The Roles we Play
Arrival of doom
Thanks to all those who have the patience to put up with my crap and occasionally review or favorite it.
***I still own no part of any of my stories, nor do I make any money on them. ***
"…every human being is doomed to die, which is the greatest of all failures." – George Orwell
***TRwP***
The Titans stood before the large monitor, waiting for the connection that Robin had just setup to be made, each feeling their own level of discomfort at what they were about to do.
A few minutes passed until the chime signaled that the receiving party had answered.
The screen was filled with a darkness that was beyond what most of them could ever describe, as the infamous crime fighter appeared.
"Robin."
"Batman."
Another minute passed with the two former teammates staring each other down, neither willing to concede the contest of wills. It was Raven that finally snapped.
"Would you just ask him already!"
Robin sent a stubborn glare towards the empath before clearing his throat and returning his gaze to his former mentor.
"Batman, we recently…. lost a teammate and were trying to reach his family, unfortunately we have become aware that we knew very little about him and his own contact in case of emergencies was a note that said 'Contact the Doom Patrol'. I was wondering if you knew who they are."
The man on the other end noticeably stiffened at the name, something that shocked the Boy Wonder, though he would never show it. Anything that could surprise or make the legendary Batman uncomfortable was bound to be something dangerous.
"What teammate was this?"
"Beast Boy."
Again the man seemed to have a strange reaction at the news before scowling in agitation. "Are you sure of the note?"
"Yeah we are Mr. uh Batman sir. That was the only thing he wrote in his emergency file." The cybernetic teen hastily replied after the crime fighter's attention had turned to him.
"Who are they? Why is it so strange that Beast Boy would have been a part of them?"
"You said he was the youngest member of your team correct? That he joined when he was very young, maybe even twelve?"
"That's correct."
"The Doom Patrol is a folk tale in the criminal underworld and even among some heroes. Rumor is that they are a highly classified black ops group of super powered individuals that work towards the goals of the United States government."
"What do you mean work towards?" Starfire chimed in but immediately hid behind her leader when the imposing man shifted his gaze towards her.
"The government does not acknowledge their existence they are supposedly beyond normal black ops. They are the ones who eliminate terrorists, topple governments, remove and insert dictators depending on the area they are in. They are the ones who do the dirty work so that the civilians, military, and even super heroes don't have to."
"If they are just a legend then are you sure they even exist?"
"Oh they exist alright. I crossed paths with them once a long time ago before I met you. I was working on a case concerning Ra's Al Ghul at the time and they happened to be in the area hunting down a terrorist cell. They are very serious about their job and very dangerous should you be their target."
"Any chance you can get us in touch with them? If Beast Boy knows them as he claimed then maybe…"
"No one just 'gets in touch with them'. If Beast Boy was truly part of their group then they will contact you if they want to, otherwise there is nothing you can do but wait."
Robin merely nodded at his mentor's instructions, but before either could cut the communication line the Dark Knight spoke one last time.
"Robin… for what it's worth, I am sorry about your friend."
With that the screen went dark once more.
"Rob, if these Doom guys are scary enough to give Batman the chills how the hell did Beast Boy ever meet them? I mean the guy was good at being a hero and all but he was the furthest thing from black ops possible, except maybe Control Freak." The largest Titan asked, turning towards his leader.
"No idea, but your right Beast Boy's personality is so opposite of what you would expect from their description that…"
"Excuse me, friends but what exactly are the ops of the dark?"
"It's kind of complicated Star, black ops are the behind the scenes military or groups that deal in secretive operations and assignments such as assassinations, sabotage, espionage, and things like that. What truly bothers me though is that if the note and what Batman said were true… then Beast Boy would have been a member of this group at an extremely young age. If he was with them for any length of time it makes me wonder how he was able to be so… normal."
"Beast Boy, normal?"
"Hey now Rae be nice, sure the guy was a bit…eccentric and strange at times. But considering what he must have seen, what he must have done? Hell I am surprised he wasn't more like Robin."
"What is that supposed to mean Cyborg?"
"Nothing… just talking to myself hehe…"
***TRwP***
Later that day Raven went into Nevermore to once again try and find some semblance of peace, although her powers had not be going chaotic she had noticed that they were noticeably… diminished.
This time she did not need to look far to find her various emoticlones, in various states of depression.
"Timid… how are they doing?"
"The better question is how are you doing? With all the information that has come to light don't you feel even worse? Don't bother lying either you know I can feel what you do."
"I am confused for certain but… I mean it can't be true right? Lovable stupid goofy Beast Boy a hardcore killer?"
"Is it not often the shy ones that are the most to be feared? How many times have we seen the truly deranged psychopaths act like normal people, even pillars of their community but be responsible for the killing of dozens of innocent people?"
"I suppose you are right."
"What I would like to know now is, would this event be as bad if it was someone else lying on that table?"
"What do you mean, if another Titan had died instead? Of course it would have been! I love all my friends equally…"
"Who are you trying to lie to now, me or you, even if we are the same person."
"I suppose if it was Robin it would have been worse."
"Are you so sure? I will agree we have a connection with him, but it seems more physical than anything else, he is a leader, and a physical release. To us he seems the relationship almost seems like what one of his fans would have if they were given their wish to be in a relationship him but stuck with Starfire at the same time."
"I don't know what you are implying but I don't like it."
"You and I both know that we… admired Beast Boy. He was the beacon of hope in an otherwise lonely and dreary world. He was the one who tried to bring us out of the shell we had constructed, tried to make us be social. He was the first one to make us feel like part of the team, to make us feel… normal."
"Beast Boy was anything but normal."
"But that is exactly what was special about him, his oddities made him unique and by doing so it made us feel like we fit in more than we did. Let's be honest if Beast Boy wasn't around who do you think would have made the effort for us to eat with everyone else, or join them during movie night? Without him we would have been the strangest person on the team by far, this would have served to isolate us even further."
"How are you acting like knowledge all of a sudden shouldn't you be more… like you?"
"A side effect of your depression and my strengthening, which is another danger we are currently in. As I grow stronger I have begun taking over the other emotions, assimilating them in a sense. If this continues on everything will be placed under my control and your powers will dampen to the point of being nearly useless in combat."
"So what do we do?"
The grey cloaked clone merely sighed, and looked off into the sky.
"I don't know we both know that the next step is acceptance and to move past him but… it feels too soon, it feels wrong to just forget about one of the most important people in our lives."
"He wouldn't want us to sit around mourning him like this."
"Are you sure? How much do you really know about your former teammate?"
At this question the true Raven fell silent, ending up with more questions than answers.
***TRwP***
Two more days passed with the team struggling to find some semblance of normalcy again, until Starfire came into the common room one evening, a rather confused look on her face.
"What's up Star?" The larger man questioned, while sitting next to his girlfriend.
"Does anyone know why the large ship is on the roof?"
"Star there isn't anything on the roof, especially not a ship. The Tower's defense sensors would have gone off before it even got close to our airspace."
Just then a beeping indicated that someone had activated the communication device on the roof door.
"Uh…. Cyborg?"
"Don't look at me we should have detected them."
The leader hastily punched the answering button, displaying a somewhat older man on the monitor who gazed back with intensity worthy of even Batman.
"Raven…"
"I can't sense anyone besides us Star, whoever that is he is completely shielded from my empathy somehow."
"This is the headquarters of The Teen Titans correct?"
"Yes… and you are?"
"Mento, leader of the Doom Patrol."
***TRwP***
The mercenary leader furiously typed on his computer, it had been days since their ambush of the amateur heroes and his two allies were just now fully recovered from the battle.
Finally he managed to get ahold of the one who had hired him, the ex-mercenary Slade.
"Ah what a pleasant surprise, though I must say I wasn't expecting to hear from you until the other Titans were defeated, still one out of five isn't the worst progress."
"Cut the crap Slade! What the hell were you thinking sending us in there?"
"Whatever do you mean? I gave you ample amount of time and information to complete your goal, the client is happy with the report of Beast Boy's demise but is still waiting for the rest of them to be in the ground as well."
"You think we are going back there!? Are you insane? The only option we have now is to hide in some third world country and pray to God we aren't found."
The masked man merely raised an eyebrow at the contracted killer's exclamation, though no one could tell.
"And why is that? Do you really believe the Titans will seek revenge on you? Even if they do it won't be too much trouble for you to deal with them. I would be more concerned about bringing the wrath of the Justice League down upon you but none of them were terribly close to…"
"I DON'T GIVE TWO SHITS ABOUT THE JUSTICE LEAGUE YOU MORON!" The man shouted, before calming himself down with some deep breaths in order to continue in a calmer tone. "The worst they would do is arrest us, no what I think that you just so happened to forget is to mention who the green brat was."
"I told you his name and powers what else…"
"What about the fact that he is ex-Doom Patrol?"
For the first time in the conversation the other mercenaries in the room gasped at the name. They had been wondering what their leader was so angry about but with the mention of… them it was obvious. Slade had signed their death warrants if he was correct.
"I believe you are mistaken, the Doom Patrol is a myth. A legend that is told in the super max security prisons to keep the inmates in line and so that Super Villains do not go on killing sprees."
"You're wrong they are very real and very dangerous. Who the hell do you think found Bin Laden and Hussein, random soldiers? That was the cover story so that the government wouldn't be accused of sending super heroes into foreign nations."
"If that is true then what do you intend to do now?"
"I told you, we are going to hide in some third world country for the rest of our lives with the money we are owed, and pray to whoever is listening that the little brat's former teammates don't decide to make us their number one priority."
With that the mercenary captain terminated the communications and turned to his two allies.
"Pack up anything you want or need for the rest of your lives, I hear that Bolivia is nice this time of year."
***TRwP***
"Before we proceed to your medical bay I would like to hear from you what exactly happened to our former teammate." The imposing man commanded, his eyes slowly roaming around the room at each of the teens.
For what felt like hours the Titans just sat in silence, each finding the floor or walls more interesting to look at than anything else in the room until, "I Wasn't there sir but I have seen a bit of the footage." Jinx began, drawing everyone's attention.
"It was supposed to be a routine bank robbery. Robin had ordered the Titans into three groups, Beast Boy and Cyborg would go in the back, while he and Starfire would make a loud front entrance. In the chaos Raven would extract the hostages."
She looked the man straight in the eyes, and seeing his slight gesture to go on, the pink haired sorceress took another deep breath.
"From what I can tell the mission was an initial success. The robbers were just guys in ski masks and light weapons after all so taking them out was no big deal. However it was around this time that three more enemies emerged from a nearby office. One charged into Cyborg, taking him through a wall and out of the fight, another sent a wave of what seemed to be sonic energy, injuring Robin."
The girl took a short pause to gather her thoughts before continuing on.
"Once Robin was injured Starfire began attacking the one responsible, taking him out in a barrage of energy blasts while Raven ran to help her injured leader, what she hadn't seen was a third man emerging and taking aim at her with a pistol."
Again the teenager had to pause, feeling tears threatening to come pouring from her eyes at what she would have to say next she took a few deep breaths, calming her nerves and strengthening her voice so as not to waver, The Doom Patrol sat quietly while waiting for her to finish.
"He m-managed to intercept the bullet, taking the projectile in his chest. A-after he fell down the gunman walked over to him where they had a brief exchange, though we a-are not sure what was said. Then t-the m-man raised his gun and…"
That was all she could get out before breaking down into tears, with Cyborg taking her into his arms for comfort.
"Afterwards I defeated my opponent and came back into the room and caught sight of the two girls with Robin. I made my way over to see if he had been injured but by that point his leg was completely healed. It wasn't until around a minute later that we noticed Beast Boy wasn't with us and I went searching… and found his body."
The older man seemed to process the story for a few moments before asking more questions.
"What happened to the three men?"
"We aren't sure, Cyborg left his under a pile of rubble and Starfire's had been knocked out. When we saw Beast Boy's remains it must have distracted us for long enough for their leader to retrieve them and escape." Robin answered.
"There seems to have been quite a few distractions during this mission if your report is correct."
"It normally isn't this bad, we work as a team and…"
"If I recall correctly there was another incident not so long ago of Beast Boy's welfare being… forgotten about." The man mused, earning winces from the younger super heroes.
"Yes… we were called upon by the local FBI, police chief, and Mayor to help on an undercover operation to stop a serial killer. Beast Boy volunteered to take Robin's place as the bait and was captured by the man, we were not made aware of it until after dealing with an escaped super villain." The empath answered, trying to force the guilt out of her mind unsuccessfully.
"It never crossed any of your minds that it was a distraction?"
"Not until afterwards."
"Interesting… as I understand it you also were not responsible for his safe return during that mission either correct?"
"No sir…" This time it was Starfire who spoke up, "We searched for days but could not find any sign of him, until he arrived back at the tower."
"I see I am starting to wonder why Beast Boy ever stayed with this group as long as he did with your definition of 'friendship'."
"Listen here jerk, we might not have been perfect and we might still have some problems but we were Beast Boys family, I don't care who he used to be or what he used to do. If you think otherwise you can shove it up your…"
"CYBORG ENOUGH!"
The mechanical teen took a few reluctant steps back from the older man, who had not seemed nervous in the slightest even when the hero had stepped up directly in front of him.
"Sorry about that, we have all been taking Beast Boy's loss pretty hard and… well I am not sure how your group handled his loss but for us it was losing a member of our family." The Boy Wonder explained.
"This is undoubtedly one of the reasons for your mediocre performances."
"Excuse me?" This time it was Robin who stepped forward, not liking the way that the opposing leader spoke.
"You are a team of super heroes, not a family. Families have emotional attachments to each other and would most likely choose one of their own rather than accomplishing a mission or saving another person. Such emotions have no place on the battlefield or in a mission."
"Who are you to question us? Beast Boy left your team so clearly he wasn't happy there." Raven had immediately stood to support her leader and their team.
"Oh? I suppose he was happy here being ignored then?"
Silence fell over the room after that before Mento turned to look at his team, who had remained silent thus far.
"Does anyone have anything to ask the Titans?"
"Yes sir" A large mechanical man stepped forward, easily dwarfing even Cyborg in size. Turning toward his fellow cybernetic human the larger man directed his questioning towards him.
"Cyborg right? You said that you considered Beast Boy to be something of a brother to you?"
The dark skinned teen nodded his head in renewed determination.
"Tell me, did he seem happy?"
"I…" The Titan paused, going over everything he knew about his best friend, all of the quirks, the secrets that now seemed to be popping up, the way he was treated by his own team.
"I thought he did, now I am not so sure anymore. The guy was my little brother and best friend I would have traded my life for his in a heartbeat if I thought he would accept, but knowing him he would have shot me down saying some stupid joke before charging in headfirst."
The larger of the two men seemed to nod before returning to his position with his team.
"Now then if no one has any more questions, you did say that the 'event' took place close to a week ago correct?"
"That's correct" Robin answered, trying to suppress the urge to punch the man in his face.
"Hmm" the older hero glanced down at a digital watch on his arm and seemed to be deep in thought for a moment. "Slower than usual, we will have to remedy that." He muttered out, earning confused stares from the Titans.
"Well then, if you would be so kind as to lead us down to where you are keeping him we would appreciate it."
Robin slowly nodded before gesturing to follow him, which all the assembled heroes did.
***TRwP***
"How the hell can they be so calm so uncaring?" Jinx muttered out next to her boyfriend and Raven.
"It must be their training, if what Batman and Robin said were true then they are probably conditioned to suppress all emotions, it would be a liability during a mission after all just like Mento said." Cyborg answered, earning a slight glare from the empath.
"Don't tell me that you are starting to believe his 'the best hero is a mindless drone' nonsense."
"Of course not, hell even you can't follow that Rae and your powers are practically based on mental and emotional control. I am just saying that during an actual fight when lives are on the line, not freaking out or breaking down from emotional trauma is an important skill to know. Think of how many times we have won just because we got the bad guys angry."
"He's right in that regard I suppose, but did you see the others? They just stood in silence with no facial expressions at all, it was like they didn't even care about Beast Boy."
"They might not have, if they are just a military group then maybe they didn't have any emotional attachments to the little guy. It seems like they were more of just coworkers rather than family…"
"Do not judge us based on our outward appearance." A voice called from next to them as Negative Man had fallen back after hearing the conversation. "Just because we do not openly weep does not mean that we are without emotion. Beast Boy was just as much a member of our family as he is yours, perhaps even more so with how you have portrayed your recent lives with him."
Cyborg was about to retaliate when they reached their destination.
"Right in here is where his… remains are, I will warn you though that the damage was very extensive, you might not recognize him."
"I would recognize my son anywhere." The female member of the Doom Patrol spoke up for the first time. As Mento nodded and stepped up to the door before sliding it open.
Light came pouring out into the hallway, much to the Titans surprise, they were sure that Cyborg had left the room in the dark and he had been the last one inside.
"Report!" Was the single command given by the older commander as he stepped inside.
The Titans could only gape in shock as a young green skinned boy turned around, immediately snapping to attention in a military pose.
***A/N***
Sorry this chapter seemed a bit short, but I really wanted to end it with that little cliffhanger. Also I hope no one is disappointed with it, although I liked how it turned out it seems a bit worse than some of my previous ones.
So Beast Boy is alive… but how? Rest assured to all of those who are going to immediately call B.S. or cheating or magic or whatever. Nope sorry your all wrong, this entire scenario was planned out from before I started writing and this little turn of events took a good deal of research from me to actually figure out, but it works and will be explained next chapter.
As I said before I wanted the Doom Patrol to be more badass than they were in the show, hence the Black Ops aspect, for those who might be upset with them 'taking credit' for Hussein and Bin Laden, I just thought it was a neat little change from history, because let's be honest. If the government really was out to get certain dangerous individuals they wouldn't leave it to chance.
To all those who were sure I killed him, did anyone truly believe I would permanently kill the main character in chapter four? If so then I am way better at fooling people than I thought.
Either way I hope you all enjoyed this, albeit somewhat short, chapter. I had a lot of fun writing.