Ziggy Stardust

A.N.:

Hello, I want to put this here because there is no other way to properly show this while making sense. The first segment is a deleted scene from Ch 6, Life On Mars. I was going to include it, but there was no easy way to put it into the chapter, and sadly, for the bonus chapter to work, it requires that scene. So the first segment will be the added segment from Ch6 and then it will go to the bonus chapter proper. Please enjoy.

The Shoe Game

"So you're saying that if I caught it, I would have to-"

"Yes. All the way up to her thigh."

Winston sat back in his chair, eyes wide as he reflected over the metaphorical bullet he had just dodged. The primate doctor took a hand and wiped it over his brow, sweating over the thought of how embarrassing it would have been if Angela hadn't stopped him earlier. "Wow, thanks for saving me, then."

"No worries." Angela said, taking a sip of her ice water, predicting Winston wouldn't have known what the tradition of bouquet and garter belt toss was. As soon as the crowd settled down from the previous activity, the hostess appeared once more in the center of the dance floor. Two of Emilee's relatives pushed their chairs away from the table and placed them back to back in the center. The two newly weds sat in the opposing chairs and began to take their shoes off.

Winston leaned closer to Angela, asking, "Oh, is this that 'shoe' game?"

Dr. Ziegler nodded her head and said, "yes."

Both holding a white heel and a shined black boot, Lena and Emilee waited as the hostess pulled out a small stack of note cards and checked her microphone. When ready, she said, "Alright now, you two, I got a stack of questions for you both, answer honestly now…" she inspected her first card, saying, "which of you asked the other out first?"

Leaning back in, Winston asked, "Is there anything I should know about this?"

Both Lena and Emilee held up both of their black boots to the question from the party manager. To answer Winston's question, Angela said, "No, its just as it looks."

The woman wearing glasses then asked, "And which of you paid on that date?" Immediately, Emilee put up a white shoe, Lena hesitated, but then put up her white shoe as well. The crowd in the room burst out in laughter at the answer.

The woman then asked, "Now, which one of you two runs the checkbook in the relationship?" Both white shoes went up, then she asked, "Which of you dropped the hint at getting married first?" Both black boots went up, and then she asked, "And which one of you said, 'I love you' first."

From Emilee, her black boot went up, from Lena, her white shoe went into the air, and the crowd burst out into laughter. Emilee turned around in her chair, arching her neck to see what Lena had answered, and upon seeing her own shoe up, she took the hand at her side and slapped Lena on the hip.

After the laughter died down, the woman asked, "Alright, now. Which one of you will be the one to get up at 1 am to check out the noise in the dark?" Immediately, Both white shoes went up, and then the woman said, "Last and not least, which one of you two will be the first to say, 'Not tonight, luv.'?"

Hiding the smirk on her face, Emilee held up Lena's boot, meanwhile, Lena sat there for a moment, thinking, and finally raising up her own shoe to the applause of the crowd.

Ziggy Stardust

Exhausted, Angela swiped her magnetic card to her hotel room and opened the door when the reader became green and gave a chime. She staggered into her room, and right before the door was a small knee high table with a giftbag on it. Tired, but curious all the same, She walked past the table and grabbed the bag on her way to the bed, sitting down and taking the weight off her foot. Both of the beds were made, and Angela took a moment to stretch out her wounded ankle and finally relaxed.

When ready, she took a look at the gift bag that had been left in her room and opened it up, half expecting to know what was inside. Looking down at the container, the first thing she saw was a chocolate bar. It was wrapped in a golden foil and a paper label around the center. On the back was the nutritional information, and on the front was the logo of the hotel chain, as well as the flavor, of which it was milk chocolate. It looked gourmet, an obvious attempt to bridge the aesthetic and facade of genuine Swiss high class chocolatiering, with the economy cost and customization of The Hershey Company. It was a simple bribe, but one that she would take regardless.

Next in the bag was a bundle of business cards, a small airplane bottle to pain medication, as well as a small sealed envelope addressed to her. She opened the envelope to find a typed message. The letter read by first wishing her the company's sincerest apologies to any harm that had come to her. It then thanked her for informing management of the condition of the room and requesting a call at her earliest convenience to discuss any further matters. It then stated that the shower rod had been removed and damages to the wall patched, further apologizing for the inconvenience of the patch work and assuring her that all work had been done under management supervision. It then informed her that her stay had been refunded in full and once again thanked her for her patronage before signing the letter with the name of the manager, his number, as well as the contact information of the legal department and the complaints department.

She set the letter aside and then slowly laid down on the bed, closing her eyes for a moment to rest. It was obvious that the hotel was doing this in fear of being sued, and she couldn't blame them. She was in a hurry when she left earlier today, but she felt it necessary to inform them of what had happened in her bathroom and to clean up the mess. The front desk staff asked if she would like to request medical attention, but she had no time to waste going out to the hospital, so they did their job, took a picture of her handiwork on her ankle, and she left a business card with them for later.

Investigating, the manager probably thought she was a conman at first, but probably changed his mind after looking into his guest and realizing in horror that she was the real Dr. Ziegler. She would give them a call later now that she wasn't rushing to a wedding, but she really didn't care. Refunding the stay was a kind gesture, but all she wanted was to not be charged for the shower curtain, and to hopefully let them know about the hazard before anyone else could get hurt…. But the chocolate was a nice touch though.

She thought about possibly getting her phone out and giving the manager a call now, but decided against it, thinking it would be best saved till morning. Instead, she rubbed her eyes and then conjoined her hands together, thinking, "Lord, Please watch over Lena and her w… and Emilee. Please."

She sat up and then decided that it was best that she get some rest, she had a very long journey over the next few days to get back to Oasis, so she may as well try to recover now to make the trip more comfortable. She wanted to get out of these clothes, but before that, she definitely needed to get some more ice on her leg.

She took off her shoes, then closed the curtains on her window, and then made her way towards the bathroom, untying the bow around her neck and letting it down at the garment bag by her other luggage. She grabbed some new underwear and an undershirt and made her way to the bathroom, taking a tentative step on the tiles and finding them much more firm against her socks. She walked in, leaving the door open for now and noticed that as the letter had said, the shower curtain was gone and white patch marks were on the ripped places of the drywall.

The sink and countertop was still an absolute mess, the Ice O Matic had a fresh bucket of ice, scissors and medical tape were littered around one side next to makeup, combs and other beauty utensils. It made her uneasy that people, most likely men, had been in the room and around her garments while she was away, but there was nothing that she could do about it.

She began to unbutton the top most buttons on her collar of the shirt, relieving her neck of the heavy starch collar of her white dress shirt. She closed her eyes at the new found freedom around her throat. But, unbeknownst to her, a hand appeared around the hidden corner of the room, hiding in the negative space that the door swung into.

The doctor reached her hands up and pulled her hair tie out, letting her hair fall into sharp jagged angles from the position they kept all day. The interloper's hand grabbed onto the door, slowly pushing it aside and into the closed position. The door swung on silent hinges until it finally clicked shut. Angela turned, not knowing what the strange noise was, but jumped when she saw someone standing in the corner of the bright white room.

The dress was fine, a dark navy blue like the night sky with a sprinkling of stars from above, but her skin was cold, an unnatural dark color almost like a corpse. But what had caused the most alarm, the shocked-to-silence cherry on top of the terror sundae, were the eye, glowing amber yellow, the kind that Angela had recognized on only one other person that she had met before.

Amelie Guilliard-Lacroix, Prima Ballerina of the Paris Ballet, wife and widower to the late Commissioner of Overwatch Gerald Lacroix, and the terrorist organization Talon's brainwashed assassin. Better known as "Widowmaker".

The Swiss doctor's eye's became as wide as saucers, heart racing as she began to scream at the very top of her lungs. Amelie raised the gun in her hand, staring straight forward at the doctor and pulled the trigger before she could make a sound.

Earlier that day…

Although both feet were securely on the ground now, Lena held on steadfast to Angela, her arms wrapped tightly around her chest as the Coronal Accelerator pushed into her back. Angela had been used to wandering eyes throughout her life, Lena was no different, except that her hands would sometimes sneak their way onto her person, and for as much as she would have just accepted the catch to be another "inconvenient" placement of hands, something about this was different. Like someone clutching a life preserver in deep water, Lena's embrace was less protecting her from the forces or gravity, and more trying to prevent her from leaving the party.

Eventually, Angela brought her hands up and unwrapped Lena from her chest, turning around and then leaning herself against her car. Lena stood there, watching as she comforted herself against the car. Now facing each other, Angela had a better view of her old friend. The most eye-catching thing about her was that she wasn't wearing her usual set of orange single-frame goggles. Instead, her eyes were shining in the dark with their natural blue look. For the first time she could think of it, she was also wearing makeup, a powdering around her cheeks covering up her freckles, while her normally spikey hair was back in a low ponytail. Finally, from being too far away or underneath tables, Angela noticed that Lena was wearing a knee length skirt as a part of her dress uniform. Still standing there, Lena waited while Angela recovered from the fall, but it seemed that her silence meant more as she stood there on the curb after Angela had taken the weight off the foot.

Making the first move, Angela said, "Thank you."

Snapping out of the trance, Lena said, "Don't mention it, luv." Like her mind had just been jump-started, she then said, "Are you alright? Winston said you took a tumble and banged up your knee."

"Damnit, Winston." Angela mentally snapped, but then said, "Yes, yes, I did, but I'm fine now." She then motioned downward towards he pants, saying, "Luckily, this actually worked out for me." She then shifted her gaze to Lena, then saying, "You look quite nice, Lena."

Lena took a step back, trying to stuff her hands into pockets that were there before presenting herself in her uniform, "Oh, this old thing? Nah, I was going to get a dress myself but I had to contend with this bastard," she said before rapping her knuckles on the bulky Coronal Accelerator on her chest. She then replied, "You look quite dapper yourself, by the way."

Angela thanked her, and then there was another extended silence, until Lena finally said, "I'm sorry, Angela. I really shouldn't said those things and… well… I still can't believe you made it." Tears began to well up in her eyes, and as she began to wipe them away, Angela staggered to a stand and then walked towards Lena, bringing her into an embrace. Standing at even heights, Lena placed her head on Angela's shoulder and she wiped her eyes and sniffled.

The two separated, Lena looking much more relieved after all that had just happened, and Angela feeling better with herself over what she had done. Feeling better, Lena then said, "I'm sorry if you were kind of… tied up at everything, but if you're up for it, we're having brunch tomorrow at a local place. I'm in no place to ask anything more from you, but even with all the trouble I made for you and your big guy upstairs, I'd appreciate it if you could make it. I'd love to introduce you to the new family."

Angela wasn't sure on what the times were for her flight home tomorrow, but she promised Lena that she would try to make it none the less. But there was something that Lena said that she did take umbrage with. Sheepishly, Angela smiled and said, "Lena, I missed your ceremony, so I don't think there's anything to forgive for me."

Lena Oxton thought about it for a minute, and realized that it seemed that Angela was right, and as she thought of all of it, she began to laugh at the entire thing. Having had enough of this day, Angela mentioned that she needed to get back to her lodgings, and Lena helped her into her car. Before she closed the door for her friend, Lena mentioned that everything was filmed, and that she would send a copy to her when they got the tapes back.

Before she pulled away, Angela rolled down the windshield, remembering one last thing and pulled out a sealed envelope from one of the many interior pockets of her vest. Assuming that Lena had indeed ripped up her gift from before, Angela had written another one and gave it to her old friend, telling her, "It's something from me to you and your new wife."

Lena took the envelope in her hands, thinking that she herself would probably have not taken the courtesy to do such a thing, and thanked her for it, but had to add, "She's my partner now. But for you, she can be my wife."

Later…

The doors to the elevator opened with an electronic ping. Once the entryway was clear, Emilee and Lena exited into the hall and made their way to their new room. It had been a long day for both of them, and now that they were in some relative privacy, it was beginning to show. Loose hairs were getting free, makeup and sweat was starting to run on them, and the way they carried themselves was much more casual and less graceful.

Not speaking to one and another, Lena took the key to the new room and opened the door, entering and closing the door behind her new spouse. The lights were already on in the newlywed sweet, illuminating the large luxurious room within, showing the large glass table in the center, flat screen TV, and a large bed opposite of it. Now, truly in the privacy of closed doors, the two began to be themselves. Emilee made her way to the restroom, and began to get changed out of her dress. Meanwhile, Lena began to get undressed too, first finding her luggage and getting out a set of grey sweatpants and a tank top before setting them on the bed. She undressed as much of herself as she could- her shoes, her stockings, her skirt, and her tie- before dealing with the medical device that she had on her chest, and when the time came, she walked to another suitcase.

This suitcase was large, a lead lined container with wheels that she put the secured combination into and then scanned her fingerprint. The case opened, and at that point, she began to unstrap and release the seals of the time anchor that she wore. She had about two minutes before experiencing side effects of not wearing the device, so acting quickly, she set it down placed it into its position inside of the case. Then, she unbuttoned her jacket and shirt, finally discarding her sweaty undershirt and changing into her new set of clothes before donning the smaller variant of the same device and secured it with the nylon straps and belts.

Now that she was done, Lena walked over to the bed and laid down , resting her back while sitting up on top of the throw pillows and turned on the television, catching the evening news while Emilee got cleaned up. It was good to take a seat and unwind, but the truth was, there was something else on Lena's mind.

From the bathroom, Emilee said, "I think that went pretty well, don't you?" Lena turned her head, seeing her spouse in the reflection of the bathroom mirror and cleaning her face with a wet wipe, half changed out of her dress.

"Yeah," Lena said, only half listening, "things could have been worse."

"Rachel managed to keep herself under control, so that's a bullet dodged."

"Yeah." Mind wandering as she listened. "And we only had to break up two fights."

"No," Emilee corrected, " three. Nigel and Tommy thought they would sort things out with each other at the end."

Lena gave a huff, "those two really have a problem, don't they?" she asked.

"Yeah, but they're family, so what can you do about it. I'm just glad my dad didn't start anything with Jazz-mine about what loo she had to use."

Still in a partial fog, Lena said, "Its 'they' Em. They."

Emilee exited the bathroom, washed up and holding her dress folded over in her arms while a white nighty had replaced it. She rolled her eyes at the correction, muttering something about "being a woman three months ago" as she placed her dress in it's box. Lena took the opening and made her way to the bathroom to wash her face off, cleaning up her makeup and rinsing her face off with cold water.

Cleaning off the bed, Emilee then said, "Winston seemed to enjoy himself, I hope he didn't mind that my nieces and nephews were using him like a playset."

Lena answered her, "No, I don't think he minded at all." Lena glanced in the mirror, seeing Emilee on the bed, but watching her in the mirror as she got her toothbrush out and brushed her teeth.

Just from the look in her eyes, Emilee knew something was up. Lena was always the life of any party, but afterwards, she would always need her quiet time to decompress. It was just that Emilee could tell that there was something else going on now. Angela was on Lena's mind, the lead up to this day had been an emotional rollercoaster, and the news that Dr. Ziegler had decided to come had kept the ride twisting and turning. Lena had half expected Angela to have changed her mind once more and recanted on her attendance. Her appearance once more had turned everything around one more time, but it still left her conflicted in her thoughts. The things she had said and done to her to get her to come were impulsive and mean, but throughout all of it, she still had the decency to show up in the end. Lena didn't really know what to think, like if it was her more rebellious self from years ago getting invited to a wedding and declining on her lack of belief only to shouted at and had terrible things said about her, would she still find it in herself to forgive? If she was being honest, a part of her would have enjoyed antagonizing someone like that.

"Oh, I met your friend, by the way, Doctor Ziegler?" Emilee watched Lena, studying if her body language changed as she brushed her teeth, "You weren't lying when you said she's got some cans on her. I swear, If she tried to give me a hug it may look like I was motorboating her. Oh, and why was she wearing a tuxedo, anyway?"

Lena, mouth full of toothpaste and suds, mumbled something to the effect of, "I don't know."

"Well, I'm just surprised she showed up, afterall. I thought she had just lied to Winston and made up the whole leg thing to cover for sleeping in, but she didn't look like she was moving too well."

Lena, having enough of just listening, spat out and cleared her mouth, saying "I'm sure she's telling the truth. Angela wouldn't lie." Lena walked over to the bed, seeing Emilee had opened it and was now lying with her legs at her side as she watched the tv. Her face was washed clean, hair still had a few leftover curls from the previous day, and one of the straps of her nightgown was distractedly hanging off the side of her shoulder.

"Did she…go home with anyone?" Emilee asked.

Immediately, Lena answered, "No. she's probably on her knees praying for us both right now."

Emilee nodded, thinking for a moment and then said, "If she's around tomorrow, I should probably try to introduce her to my father and Garrett. They'd both probably like to thank her."

Lena nodded, agreeing with, "They would."

For as long as she had known her, Lena always told Emilee fascinating stories about her times working in various combat forces. For the longest time, "Angela" was just another of many names and possibly a previous lover, but that all changed one day when the two were sitting in their flat reading, and then Lena began to rip up her monthly copy of Queer! Magazine. Apparently, Lena had been reading and stumbled across an article that had smeared one of her friends, it had something had to do with a football player, she wasn't really sure. After calling the publisher and cancelling her subscription, Lena had finally calmed down and began to explain, and it was at that moment she began to think that she had heard about "Angela" before.

Her father and brother had been in Kings Row trying to find an apartment when the Null Sector terror attack occurred. Apparently, Garrett had been shot in the left kidney and twice in the leg. Somehow, they made their way to a medical center, and after hours of operating and 2 pints of blood, it was beginning to look like the doctors were running out of hope to save his life. Then, as her father described, in an almost dreamlike trance, the door of the tent opened, and from a blinding light came a woman with angel's wings on her back, carrying baskets full of yellow fluid in vials in both hands. Apparently, she moved to the side of Emilee's brother, asked for a diagnosis, and then injected him with 150ml of the Nanobiotic fluid. Soon after, she was gone just as she appeared, off to the next operating tent.

Both of the men said that they would love to thank whoever that woman was, and today, they had shared the same room with her. A medic from an Organization the media wanted them all to hate, from a strike team that wasn't supposed to be there.

Lena awoke from her trance, thinking about the event and all that it meant, and then said, "I'm just glad that Angela managed to make it after all."

Emilee smiled in a devilish way, saying, "I told you I could do it." Booping her new spouse on the nose. Lena thanked her stars that Emilee had decided to change from psychology to accounting. After all, she was scary with her wild witching ways.

Lena then turned the lights off, and getting the hint, Emilee turned the television off and both tucked themselves into bed. Lena, lying on her back from a long day, took a long breath and exhaled it in a long sigh. She was then tapped on her shoulder. Turning, she saw Emilee laying on her side as she asked, "So… do you want to make it… official?"

With heavy eyes, Lena gave a small smile, but had to admit, "Sorry, not tonight, luv."

Meanwhile…

"Lena, do you take Emilee to be yours, through sickness and in health, for ever and ever till death do you part?"

"I do."

The HDMI stick, hooked into the hotel room's TV, showed the perspective of a grand old English church, over rows of people in fine suits and dresses as they watched two women confess their love for one and another. The focus zoomed, camera shaking a touch with the adjustment and focusing on Emilee as she reached up and wiped a tear from Lena's eye.

There was sniffing in the room, and on the bed in front of said TV were two people, one wore shiny black dress shoes while the other wore a tall set of heels. What followed the heels were stockings, as well as a fine silk dress. But opposite of them were a set of black dress slacks, one leg of which was ripped down the seam as a sealed bag of ice was taped to the wearer's ankle. Tracing up the two forms to midway, a shiny stainless steel bucket was full of ice, courtesy of the Ice O Matic, and resting in the bucket was an opened bottle of fine champagne. An equally shiny wrap of duct tape bound the legs of the slacks together.

A hand came into view, setting a half drunken flute of champagne down on the memory foam mattress, and following the blue hand back to where it had come, Amelie Lacroix took a tissue and wiped the corner of her eye.

Amelie laid her head back down, resting on the shoulder of the person she shared the bed with. Angela Ziegler, with a welt on her neck from where the dart had hit, was silent. Her button shirt was undone, exposing her cleavage and an envelope full of English Pounds shoved between her breasts for the suit rental while rolls of duct tape wrapped her hands and a single layer covered her mouth.

The man on the Television then said, "Emilee, do you take Lena to be yours, through sickness and in health, for ever and ever till death do you part?"

"I Do."

Arms around her captive and pretending that she was in another life, Widowmaker smiled as she watched the copy of the raw stolen footage, rocking her head on the tuxedo's shoulder pad as she looked over at her partner and said in her sultry French accent, "Aren't weddings wonderful?"

Ziggy played… guitar~~~~