Speaking to declan walsh was always a terrifying prospect. Telling the boss that one of his oldest Rocket Beasts was dead was an experience that the admin would rather avoid. Between Tempest Quinn, Elisabeth, and Bryan rotting in prison, Team Rocket's council of kings was continuously stretching.

Even if Elisabeth had returned from beyond the veil, even if Bryan would be freed someday, that did not change the fact that Tempest was dead.

"..." The admin's hand had been on the doorknob before Hitoshi had called him out. He didn't move his hand, and silently considered walking out of the medbay anyway, leaving Cillian alone with the weight of their failure. "...fuck."

He let his hand slip off and turned to face the underboss.

"Team Rocket's greatest asset is the fact that we can replace one another when faced with tragedy. Bryan is gone, and Hitoshi filled his seat. Temp is gone, and a replacement will be found imminently. We cannot replace you. Thus, we retreated." The admin's magenta eye blinked, searching for something. "And continuing the battle was impossible, anyway."

Howard closed his eye, thoughtful. He could direct Cillian's anger, but ultimately the rush of rage that the Harbinger felt would burn both him and Hitoshi. He could redirect it from the Rocket Beast and onto himself, but there was still another entity to blame.

"...not after Lugia knocked you out. We were down an avatar. The fight went from doable to impossible."

---

Cillian Quinn Hitoshi Inoue

He had been good at this, once. Yet as Hitoshi sobs and weeps over a life long lost, all the admin can feel is a begrudging sense of apathy. He had accepted Temp's death as they had left the Border behind. He had acknowledged and respected it, because Tempest Quinn had died in ensuring that his husband would live.

A man who would have drowned the world in blood if his husband had died was now ensuring that his husband would live on. Tempest Quinn was a cruel man.

"When you kill someone, Hitoshi, you kill them because it's personal. Stabbing someone in the heart and watching them die is more intimate than knives in the dark. You've stacked corpses high, Beast Inoue. Don't deride me because you have a view from the top of that mountan."

It was harsh. This was the extent of Admin Fox's capriciousness. Sometimes, the man had to die in order to allow the rest of the body to keep marching forward. If Howard had a soul resting somewhere within this body, it was a mauled, desperate thing. Every step forward turned another iota of it into fuel.

He'd run out, one day. Yet that day was not now. Sighing, he took a seat next to Cillian and bowed his head in apology.

"I am a coward. Yet your husband wanted you to live, Cillian. Don't deny that affection in order to join him in an early grave." He lowered his hat over his eye, so that his face was obscured from view. "Because even if he was a violent beast and tried to kill me back in the Ultra Deep Sea, he had a dream that you would live."

His face screwed up beneath the hat.

"Don't deny him that."

Only then did tears begin to fall.

---

Hitoshi Inoue Cillian Quinn

Somewhere in Howard's soul, he knew there was no body. If Yveltal had left anything behind, it would be stone. When that cocoon opened, it would be reduced to rubble.

The admin initially planned to deny Cillian's request. There was no use in salvaging a body. Hell, there was still no use in returning for the Rocket Beast's body. Yet Howard cannot force Cillian to bend to his whims. Nor would it be just to. Ultimately, Hitoshi is the one who sways his mind.

Ahiki. Older brother.

"..." Howard allowed his voice to compose itself, before speaking. "We'll wait a week for Yveltal to stabilize. You can go after. Hitoshi."

His voice is as hard as rock and as cold as ice.

"Cut his restraints."

---

Hitoshi Inoue Cillian Quinn