I own nothing.

Footle [FOOT-l]

Verb 1. To act or talk in a foolish or silly way.

Noun 1. Nonsense; silliness

"Wanna see a trick?"

Deeks was at the Boathouse with a seven year old witness who was not being very cooperative. Jamie Maddox had witnessed the murder of his uncle, Sergeant Andrew Maddox, and the kid was so terrified that he wasn't talking to anyone, not even his mom.

Deeks could see that Kensi's patience was wearing thin, so he sent her out of the room. He needed to break the tension and he had just the thing.

So Deeks asked if Jamie wanted to see a trick. Jamie didn't say anything, so Deeks took that as a yes. He dug through his pockets, pulled out three bouncy balls and started to juggle them. Jamie watched the LAPD detective with some interest.

Once Deeks knew he had Jamie's attention, he made his move. He managed to drop the balls, having two of them land on the floor and the third one land on his head. Deeks took a step forward and slipped on one of the balls, making him fall to the ground.

While on the ground, Deeks heard the sound that he wanted to hear- laughter. He had gotten Jamie to laugh.

Deeks made a big scene of getting off the floor. He looked at Jamie. "You thought that funny, didn't you."

Jamie nodded.

"Would you like me to show you how to juggle?"

Another nod.

"How about I make a deal with you; I'll show you some pictures and you'll tell me if you have seen any of the men before. When you are done, I'll teach you how to juggle. Deal?"

After some hesitation, Jamie nodded his head.

"How did you do it?" Kensi asked. Jamie and his mom had just left, Jamie practicing his new juggling skill. Deeks kept his promise and showed Jamie how to juggle after the little boy gave them a positive ID to work off of.

"Do what?"

"Get him to give us an ID."

Deeks shrugged. "I've learned in the past that if you make a person laugh, they feel more comfortable around you and they open up. And people tend to laugh at slapstick comedy, so I exaggerated my actions a bit."

"You did look pretty foolish trying to juggle." Kensi conceded.

"Hey, I'll have you know I am an excellent juggler. I was just putting on a show to make Jamie feel relax."

"And it worked." Kensi said in amazement and partly to herself.

Deeks grinned at her. "That it did. Now, let's do our job and catch some bad guys."

When I saw this word, I knew it was made for Deeks. And for some reason, I could see him juggling.

Anyway, feel free to review.

Happy reading!

P.S. My second season of NCIS: Los Angeles should be coming in the mail on Saturday! I can't wait!