This is set in the future, and assumes that Kensi and Deeks have ended their current relationship. Originally from the prompt: Kensi and Deeks play pool. I don't own anything from this show. If I did, they would do stuff like this.

The day had started out with a bang; a terrorist plot had been foiled, the bad guys were in police custody, and there was nary a scratch on any of them. Sam and Callen managed to get the Challenger back to OSP without any bullet holes. Kensi and Deeks' volatile partnership survived a shootout; and they proved that they could still watch each other's backs after starting a romantic relationship, being separated for five months, and ultimately breaking up after being unable to move past the traumas they'd experienced together. Nell was continuing to spread her wings outside of Ops. She was feeling particularly pleased with herself after going out in the field and taking down a man twice her size while waiting for her backup to arrive and wanted to celebrate with the team.

"We should go to that new bar, The Alley. It's really cool, has karaoke, pool, darts, and a frozen shot room where you drink out of ice shot glasses and then slam them on the floor," Eric suggested, hovering protectively close to Nell.

"As long as Deeks doesn't sing, I'm in," Callen joked.

Deeks nodded his head and laughed. "Yeah fine, okay. But it's not my problem you guys can't recognize the God-given talent right in front of you." He glanced at Kensi, who was silently filing away paperwork at her desk. "You in, partner?"

Standing up, Kensi briefly met his gaze and grabbed her messenger bag. "I'm in, but I second the no singing. That goes for everybody."

"Deal," they all said in unison.

Everyone agreed to meet later in the evening. Sam wanted to spend a few minutes of quality time with his family, Deeks had to let Monty out, and Nell and Kensi both wanted to change into clothes more appropriate for the bar scene.

As they filed out of the Mission, Deeks sidled up next to Kensi. "Do you want me to pick you up?"

"Nope, Nell and I are going to ride together," she responded casually.

"Alright," Deeks said slowly. "I guess I'll just, uh, see you there then."

"Yup." Kensi smiled and walked away briskly, leaving her partner behind.

"Yeah," he muttered to himself. Running his hands through his hair, he sighed and walked back to his desk to retrieve his motorcycle helmet. He still hadn't quite gotten used to having to leave work alone again.

"Alright, rack 'em up boys." Deeks took a swig of his beer and grinned. "Who wants to get their ass kicked next?"

Sam and Callen exchanged a surly look and said in unison. "Eric."

"How'd you get to be so good at pool anyway, Deeks?" Sam asked.

Deeks shrugged. "Spent a lot of time in pool halls as a kid."

Eric approached the table and grabbed the cue stick. "I'll have you know that I'm awesome at Pool Nation on the Xbox 360." Sam and Callen laughed and moved to another pool table to play against each other.

"I am literally shaking in my boots, Eric. Get ready to be schooled-" Deeks paused, suddenly distracted by the two women at the entrance of the bar. Kensi and Nell had just sauntered in, much to the pleasure of every hot-girl loving man in the establishment. Nell had replaced her demure dress and cardigan with a short shirt-dress and high heeled boots, accented with bold jewelry. But Deeks barely glanced at Nell before staring at Kensi, who was wearing a low cut white tank top, denim skirt, and wedge sandals. He allowed his eyes to roam the length of her body, then back up to her face. Her eyes met his for a moment and he saw the slightest smile grace her lips. He'd been caught.

Clearing his throat, Deeks picked up his cue and tore his eyes away from Kensi. "So yeah, as I was saying...I'll let you break."

"Sweet," Eric said excitedly, moving into position. He hit the balls at an angle, sending a solid and a stripe into two holes on the table.

"Wow." Deeks cringed. "Lucky shot. You want solids or stripes?"

Eric pursed his lips. "Stripes?"

"Excellent." Eric proceeded to miss the next shot, and Deeks took full advantage. Before Eric had even sunk two more balls, Deeks was aiming for the eight ball. Nell and Kensi joined the guys with a handful of beers just in time to see Deeks sink the winning shot. "Boom!"

"Nice," Nell complimented, handing him a beer before rubbing Eric's back sympathetically.

"Why thank you. What took you guys so long?"

"We may have made a detour to the frozen shot room first," Kensi answered, grinning. "The shots are ten dollars a piece but they give you a fur coat when you walk in the door."

"Twenty bucks a piece, well spent," Nell added.

Deeks raised an eyebrow at Eric and mouthed 'keys' to him, looking in the direction of their female colleagues. Eric mouthed 'oh yeah' back to him and smiled. "Okay then. Either of you lovely ladies want to take on the champ?"

"That depends," Kensi said, eyeing the cues on the wall. "Is the champ ready to get spanked?"

"No," Deeks replied, laughing. "Not in public anyway."

Picking a cue stick off the wall, Kensi wrapped her fingers around it and stroked it suggestively. "That's disappointing."

"Wow." Deeks looked away from his partner and shook his head to clear away the massive amounts of inappropriate thoughts that just inhabited his mind. Nell and Eric grinned at each other and took a seat on some nearby barstools, excitedly watching the scene playing out between the former lovers. Deeks racked up the balls and gestured to them. "I would ask if you needed a few practice strokes, but clearly you don't. Um, ladies first."

Nudging him out of the way with her hip, Kensi leaned low on the pool table and struck the triangle of balls slightly off the center, sending them in every direction and sinking the red seven. Deeks discreetly tilted his head to check her out again before she straightened her body. "Solids," she called.

"Uh huh," he said. "Nice shot."

"Well, I am a sniper after all," Kensi retorted. Deeks thought he saw a flash of sadness cross her face, but it disappeared as quickly as it had appeared. He decided to let her comment go, choosing to watch his partner control the pool table in appreciative silence as she sunk another ball with ease. She glanced at Deeks as she adjusted her cue stick in her hands, sliding it back and forth between her forefinger and thumb. He narrowed his eyes at her and raised an eyebrow. Smiling, she thrust her stick against the cue ball but missed her shot.

Eyeing the balls on the table, Deeks judged where he should take his next shot. When he circled the table, Kensi moved along with him, staying in his sight line. He focused on the table, trying to not pay attention to the fact that she was trying to distract him, and called his shot. "Corner pocket." He sunk the shot, setting up another. "Side pocket." After sinking another ball, Deeks took the opportunity to match her wit for wit. When he bent down to make his move, he made eye contact, licked his lips, and winked before pounding his stick into the cue ball. The ball hit the pocket and bounced back out, causing him to groan in frustration.

"Oh, so close," Kensi teased, spreading her body over the pool table and taking aim, sending her ball to a corner pocket.

"You have no idea," Deeks muttered under his breath. He walked up behind her, placing a hand on either side of her body so he could position himself flush against her back. "The way you handle that stick is impressive," he whispered in her ear before pushing back off the table.

Kensi puckered her lips into a smirk. She took aim and hit her ball, bouncing it off the edge of the pocket. Pouting, she sighed and stepped away from the table to take a large swig of beer. "You've been playing on this table for a while now, the balls must be getting sticky," she remarked with a scowl.

Now it was Deeks' turn to smirk at her. "You're just trying too hard now," he said, shaking his head. "Watch and enjoy as I, as you so eloquently put it, spank you." He proceeded to make shot after shot until all that remained was the eight ball. Standing erect, he chalked his cue stick. "As you can see, there's nothing wrong with my balls. What's your next excuse? Pockets too tight?"

Nell and Eric exchanged a wide-eyed look, shocked at the innuendos flying around the table. Kensi laughed, nearly spitting her beer out. "Yeah okay. By all means, show me how it's done, 'champ'." She spread her arms out and bent down, leaning on the table. "I guess I'll let you finish first. This time."

"Wow, okay," Deeks whistled. "But I think you know that's not how it usually works." Her face flushed slightly, and he aimed his stick at the cue ball for his final shot. Just as he was about to slam into the cue ball, he caught a glimpse of Kensi grinning. She tugged slightly on her tank top, just enough to reveal the top of her bra. It was quick, but that small action threw Deeks off guard and he misfired, sending the cue ball too forcefully into the eight ball. It bounced into the side of the table, into the air, and onto the floor.

"Dammit," he hissed, tossing his stick on the table.

Kensi picked the eight ball up on the floor and admired it. "Hmm, I guess this means I win. Fair and square."

"If that helps you sleep better at night, you keep on thinking that," Deeks replied bitterly.

"Excuse me?"

Nell stood up from her stool and grabbed Eric, motioning with her hand to the other side of the bar. "So. Karaoke?"

"Yes please," Eric answered, scurrying away from the ensuing fight.

"Don't play dumb, Kensi. You know exactly what you were doing," Deeks accused. "With the boobs, and the stroking, and the short skirt. Which by the way, you were leaning low enough on the table that I can tell you what color underwear you're wearing."

Kensi rolled her eyes. "No you can't."

"Pink lace. Nice. I probably could have played without needing a cue stick at all tonight." Deeks glared at his partner, who met his stare without backing down. "So what exactly were you trying to accomplish here, huh?"

Kensi huffed. "Please, don't act like you weren't playing along the whole time." She eyed him up and down. "And it seems pretty obvious to me that you were enjoying yourself."

Leaning against the pool table, Deeks crossed his arms. "So...this is just a game to you?"

"We're playing pool, Deeks," she answered innocently, crossing her arms as well. "And right now, you just look like a sore loser."

"Whatever, Kens." He gulped the last of his beer and grabbed his jacket and helmet. "I'll see you Monday."

Frowning, Kensi grabbed his arm. "Hey, whoa, wait. I was out of line, I'm sorry-"

"Yeah no, don't worry about it," Deeks interrupted, forcing a small smile. "We were both out of line tonight. It's okay, we're cool." He turned his back on her and made his rounds in the bar to say goodnight to his co-workers, making sure everybody had a designated driver before he left.

The drive home gave Deeks some time to clear his head. Hetty would be mad if she found out he was driving his motorcycle this late at night, but he didn't care. Having faced her wrath several times already, he had learned the ways to deal with Hetty and her silly rules and regulations. If she asked, he would say he was having car trouble; he hated being treated like a child but he was just happy to at least have his motorcycle back.

Monty greeted him at the door with a bark and a tail wag, which Deeks rewarded with an ear scratch before taking him out on his last potty run of the night. They settled in for the evening, watching reruns of FRIENDS on Nick at Nite and slipping in and out of consciousness on the couch.

Deeks just wanted to do anything but think about Kensi. Working together was hard enough; and apparently he still wasn't ready to go back to friend-status. He might never be ready. Groaning, he pushed himself off of the couch and headed to his bedroom. No matter how hard he tried, he knew he wouldn't stop thinking about her until he got her out of his system. If he had to take care of it himself, then so be it.

As if on cue, he felt his phone vibrate in the front pocket of his jeans. His heart skipped a beat and his brain told him to not even look at the message. As usual with Deeks, his heart won out over his brain. Pulling his phone out, he saw a message from Kensi.

"You want another beer?"