Author's note: As per request, I am continuing my Riley/Hodges (Ridges?) story, but first I must warn all of you that this is my first shot at a relationship fan-fic and, obviously, I didn't exactly choose the easiest couple to write a story about, so bear with me. And away we go…

(This chapter is set during the episode "Leave Out All the Rest.")

The lab seemed to be exceptionally hectic when Riley, Greg, and Nick returned from Ian Wallace's house with a trunk full of evidence, not the least of which was the metal chest of bondage gear they had found under his bed.

"I guess shift change just started," Greg said, as he opened the trunk door on their SUV "which means, ladies and gentlemen, we are officially in our third straight shift."

"Stop whining, Sanders," Riley said, playfully punching him in the arm. "I once went for seven straight shifts on a case back in Chicago."

"Seven shifts?" Nick asked. "That's harsh."

"It was a slow week," Riley said, grabbing one case of evidence. "It wasn't all bad though. I used the overtime to pay for the repairs my car needed after I ran the suspect over."

"You ran over a suspect?" Greg said, with a skeptical grin on his face.

"Well, he wasn't a suspect at the time; just an ex-boyfriend who pissed me off. He was a suspect in a B&E two months later."

"Can we focus on the task at hand, please?" Nick said pulling the last of the evidence out of the car. "I swear, you two are worse than a couple of teenagers."

"Sorry, dad," Greg said in the most sarcastically apologetic voice he could manage. "Are you going to spank us, or just make us sit in the corner?"

"I wouldn't mind being spanked," Riley said, casually. She then turned and walked into the lab.

Nick and Greg caught up with her at the evidence locker as she was signing the evidence in. Neither of them said anything, but regarded her with a mixture of awe and respect. Without looking at them, and trying to hide the smile on her face, she took the shirt that Nick had found in the laundry hamper out of the crate and walked toward the DNA lab. After she left the shirt with Wendy, she walked over to the break room to get a cup of coffee.

As she poured the coffee, she couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed with herself. Maybe I overdid it a little, she thought, but seeing the looks on their faces was totally worth it. She chuckled softly and turned around—and saw David Hodges sitting on a couch attempting to put a band-aid on his finger.

She was tempted to walk out and drink the coffee at her desk, but her curiosity got the best of her. "What are you doing?" she asked.

"I'm trying to stop myself from bleeding to death," Hodges said, sounding more than a little frustrated. "Do you have any idea how hard these things are to put on with one hand?"

"Do you need help?" Riley asked, regretting it instantly.

"Are you offering, or are you just trying to make fun of my plight?"

"I'm offering," she said sitting down next to him and setting her coffee on the table. "Give me your hand."

He hesitated, looking her over as if trying to determine if she had some other motive.

"Don't worry. I'm not going to rip it off."

"If you say so," he said, holding out his hand.

"So, what did you do anyway?"

"I got a splinter at the dump site this morning."

"Seriously, a splinter?" she asked as she finished applying the band-aid. "What, was this a chance to try to flirt with me or something?"

"Come on, Riley. You know me. If I was going to flirt with you, I would have asked you to kiss it and make it better." He sat back and flashed that smile, the one that always…No, she thought. Don't go there. It's what he wants.

"I thought I knew you. When did you stop wanting to flirt?"

Before Hodges could respond, Greg walked in, holding several evidence bags. "There you are, Hodges. I need you to run this trace evidence, like five minutes ago."

"So once again I must break your case for you, Sanders. You really should have stayed in the lab. This is where the real action happens."

He started to get up, but stopped and turned back to Riley. "Are you sure you don't want to kiss it and make it better?" he asked, holding up his bandaged finger. Then flashing that mischievous smile that had helped him win so many arguments, he stood up, took the evidence from Greg, and left.

Riley shook her head and picked up her coffee. "Is he always like that?" she asked Greg

"Hodges? Yeah, pretty much. Annoying, isn't it?"

"Yeah. How do you people keep from killing him?"

"Well I can't speak for everyone," Greg said, taking the empty chair next to her, "but I know I'll always do better with the ladies than he does, so I can take his crap here in the lab."

"Is that a fact?" Riley asked.

"Yeah. Hodges hasn't been on a date in the whole time he's been here."

"How do you know?"

"Trust me, as much as Hodges brags, if he got lucky, the whole lab would know about it."

"Not everyone brags about things like that," Riley said, taking a sip of her coffee.

"Well Hodges would," Greg said.

"Maybe you're right. He can be a bit of a jerk sometimes."

Just then, Nick stuck his head in the break room. "There you two are. Catherine just called. They found a burned out SUV in the desert that could be our vic's. They want us there ASAP."

Riley downed the rest of her coffee and stood up. Greg quickly followed suit. As they walked down the hall, Greg came up beside her and asked, "Did you really hit an ex-boyfriend with your car?"

She glanced over at Hodges working in the trace lab and sighed. "Yeah, but I don't want to talk about it."