I really don't know what I was thinking when I wrote this one, but it happened, either way. It's highly likely these will start to get shorter from this point onwards, seeing as I've got a load of uni work to keep up with, but they should keep coming for the time being!

Thanks to notdonewithyou, halaA, TheLonelyGodsMuse, heheyyho, RuthWriter, Burt00, Careeseforever, Olivia, Agent Striker, Puckish879, TVDFan4Ever, Waylo, guru lupin the fix life, citroensandblueteacups, NCISRookie33 and getbacktwerk for the reviews, as well as to everyone who followed or favourited!

You should all know the drill by now, please review and leave any prompts/ideas you may have!

Greet

"See you next week, Gabriel." Gabriel did a double take as Riley stepped past him and out of the room.

"Next week?" He called. "Riley, it's Tuesday." Riley turned back to him, arms folded.

"Did you seriously not listen to a word I said earlier?" Gabriel winced.

"No, I may have been cyber rendering a little bit." Riley rolled her eyes.

"I have a training course to attend," she said. "So I'm leaving for the rest of the week."

"Training for what?" He asked. "Aren't you like, the most qualified agent in this building?" Riley shrugged, grinning.

"Can't hurt to be even more prepared." She turned away and began walking again.

"Stay safe," he called at her retreating figure.

"Always am, Gabriel," she called back over her shoulder. "Always am."

As Gabriel's luck would have it, the week was uneventful and filled with paperwork, and a lot of trashcan basketball with Nelson and Jameson. A lot.

"Gabriel, Nelson, I told you if I caught you doing this again, I'd-"

"C'mon, Lillian," Gabriel said as he stood up from the swively office chair he was on. "There's nothing to do here." Lillian folded her arms.

"That's because you haven't finished your paperwork," she said, glancing pointedly at the stack of paper on the desk. "And until you finish the paperwork, you aren't going on any field work." Nelson snickered at the pissed expression on Gabriel's face. "That goes for you too, Nelson. Finish your paperwork or you won't be back in the lab for weeks."

"Riley, come back." Gabriel sighed into the phone. "Lillian won't let me do anything anymore." Riley laughed as she moved her phone to her other ear.

"I can't come back right now," Riley replied. "You know that."

"Come on," Gabriel said. "Just tell me where you are, and I'll bust you out."

"Look Gabriel," Riley sighed. "It's late and I'm tired, I'm going to bed. I'll be home in two days."

"Fine," Gabriel replied. "But I'm gonna keep calling you."

"I'll keep my phone off." Gabriel gasped.

"You wouldn't!" Riley laughed again.

"You know I will." They fell into silence.

"Night, Riley." Gabriel said, finally. "See you soon."

"Night Gabriel."

"Neal, you're up!" Riley groaned as she pushed herself out of the bridge she had maintained for way too long and jogged up to the instructor 20 yards ahead of her. "There are four insurgents within 450 yards of here. Your job is to take them out before they get the chance to fire any shots at your soldiers who are stranded in that ruined building there." The instructor gestured to a run down barn about 230 yards away on her right. "You have five rounds, and three minutes before insurgent backup arrives, two minutes and 45 seconds until the exfil window for your guys closes. Got it?" Riley nodded.

"Yes sir." Riley set up behind the sniper rifle that had been set up on a ledge.

"Time starts now." Peering away from the scope, Riley looked for the telltale glint of a scope against the sun. Spotting two, she noted the direction of one, and took aim at the second. When she had a visual, she fired, and a puff of red chalk told her she'd hit her mark. Immediately swinging to locate the second sniper, she spotted the glint again and lined him up. This sniper took longer to reveal himself, and Riley focused on her breathing while she waited. Just as she pulled the trigger and saw the red chalk, the instructor next to her called out the two minute warning.

Looking away from the scope again, Riley scanned the landscape for anything that looked out of place. Noticing a strangely coloured clump of dirt on the ground about 100 yards from the soldiers building, Riley immediately focused the scope on it, spotting the nose of a rifle poking out from the end. She lined up what she calculated to be centre mass of the hidden body, and pulled the trigged. The red chalk again puffed out.

"One minute until insurgent backup arrives," Riley didn't acknowledge the instructor, instead looking for the last enemy sniper. One of the soldiers in the building called out through the comms that he'd spotted movement to the west. Riley searched the area, not seeing any movement.

"Any chance of a clearer estimate?" She asked, aware there was very little time left until the exfil window would be gone.

"Maybe 200 yards to the west," the soldier replied. "Right near that dead scrub." Riley glanced away from the scope, spotting the scrub, and then what could've been a branch, or it could've been the rails of another rifle.

"15 seconds to exfil," the instructor called. Riley took a deep breath. If this wasn't the last sniper, she wouldn't be able to find him in time anyway. Steadying herself, she took aim, held her breath and fired. A slight red haze drifted into the air, and Riley let out a sigh of relief, her head dropping to the side of the rifle.

"Good work, Neal." The instructor said. "Best time of the day."

Riley pulled her bag from the passenger seat of the car, and climbed out, locking the door behind her. As she passed through security, she showed her badge and swiped her ID to get through the entrance. Just as she'd put her ID back in her pocket, Gabriel called out.

"Welcome back, Riley," he called from his position leaning against the wall near the lifts.

"Were you waiting for me to get in?" Riley asked as she approached him. Gabriel shook his head.

"Why would I be waiting for you?" Riley laughed and turned to the lift.

"If I didn't know better," she said. "I'd think you missed me."

Review!