There is something so devastating yet so beautiful when Spencer gets injured. Of course he doesn't go out of his way to injure Reid, he never would, but it is nice in a way to see him like that, even if he hates himself for it after.

Reid has different kinds of bruises, and he's the only one who gets to see all of them, who gets to sooth away the pain.

The first kinds of bruises are the ones Reid causes on his own. He is all gangly limbs and when he's in a rush or the least bit excited it's like he loses all control over them. He knocks over everything and almost everyone who gets in his way when he's in a rush.

The only problem with that level of excitement is that not everything is movable or can be knocked over so he tends to get bruised in the oddest of places.

His thigh is a common place.

God when Reid gets bruises there…

Morgan can't explain the way he reacts, or the reason why he reacts at all but there's something that frustrates him in more than he can say, in several different ways.

Part of his mind tells him, when he sees Reid standing in the doorway of their bedroom, boxers revealing his thighs and the colourful bruises there cause anger to flare in him because he wants to bruise the most intimate parts of Reid, but yet he's the one who heals them.

He's the one who soothes those bruises with his tongue, with his lips, licking and kissing lightly until Reid is splayed out on the bed beneath him trembling and justthis side of whimpering, close to pleading.

There are other bruises of course, and if he's honest some are caused by him.

Bruises that are never on purpose though, only marring his pale skin due to the heat of passion. They are fingertip shaped bruises on his hips, from when Morgan really can't control himself and the feeling of Reid's muscles pulsing around him as he tries not to come are almost a little too much. His fingers will dig into those slim hips and he knows that almost every time he lets out a choked sounding moan.

The other bruises he makes are on Reid's wrist, from when they find themselves playfully roughhousing, and he tries his best not to hurt Reid but it almost always turns into something more.

It doesn't take long when they're wrestling each other for him to grasp Reid's wrists and press him into the mattress before kissing him so hungrily he thinks that it might consume them both.

He hates hurting Reid like that and will find himself kissing and nuzzling the bruises, in hopes that he can somehow make them fade away while he murmurs apologies into Reid's skin like when he slips away from the other man's body the bruises will be gone and his words will remain. A tattoo seared into Reid's skin, dark against the pale and not painful like the bruises can be.

He doesn't really understand why Reid loves those bruises, not really.

There are moments in which bruises on Reid's pale skin can cause his heart to break a little. Just bit-by-bit, flaking away like old paint.

Reid gets taken again when they're working on a case and when they find him he's strung up in a cellar with handcuffs biting into his wrists, his face muddled with bruises and his eyes barely open.

It's Morgan who uncuffs him, who catches him when he nearly tumbles to the ground and cradles him close.

It's Morgan who whispers soothing words into his ear on the way to the hospital, their hands clasped together as he promises that the bruises will fade, that he will make them do so and that the bastards will pay.

When they are finally home, two days after what Morgan has begun thinking of as the "INCIDENT" in all capitals Morgan doesn't want to leave his side, and isn't even sure he'll ever be able to have sex with him again because there doesn't seem to be a single inch of him which isn't bruised.

It's another week, and the bruises are beginning to fade but some still remain and it physically hurts Morgan to even look at them but he finds himself wanting to touch them regardless.

"I've missed you," Reid tells him one night, his eyes wide and hopeful, need present in the way his muscles twitch and his fingers seem to search for something to hold onto.

"I'm right here," Morgan replies without missing a beat, and nearly winces at the sound of the defensive tone of voice.

Reid shakes his head and next thing Morgan knows his lover is crawling into his lap and kissing him on the lips, both of them ignoring his wince as his legs ached.

It isn't long before Morgan is rolling Reid onto his back and pressing hot kisses into his neck where some of the bruises still lay. "I want you to be okay," he finds himself murmuring softly.

"I will be, when you make me okay," Reid replies softly, his words almost a whisper but Morgan has never heard anything clearer.

The whole situation is illogical, and both of them know it. Both of them know Morgan can't truly erase the pain, but neither of them want to keep him from trying.

It's Morgan's fingers that tremble when he works the buttons through the holes of Reid's pajama top and it's Reid who gasps when Morgan's lips brush the abraded skin on his wrists.

When he prepares Reid he's almost amazed at how vocal his lover is being as his fingers slide in and out of his lover's tight channel but then he realizes that this is healing him, healing them both.

There's nothing more healing then being able to kiss Reid's bruises, like they'll vanish under his lips as Reid's legs wrap around his hips and he pushes deep into his body.

With each thrust he begins to feel better and he can see Reid's eyes widen and then slip shut before a long keening moan escapes his lover and he's thrusting a little bit faster.

"Derek," Reid gasps his name and then his muscles tighten to an impossible level causing Morgan's thrusts to stutter and then both of them are releasing, almost simultaneously as the world falls away and all bruises are forgotten.

It's in that singularly perfect moment that Morgan realizes that no matter what the bruises are from, and no matter who causes them he will always be able to make Reid forget them, even if he doesn't really.