disclaimer: The A-Team characters are not mine, just borrowed for this story.

Reviews are always welcome.

What Chess Piece are You?

It had been a long week of ducking Decker and the MP's and it was nice to have a quiet afternoon to kick back and relax. The team was holing up in an abandoned farmhouse on their way back to Los Angeles from their latest case.

BA was outside performing some maintenance on the van and Hannibal was in the kitchen scrounging up some lunch. That left Face on the couch with the local newspaper while Murdock perched in a nearby chair twirling various chess pieces in his hand. He had managed to find the game in a thrift shop in the last town they stopped in. BA was busy filling up the van and Face and Hannibal had gone in the convenience store to buy some necessities. No one had noticed the pilot's absence until they climbed back in the vehicle to continue their journey. A few seconds later Murdock came bounding in through the sliding side door with his glorious treasure in hand

Murdock was the one to break the silence. The con-man looked up over the edge of his papers as his friend spoke. "Richter asked me last week what chess piece I thought I was and it got me thinking about us, about the team"

"Oh yeah," said Face as he folded his newspaper and placed it on the table by the chess board.

Murdock fished around in the box of pieces for a moment and pulled one out showing it to Face. "You see, the queen can pretty much move where ever it wants; and I don't know about when you play, but when I do, it takes out most of the other pieces. Not unlike BA does in real life."

Slightly intrigued in where his friend's train of thought was going with this Face leaned forward, placing his hands on his knees. "Ok, I follow you."

"And Hannibal, well he's the king. If something happens to him, then there are no more plans and the game is pretty much over," explained Murdock as he put another piece of the board.

"Makes sense. Which piece did you say you were?"

"Me? I'm the noble horsey!"

"The noble horsey?" Face couldn't help but smile at the very Murdock name for a knight.

"Yeah, I move in odd patterns compared to everyone else," Murdock added as if it was the most obvious fact in the world.

"And let me guess, I'm a bishop because I grew up in a Catholic orphanage?"

Murdock fervently shook his head, "No, you're not a bishop."

"A rook? I can't be a rook, Murdock!" whined Face a little.

"Don't worry, you're not a rook, Face," Murdock assured his friend.

"Uh-huh, and just what part do I play in this little game?" questioned Face, although by process of elimination he had pretty much figured what he was left with; and he wasn't overly thrilled.

"You, Face, are the pawn!" announced Murdock triumphantly.

"Oh gee thanks, Murdock," came the slightly offended tone of the lieutenant.

"Now, now hear me out, Faceman," defended the pilot,"everyone overlooks the pawn and what it can do. It's the first to be captured, sacrificed, and overlooked. No one thinks twice about it."

"You're not filling me with confidence here, Murdock."

"Just-just wait a minute. When a pawn gets to the end of the board it gets to be any piece it wants. Kinda like all those cons you pull. You can be whoever you want, Faceman, and I mean anyone. People tend to overlook you based on first impressions; they just-they don't see all the possibilities. YOU are our secret weapon."

"Thanks. I think," Face replied, not sure how to take Murdock's latest revelation.

"It's the highest honor a chess piece can bestow upon a person, Face. Isn't the right, Mr. Horsey?" Murdock asked the chess piece in his hand as he made the knight nod in agreement.

The con-man sighed as he watched Murdock proceeded to trot the knight around the board and with a satisfied smirk returned to his paper.