Note that I've changed my pen-name to match my AO3 and tumblr.

Warning: slight language.

"It is better to die on your feet than live on your knees." - Emiliano Zapata

This Side of Paradise

-X-

"Shit. Shit. Shit, shit," Ash chanted under his breath, spotting another angel coming around the corner. He practically dove for the nearest door, pulling it open and ducking into the heaven.

He always felt some degree of excitement when he did this - almost like a good high (He missed those. Nothing he'd found in his heaven had felt quite real enough.) He hardly ever checked whose piece of paradise he was jumping into so he never knew what to expect. One time, while he was looking for Jo's heaven, he'd interrupted some poor guy named Joe in the middle of a threesome. Funny and awesome.

This time was pretty boring. Just an old guy in a cabin with a chess set. At least he probably wouldn't throw anything at Ash's head, though. That had happened so many times he was surprised he'd never gotten a concussion. Can you even get a concussion in heaven?

"Hey, sorry man. Just hiding for a bit."

"Who are you hiding from?" The man asked, looking completely unperturbed. How does a guy stay so serene when someone bursts into their heaven of all places? The standard reaction is at least surprise.

The man kind of reminded Ash of one of his early foster dads, actually. An older man who'd patiently 'entertained' Ash's 'vivid imagination' when he'd tried to tell him how his parents had really died on that camping trip.

Of course, his wife hadn't wanted to deal with Ash and he'd been shipped off to the next home. And the next. And the next. Until adults decided he was too old to be telling stories and he'd learned to shut up. Then he'd met Ellen and been pulled into the life she'd built around the Roadhouse, and he'd never left.

"The angels," Ash saw no point in lying, and maybe he was looking for a reaction. Disappointingly, the man only raised an eyebrow with a little 'ah'. "Kinda busted out of my heaven. Harder than it used to be."

"Really?"

"Yeah, the whole civil war put everything out of order. It used to be simple - if I couldn't hack it I'd just follow a road or path to a connected heaven and keep going. Then they changed the pattern and now they're all connected to the same white Matrix hallways." Why was he telling him this? Must be more bored than he'd thought.

"Why leave your own at all then?" The guy actually looked curious, like he honestly wanted to know.

"Got people to find. Found some of 'em. Still haven't seen John or Mary, but that's nothing new. I'm looking for a grumpy guy 'bout your age right now. Bobby Singer. Just having some trouble finding the 'Bobby's. There's got to be a pattern..." In the end Ash had kind of forgot he was talking to someone else. He was used to talking to himself to fill the silence.

"Maybe I can help?" the man suggested, offering a seat to the hacker with a wave of his hand. "We can work it out together. Maybe play a game of chess."

"Why?" Ash asked suspiciously. Usually the people he'd run into just wanted him out; some of them didn't even realise they were dead and thought he was doing a BnE. Even that Jimmy guy, while pretty friendly if a bit harried, had been happy to see him out because he was waiting for someone.

"You remind me of someone. Several people, actually." There was that kind smile again. It crinkled his eyes, even though there was a hint of sadness in them. When Ash sat across from him, the old man held out a hand, introducing himself. "Jason Gideon."

"Ash," he replied, shaking his hand. Soon, Gideon was setting up the chess board between them with white toward the younger man. While he made his first move, Ash suddenly remembered something.

"Hey, have you ever seen an angel? I've always wondered if everyone sees them the same. I mean, you always hear about white robes and wings but all I'm seeing is Men in Black."

-X-

Thanks for reading (Fun Fact: this chapter is named after a Star Trek episode. And also a song from a Pokemon movie.) Oh, and I know Gideon isn't all that old, but this is Ash's PoV.