was humouring him than she strictly should have) before allowing Jim to precede her out the door. Together they walked to the staircase and began to descend, perfectly in step with each other.
"You know, Elisabeth got really bad backache when she was pregnant with Josh. I had to rub her back every night until she couldn't lie on her stomach any longer."
Alicia stopped dead, feet on separate steps. Jim looked over at her as she made a noise of interest, and saw the sly smile forming on her face. "Now, there's an idea."
"Am I going to regret sharing that piece of information?" Jim asked warily, moving out of the way of an advancing soldier to stand beneath Alicia on the steps.
"Would you regret not having to cover dawn patrol?" Jim shook his head. Alicia grinned, patting him on the shoulder as she skirted around him. "Then you have nothing to worry about."
"I don't want to know any details!" He called after her.
"If it works I'll make sure he knows who to thank!" Alicia returned with a broad grin.
"Gee, aren't I the lucky one." Jim muttered, already working on figuring out the best way to avoid both her and Taylor for a good few days.
#
That evening Alicia sat on the sofa, chewing the nail of her thumb as she restlessly waited for Nathaniel to get home. She mentally ran over everything in her mind, making sure she was ready. The lightly medicated oil that Elisabeth had given her was warming by the side of the bed, and she had refreshed her memory of correct technique by downloading one of her reference books from basic medical training.
She wasn't entirely sure that this was how they intended therapeutic massage to be used, but she wasn't going to worry about specifics.
It felt like an eternity after she had finally forced herself to sit down and stop fussing when Nathaniel finally inched through the door, shutting it wearily behind him.
"Hey." Alicia greeted softly, walking over to join him. "Have you eaten?"
He nodded, allowing her to take his hand when she reached for it. "Shannon brought me something about an hour ago."
"Good." She said, pulling slightly on his arm and leading him through their home towards the bedroom.
He found enough energy for a small chuckle. "Not sure I'm up for that tonight."
She smiled at him over her shoulder, gripping his hand a little tighter. "Good thing I have other plans then, huh?"
When they entered the room she steered him gently to stand by the end of the bed.
"Clothes off." She said, slightly distracted as she gave their bedroom a quick once-over. She turned back to him to find him regarding her suspiciously.
"Nathaniel." She implored, crossing to stand only inches in front of him. "Please, just let me help."
He relented in the face of her pleading, gingerly lifting his arms to allow her to pull his t-shirt over his head. She then proceeded to remove his trousers, leaving him in his underwear.
"On your stomach on the bed." She said. "Let me know if you need a hand."
He let out a frustrated huff at her implication and eased himself down as she had asked. Satisfied, Wash walked over to the bedside cabinet to fetch the massage oil and put a small amount in the middle of one palm. Nathaniel tipped his head to watch her approach, curiosity in his gaze as she spread the oil over both hands.
"Trust me." She said, raising one sweatpant-clad leg to kneel on the bed before bringing her other to join it. She shifted her weight to one knee and swung the other over his legs to settle her weight carefully on his thighs.
"Of course." He replied quietly, tucking his forehead against his crossed forearms as she gently placed her hands in the middle of his back. He tensed despite what Alicia knew were his best efforts not to, and she spread her fingers calmingly over his skin to allow him time to relax.
"I'll take it slow, I promise." She whispered, leaning over him to kiss the base of his neck.
She started out as she vowed to, with long smooth strokes over his entire back. She used the movements to assess the true location of his pain and the locations of associated tension, skimming over these areas without too much attention at first. She started to press harder on her fourth circuit of his back, allowing the heels of her hands to press down into the broad muscles of his upper back.
Her fingertips applied pressure to his lower back, just above the waistband of his underwear, moving up the side of his body that appeared not to hold any discomfort. She repeated this path a couple of times as his breathing finally evened out, indicating her efforts were working.
She took his relaxation as a cue to move to the area causing him pain, recalling the appropriate techniques from her earlier reading as she attempted to calm the aggravated muscle. It hurt him, she knew it did from his occasional attempted shifts away from her touch and the way his breathing hastened but he let her continue, trusting her implicitly.
She lost track of time while working at this area, taking note of how to proceed depending on his reactions to her. Eventually she could press down on the affected region of his back without him flinching or even drawing in a deeper breath and she smiled, satisfied. Jim was a clever, clever man.
Alicia reached for the oil and topped up what was already on her hands, before resuming her earlier attention to the entirety of his back. She ran her hands along him now without concern over causing him pain, applying more of her strength to each push. If she was doing this, she was damn well going to do it properly.
There was something about him like this, vulnerable and open to her completely, that made her feel a little dizzy with power. She couldn't help the sly smile that formed on her face as she pressed upwards again and he let out a soft groan - this time she knew it was nothing at all to do with pain. She squeezed her legs tightly around his as she leant over him, allowing her exhaled breath to follow the path of her hands and create dual sensations over his back.
She continued to tease him until he was grunting with every fresh push of her hands and moaning with every retreat of her fingertips, lower body trying (and failing) to move under her firm hold of him and obtain some relief.
"Over." She instructed eventually, rising to her knees. Cautiously he started to turn.
Finding her actions had significantly loosened his previously-tight muscles he moved with more surety to lay on his back beneath her.
She looked down to find him unashamed as his reaction to her hands on his body became apparent. He moved his hands to rest behind his head and smiled winningly up at her, clearly getting back to feeling like his old self as a result of her work.
"You look awfully pleased with yourself." Alicia said, running her hands up his stomach to circle over his pecs and back down. She pressed down harder as she reached the firm muscles over his hips, before running her fingers over the scar on his side that she had had a hand in healing. "I'm pretty sure I did all the work."
"Must have missed the memo where I wasn't supposed to be proud of you." He replied.
She reached to once again reapply a little oil to her hands, then ran them up his torso, passing over his upper chest to run up his biceps so she hovered over him. She pressed a light kiss to his lips. "Aren't you glad you shacked up with a medic?"
He raised his head to capture her lips more firmly before she could retreat, running his tongue along her lower lip seeking entrance. Instead she pulled back, pressing down on his shoulders to keep him on the bed.
"You might be feeling pleasantly numb right now but you could still do yourself some damage if you don't lie still." She chastised. "Let me look after you for once without fighting me."
He nodded, apparently sincere. She sat up and rested back on her heels again, fingertips drawing lazy patterns on his skin. Her eyes locked onto his hooded ones as she increased the pressure, tracing the lines and curves of his muscles with less medical care and greater feminine interest. "We should do this more often." She sighed, one hand resting over his heart as the other moved up to dance her fingers along his shoulder carelessly.
His arms moved from behind his head to rest on her hips. Then, without warning, he tugged her sharply forward so that she was flush against him, her hips rocking automatically against his. "You're right." He groaned, head falling back to the bed at the sensations racing through him. "We really should."
Alicia laughed throatily, fingers tightening on his skin. "I think we do plenty of that."
He moved his grip to her back and pulled her down to kiss gently along her jaw. "Never too much of a good thing, Wash." He whispered in her ear, nipping at her lobe as he moved back down to press his teeth and tongue against the column of her neck.
Her hips started their relaxed motion again as he reached for the hem of her top and pulled it over her head, throwing it somewhere in the room to be collected later. He did the same with her bra, his mouth moving to cover hers and swallow her sigh as her bare upper body pressed against his.
"You're so warm." She purred, hands straying over him with more purpose now, catching his nipples with her nails before scratching them over his lower abdomen.
"And you are wearing too many clothes." He said, shifting her hands out of the way so he could start to push down her pants.
"Mmmm, hold that thought." Alicia said, sitting up and climbing off of him.
"You have got to be kidding me!" Taylor groaned, head dropping heavily to the bed once more as she rushed out of the room. "You better get back here right now woman!" He heard water running in the bathroom and growled low in his throat. "Alicia…"
She hurried back into the room, wiping her hands on a towel. "You can carry on whining or let me explain." She offered, approaching the bed calmly. "What'll it be?"
"Neither." He said, reaching the arm nearest to her out to snag the end of the towel and pull her to him. "Just get back here."
She stumbled a little but righted herself before she fell back beside him, shooting him a baleful glance. She tossed a small bottle so that it landed on his chest, distracting him enough to allow her to slip off her sweatpants and underwear before joining him, settling her weight back over him just below where the material of his underwear met his thighs.
"What's this?" He asked, doing an impressive job of pretending not to notice as her hands slipped under his waistband and drew the only article separating them down his legs.
"The oil I used earlier had a very mild anaesthetic in it." She explained, plucking the bottle out of his grip and applying it to her hands. She rubbed her palms together as she watched him, slowly heating the liquid. "I could have used it all over but that could lead to some… unfortunate loss of feeling."
Nathaniel gritted his teeth as she ran slippery fingers over the newly-exposed muscles of his lower body, down his thighs and back upwards to skirt inwards and finally encircle his length.
"Though I have heard it helps prolong things." She said, voice oddly conversational considering the motions of her hands.
"You keep that up, it might have been a good idea." Nathaniel groaned as she lifted her hands away, now only running feather-light touches along him. "I didn't say stop."
She giggled (an impossible noise to hear from her but he wasn't so far gone that he would mistake it) and scooted up his thighs to align her heat with him. "I'm at your service, sir. Happy to continue if you want me to, but might I suggest something else?"
"Be my guest." He breathed, moving his grip to her hips as she raised herself carefully and then started to lower her weight.
She leant forward a little to push against his chest as she moved down, allowing him to stretch and fill her at a blissfully slow pace. The moonlight streaming through his window hit her face perfectly, highlighting her flushed cheeks, closed eyes and expression of utter ecstasy. He slid one hand forward as she came to rest perfectly in his lap, skimming it over her stomach and up to cup one of her breasts and roll his thumb over her nipple.
"Your idea has merit, I'll give you that." He managed and she cracked an eye open to squint at him.
"Only merit?" She asked, squeezing her internal muscles around him.
"Hell of a plan, best I've ever heard." He couldn't stop the buck of his hips as she tightened around him, earning himself a quick slap of her hand to his arm.
"I told you, lie still." She said, reaching to cup his face and rub her thumb over his cheek. "Let me handle it."
He nodded, despite wishing to tell her how that was easier said that done. She braced her hands flat against him and started to move; he did as she told him, allowing her to control the pace as she wished. He let his hands roam her skin, then rest on her thighs to feel the shift of her strong muscles underneath. He could tell when they started to tremble with the effort of keeping her movements slow, and grasped harder to encourage her to move faster. His resulting smile when she did quickly faded and turned into a needful groan.
Alicia watched him tip his head back, tendons in his throat showing as he tensed against the new feel of her thrusts. She couldn't resist leaning over him to nip and suck at his skin as he was so fond of doing to her, purposely leaving behind a small mark just below where his collar would rest. She felt his hands shift to her ass before coming up to rest on her back, holding her to him.
The remaining oil on his chest made him smooth and slick against her, easing her path over him and compensating for the restrictions of her position. She hummed against his skin in delight as her breasts slid over his sculpted chest, the odd new sensation reinforcing her resolve to make this happen again, soon.
Nathaniel moved one hand to fist in her hair and pulled her head level with his. She let him trail his mouth along her jaw once more and sighed as his breath tickled her ear.
"I love you." He intoned, voice husky.
Her breath hitched as she raised her head to look down at him. Though he never let her doubt the strength of his feeling for her, he spoke those words rarely and she couldn't recall him telling her quite like this before.
He watched as she screwed her eyes shut against the emotions flooding through her and pushed away from him, hands reaching for his as she sat up and moved with renewed intention. She wound the fingers of each of their hands together, gripping tightly as she took them into an increasingly intense rhythm.
Alicia reaching her peak was always a sight to behold and Nathaniel forced his eyes to remain open to take her in as she cried out and pulsed around him. She ground her hips down once, twice more and he joined her with a hoarse shout. She smiled down at him as she slowly rocked against him, drawing little aftershocks from the pair of them.
Much to his regret, she eventually slid her weight off of him and fetched the extra covers to tug them over him so he wouldn't have to move. She joined him under them quickly, unwilling to be away from his heat for too long, curling up against his side and tangling her legs with his.
"I love you too." She said, pressing a kiss to his chest as he pulled her closer. "But please don't make a habit of putting your back out."
He laughed. "If that's my treatment, just try and stop me."
#
The next morning Jim hurried across the marketplace on his way to the hospital, having just dropped Zoe off at Leah's. So far he'd managed to avoid both Wash and Taylor and he was mighty proud of himself. He shot a couple of shifty glances around him as he entered the less sheltered location but considering it was still early on a Saturday there were enough people around to allow him to blend in.
"Morning Shannon." He heard from behind him and stopped dead, closing his eyes in defeat.
"Commander." He said as he turned with a bright forced smile, seeing the man approaching with Wash by his side.
They were dressed as usual, with only the lack of body armour suggesting they were observing the weekend. But they were also closer than usual; Jim saw Taylor's hand brush Alicia's and her briefly link their fingers before dropping her hand back to her side. They both looked utterly relaxed, and Jim had more than a good idea of why.
"You're looking better, sir." He settled for. "Morning Wash."
"Shannon." She acknowledged.
"I hear I have to thank you for your hand in my recovery." Taylor said, grinning like the cat who got the cream.
"Oh no, it was nothing, really."
"You're not giving yourself enough credit, Jim." Alicia said, her use of his first name putting him even more on edge. "I'd say the satisfactory outcome of events was solely because of your suggestion."
He grimaced, senses going into overdrive as he hunted for a way out of the conversation. "Well, you're welcome... I guess."
"You're on duty tomorrow, right?" Taylor asked.
Jim nodded. "I am."
"Take the day off, spend some time with your family." He said. "Wash and I have it covered."
Jim smiled, genuinely this time. "Thank you, I appreciate that."
Taylor inclined his head in the direction of the command centre and Jim noticed Alicia nod then wink at him, causing the older man to laugh as he made his way over without her.
Jim nearly jumped when he felt Alicia's hand on his elbow, drawing his attention back to her. "I know we give each other a hard time Shannon, but thank you. Really."
He grinned at her, sensing the truth in her words. "Think nothing of it. Glad to help out, and I really won't miss those patrols."
She rolled her eyes at this. "Yeah, and there's the kicker - I worked my ass off last night and I still had to get up before the sun came up."
"I'm going to leave now, before you feel the need to elaborate on that one." Jim said, walking backwards away from her. "But if you're free, Elisabeth would love to hear from you. She wouldn't shut up about me doing the same thing for her after you went to see her. Maybe you could extol the virtues of being the masseuse instead?"
Wash threw her head back and laughed, heading in the same direction as Taylor. "Don't push it, Shannon."