Chapter 6

Doom Patrol

Garfield sat in a massive room filled with standard pristine white benches with a dark grey floor and bright lights shining down upon the tables, the room had five tables per row and ten rows leading from one end to another. It was designed for simplicity and to save space, Commander Dayton didn't want anyone, from officers to common soldiers, getting it into their head that they are special in anyway.

This point being made right in front of Garfield as two high ranking officers sat down next to table filled with soldiers, neither group talk boisterously nor caused any disturbance as they ate. Though they ate in the same hall, they were forbidden from interacting to ensure the chain of command to remain intact, but at the same time Commander Dayton didn't want officers believing they were entitled to anything more than a common solider.

Sighing heavily, Garfield took another tentative sip from his cup of coffee as he reread through the report on Jagar. He needed to make sure his alibi was airtight if he ever runs into a Republic patrol, he had to maintain the lie and ensure that he was cleared from all suspicions. That said, there was one part of the story he was having a hard time trying to wrap his mind around.

"What's wrong?" Rachel asked after Garfield sighed for the third time in a row, she sat on the other side of the table from Garfield pitifully picking at a plate of gruel. Commander Dayton made it a special requirement that all new recruits to the Doom Patrol had to eat gruel for two years without exception, and since Rachel became Garfield's assistant, she fell under that requirement.

"The Commander has a sick sense of humour… or he just hates me…" Garfield groaned, glaring at the offending data pad in his hand. "He released false information regarding the purpose of my visit to Tatooine, making it seem like I picked up precious cargo from a high ranking official. Which wouldn't be bad…"

Garfield downed the rest of his drink, pausing to rid himself of the revulsions shocking through his mind. It was going to take ages to undo the damage Commander Dayton caused to his reputation, but it was far better than being hunted down for aiding a fugitive.

"If it wasn't for the fact that the accidentally run in with the Republic made me ditch the cargo because I was smuggling a minor contraband item." Garfield grumbled, this kind of reputation is only held by amateur smugglers that have no class nor mind of their own to think that losing a precious piece of cargo for a minor contraband item was a worthwhile trade. "I have to admit that I made a mistake dumping that cargo… it is going to kill my reputation with my retainers, I'll have to slog my guts out trying to fix this."

"Is it really that bad?" Rachel didn't know if the reputation of a smuggler differed from that of a Sith, but if it didn't then the only example she could relate to his situation was going after a weaker opponent instead of finishing off the major threat. Yet, something like that would earn a verbal berating from high ranked Sith or distain from fellow apprentices, but from Garfield's reactions, it looked far worse than what she was thinking.

"Bad… very bad…" Garfield ran his hands through his face, wondering if he was willing to take on a high-risk job just to prove his skills as a smuggler. Though that would mean taking a job from the one person he didn't want to, the one that he would rather avoid at all costs. "To put it bluntly, I have a reputation of always providing my best regardless of the job, and this rumour kills that reputation instantly. Without it I'll lose my retainers, and getting any high paying jobs after this would be almost impossible."

"So, you now have to prove yourself to your clients to keep their business." Victor grunted, he joined them at the table not long after they had arrived, he had been quietly eating his plate full of meat. He hadn't got much sleep due to the bed being far smaller than he was, he tried to sleep on the floor to no avail as it was freezing.

Ever since Rachel's identity was revealed, people avoided her with obvious reactions. The moment one of the soldiers' caught sight of her they would literally pause mid step and take the furthest route from her, even the officers would cautiously place their hands on their blasters, ready to fight at a moment's notice.

However, Victor was the only one, other than Garfield, that didn't care about Rachel's Darkling Star reputation. He waltzed over to them with his plate full of food and just sat down, eating merrily, and passing comment occasionally on whatever topic that came up. Garfield wasn't exactly sure if Victor didn't really care or didn't know enough of her reputation to be afraid, regardless he was far better than the other two.

Richard and Kori sat two tables away from them, they were quietly eating their food while passing subtle glances their way. They had tried to stop Victor from walking over to them, but he ignored their complaints and joined them anyway. Kori's reaction to Rachel was understandable as she was a former Jedi Padawan, though Richard's baffled Garfield, he was fairly certain that he of all people would understand someone trying to prove themselves to be a better person.

"Basically yeah, I'd have to take on a high-risk job just to repair it." Garfield leant back in his chair as he spoke, debating if he could leverage a job from a Hutt rather than the one person that could restore his reputation in one go. "I'm going to have to spend a fortune on repairs to Titan afterwards, but if it can restore my reputation then it will be worth it."

"Well… I'm a decent engineer, I can work for cheap though I will need accommodation." Victor offered, he had been trying to figure out a way into working for Commander Dayton and the technology division of the Doom Patrol, and if he could work for Garfield then maybe he could leverage it into showcasing his abilities to Commander Dayton. It was a stretch, but if there was a chance he could work for Alderaanian tech division, then he couldn't pass it up.

"No offense Vic, but I already have to settle with her being on the ship from now on." Garfield nodded towards Rachel who only glared at him in response but refused to retort his claim, he didn't want to upset Victor as he was friendly person that he wouldn't mind talking to, but he couldn't just up and trust him to work on his baby, let alone staying on his ship. "And anyway, barring the work you did on the outdated computer system, I have no idea whether or not you have the skill to repair and maintain Titan's systems."

"Then let me prove it to you!" Victor exclaimed, nearly spitting a piece of meat he was chewing on. Despite being from a rundown planet like Nal Hutta, Victor was proud of his skill and would challenge anyone that dared to say he was an amateur. However, he needed Garfield to hire him, so he swallowed his pride. "I promise that I am more than skilled to repair and maintain the Titan!"

"You're not going to stop annoying me until I give you a definitive answer?" Garfield rhetorically asked as he could see the light in Victor's eyes ever since he found out who he worked for, Garfield wasn't much a of fool to know that Victor wanted to work for Commander Dayton, and he wanted to use him to do it. "Argh! Fine, I'll give you a chance. One mission, if you prove yourself capable then you can stay on as my on-board engineer… however if you fail then you have to promise never to step foot near Doom Patrol ever again."

Victor's eyes went wide as saucers as he realised he had been found out, he couldn't blame Garfield for making that stipulation, but it now meant he was playing for all or nothing. Yet, that didn't faze him as he shook Garfield's outstretched hand, even if he didn't prove himself to the smuggler, he would have gained experience from working on a high-tech rig like the Titan.

"Good to see you now have an engineer, at least now I don't have to listen to the complaints from the repair team about the broken conduit panels." Commander Dayton grumbled as he took the seat next to Garfield, Rita not far behind him and reluctantly took the seat next to Rachel, neither of the women choose to look at one another. Garfield grumbled about the station's mechanics being nutcases under his breath, not caring that Steve heard him and glared at him. "Anyway, as you have read in the report, your cover has been protected and the Republic won't be looking for you in Nar Shaddaa."

"Yeah, that's great!" Garfield sarcastically retorted, he wasn't in the mood to be grateful for Commander Dayton's work when he was contemplating which of two evils he wanted to commit to just to restore his reputation. Rita shifted her glare from Rachel to him, warning him the Steve had went to great lengths to undo the damage that was already done to his reputation. "What? I know Steve worked hard to convince everyone of this reality, but that doesn't mean I can't be grouchy about what I have to do to regain what's left. You know as well as I do who I have to ask for a job!... Unless I can blackmail a Hutt, other wise I'm going to be enjoying the company of that… person…"

"Actually Garfield, I deliberately put that part into the story to make it believable when you go to work for him." Commander Dayton admitted to his intentional intervention in the story, a loud thud drew everyone's attention, finding Garfield with his face flat against the table. Garfield couldn't believe he think Steve was manipulating him through rumours, he had done it before but not this directly and actually admitting to it up front.

"I can't believe I'm about to say this, but I'll take the Hutt." Garfield grumbled, he didn't like dealing with any Hutt as they were slimy creeps that cheap out on every deal unless they would lose dearly if the matter was not resolved. Commander Dayton glared at him for a moment to silence him before continuing.

"The ship you got the cargo from had an undercover agent that had proof of said person conducting illegal experiments. We didn't know what it was they were bringing back until you delivered it." Commander Dayton explained, he had a similar cup of coffee he had been sipping on while they spoke. His words drew in Garfield's attention as he couldn't figure out what it was that they could have brought that contained the proof, then his eyes widened as he realised what line of work the person conducted. "Yes, the Twi'lek girl. The reason your kolto tank couldn't recognise her was because she had been genetically altered in illegal experiments."

A deathly silence fell over the hall as those around them quickly and quietly left the room while Kori and Richard before got up from their benches to join them at theirs. Kori felt rage building in her as she thought about the little girl being turned into something else, something no longer living or dead.

"I take it you need me to act as the diligent smuggler and do whatever work he puts my way, and plant a bug in his office and on whatever I am to deliver?" Garfield surmised, he had done such jobs for Commander Dayton before, they usually involved him charming the client before dropping a bug, then he would wait until he got a call from the Doom Patrol before returning to retrieve the bug. It was fairly simple work, but against this person, he would have to pull out all the stops.

"Not this time… the mission will be difficult, and there is a chance that you will be fighting your way out if things go wrong." Commander Dayton stated, ensuring that his words conveyed the seriousness of the situation. "I need you to return the Twi'lek girl to him."

"WHAT! NO!" Kori roared, she wrenched herself upwards and glared at Commander Dayton, even Rita rested her hand on her saber encase Kori made a move against him. "We brought her here to be saved, to be treated, not to send her right back to whoever did this to her!"

"What's the percentage?" Garfield ignored Kori, he knew there was a reason for this mission and its importance far outweighed the life of that young girl. Though, he would be remised if he didn't at least try to save the girl, if she wasn't too far gone then he would oppose the mission, yet he knew Steve wouldn't bring this to him unless she was.

"Sixty-three percent." Commander Dayton remorsefully replied, taking another sip of his coffee before putting it down. Garfield flinched harshly, he knew that it would be high, but it shouldn't be anywhere near that level. "Your demonic kolto tank short circuited a lot of implants, but we can activate them again."

"Sigh… poor girl… so what's the play? Make it look like I stumbled across her trying to fix my mistake?" Garfield asked, he was about to call up Titan's navigation logs to set the system to bring up plot charts to Nar Shaddaa when Kori flipped out and withdrew her lightsaber, baring it on those at the table. Rita looked ready to fend off Kori when Garfield withdrew his blaster and put a hole in the roof just to the left of her head before she could even react, his speed stunned everyone at the table as he didn't even lift his gaze from the data pad. "Kori, let me make something clear. You're a guest of this station, if you don't control yourself then I'll make sure you never leave it alive… understood?"

Garfield's coldness made even Rachel shudder in fear, the murderous aura exuding from him nearly made Kori drop the lightsaber, she barely kept it in her hand as she deactivated it and sat back down. His reaction timing out matched hers by such a large margin that if he aimed just slightly left then she would've had a hole in her head.

"I understand…" Kori reluctantly complied, sitting down, and keeping her eyes trained on Garfield, waiting for any reaction that might indicate that he was going to act. Though she wanted to protect the girl, she couldn't do that if she was dead.

"Garfield, I thought you curbed those impulses?" Commander Dayton hadn't reacted at all to Garfield's actions, he casually drank his coffee as he waited for them to quieten down. Rita worriedly glanced between the table and Garfield, she was unable to decide what to look at.

"Why do you think I live alone on the Titan?" Garfield sarcastically stated, his words getting darker by the letter, he seemed to be tensing up in reaction to Commander Dayton's calmness to his cold rage.

Richard had been passive throughout the conversation, he didn't want to speak unless he had something to say, though Garfield and Commander Dayton were discussing the mission almost like Republic officers would. When Kori had her outburst, he was seconds away from intervening when Garfield beat him to it, the coldness he felt from him nearly mimicked the assassin that had killed his parents. Though that wasn't what was holding his interest, the moment Garfield had put a hole into the roof of the cantina, the other soldiers and officers silently and with practice ease, evacuated the room. Whatever was happening, wasn't a rare occurrence, and it was one that required people leave the rom quickly.

Garfield held his hand on his blaster which was now laying on the table, he was still reading the data pad carefully, but he seemed ready to snap the blaster to anyone that moved. Victor seemed seconds away from moving from his seat when Rita motioned for him to stay put, they couldn't move until the situation was resolved. A door on the far side opened and several soldiers clad in heavy armour entered the room quietly, they were organising themselves to storm the table.

Rita nearly had her lightsaber ready to draw when Rachel reached across the table and stunned everyone by putting her hand over his, both Commander Dayton and Rita nearly leapt out of their skin though the reaction they were expecting from Garfield wasn't the one they got. Garfield merely looked up from his data pad, stared at Rachel for a few moments before dropping his blaster and went back to the data pad, the chill in the air disappearing in moments.

"Garfield, why don't you review the star charts in the main room?" Rita smiled warmly, leading Garfield away and out of the room after he accepted her offer. The moment he left, the soldiers nearly dropped to the ground from stress and fear, even Commander Dayton let out a shaky breath.

"I apologise on Garfield's behalf, ever since he was a child, he had to learn to always be ready to kill at a moment's notice. He's gotten to a point that he doesn't realise he enters these states." Commander Dayton explained, ever since Garfield arrived at the station, they had several instances where Garfield nearly took the head off of a soldier and never even realised he had done so. "The only way to get him out of these states is to wait until he's done with whatever task he was doing, though what you did was unprecedented."

"Well, that's unnerving to know." Richard finally said when Rachel remained quiet, he didn't like the idea that he had been stuck on a ship with a highly trained killer that wouldn't even realise that he could kill someone and move on without noticing.

"Don't worry too much about it, Garfield only enters these states when he's either aggravated or surprised, beyond that he is fairly tame." Commander Dayton reassured them, though Garfield was at his most dangerous in these states, they happened rarely enough that it wasn't much of an issue. "Anyway, the reason Garfield was upset is because of Kori's outburst. The girl has been augmented in both genetically and biomechanically, and there is a percentage that acts as the threshold, if someone goes beyond it then they aren't a living being anymore."

"And this girl was beyond this threshold, so Kori's outburst only upset Garfield as the girl's already lost." Richard guessed, his words caused Kori to look up in surprise though she wasn't sure what she was more upset at, the lost girl, or the fact she lost control without knowing all the facts.

"Not exactly, the threshold differs between species. For humans, its roughly thirty percent." Commander Dayton shook his slowly, what really upset Garfield wasn't that the girl was lost, but how far she was lost by. "However, Twi'leks' threshold is far less, roughly around twelve percent."

"And the girl is five times past the limit… but I thought people could have more than seventy percent of their body replaced before they became something beyond living?" Victor asked, it was more a question concerning his own case as most of one side of his body, though the state of the girl was regrettable.

"Cybernetics are one thing, genetically modifying or biomechanically altering a person are completely different." Commander Dayton explained. "The scale differs greatly because of how much it changes the person compared to cybernetics. This girl has been altered to the point that she is not even biologically Twi'lek, I doubt her mind is even hers anymore."

"That's horrible!" Kori exclaimed, she couldn't handle the thought the girl being sent back to whoever did this horrific act to her, but the thought that she wasn't even a living being with her own mind terrified her.

"Yes, and that's why we need to send her back. Her implants are what saved her, but they are also trying to transmit data back to the original source." Commander Dayton never went into this much detail explaining the mission, but without Rachel then he was sure Garfield might just try and kill the target. As for the others, they might be useful in the mission, though convincing Garfield to take them would be difficult. "Fortunately to Garfield's demented kolto tank, her implants were shut down temporarily, but they are waking back up. We're going to implant a device into her mind that allows us to see and hear what she does, if we hand her back then its possible she will be brought back to the main laboratory."

"We may not be able to save her, but we can prevent it from ever happening to another." Richard surmised, he knew that the real reason was to stop whoever this person was from creating powerful soldiers, but that didn't mean they couldn't destroy the laboratory for the purpose of saving people from the same fate as the girl. "When do we leave?"

"You don't. Your face is all over the holonet, you step anywhere near this then it will blow up the mission." Commander Dayton hated to bench someone with the skill set like Richard's, but his infamy would draw too much attention. "Kori's recklessness and temper are too volatile. Which leaves Victor and Rachel. The two of you need to keep Garfield on track, against Mr Luthor, he has a tendency to… go rogue."

"Wait, Luthor! As in Lex Luthor! The insanely rich CEO of the megacorporation that the Republic uses to fund the war effort?" Richard exclaimed in shock, he knew of Lex personally due to Bruce handling the trades for the Republic, he didn't like the man, but his merchandise was worth it.

"Unfortunately… that man has less morals than a weequay pirate. He sells weapons to both the Republic and the Empire, as well as every pirate, Hutt, or bad guy from Dagobah to Dantooine." Commander Dayton growled, he hated Lex with every fibre of his being, even ordering Garfield to work with him caused him to shudder in revolution. Yet, the thought of him destroying innocent lives made the mission necessary.

"No way… Lex is creepy and vindictive, but he would deal with those types!" Richard to argue, but a part of him knew it was true, Bruce always tried to find any other dealer before going to Lex. "Fine, he's a corrupt greedy businessman. Though the next time I see Bruce, we are having a chat about keeping information from me."

"Don't be, I doubt even Mr Wayne knows the full extent of Lex's business… even I don't know." Commander Dayton reluctantly admitted, Lex was the kind to make any deal he could to increase his personal wealth and power, and he didn't care how much of his soul he shed to do it. "Anyway, its only a simple drop before some ridiculously dangerous mission. Knowing Lex, it will involve delivering weapons to some pirate scum, but Garfield can handle it."

"Are you sure that I can't tag along?" Richard asked, he wanted to lend a hand to the mission, at least in some way considering his infamy. Garfield didn't have to help, nor did the Doom Patrol, but they gave him shelter and intel he wouldn't have otherwise gotten.

"If you can convince Garfield to bring you then I won't object, though do keep in mind that Rita cares deeply for the boy." Commander Dayton didn't need to finish that sentence as he left, leaving the four of them to sit in a mostly empty cantina. They quietly ate their food before leaving the cantina, they had been told by the staff of the station that the majority of the station was off-limits, but they did have a rec room that they could lounge in.

Rachel separated from the group as Kori kept making shifty glances towards her before stepping closer to Richard, she wanted to go find Garfield, but she had no idea where to look. She eventually ran into an officer that she growled at until he revealed that Garfield left to the hanger bay to work on the Titan, the stations mechanic had complained once again about his ship and he went to do their work for them.

Following the route back to the hanger, she found the Titan still where they left it. There were purple clad people of the Doom Patrol station milled about the ship, talking, or working on the Titan. They were avoiding going inside the ship itself, fixing and repair what they could from outside. Ignoring them, she walked inside the cargo bay and found Garfield working on a side panel near the door, he was stripping out the components and replacing them to the best of his ability.

"Need a hand?" Rachel asked, startling Garfield out of his silent contemplation, he smacked his head against the panel he was under before gazing out passed the wires he pulled out. Spying Rachel, he relaxed and went back to working on the panel.

"Can you pass me that piece?" Garfield pointed towards a box set up beside him filled with tools, on top of it sat what looked like a high-tech spanner, passing the item to him she sat down beside him as he worked.

"Why aren't you afraid of me?" Rachel asked after several minutes passed of pure silence, she seen how her false reputation made others around her react, they shy away from her and in Rita's case, nearly try to kill her. Garfield thought over the question, he did fear her as the rumours are her were extremely brutal, but for some reason he felt that she wasn't a threat, nor did he believe the rumours were true.

"No idea… probably because you remind me of myself, someone trying to escape their past." Garfield mused over it, wondering if that was truly the reason he wasn't shying away from her. "Although, I'm not exactly sure. I've relied on my instincts for most of my life, and they are telling me that you aren't a threat… so I'll trust them… I want to trust them anyway."

His words confused Rachel somewhat, she wasn't sure what he meant when he said he wanted to trust them, though she didn't let herself dwell on that thought, taking comfort in the easy silence between them. The two worked quietly, with Garfield switching to teaching Rachel what he knew about repairing, they made good progress. They were shortly joined by Victor who caught wind of where Garfield was and decided to show off his skills.

Titan's repairs were well under way.


Author's Note: Sorry for the long upload time, this is my secondary story and my other one is taking some precedence at the moment (I'm getting to a good part and want to continue, but I didn't want to neglect this story for too long.) I will try my best to keep up with this story.

I hope the interactions between them aren't too weird, I am trying to portray them as strangers who are have their own problems. I'm trying not to force BBRAE, but I want to create a chemistry wherein they help one another because they know and understand what its like to have a horrible upbringing.

Also, I thought about using a TT villain, but Lex Luthor was too good an enemy to put them up against (I have a plan for them that will require a seriously powerful villain).

(Side Note: This is unedited, I apologise for bad grammar or misplaced words but I will come back at some point to review it)