Chapter 1: New York City, New York | January 24, 1974
Chapter Text
New York City, New York
January 24. 1974
Morgan Patel was a bruised girl. Broken girl. And a well known unconfirmed drug addict. Her best friend was a well-known artist Iggy Pop who actually introduced her to the wonders of drugs. Oh how much she hated yet loved them at the same time. He was 27 and Morgan only 23, having met at a bar during her 19th birthday they both hit it off well. The younger girl moving in with Iggy when she had only been 21 and fresh out of college and wanting to enter the music business.
Morgan looks down at her mirrored tray and old grains of cocaine spread across said tray. An old dollar bill that had been constantly rolled and unrolled sitting next to it along with a razor blade. She had been out of coke for a day now and she was already going through withdrawals. Oh, how she needed Iggy to get home soon. She needed her to fix and he always brought her more coke. He always did. Her body hurt and was dripping with sweat. She was in pain but it hadn’t got bad yet. She had never run out when Iggy was gone. He was at a club about a 30-minute walk away. She wanted to go find him. Ask him for more. But she didn’t want the press to see her and ruin his career. She knew she’d be waiting for a few more hours for him to get back.
She was so cold but she couldn’t sit still. No. She had to get up and walk around and so that's exactly what she did. She placed a circle around the kitchen table in her shared apartment, sweat dripping down her body, and tears on her sunken pale cheeks that haven’t had any color in them for over a month now.
Oh, that's right. She's only been in New York City with Iggs for a month now. Only a month and she's not the same girl from two months- no four months ago. She's different now. Her once long thick brown hair now stringy and in a bob cut constantly greasy, her once bright brown eyes now dull, and her once tanned skin pale from drug abuse and constantly staying indoors.
Looking up at the clock she realizes she's been pacing around for the last 2 hours, the clock showing it's now midnight. Morgan is able to hear the heavy boots coming towards her apartment making her realize it's Iggy. She knows the sound of his boots anywhere. After all, she bought them for him before she got this way.
The door creaks open, laughter entering the house. Four men are here in her house. Her home. Iggy's laughter stops while the other men continue. “Aye Morg! Where ya at I have some people for you to meet!”
Morgan stills her body growing tense as she runs her fingers through her hair. A baggy tank top hangs from her shoulders exposing her frail collarbones and shoulders and the such. A pair of Jean shorts hang from her hips not fitting around her thighs which are so small and frail she could probably fit both hands around them to where they touch. She quickly grabs a jacket off the chair near her, throwing it on and trying to seem more presentable. “Uh yeah, Igg I’m here! Ju-just gimme a second!”
Her hands shake as she zips up the sweater she put on walking out towards where the men are all sitting around the sofa. She looks at Iggy wiping the sweat off her brow and trying to suppress her chills. “What’s up?” She says looking towards the other men from the side of her eye. She recognizes James, Ron, and Jimmy but not the other man.
The man is looking at her with two mismatched eyes, slightly sunkissed skin, beautiful bone structure, and red hair that looks a little faded into orange. He looks familiar for some reason and she can’t put her finger on it. She will later when she gets her well-needed fix into her system she supposes.
“Morgan I want you to meet my friend David. David, this is my best friend Morgan.” Iggy says introducing the two of them.
Morgan just nods at the man mumbling out a small,” Uh, yeah nice to meet you, Mr. Bowie.”
He looks up at her and in a smooth British accent he replies with,” Likewise Morgan.” David looks her body up and down before looking away, lighting his cigarette.
“I met David in ‘71, Remember? He's the one I went to England within ‘72.” Iggy says looking at her knowing she's going to be asking for her fix real, real, soon.
“Huh...Oh yeah, I remember. Now I know why he sounded familiar.” She responds softly before looking at Iggy once again instead of the wall she was staring into. “Do you have any?”
Iggy looks up at her smiling,” Yeah go get your tray and stuff and line us up some.”
Morgan nods walking into the kitchen stumbling over her own two feet almost tripping to the floor in excitement to get her fixed. Oh how much she missed the sweet fix of cocaine in her system. She reaches the kitchen table grabbing her tray, blade, and bill. She also grabs a carton of milk to help the cocaine go down into her system faster.
She walks into the living room setting her stuff down onto the coffee table setting herself down on the floor between Iggy and James. Her hands shake as Iggy makes three lines on the tray. One for herself, one for him, and the other most likely for David. Iggy took his line passing the now rolled-up bill to Morgan who quickly snorted her line of coke feeling her body instantly react calming itself down but still twitchy. She passes the tray over to David as they all start talking. Morgan gets up to grab her cigarettes out of her purse by the door. Grabbing her Marlboro reds she lights them with a cheap match before going back towards her spot on the floor.
David looks at her attempting to start a conversation and get to know one of her best friends. “So what do you do for a living?” He asks politely trying not to let his newly found persona “appear”.
Her hand comes back from its tilted back position from where she was gazing up at the white popcorn ceiling. Her face looks towards his general direction where she sighs snuffing out her cigarette on the ashtray. “I used to do music for a little bit before I moved to New York, but I stopped when I got here.” She grabs the bag of cocaine setting herself up to another line before she snorts it.
She grabs the now slightly warm milk-drinking it swiftly. David looks curiously at the milk,” Why do you chase the coke down with milk?”
She shrugs responding, ”It helps it settle and adds more color into my skin.” She swiftly stands up walking over towards he Vinyl player in a corner of the room picking up a Rolling Stones album called ‘Exile on Main Street’. She swings her bony hips along to the music when the first song Rocks Off starts playing. She’s enchanting to Bowie. He’s never seen a woman more enchanting than her.
Chapter 2: May 12, 1974 - November 29, 1974 | Muskegon, Michigan
Summary:
Morgan leaves Iggy and attempts to leave her past behind in order to get clean as she didn't recognize the girl she had started to become.
Notes:
I know this doesn't talk much about the weeks of her detox but I've done that for a reason that'll be shown in the future.
Warnings: Substance Abuse, Smoking, Withdrawals, Mentions of Adoption, Smoking, Mentions of Cocaine, Implied Depression and Anxiety, Implied Weight Loss/Gain
Chapter Text
May 12, 1974
Muskegon, Michigan
Morgan ended up leaving in March. She had to get out of that place. She was sad to leave Iggy but he didn’t want to leave his demons behind. He liked to live the life of a rockstar. He was fit for that type of life and she wasn’t going to take that away from him even though he was putting himself in so much danger.
Bowie was no help and neither was anyone else. No one cared for the fact Bowie and Iggy were snorting so much coke. She didn’t wanna end up as a dead body. No, she wanted to do something with her life. She wanted to be someone and so that’s exactly what happened.
She left Iggy in order to care for herself and her future. She was still young only being 23, she could still make something out of her life. Her music career was a bust but that doesn’t mean anything. She still got an Associates Degree in Art and Photography before all of the drugs happened.
She moved into a small two-bedroom apartment which she shared with her older brother who offered to help her see someone and provide a roof over her head for her recovery process. Jeremiah was as sweet as their mother who had passed away two years before Morgans’ downfall. Miah helped her cut off all her contacts with Iggy in hopes to remove any chance of a relapse.
It hurt Morgan but she knew she couldn’t help him until she herself got better which would be a long and tedious process. The first week seemed easy, but then the second week hit and she was laying on the couch in her brother’s apartment when he got home. She was crying and moaning in pain, her body pale and clammy even though she complained about the cold, and she begged Miah to give in and give her the coke. He refused and refused which made her cry to the point of forcing herself to vomit.
This pattern continued for 4 more long agonizing weeks of her becoming an insomniac, claiming people were coming to kill her and take her eyes, to her even becoming violently aggressive to the point of punching holes into walls and doors. Morgan constantly cried and cried for Iggy at night to come and bring her coke and Miah new it was all delusions that plagued his baby sisters’ mind. He hated the pain she was going through and he hated Iggy for introducing the dreaded drug to his sister.
For the last two weeks of Morgans detox, she hated Miah. Oh, how she hated that he wouldn’t call Iggy to get her to fix or let her go get it herself. She was driving herself mad to the point she locked herself in the hallways linen closet rocking back and forth telling herself she was okay and everything was fine. Her body looked worse on some of the days however as soon as her 6-week detox was over she started to look better.
Her body still twitchy, she became depressed and anxious, and she still had insomnia after the detox but she was no longer the small 90-pound girl that showed up at her brother’s house looking like death. She gained 10 pounds which wasn’t much but it made her face look less gaunt that it had before. Her mood was still elevated and extremely sensitive but her brother told her that it was normal. Miah had a Doctorate in Psychology specializing in substance abuse hence why he was the one she went to. She had a strong support system and that was her older adoptive brother.
August 25, 1974
Muskegon, Michigan
After Morgan was three months clean she moved into her own small single bedroom apartment not at all far from her older brothers. She had started to look for a job around the two-month mark of being clean where she found a job working as a wedding photographer for a small in-town company named “Little Wonders”. Morgan didn’t get the joke until she joined the company and saw first hand how wonderful holy matrimony could be.
While working in the photography field for this company Morgan had the opportunity to travel all around Michigan with couples wanting to get the best shots and the perfect place to have their weddings. Morgan was so glad to see people being happy for once. The last three years of her life are full of sadness and anxiety it was a welcomed change. She was always happy to see people smile at her and thank her when they saw the photos she would take. It’s amazing how someone could capture so much love in people’s eyes.
However, even though Morgan got rid of one addiction doesn’t mean she got rid of the other. Morgan still smoked her cigarettes but it was limited to 5 a day in order to not have to constantly buy a new pack every two days like she used to. Now she only needs to buy one every 4-5 days which is a huge accomplishment for her.
When she first moved into her apartment the first night alone wasn’t bad nor was the second. However, on the third night is when the first of the urges hit. She wanted to snort another line, but she refused to go out and buy more coke and ruin all the progress she had made. So instead she grabbed a notebook from her bedside drawers and she wrote. She wrote about how free she felt from the drug who she started to refer to as “Stardust” as it was like small grains of starts ground up and that’s why they made her feel so free and cosmic when she used to take lines of the shit.
She not only wrote about stardust but she also wrote about Iggy and the few times she met Bowie. After she finished the detox and was in remission she started to listen to some of Bowie’s music as she was almost positive she had heard a song of his once when she was chasing her high. All she wanted to know was what song it was that she listened to and she couldn’t for the life of her remember or find it. She also couldn’t help but wonder why was he so enchanting?
November 29, 1974
Muskegon, Michigan
Morgan sat on the couch of her apartment the pet cat she recently adopted laying on the pillow that was across her lap. She had a book in her hands and the old record player she thrifted a while ago playing a Beetles album that provided ample noise. She had been 6 months clean at this point and she was the happiest she could ever possibly be. She had decided a few weeks before that maybe she needed to leave America and experience life abroad. After all, she was only 23 and there was so much in the world for her to see, experience, and explore.
Looking in many travel magazines she found herself drawn to the historic country of Germany. More specific Berlin, Germany. Morgan had always been a history nerd and she was hoping that this trip to Berlin would help her build up her photography portfolio and even inspire her to start her art portfolio. However, before she could even think of leaving she had to cut off any loose ends that kept her tied to America.
She needed to do so quickly as well. So she did the only thing she knew how to do. She rose from her seat on her sofa eliciting an angered meow from her cat Tommy who glared at her and strutted out of the living room causing her to laugh lightly. What a silly cat.
Grabbing the small pocket notebook where she wrote down phone numbers she turns the page to the first one in her book was under the name ‘James “Iggy” Osterberg’ was a phone number that would hopefully still be his. She punched in the numbers allowing the phone to ring hearing it get picked up.
“Hello?” a gruff male voice said as soon as they picked up the phone.
“Yes, Hello. Is this James Osterberg?” Morgans slightly raspy voice said politely.
“Whos asking?” The voice responded to her question with another question.
She sighed,” This is Morgan Patel and I’m looking to speak with James Osterberg.”
The man cleared his throat,” He’s not here at the moment can I take a message for him.”
She swallowed and nodded her head even though the man couldn’t see her. “Oh, um, yeah. Just tell him Morgan got clean and that I’m better now so I’ll be moving from America by
March of next year.”
“Will do lady.” The man hung up the phone before she could even say goodbye or a thank you pissing her off. She grumpily sets her phone on the receiver again careful to not get the wire tangled up at all. The call was so nerve-wracking but she knew it needed to be done. She had no hope that he would be calling her back. He had no reason to call back the girl who left him to pay bills alone (not that he couldn’t afford it), die from cocaine, and be his wild crazy self. She left him, but she doesn’t regret it all that much.
Chapter 3: February 22, 1975 | Los Angeles, California
Summary:
Morgan finally meets Iggy again however things are tense between Morgan and David Bowie
Notes:
Warnings: Mentions drug use and Meanie David Bowie
A/N: Updates will be slow coming for a while as I recently lost someone very important to me.
Chapter Text
February 22. 1975
Los Angeles. California
Morgan got off the plane at LAX hot air hitting her in the face and the humidity hitting her. God, she hated the heat this was absolute shit. This would be her last trip and she’d be leaving for Berlin from LAX on the 27th of February. Her brother cleared an apartment for her in Berlin when he was there for a small trip with his current girlfriend now fiance.
Miah hated the idea of her leaving to Berlin the drug capital in Europe at the time but he knew he couldn’t hold her back from doing whatever she wanted. However, he hated the fact she got on a plane to go see Iggy. He calls her for the first time since she left that message asking her to come to see her in LA since he was getting help at an inpatient facility to help his drug addictions.
She was proud and of course, she would go see a friend. I mean sure he got her addicted to drugs for a brief period of time which made it easier for her to get off them. She hadn’t been taking them nearly as long as he was. So she got on a flight to LAX to go see her friend in hopes to help motivate him and show him how nice life is when your clean and not on drugs.
She wore a pair of neatly pressed black mini skirts with a white tube top that showed off her cleavage. She paired her outfit with a pair of dark aviator glasses, black platform boots, fishnet stockings, and a black leather jacket. Her hair was freshly dyed blonde a stark contrast from the black it once was. The natural curls of her hair framing her face that had black and silver eye makeup and bright red lips.
Morgan knew she was a beautiful woman now that she was clean and had been so for 10 months. Her body was more filled out now weighting a good 115lbs that matched her 5’2” height. Stepping into the airport she took her sunglasses off going over to the luggage claim where she grabbed her heavy black suitcase that had everything she needed until she got to Berlin in it.
She had a black carry on bag on one shoulder and her suitcase behind her. She placed her sunglasses back on walking out of the crowded airport and hailed a taxi. She gave him the name and address of her hotel and he took her there. She paid him the proper amount with a five-dollar tip. She checked into the hotel and went to her room in the 4th-floor room 408. Dropping her bags off she called the clinic Iggy was at hoping to get a time for visiting hours as it was only 12:30 in LA. She got a confirmation that visiting hours were from 1:00-3:00 giving her the perfect amount of time to touch up her makeup and call a taxi to take her to the clinic.
The taxi arrived 20 minutes after she called however she had already been downstairs waiting 10 minutes before it had arrived. She smiled hopping into the back seat of the taxi speaking through the open window that separated the driver and passengers,” UCLA Neuropsychiatric Institute please sir.” She smiled at the driver her teeth shining ever so slightly.
“Right away ma’am. That’s about a 10-minute drive so we will be there quickly depending on traffic.” The driver said.
She smiled at the man through his mirror before looking out the window where she could see the beautiful Beverly hills. She was nervous to meet Iggy again. She was also nervous that she may run into some of his friends while shes there which is not something she wants to do. All she wanted to do was see Iggy for the next few days to help motivate him, sightsee a little bit, and go clubbing while she could. She could hear music coming from the radio up front recognizing it to be David Bowie’s song ‘Rebel Rebel’ off his Diamond Dogs album.
“Ma’am we’re here. The total is $5.00.” Morgan hands the man a $10 bill telling him to keep the change before gathering her purse and exiting the vehicle. She places a hand on her pounding heart taking in a deep breath. She was ready to see Iggy.
Walking up towards the building she felt her hands shake when she grabbed the door pulling it open. A blast of cold air hit her as she walked inside the plain white building. She walks up to the receptionist’s desk her red lips parting into a smile looking up at the female nurse. “Hello, ma’am. I’m here to visit my friend James Osterberg who was recently brought in,” Morgan smiles at the woman leaning on the tall counter glad for wearing the 5-inch platforms Iggy bought her ages ago.
The nurse looks up at Morgan forcing a smile after looking her up and down. The nurse looks in a few books finding what she was looking for. “It seems Mr. Osterberg has two guests already. Would you like to wait or join them?”
Morgans eyebrows furrow before smiling,” I’d like to join them. I’m only planning to be here for about 10 minutes or less. I just wanted to say ‘Hello’ and give him my new information.”
The nurse nods her head smiling at the female. She stands up and walks from behind the desk, “Please follow me then.”
Morgan nods following behind the woman who leads her down a hallway to a room with a cracked open door that had a male nurse outside of it. The door read the words ‘Private Rec Room’ causing even more confusion for Morgan. Who else could be visiting Iggy? “Here you are, Miss. If you need anything George here will help you out,” The kind elderly nurse said to her.
“Thank you ma’am.” Morgan says before knocking on the door and opening it a bit. Inside she sees Iggy, David Bowie, and another man who she doesn’t know. “Uhm hello.” Morgan nervously says walking into the room and reclosing the door behind her.
The three men just look at her before Iggy stands up and walks over to her hugging her. “Oh my god, you’re really here. I didn’t think you’d show up in LA of all places.” He looks at her face hands on her upper arms as he takes in how good she looks now that she’s clean. “Wow. Look at you. You look amazing...I haven’t seen you look like this since you were 21.”
Morgan steps back a bit observing Iggy in his pale blue hospital scrubs and the greasy hair he’s always had. He looks a little better but his eyes have a red tinge that indicates to her that he’s probably high again. His nose is also red and looks to be peeling showing he’s still snorting coke. “You came here to stop. Why haven’t you?” Morgan accuses him gently trying not to seem overly angry at him.
He steps back from her letting go of her completely. “Let us not talk about that now. Come sit and join us we were just talking about somethings.” He gestures over to where the other two men sit looking over at them on the occasion whilst whispering.
Morgan just sighs at him. “Fine but I’m not staying long. I only came here to drop off some stuff to you and then I’m leaving within the next few days. I only came to see you.”
He just leads her over to the sofas that they were all sitting on having her sit down next to Bowie. She looks over at David offering him an acknowledgment of “Mr. Bowie.” before she moves her attention to the other man who she doesn’t know. “Hello, sir my name is Morgan Patel, a friend of Iggy here, and freelance artist and photographer.” She reaches out her hand to shake his hand which he takes.
“Hello, Morgan. I’m Dennis. Dennis Hopper, Actor, Friend of these two idiots.” He jokingly says gesturing to the other two males with his head causing the girl to let out a small unladylike snicker.
“Yes I’m familiar with your name I happen to have seen one of your films with Iggy here,” Morgan says gesturing to Iggy. She releases the man’s hand before reaching into her purse which she had sat on her lap.
“Morgan, you remember David right? It’s been a while since you’ve seen him hasn’t it.” Iggy asks her.
“Hmm… I do remember him. And no I actually saw him in New York City after one of his concerts that I went to with Miah…” Morgan trails off not really paying attention when she finds what she’s looking for. She pulls out two thick envelopes both with Iggy’s name written in neat cursive. “Found them! Iggy these are for you.” She hands them over to Iggy for him to take.
Iggy looks at her in confusion having thought she didn’t like David after the time they met and he pissed her off. “Oh, Uhm did you enjoy the show?” He asks grabbing the two envelopes curiously.
“It was okay I just feel like I could have definitely been better. It just seems so weird to know that Ziggy is gone. I loved Ziggys personality. No offense to you David but your a bit bland and Ziggy wasn’t” She says not really caring about anyone’s reactions at all.
David looks at her a bit upset but trying not to let it show on his face or in his body language. “None taken.” He says forcing a smile at the female while Dennis lets out a laugh quickly covering it up with a cough.
Iggy ignores that looking inside the envelopes where he finds $400 in one and $600 in the other. “Why are you giving me all this money. This is $1000 total Morgan…”
Morgan looks at him and smiles before leaning towards him and grabbing his hands. “I’m leaving America Iggy. I’m afraid that if I stay here I’ll get back on coke again and I don’t want to risk it. I’m moving to Germany alone and I’d love if you would come after your treatment. When you’re clean of course, I don’t want drugs in my place in Berlin.”She looks up at him hope in her eyes. Hope that it could be Iggy and Morgan again. Hope that he’ll say okay and that he’ll finally get clean.
It was all whistful thinking though shut down when David started to laugh loudly at the girl. “Y-You think Iggy will be able to get clean?! You’re so funny! Oh my god, my sides hurt!” David laughs at the girl clearly still high and just about losing his mind over her words.
She ignored David feeling her eyes burn with unshed tears. She releases Iggy’s hands smiling at him as she stands up. “I should be going now. But Iggy please think about it. You can keep the money even if you don’t use it to come to Berlin or get clean. Use it to help produce a record and make me proud my friend.” She smiles at him placing a gentle kiss on his forehead.
She turns to Dennis and smiles at him. “It was lovely to meet you, Mr. Hopper, I can’t wait to see what amazing work you put out.” Bowie is still laughing at her words in the background practically sobbing from laughter.
Dennis just smiles at her. “It was lovely to meet you as-well Miss. Patel. I’ll have to get in contact with you sometime soon for business. I’ve been looking for a photographer for a few things as of recently. Do you have a card?”
She smiles at him handing him two cards with her new home phone, address, and name. “Here is all my new information for Berlin. However, if you can’t reach me in Berlin my brother Jeremiah’s phone number is there as well and he will take a message for you. Please hand one to Iggy. I’ll see you two gentlemen and pig later.”
She glares at David after calling him a pig. She walks towards the room door her hips swinging. She opens the door calling out over her shoulder,” Oh and David? Might I just say you look extremely sexy with the androgynous fashion choices you’ve made so far.” And with that, she walks out, closes the door, and leaves the facility waving bye to the sweet old nurse behind the desk.