Luke remembered the day he met Don. Luke was a twenty-seven-year-old Army captain. He had made captain six months before, and he had just been accepted into Delta Force, the Armys elite special operations and counter-terrorism unit. It was his first day, and Luke was nervous. Don was his new commanding officer. Don was giving him some instructions, as Luke stood at ease in front of Dons desk.

Yes sir, Colonel, Luke said at one point.

Don sighed heavily. Son, lets get one thing perfectly clear. Youre not in the regular Army anymore. This is Delta Force. Were going to live together, were going to fight together, and one day we might die together. So you call me Don, or you call me Morris. You can call me fuck-head. I dont care. But two things you dont call me are sir and Colonel. You save that for dealing with the other branches of the military. You understand?

Yes… Luke caught himself before he said sir again. Don.

Don smiled. Good. Fuck-head will come in time.

Years later, when Don left Delta to form the Special Response Team, Luke was among his first employees.

Don? he said now.

Luke. How are you holding up?

Good. Im good. How did the briefing go?

It hasnt gone yet. We just got off the chopper ten minutes ago. It looks like Im going to be here a while before anything happens. You know how these things go. Hurry up and wait.

Right, Luke said.

I think theyre going to put me out to pasture, Don said.

Luke nodded. Yeah. I know.

The Director called me a little while ago. Ron Begleys boss at Homeland called him. I heard all about the diplomat.

Don, I got a little carried away. If you lose SRT over it, I will feel badly about that. But Im not sorry I did it.

Relax, son. Why do you think I called you last night? So you could come in and play by the rules? If thats what I wanted, I would have let you sleep. Weve got plenty of those guys in government. More than we need. No, Im not concerned about that. I wouldnt have expected any less from you.

Begley knew where I was, Luke said. He came waltzing in with the city cops.

Of course he did. Weve had an internal leak for a while. Six months, maybe more.

Luke ran a hand through his hair. A leak was bad news. He looked up and down the hallway. At the end of the hall, near the water foundations, a small knot of intelligence agents were gathered, murmuring quietly. One of them glanced his way, then covered what he was saying with his hand.

Luke was growing tired. He needed to find his bug-out bag. It was almost time for an eye opener.

Who is it? he said.

Don seemed reluctant to speak. Luke…

Come on, Don. Im a big boy. I can take it.