Page 25 of Rookie Rules

"My patience."

"Was I issued some? Equipment missed it."

Finn lowered himself into the chair beside Luca with the care of a man settling in for live entertainment. "Travel rule one: don't make Cap recount."

"There are rules already?"

"There are always rules."

Across the aisle, Rowan returned to the itinerary on his phone. "Boarding in twelve minutes."

The airport windows had gone gray with rain. Beyond them, ground crews moved in reflective jackets through water that ran silver across the tarmac. The Wolves occupied three rows of gate seating with the practiced sprawl of men who carried too much gear and knew exactly how long boarding took.

Nolan read on a tablet. Gabriel wore headphones and watched nothing Luca could identify. Eli had bought two kinds of trail mix and was comparing the ingredient lists. Jace tried to trade him a packet of gummy candy for the one with more chocolate.

"No," Eli said. "Yours has no strategic value."

"That's hurtful."

"You offered sugar shaped like bears."

Finn leaned toward Luca. "Travel rule two: never engage Eli in resource allocation."

Luca looked at Rowan. "Does he have these written down?"

"Rowan has everything written down."

Rowan did not look up. "Mercer."

"See? He knows when I'm helping."

The gate agent announced a weather hold.

A collective sound moved through the team, not quite a groan. Phones came out. Bodies rearranged. The veterans settled deeper; the younger players checked the departure screen as if attention could change it.

Rowan stood and went to speak with the team operations coordinator.

Luca watched him listen, ask two questions, and scan the windows. No wasted irritation. No performance of authority. Just the immediate construction of a new plan.

He had seen Rowan do the same thing with a broken entry on video. Identify the damaged shape. Add support. Make everyone choose together.

"You're staring," Finn said.

"I'm studying leadership."

"Is that what we're calling it?"

Luca turned. Finn's expression held only mild amusement, the kind he seemed to direct at most of the world.

"I'm being mentored," Luca said.

"Very diligently."

The first twenty minutes belonged to individual habits. Nolan read. Gabriel disappeared farther into his headphones. Mateo paced to the window every time the departure board refreshed, as if the weather might become embarrassed under observation.

Then the team began to gather itself.

A deck of cards appeared on the floor between four seats. Jace convinced Eli to join and regretted it when Eli asked for the rules twice, then won three hands without expression. Finn distributed protein bars from a bag he claimed not to own. One of the equipment staff crossed the gate area counting tagged cases, and Rowan rose to help without being asked.