It's been awhile since I've done anything really brotp and these two deserve it! They do.

Warnings: I don't think there are any, but tell me if you see them!

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Wincing Deeks pulled his shirt over his head before letting his arms drop to his sides. His ribs were protesting against every movement he made, but he had just taken a shower and a chill had settled into his bones.

He was always cold when he got injured though. Even if it as just busting his ribs or getting a concussion. As soon as he was consciously aware of his injury it felt as if he was laying in the middle of an ice bath. That was always fun to explain to the doctors.

He had gotten used to it though. Mostly because he got hurt quite a bit when he was working. It wasn't that he didn't do everything he could to keep himself safe, but if it was between him and someone else it was obvious who he was going to pick.

It had actually been a concern when he had first joined the force. Throwing himself into dangerous situations that could be avoided. At least that's what it was in the other cops minds. In his though, if he saw someone that needed to be protected than that was what he was going to do.

He worked hard to make sure that no one got hurt that didn't deserve it. That meant him getting hurt sometimes. Okay, a lot of times, but that was fine. As long as everyone else was safe and he got the bad guy he was fine.

Until he was home having to deal with whatever injury he got that time. It wasn't as if he regretted his actions. He just hated being hurt. He didn't think that anyone could actually fault him for that.

Over the years he had been shot, stabbed, beaten, and, on one very memorable occasion, pushed out a second story window. It had actually become a bit of a game to him to see just what stupid thing he was going to do next.

At the moment it was something that he had actually never thought of. Getting hit by a car. Not one of the hits that let him stand up a second later and continue what he was doing, but an actual full on hit with a car.

It hadn't been going all that fast, but it still hurt like hell. He had the bruised ribs, sprained wrist, and cut on his head to prove it. The doctors had thought it might be a good idea to keep him overnight, but with a little convincing they decided to let him go home.

In the end he was given a few days off work, extremely nice pills, and no hospital stay. It all turned out to be in his favor in the end. At least that was what he was going to tell himself. He did love living a life of denial.

A sudden twinge of pain in his side had him clenching his eyes shut. The pain medication that he had been given at the hospital had worn off on his way home and he hadn't taken anymore. He had wanted to take a shower before he passed out.

As he reached to the nightstand for the pills he heard a knock echo through the apartment. A groan fell from his lips at the noise. Looking at the clock he saw the it was only eight in the evening. A perfectly reasonable time to visit someone.

He just didn't want to deal with people. After the day he had had the only thing that sounded appealing was curling up in a little ball and sleeping the rest of his life away. Of course, that was off the table as well. He could settle for laying on his back until the medication knocked him out though.

It took a moment of seriously contemplation before he decided to ignore whoever it was. If it was important than they would just have to come back later. Anyway, it wasn't as if he would be any good to anyone in the condition he was in.

He felt like crap and that usually made him a bit testy. Okay, it made him very testy. The last thing he wanted to do was snap at someone and start a fight. He was good with just ignoring the world until he could function like a normal person again.

Sighing he decided that it would be better to get himself in bed before taking any medications. Carefully climbing to his feet he turned to pull the covers down. A hiss of pain escaped him as he moved making him question his choices.

Blinking back tears he began to lower himself to the bed only to freeze when he heard the front door open. Going stiff he thought back to whether or not he locked the door when he came home. He was usually good at doing so, but the pain had made him a little loopy.

"Marty?" a muffled voice came from the front of the apartment, "You here, brother?"

"Ray?" he called out not quite sure if he heard correctly.

He waited for the other man to speak again, but the only sound that could be heard was footsteps. Straightening up the best he could Deeks turned towards the door just as his best friend walked through it.

The man's eyes quickly scanned over his form before a sigh fell from his own lips as he shook his head. Without speaking he moved forward and placed a strong but gentle hand on his back and helped him climb into bed.

"You look like shit," he offered as he pulled the blankets over the detective.

"Sweet talker," Deeks teased trying to hold back the pain in his voice.

"Have you taken anything yet?"

"Not yet. I had wanted to take a shower first."

Nodding his head Ray turned and walked out of the room. A moment later Deeks could hear the sound of running water and felt himself relax a bit. He had forgotten to grab some when he first set everything up. It wasn't as if he couldn't just dry swallow them.

It took a minute before Ray was walking back into the room with the glass. He made his way over to Deeks and placed it in his hands before moving to pick up the pill bottle that he had been going for earlier.

No words were spoke as the older man dumped two pills into his hand and gave them to Deeks. A soft voice in the back of his head wanted to fight against the way he was being treated. He wasn't a child.

If it was anyone else that was exactly what he would say. It wasn't though. This was his best friend. The man that had seen him at his worst and his best. He wasn't doing this out of pity or a sense of obligation. He just cared.

Ray was the only person that he never truly questioned. Well, not in the ways that were important. When push came to shove they were brothers and nothing was ever going to change that. They would never let anything change that.

"Why are you here?" Deeks questioned before popping the pills in his mouth.

"Grapevine," Ray shrugged aiming for casual and missing.

"Really? I just got hit by a car can we not try for mysterious?"

A chuckle left the older man's lips as he moved around to the other side of the bed. He kicked off his boots before lowering himself down. Shaking his head slightly he took a drink of water to help swallow the pills and set it down so he could get comfortable himself.

Once both of them were laying in the bed he turned to look at his friend. The man simply gave him a smile that let him know exactly what was going on in his mind. He really did love being able to read the man without trying.

Not that it was hard. This wasn't the first time they had been in this position by a long shot. Ever since they first met their lives had revolved around one of them getting hurt and the other randomly showing up to see if they were okay. It was a little routine that they had since childhood.

Okay, maybe not that long since both of their fathers would have beat them if they ever found out. For as long as they could though they had done what they had to to take care of each other. It wasn't as if anyone else was going to.

If one of them was hurt then the other was there. That was just how things went with them. They might be on different sides of the law, but they were still best friends and that was what best friends did for each other.

"Ray," Deeks whispered moving his head to stare up at the ceiling.

"Yeah?" the man replied calmly from his side.

"Did you ever think that this was where we would end up?"

"In bed together? I'm going to have to say no, but some people from school would not be surprised."

"Not what I meant and you know it. Also, really? People thought we were together?"

"Oh yeah. Everyone thought that we were having some secret love affair. There were bets on which one of us would break and kiss the other in the middle of the hallway."

"There were bets? We both had multiple girlfriends during school."

"We were trying to make each other jealous. The girls were just beards to keep from people finding out about us. If I remember correctly a few girls of mine actually tried to get me bring you in to a little bedroom action."

"Seriously? Mine never did that."

"Are you sure? Maybe you just couldn't read them all that well."

"Shut up."

A laugh left Ray's lips as he rolled over to his side and started making kissy face's at Deeks. Rolling his eyes the younger man tried to look annoyed by the action, but it was just too amusing to watch his friend.

It had been awhile since they had simply hung out together. At least not without the pretext of gathering information. It really was nice to be able to just be a person again instead of having to be a cop.

"You want me," Ray joked sending a wink his way, "Remember that fight we got into where you thought I stole your knife?"

"You did steal my knife," his countered easily.

"Details.. Anyway, in that time when you weren't talking to me our science teacher..."

"Mrs. Hotchner,"

"Right. She gave us that project where we needed partners?"

"The DNA slides."

"Know-it-all. Stop interrupting my story. She pulled me aside after you picked someone else as your partner. She looked so concerned when she asked if I was alright. It was as if she thought I was going to start crying."

"What? Why?"

"Because my boyfriend was being an asshole."

"You stole my knife."

"They didn't know that. All they knew was that I, the loving boyfriend, was being ignored by the asshole boyfriend. She actually asked if I would like her to move my seat so we weren't sitting together."

Deeks tried so hard to keep the laughter in knowing that it would hurt, but he couldn't help himself. Wrapping an arm protectively over his ribs he started laughing so hard tears of both amusement and pain ran down his cheeks.

Beside him he heard his friend laughing though he knew that the man was watching him carefully. It was lucky for him that the pills had started to kick in at the point or the night would have taken a very different turn.

Reaching up he wiped the tears away as he finally got control over himself. His eyes moved to his best friend only to see him pouting. It almost sent him off into another laughing fit, but he was able to hold back.

"Shut up," Ray fake glared at him, "I would have made an amazing boyfriend and you know it."

"Of course," Deeks agreed voice filled with humor.

"You know if I didn't think you would have rushed to my side and ended the illusion I would have burst into tears and seen if I could have gotten out of the assignment all together."

"Rushed to your side. Really?"

"Don't ruin my fake relationship with you with logic."

Both men fell into silence before Deeks started to laugh again. A moment later Ray joined him once more. It was such a ridiculous thought to both of them, but he could see where they were coming from.

A part of him wondered how he could have missed everyone thinking that they were together. He had always thought of himself as an observant person, but now he wasn't so sure. It was just unbelievable to him.

"You do know people hated me that week," Deeks offered after calming down again.

"I know," Ray responded sounding amused, "I was torn between keeping the fight going and telling you what was going on. You were just so oblivious to it."

"I'm getting that. How did I not see it?"

"Because you're blond."

Rolling his eyes once more Deeks looked over at his friend and saw the smile come to his lips. He really did miss having the man as a constant in his life. There was nothing quite like knowing that someone had your back no matter what.

He was just glad that the man was still there in some way. A part of him really didn't want to know what his life would be like without having his best friend by his side. He doubted he could be the person he was without him.

"I love you, Ray," Deeks whispered feeling his eyes growing heavy.

"Love you too, Marty," the older man said just as softly, "And you know how much I hate saying that, brother."

"I know. You staying the night?"

"You got food in your fridge?"