Check Mate
By: Lady Dark Angel
Authors Note/Disclaimer: Hi all! This is my third Tin Man fan fiction…technically it would have been my first but I didn't manage to get it out till now! AND it is a tribute to rocketshoe's (a brilliant author by the way!) 'Sheep's Clothing'. I have permission for this by the way. I was so inspired by her story that I HAD to write this. It is From DG's POV, sometime later on after Ambrose had his brain surgery. Please review, I love reviews, they are my life's blood XD All my love to fellow DG/Glitch lovers! I do NOT own Tin Man (damn!) nor do I own Glitch (double damn!). Now ONWARD WITH THE STORY!!!
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He wasn't Glitch. He was a stranger with a familiar face.
I toyed with the piece of ivory between my thumb and fore finger, debating. So many choices; so many moves to consider.
Ambrose. The puppet master. My advisor, the fraud, and my opponent.
It'd become a nightly ritual to play this game, only now it was much more. Much, much more. It was a battle of wills. I glanced at him; his fingers poised against his lips in thought.
Carefully I placed my piece. He answered back with his rook, capturing one of my pawns. Yes a game. I was the queen of this game…I was the queen who fought for her king.
He didn't know that I knew. Didn't know that I had figured it out…Another piece gone.
Oh, it took a while. A couple of weeks. He played so well, that it was hard to see the truth. It was hard to see truth when I desperately wanted the lies.
It wasn't until the night that we had shared our first chess game since his surgery that I realized who he was…and my heart shattered. Now all I see is a pig. A wastrel who was only out for himself. The bitterness of it all clung in my throat.
Chess. Glitch had been a master at chess, even with half his brain. He'd been teaching me before he went under the knife. We'd made so many promises in the silence as we played.
He'd said that the pieces weren't sacrifices, they were martyrs. They protected what was most precious to them. His words had cast warmth in my heart and before I knew it, I was in his arms, lip locked and later in his bed. The chess set scattered. We'd been urgent, fierce in our love, in and out of bed. In each other's arms, we'd belonged. We were what kept the other grounded.
After the surgery…I felt the difference. Everything was alien. The feel of his hands as they moved along my skin. The way he never said my name, then the way he did say it, later on. Everything was so wrong. But I ignored it; I was so desperate to be close to him. He was my drug, my addiction. My anchor.
We'd played the game after he'd healed. Ambrose had won after only a few moves. I hadn't stood a chance. His hands, fast in moving his onyx pieces along the board; and as my king fell, so did my dreams, broken like my heart.
Glitch had been teaching me, but I never lost. I'd called him on it, and he would just smile at me saying that it didn't matter because he protected his one precious. Those warm eyes, haunted my dreams; always smiling, always loving. Every night I'd cry.
I could have called Ambrose out, then and there…I could have, but I didn't. I had realized quickly, how hollow a victory that would have been. Too easy. Instead I had opted to learn about this man, learn how he worked. Find out how to change the rules to suit me.
He was smart. Deadly and precise. Months of labor and studying were paying off though, I could make him sweat. Make him dance…but I was careful. Give him some slack and reel him in…like a good fisherman does a bas.
I thought about the last few months, fingering my king as I eyed the board. Ambrose cleared his throat. Impatient. Eager. Always too eager, I'd notice. He loved to win, a competitor. The stakes getting higher with each game and he didn't even realize.
My heart had hardened, frozen. I put it on ice to save it only for Glitch, for my 'king'. I lovingly glanced at my side of the board. My ivory king, proud and safe behind my defense. My objective was clear tonight. I wouldn't lose again. Not to him, never him.
I shared his bed, though it disgusted me. I slept beside him, though I wanted to smother him. I pretended to love him, when I hated his wretched guts. He'd played with fire, and I will burn him. When the time is right.
He wasn't glitch. He wasn't the man who could make me laugh, could make me weep, who could bring me to heaven and back. Glitch was dead, and I had died with him.
I moved my queen, a daring maneuver. He looks puzzled at the board, pondering his next move. One piece, two pieces…
Sometimes when I lie in bed, somewhere between sleep and awake, I forget that Ambrose isn't Glitch. A tingle snaked its way through my chest. Sometimes I'd hold Ambrose, momentarily believing he's someone else. I catch his eye as he moves his King over. Good.
"Tell me…" I say gently, taking his Queen with my knight.
…Round and round the mulberry bush…
"What day was it again when you got your brain?" He frowns at me, and moves his bishop to take my knight.
"DG you know it is August the 21st…" I nodded while moving my Queen, taking his bishop.
…The monkey chased the weasel…
"Do you…remember what you once said about these pieces…?"
I can feel his eyes boar into my forehead as I concentrate on the game. He's getting antsy. He always gets this way when I ask him about Glitch's memories.
He clears his throat again, reduced to moving spare pawns around in defense. No, he won't get away.
…And the monkey thought t'was all in fun…
"Each…each piece is essential in its own way to do the kings bidding. Merely sacrifices for the king's protection." He grumbled as he watched as one by one, I took away his defense.
How could such two different men have come from one body? I'll never know. I show no mercy, I toyed with him, making him feel the illusion of safety. Until he gasped in horror at my tirade. My rook blocked his escape to the left; bishop to the right. And my queen…I had him caught. He looked me level in the eyes.
…POP! Goes the weasel!
I let my poker face fall. He was wrong, he was a done for and he knew it. I'd finally beaten him at his own game
"Check mate, Ambrose…" I said softly. His mouth tightened into a grim line.
"How…" he started. My eyes steeled, and I turned the king over in my hand.
"…How long?" I finished. He nodded. His fingers dug into the arms of the chair he was occupying. I left my chair. Victory pulsing through my veins.
I pursed my lips and walked to stand in front of him.
"Ever since you first defeated me." I answered simply. He dropped his gaze. The man had the decency to look somewhat ashamed. Annoyance pulled his brows together. "Fool. He never took any advantages did he?" He sneered. Rage bubbled in my breast; how I wanted to hit him for speaking of Glitch like that.
"You're done Ambrose…game over." He hung his head. I finally won, not only the game…respect even begrudging from this man, and I won the stakes. My goal achieved.
"Tomorrow. Be up at dawn." I told him coldly, silently pocketing the ivory king and queen, before walking out of his chamber, my head held high. Tomorrow would be a new day, I thought, gazing at the royal pair in my hand. A day that promised that I would see my love again...
…Even if it would be from a marble headstone.
The End
A.N.: So…whatcha all think? Did I do justice for rocketshoes "Sheep's Clothing"? Review and please tell me what you think! Thank you! If you didn't read the upper A/N, I have permission for this, so please, no flames Thank you! LUV YOU GUYS!!!!