*****Author's notes*****

Thank you to the great writer Sue Shay for beta-reading and sharing insights! I recommend all of Sue's multi-chapter and short-form works for fans of drama, suspense, and romance accented with humor.

The Frasier story "The Chess Queen and the Space Man" takes place sometime after Niles has moved to his apartment in the Montana building.

I do not own the TV show Frasier. This story is written purely for entertainment purposes only. I get no compensation from it.

You decide if it's Roz x Frasier!

*****Chess Queen*****

"…I'm gonna move this pointy man over here, and he's gonna take one of your sticks with the bulb on top."

Carrying his morning latte, Niles Crane approached the table at Cafe Nervosa to find his brother Frasier and friend Roz Doyle deep in thought, staring at a wooden chess board between them. Roz was removing a captured piece from the board.

"That 'pointy man' is actually called a Bishop, Roz, and the stick with a bulb on top that you just captured is called a Pawn," Niles said as he sat down.

"Yeah, whatever, Niles. Frasier and I are trying to play chess here."

"So I see. Lucky I caught both of you here."

"Where else would we be at this time of morning?" asked Frasier.

"Yes, be that as it may, I wanted to talk to you about my costume party next week."

Frasier ignored his brother as he picked up a piece and moved it.

"Aha, how will you deal with my Rook?"

"Rook, huh? So that's what they call the cylinder?"

"Indeed, and it will descend on your forces like a battering ram."

"That remains to be seen, Fras," Roz said as her eyes scanned the board.

"Well, anyway, Roz, I hope you'll be coming? And remember, the theme of the party is the 1960s?" Niles asked it as a question.

"Yeah," she replied, not taking her eyes off the board.

"Good. You'll get to see Frasier and me dressed for our reenactment of the Kennedy-Nixon Presidential Debates. I'll be John Fitzgerald Kennedy, and Frasier of course will be Richard Milhous Nixon."

"Don't make a deposit on Frasier's costume just yet." Roz moved a Pawn forward one space.

"Oh, but I've got it all figured out. At the mid-point in the party, we'll recreate the pivotal debate," Niles said as his voice rose with excitement.

"If you and Frasier recreate the Kennedy-Nixon debate, it'll come at the end of the party," she said as she watched Frasier answer her move by the advance of one of his own Pawns a single space.

"No, I said we'd do it at the mid-point."

"Let me rephrase that, Niles. If you reenact the debate with Frasier, that will be the end of the party whenever it occurs."

"Everyone's a critic," said Niles. "Be that as it may, I wanted to arrange for Frasier to go with me to the costume shop tomorrow."

"Niles, it remains to be seen what Frasier will be wearing to your party."

"But…"

"No 'buts.' Frasier and I are playing chess to decide what he'll wear to your party. If he wins, he'll wear that Nixon get-up. If I win, he'll wear what I want him to." Roz moved her Queen and redirected her attention to Frasier. "There, I moved my Queen."

"You do seem to remember the name of that piece," said Frasier.

"Well, duh. SHE is the most powerful piece on the board. What's not to like about that?"

With little delay Frasier moved his Rook again.

"What will you do about that?" asked Frasier.

Roz grinned.

"Queen to E7. Checkmate. That's what I'll do," said Roz as she moved her Queen across the board to deal the fatal blow.

"Queen to E7?" asked Frasier.

"Well, yeah. What was I supposed to do? Move my Pawn to A4 to attack your Rook? That would just prolong the agony."

"E7, A4, Pawn. You sound like you know your way around a chess board," said Frasier.

"I was the senior-year champion at Millard Fillmore High School. They nicknamed me the 'Chess Queen.'"

"You…and chess?"

"Yeah, I know. It doesn't go with my image today, does it?"

"To say the least, Roz," Frasier replied.

"What can I say? Don't we all go through nerdy phases during our lives? Of course, some nerdy phases last longer than others," Roz said as she regarded both Frasier and Niles.

Roz had expected her deception to anger Frasier but he surprised her. He shook his head and chuckled.

Niles was a different story however. His eyes narrowed as he stared at Roz.

"You purposely acted like you knew nothing about something you were keenly aware of." Niles said.

"Toughen up, buttercup," Roz replied. "Women have been doing that to men for centuries."

"This is outrageous. Appalling. Manipulative." The words came in a rapid-fire spit out of Niles' mouth.

"And I'm really looking forward to your party now, Niles," she said with a smile guaranteed to incite him further.

In response, Niles threw up his hands, picked up his latte, and walked out of Cafe Nervosa. Frasier turned to watch his brother stomp out the door.

"Don't worry about Niles. He'll get over it soon enough," Frasier said.

"But what about you?" Roz asked.

"Well, it was a good game, Roz. I'm at your disposal now," said Frasier as he turned back to face Roz.

The two of them began putting the chess pieces back in the box.

"You're not bothered that I kept something secret from you?

"We all have things we keep to ourselves, up to a point," answered Frasier. "As for the game itself, you beat me fair and square."

"About me beating you, Fras. There's something I don't understand. You seemed to be doing pretty well for most of the game. You began with the Lasker Defense and then you developed your pieces quickly..."

"The Lasker Defense? I didn't even know that I was doing that," Frasier said.

"What can I say? I told you that strange as it sounds, I was once a chess nerd. Anyway, I had figured that you were going to win until you moved your Knight away from the center of the board. Then your momentum fell apart. That move was so different from the way you had been playing up until that point. It was almost as if…" Roz trailed off, leaving her thought unsaid yet still communicated.

"You mean me moving my 'horsey' away from the center of the board? Fifteen minutes ago you were still calling my Knight a 'horsey'," Frasier said. Roz noticed the levity in his voice that accented his words.

"You're not mad at me, are you? The way I look at it, I just saved you from getting stuck with the nickname 'Milhous' for the rest of your life," she said.

"So in other words you were looking out for me, Chess Queen?"

"I always do. Didn't you know that already?"

Frasier nodded. During the course of the game, a strand of Roz' hair had drooped down on her forehead. With a whisper of a touch that made Roz giggle, Frasier brushed the strand aside.

"I'm glad I won't get called Milhous," said Frasier.

"We'll have fun next week with my idea," said Roz.

"I'm looking forward to it."

Roz reached one hand over to Frasier and laced her fingers together with his. In response, Frasier gently squeezed her fingers within his.

"You know, Frasier, if YOU ever wanted something and we played a game of chess to decide, the outcome might be different. We might just skip the game entirely..."

*****Space Man*****

A group of party guests rang the bell of Niles' apartment at the Montana. The door opened and John Fitzgerald Kennedy, no it was Niles Crane, greeted them.

"Please come in, but be careful. We have a civil insurrection over by the couch."

With a nod of his head, Niles directed the gaze of his guests to a police officer dressed in a 30-year-old uniform. The officer was in the midst of reading Miranda rights to a flower child dressed in a rainbow colored T-shirt, bell-bottomed jeans, and yellow-shaded sun glasses.

After he closed the door, Niles walked over to the pair.

"Well, Dad, have you finished arresting Daphne?" he asked.

"Yeah, but I doubt she'll go along peacefully," Martin answered.

"I'm not gonna do what The Man says to do anymore!" said Daphne in her gruff "Americanized" accent as she held up the peace sign with her fingers. She and Martin tried to keep from laughing but failed.

"Have either of you seen Frasier and Roz yet?"

"No sign yet. I'll bet they must still be working on their costumes," said Martin.

"Roz usually tells me what her costume is beforehand, but not this time. She just laughed when I asked," said Daphne.

"Nor has Frasier told me. He just laughs as well," commented Niles.

The doorbell rang and the three of them exchanged curious looks before Niles went to the door. Opening it revealed Frasier clad head-to-toe in silver-colored fabric that reflected shards of light across the room. Under his arm he carried a white helmet. Everyone in the room ceased what they were doing to watch Frasier enter. Smiling, he walked over to Daphne and Martin. Niles left the door open and followed him.

"Hey, Fras. An astronaut! That's some outfit. It's an Apollo space suit, isn't it?" asked Martin.

"Indeed it is, Dad."

"Bravo! So I guess you're Neil Armstrong, the first man on the moon?" asked Daphne.

"No, I'm not."

"How about that second guy, Buzz Aldrin?" asked Martin.

"Not him either."

"Well, if neither of them, who are you?" Niles asked with a puzzled look on his face.

Frasier reached in a pocket of the space suit to retrieve a bottle.

"I am indeed an astronaut," Frasier said as he pulled the stopper out of the bottle and a cloud of dry ice vapor poured out from the bottle's mouth. His voice became louder for what he said next: "I'm Major Anthony Nelson, and now…"

On cue Roz appeared in the doorway with her hands clasped above her head, her bare midriff undulating as her body swayed back-and-forth, and her cleavage partly hidden under thin pink veils. As the thin material of her costume fluttered in the breeze she danced from the doorway across the floor. When she reached Frasier, Roz stopped, stood on her tiptoes, and kissed him with a loud smack. Frasier blushed then smiled.

"…may I present…Jeannie!"

*****Author's notes*****

Readers unfamiliar with Major Anthony Nelson and Jeannie can find out more about them via internet search.

Thank you for reading the story, and I look forward to hearing from you.