**
Alex groaned as her back twinged, biting the pillow as she panted for breath. OK, she could do this. She'd worked through worse pain, she just needed to get her leg...no, nope, couldn't do it.
"Astra?" she groaned plaintively.
"Yes, dear?" Astra poked her head in the doorway, her expression souring "is it your back again?" she asked.
"Yeah"
Astra tsked as she came over to the bed. "I thought I told you take a pain pill for this" she muttered.
"I'm a recovering addict," Alex grumbled "let's not risk it, huh?"
Astra shrugged. "As you say, darling,"
Getting on the bed, she gently eased Alex out onto her stomach, quickly straddling her hips and probing at her neck, shoulders, and back, making Alex hiss and groan in clear discomfort.
"Sorry, love," Astra soothed, digging her fingers into the knots in Alex's shoulders "you're as stiff as a board" she noted.
"No shit," Alex groaned, wincing as Astra pressed her thumbs "could you do that...shoulder cracking thing again?"
"I can try, no guarantee it'll work," Astra replied. Sitting back, she gripped Alex's shoulder and gently flexed the joint, earning a loud popping crack "ow, that sounded painful"
"It was," Alex gasped, groaning in relief "but it was worth it"
"If you say so" Astra shrugged. Leaning forwards, she pressed her thumbs along either side of Alex's s spine, making the younger woman hiss and groan.
"Aw, fuck! It's sciatica" Alex groaned.
"How can you tell?"
"I can tell, trust me" Alex groaned, wriggling underneath Astra in clear discomfort.
"All right, all right, easy," Astra soothed. Scooting back further down the length of Alex's body, she pressed her thumbs into the agent's sciatic nerve, wincing at the feel of the sizable knots on either side of the nerve "shh," she whispered as Alex gasped and whimpered in pain "I've got you, love"
"I know," Alex awkwardly turned her head to give her a soft smile, which Astra returned, pausing to suddenly lean over her and pressing a soft kiss to the younger woman's lips. Leaning back, she pressed her hand into the small of Alex's back, just above her sciatic nerve, steadily pressing down until something clicked, followed by a gasping groan of relief from Alex "better?" Astra asked.
"Yeah," Alex groaned, sighing in relief "could you do my neck and shoulders some more?"
"Of course," nodding, Astra began to knead the tense muscles of Alex's neck and shoulders "I doubt this needs saying," the Kryptonian began "but you're obviously stressed"
"Gee. You think so do you?" was the sarcastic retort.
"Oh, the gratitude," Astra drawled, lightly tangling her fingers in Alex's short-cropped hair "we're quite a pair, aren't we?" she mused.
"Yeah," Alex sighed "I think you and Kara are responsible for taking at least ten years off my life expectancy. And you, my dear, are definitely responsible for this" she jabbed her thumb towards her neck.
"Oh, I am, am I?" Astra chuckled "however do you mean?"
"I've found that dealing with you just being 'you' can be very stressful," Alex groaned, arching up into Astra's hands "you're a menace at times"
"Ah, but I'm your menace" Astra countered, grinning.
"Unfortunately, yes, you are," sighing melodramatically, Alex reached up, finding Astra's hand and firmly taking hold of it, tightly tangling their fingers together, bringing their joined hands up to press a kiss to the older woman's knuckles "I love you, you menace"
"I love you too," Astra whispered, leaning forwards to press herself down against the length of Alex's body "is your neck any better?"
"Getting there," Alex nodded. Leaning up onto her elbows "let's see...," flexing her neck, she sighed happily at the series of pops and cracks "ah, yeah, that's it" she groaned in relief. Shifting, she gave Astra a gentle nudge off her, rolling onto her back, propping herself up on one elbow to study Astra, tangling their fingers together again, leaning forwards to press a soft, open-mouthed kiss to her lips.
Sighing happily into the kiss, Astra wound an arm around the younger woman's waist, tugging her close so that she was laying atop her. Smiling, she pressed a soft kiss to Alex's forehead...
END