The disheveled agent who had shared the interrogation room with Tomaszewski comes into Kamran’s cell, bringing his a chair in with him. He assures the guard that handcuffs won't be necessary, and then introduces himself to Kamran as CIA analyst Mickey Hagan. He asks Kamran if he can tell him a story, which he hopes will help illuminate some of Kamran's own struggles.

Mickey Hagan tells the story of his upbringing in Northern Ireland, explaining “The Troubles” to Kamran, who knows nothing about them. As a Catholic, Hagan and his brother, Conor, were persecuted by Protestants, and looked at as violent terrorists. He explains, “If you were a Catholic, the Protestants always looked at you like you had a bomb under your coat. But maybe you know what that feels like already” (70). Hagan then tells Kamran that he and his family moved to Galway, in the Republic of Ireland, where Hagan got good grades and joined the military, hoping to go into intelligence. He explains that his brother, Conor, continued to get into trouble, becoming something of a zealot for Irish reunification. Hagan defended his brother, because he believed he couldn't do any harm: “Conor wasn't truly guilty. He couldn't be.