Disclaimer: I don't own Criminal Minds and intend no copyright infringement.
Their latest case had forced them to spend more time in one place than usual. Bodies piling up in and around a nuclear power plant. Four people in two weeks. The local sheriff insisted on a serial killer, politicians suspected some "friends of the earth"-group gone rogue, his superiors were worried about terrorism.
Unfortunately they were all wrong.
It was worse.
Way worse.
Room maid Belinda Shaw had cleaned his hotel room every morning for 14 days straight, but never once had she actually met Dr. Spencer Reid.
So when she came in and found him sitting at a completely set up chessboard, ready to make his first move, she was surprised. And intrigued.
"This is your last room before lunch break. What about a match?", he asked.
When it came to chess, she had never been able to resist a challenge.
The white pieces were on the doctor's side, so he made the first move.
e4
Keeping the symmetry, she replied with e5.
"How did you know I like chess?", she asked.
"The book on my nightstand – my system by Aron Nimzowich. You didn't just rearrange it while dusting. You read in it." He moved a pawn to f4.
Her eyes lit up. "The King's Gambit… very adventurous choice, Dr. Reid." She didn't hesitate for a second - exf4.
Reid took his time. Minutes ticked by without a single word being spoken. Belinda fleetingly thought she should keep an eye on the clock, but chess was her one big weakness. She couldn't bring herself to look away from the pieces.
Finally he chose Nf3.
Again she knew exactly what to do: d5. "How in the world did you get an edition with personal notes by Mikhail Botvinnik?" She had been meaning to ask this question ever since she had laid eyes on the thin, fleeting handwriting in black ink all over the pages, left by one of the greatest chess players ever.
"A present from a friend." Reid's face darkened for a moment as he remembered the day Gideon had given him the book. God, he still missed him - exd5. "What's your favorite remark?"
"The threat is stronger than the execution", she replied - Bd6.
Reid answered with Nc3. "A philosophy not only applicable to chess."
"It dominated the political thinking during the Cold War", she agreed, pushing a gray strand of hair behind her ear while making her next move - Ne7. "MAD."
"Mutual Assured Destruction", Reid nodded, again taking his time to reply, this time with d4.
She chose 0-0, protecting her king by castling early.
"Let's hope these dark times never come again.", Reid stated.
"That's not for us to decide", Belinda replied, rather fiercely.
Bd3 Nd7.
0-0 h6!
Reid felt the urge to do Ne4 immediately – he'd be able to activate his pieces and with c4-c5 he'd severely cramp Black.
But he needed to stall, to keep her attention. This was not about winning… "So you agree with being told what to do, no matter what?", he asked, slowly, very slowly moving his Knight.
"Just like in chess, we all have roles to play." Nxd5. The thin, hard lines around her eyes and mouth indicated quite clearly that she had come to that particular conclusion a long time ago.
c4 Ne3.
Bxe3 fxe3.
c5.
Again Reid had to remind himself that this was not about winning or losing. This was about making the world a tiny bit safer.
At least for a day or so.
But she was temptingly good: Be7. When had he last met such a formidable opponent? Again, Gideon came to mind.
Reid couldn't help it, he had to counter this immediately: Bc2.
Re8.
"Vacating the f8-square so that you can put the Knight on that square for kingside defense? Good move", he commented. "But what king are you defending now? 20 years after the Wall came down?"
It spoke of her thorough training and decade long experience that she showed no sign of surprise except a slight widening of her pupils. "What gave me away?"
"Except that you were able to understand Botvinnik's Russian comments in Nimzowich's book?" Qd3.
Belinda – her real name, Reid guessed, was Orlenda, Orlenda Demidov, if he was not completely mistaken. One of Комитет государственной безопасности 's, more commonly known as KGB, best spies – Belinda grimaced slightly. Chess. Her only weak spot. e2.
"The way you made the bed. To this day they teach prisoners in Siberia to arrange the blanket like that, with this special, accurate fold." Nd6. A killer blow.
Nf8. This inaccurate, way too passive reaction betrayed her feelings much more than any physical reaction. Her training held, but inside she was in turmoil.
"You grew up in a Gulag, didn't you, Orlenda? KGB recruited you as a teenager and you would have done everything to escape that hell. Those two fingers you're missing… after deep frostbite, amputation of frozen digits is often the only solution to prevent progressing gangrene." Nxf7. He cracked her King position open like an eggshell.
exf1Q+ The fact that she accepted his Rook now told Reid he had been right about the name.
Rxf1 Bf5
"They fell off", she said.
So he had been right about the frostbite, too.
Qxf5 Qd7
Reid didn't need to think about it: Qf4 was the most logical choice. "The question is, why are you still doing it? There's no KGB anymore, no Soviet Union. You're free…"
Orlenda laughed bitterly. "What else should I do? It's what I've done all my life." Bf6.
"Killing people? Selling nuclear material to hostile foreign nations, helping them to threaten the life of millions?" N3e5. He massed his pieces for the final attack.
An unmoved look from grayish eyes, slightly shot with thin red lines, told him that she had stopped caring a long time ago. Qe7.
Bb3.
Bxe5. This desperate choice, however, let him know something else, too: At one point, she had cared.
Nxe5+ Kh7
Be that as it may, she had killed people for personal gain. Four alone in this town.
Qe4+
He would not let her escape.
His closet door slowly opened. Out stepped Morgan, gun aiming straight at the former Russian spy.
"Rossi just radioed. They've got the contact. The material is safe."
Slow enough not to alarm Morgan, Orlenda reached out and laid down her King.
A/N: This match originally went down between Boris Spassky - David Bronstein, 28th Soviet Championship, (Round # 16), Leningrad, U.S.S.R; 1959. Big thanks to Chesswizard who helped me greatly with his expert advice.