Gavin breathes in, slow, and doesn't look away.

"No."

His gaze lingers on yellowing bruises caused by hands not his own. Her tone, her sharpness, assures him that their lessons hadn't stuck.

"If this were Kanto, you'd be dead. Take that tone with the wrong person, you will be."

Resentment rises, and there's something cold in Gavin's eyes.

"Lackey? Beckett was my recruiter. My mentor."

He doesn't get up, but his fingers curl at his side.

"We're not in Kanto, but Beckett and I were. Had I covered for someone in Kanto, he'd have killed me slow. You're lucky I outrank him, now, unless you want to die."

He challenges her with narrowed eyes.

He stares at her, not rising to the anger in her tone.

"You're right. I should have handled it myself."

It wasn't Emma alone who felt he'd misstepped in handing Plank off to his mentor; Gavin believed the same. It doesn't make the bitterness fade.

"I thought perhaps he could get through to you where I had failed. See, my methods are softer than his. But my methods were ineffective, weren't they?" His tone sharpens. "You still thought you could get away with enabling a traitor."

With voice raised, she reminds him not of himself but of his father. Anger builds, bubbling under the skin.

"Lower your voice," Gavin growls. "I am already listening."

He continues to, not interrupting further as she snaps and snarls. His gaze drops to her hands, to the tremble in her fingers. Beneath her bravado, she is afraid.

He waits until she is finished, and then he speaks.

"There are no heroes in Rocket, Vela. Nor am I a caretaker. I don't want your gratitude. I want your loyalty and your obedience because that is Rocket's price. Did you think you'd join up with an organization full of criminals and have a nice time?"

The bitterness has embedded itself deep, snakes around his walls much like the ivy behind him, choking out everything else that tries to take root.

"Ozaki saved 'that one Porygon', then went on to betray Rocket to the League."

She stops shouting outright; it's enough to placate, however temporary.

"You have my word that any further reprimand will come from me directly." But for all her words, Gavin does not understand her reservations. "But I would rather not reprimand you at all. You think I enjoyed watching him hurt you?"

He shakes his head, scoffs. Who did she think he was?

"It has everything to do with you. Had you told us of her crimes, it would've been Ozaki to be punished. You needn't have been hurt at all."

He continues to watch, to listen. His expression is cold, impassive.

"Didn't have to?" At last, he speaks, and there's flat disappointment in his tone. "You don't get it, do you? You were given a mission, and you failed. This is what happens when you fail."

He lifts a hand in silent warning not to interrupt him.

"I don't care that the client bought whatever shit you sold him. I care that you didn't come to me immediately when Ozaki compromised your task. Do you think failure only affects you?"

This is why we can't fail, Merlino.

Gavin thinks of shadows moving of their own accord; his jaw clenches.

"You weren't punished because Ozaki sold us out to the League. You were punished because you allowed her to compromise your task, then lied in your report. It's not even that Porygon are rare, valuable — what matters is loyalty, Vela. Obedience."