#anyway lol happy bday mih mwah you're lovely and i hope you had a great day

[kittlesandbugs]

FHR: Chess maneuvers (Ao3 Link) Pairing: Sidestep/Wei Chen (featuring @mihqorio's Caleb 💜, Chen POV) Warnings: Chess Word Count: 566 Summary: Chen and Caleb are playing chess and feeling each other out while being on opposite sides of the law.

In this low stakes game, you see the higher stakes racking up. The hard cant of his lips as he frowns, his brilliant green eyes glued to the board, to your fingers plucking up your bishop and forcing his rook from its square. You take the piece, intricately carved marble weight registering where cold stone and sharp corners can't against your prosthetic hand. But your memories can make it real, even if your synthskin can't. 

"Fuck," he bites off quietly as you set his rook amidst your growing collection of his forces. 

Your lips curve in a smile that's more than a little smug. "Your move, Basri."

There's indignation in his eyes, in the sharp huff of a breath, at his own lack of forethought on his last move. Stupid. Sloppy. He can't afford a mistake like that when it matters. You know the feeling all too well. His long delicate fingers slide up his face as he cups his own bearded chin, brows narrowing in consternation. 

Your eyes return to the board before your mind can wander into the distraction of memories of the previous night, of those nimble fingers and their skillful manipulations. The pieces are scattered in a puzzle of what-if's and what-could-be's. If you count the pieces, the game is still in your favor. But you both know that means nothing in the grand scheme of things. The lone agent Mercenary has achieved far more than anyone anticipated against a full board stacked against him, sliding through defenses from unexpected angles to strike hard and fast. 

His eyes dart from piece to piece, calculating angles of attack and potential retributions like the one you just gave. He's grown more cautious over the years. More deliberate in his play. Less willing to sacrifice his resources in a high stakes gambit. Sidestep was bluff and blunder, a diamond rough and unshaped. Mercenary is honed, matured, sharpened by need and experience you can't fathom. It's still him though, deep down, you felt it at Carter's mansion. You were certain in Vincent's recounting of events at the hotel he was guarding. Does Caleb know just how much he's changed since Heartbreak? Does he know just how much he hasn't? 

He finally settles into on a move, his hand sliding down from beard to board to pluck up his knight. His lips quirk up on one side, and you scour the board to find what he sees. There, by your king, an opening you hadn't realized you were creating in taking his rook. 

"Check," he says, sitting back from his focused hunch with smug satisfaction. 

"Shit," you mutter, examining the rest of the board. Your king is hemmed in by his queen poised to strike. Only your own queen is able to take the knight, but it will be at the cost of her as well. The end game is approaching far more rapidly than you anticipated. "Well played," you admit as you try to puzzle out his new plan, and craft one of your own. 

His smirk grows wider and his posture relaxes, all confidence that he has this one in the bag as he watches your next move. 

Does he see the little pawn you have lying in wait amongst all these heavy hitters? As you pick up your queen to set off the chain reaction, you know there's only one way to find out.