A/N : Warning, the description of a murder appear in this chapter.
Disclaimer : Yet again I deny that I own Castle and reafirm that ABC are the ones that do.
The Roggenkamp Farm – 5 miles outside Otisville, NY
Arty Roggenkamp grips the steering wheel of his pick-up tightly as his body is jostled from side to side as the driver's side wheel dips into a pothole. He peers into the darkness and into the light cast by his truck's headlights to keep sight of the track back to his house. He's tired, sore and hungry for the dinner his wife Sherrie is sure to have waiting for him.
He's spent the latter half of the day in their top and most distant field repairing several feet of fencing that had been knocked down somehow a few days ago. Manovering those fence posts into the newly dug holes with his part-time hired hand, Russell, is back breaking work. It had taken the pair all afternoon and they only just finished about an hour after sundown. Normally Arty would have stopped when they lost the light but they were almost finished so while he let Russ head home on his trail bike he had stayed the last hour to finish up. Now here he is making his way home in the dark and sure to get an earful from Sherrie for being late for his dinner.
As his truck rounds a clump of trees he immediately notices a light in the distance, standing out in the pitch black surrounds of his land at night. A light where there shouldn't be a light. Arty stops the truck with a sudden jerk as he looks into the distance at the light. It can only be coming from one place, he surmises, the ancient, dilapidated barn that sits at the edge of his land and which neither he nor his family has used for over ten years. The only reason it's still standing is that it isn't on any land that he needs for his crops or livestock so he just lets it sit, abandoned, occasionally salvaging some of its wood for other purposes.
Must be kids, he thinks. Maybe they are the ones that knocked down his fence, driving their trucks onto his property looking for a nice remote place to party. Well not on his land! To catch them out he douses his headlights and starts his truck forward again. Even in the dark he knows the way. It is the land he grew up on after all.
About ten minutes later he stops his truck again and looks at the scene in front of him. Many lights can be seen moving around inside the barn through the numerous gaps in it's woodwork. From his position Arty can see a couple of dark coloured SUVs parked in front of the barn. Typical, rich kids, he thinks as he looks at the near new SUVs. He twists is his seat and lifts the old double barrelled shotgun from the rack behind him. With the gun that was his grandfather's in his hands he gets out of the truck and starts walking towards the barn.
He cracks open the gun and checks that it is loaded as he remembers. Yes, two rock salt rounds. He doesn't want to hurt anyone, just frighten them and maybe give them a sting in the backside as he chases them off. Just so that they know not to trespass on his working land again. He doesn't even think of using the cell phone he left back in the truck to call his wife or the sheriff. He's sure of what he'll find in the barn and that he can handle it.
He hears voices and some loud thuds coming from inside as he approaches the slightly open barn doors. Taking a deep breath he steps forward, through the gap between the doors, into the barn and into the light.
"OK! WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON IN HERE?" he yells at the top of his voice brandishing his gun at those present.
Arty freezes at the sight that greets him in the barn as the words he just shouted echo around the open space. He can't believe what he is seeing. He is so shocked that he doesn't see the black clad figure sidle up to him.
He does register the black gloved hand that suddenly covers his mouth.
He does feel the blade of a knife suddenly at his throat.
There is the sudden loud report of his shotgun firing as his finger tightens around the trigger out of reflex but Arty Roggenkamp is no longer in a state to hear it.
The 12th Precinct the next morning
"So, have you decided who will partnered with whom?" asks Castle as he sits in 'his' chair that he placed himself to the right of Kate's desk in her office.
Kate finishes taking a sip from her blue coffee mug and ponders her husband's question. In the short time since he's been back from London they've developed a little routine in the morning here at work. Upon arriving together they would share their first coffees at work in her office. They would take the time to discuss things related to the working day for finish conversations that started either on their way to work or even back at the loft.
Once they've finished their drinks and conversation Castle would return to 'his' desk, which used to be her desk and she would get started on her day of Captain's duties. She remembers looking on with a knowing smirk as he, Esposito and Ryan engaged in a three way game of roshambo for her old desk. As the two regular detectives had stomped off from her triumphantly grinning husband she'd heard Espo muttering something about coming up with a new game that 'real' cops should be able to win.
Returning back to the present she cradles the warm mug in her hands as she answers Castle's question, "Well, as we are still two members short I thought we'd keep things mostly as they are for now, Espo and Ryan, you and me and I'll put Gibson and Kaminski together until we have the full team. Once we have all hands on deck then I'll re-organise. I want to put one of the new guys each with you, Ryan and Espo so I can get an idea of their capabilities. In fact, overall, I was thinking of keeping things fairly fluid. Most likely changing who gets partnered with whom from case to case. Try to keep people flexible."
"Not to mention when we get more than one case at a time. Then you'll have to split your resources," adds Castle with a knowing look.
"Exactly!" she agrees. "Regardless, Gibson, Kaminski and the yet to join us New Jersey and Fed members of the team are largely unknown quantities so it will take me a little bit to learn their strengths and weaknesses. Changing around the partners, particularly at the beginning, will allow me to observe them and see how they operate. I may settle everyone into regular partnerships eventually but to start with I'm going to rotate everyone."
Castle takes a sip from his, new, white, NYPDA logoed mug before asking, "Any idea when our missing members will be joining us?"
Kate looks up as she accesses her memory, "According to the bureau Special Agent Douglas will be joining by the end of the week. As for New Jersey, Detective Sergeant Kent is actually due today."
At that moment there is a knock on her office door and Ryan sticks his head inside, "Morning, Castles. A Detective Sergeant Kent from our New Jersey brethren is here to see you, Captain."
"Speak of the devil," quips Castle with raised eyebrows.
Kate gives him a small smile before she looks up at the Irish detective and says, "Show him in, Ryan."
As their friend nods and departs Castle looks at her and says, "That's my que. I'll leave you to it."
She gives his a slightly larger smile and watches as he returns her smile, rises from his chair and coffee mug in hand walks from her office. Castle nods and smiles to a tall dark haired man as they pass in her doorway. As the man steps more into her office she almost rolls her eyes as Castle gives her one last look and then an exaggerated look back at the very tall and well muscled man before he finally disappears from her sight.
"Detective Sergeant Kent reporting for duty, Captain," says the man formally as he steps up to Kate's desk and stands there almost at attention.
Kate puts down her mug and takes a moment to study the detective as he stands there looking fixedly not at her eyes but at a point above her head. He exudes tension and discontent and Kate has a pretty good idea what has him so wound up. It's the reason that his start with the taskforce had been so delayed. She'd received a full report of the shooting in the Pine Barrens involving the man in front of her and the deadly consequences for his partner.
"Welcome, Detective Sergeant. Let me start by saying I am sorry about your partner. It's never easy when someone your work closely with every day is killed," says Kate sympathetically.
Kent's fixed stare flickers to meet Kate's eyes briefly before returning to bore into a point above Kate's head.
"Thank you, Captain," responds Kent just as formally as before.
Clasping her hands in front of her Kate fixes her own stare on the tall detective, "I understand that you requested a further delay in taking up your position on the taskforce?" states Kate with a questioning inflection leaving it open for the man to fill in his reasons.
"That's correct, Captain," the New Jersey Detective responds stubbornly.
Kate sighs. She sees that she's going to have to be direct with the man, "Kent, would you like to elaborate on why you requested the delay?"
"Personal reasons, ma'am," says Kent obviously determined to say as little as possible.
Kate shakes her head. Ok, if that's how you want to play this, she thinks, as she asks "Personal reasons like repeated requests to your Captain for the investigation into your partner's death not be closed and that you be allowed to undertake the investigation?"
Kent's eyes look back down at Kates again but he holds her gaze this time as he says assertively, "Yes, those responsible are still out there. I owe it to Jake to find them."
Kate holds the man's gaze as she responds firmly but not without a bit of understanding as she states, "You shot the men who killed your partner but you want to find whoever sent those men out there and who was running those guns. You feel responsible and want to hunt them down and make them pay."
A flash of pain crosses the man's face as he replies a little less firmly, "Yes, Captain."
Kate waves to one of the empty chairs in front of her desk and in gratified to see Kent accept her invitation and sit down.
Leaning forward in her chair and clasping her hands in front of her again she holds Kent eyes as she says, "As your request was rejected and you were told to report here regardless I take it that it is your intention to undertake your own, off the books, investigation into finding those responsible? You may even have thought of using taskforce resources to help you towards that end."
Kent opens his mouth to object but she holds up a hand for him to stop, "Don't bother trying to say that isn't true because we both know that I'm right."
Kate glances through the glass windows of her office to where she can see the reassuring sight of Castle sitting at her old desk before turning her eyes back to those of Kent. In a confidential tone she continues, "Believe me when I say that I fully understand that drive for justice. Particularly when a case with a personal dimension is involved. You feel, rightly or wrongly, responsible for what happened and want to do everything you can to find those responsible and to do it alone. I had a case like that. A very personal case the drove me, changed me. In some ways it made me the cop I am today but ultimately not the person."
Kate glances again out at Castle and this time he must sense her scrutiny as he looks up and gives her a questioning glance in return.
Kate turns back to Kent again, "No, the person I am today is because I realised, eventually and after a lot of pain both physical and emotional, that I couldn't do it alone. That to truly get justice I had to let people in. Trust them to help and trust myself to let them. One person in particular helped me and made me the woman I am today. Alone, you risk a case like that becoming an obsession. Sharing the load with others ensures that doesn't happen."
Kate observes the curiosity that appears on Kent's face at her candid words. He had obviously been expecting a telling off and not a frank and personal admission from his new commanding officer. Then a look or realisation appears as he exclaims, "Your mother's murder!"
Kate nods in acknowledgment, "I see that you did your research before joining the taskforce. Yes, my mother's murder made me want to become a cop but it also sent be down the rabbit hole on more than one occasion. It was only with the help of some good friends and one good man in particular that allowed me to get the justice I had strived so long for and not lose my life in the process. My pursuit of those responsible for my mother's murder was my obsession and I would do anything to bring them down, regardless of who I hurt in the process and how alone it made me. Again, I understand that you feel the same about the loss of your partner."
Kate cocks her head to one side as she pauses and watches as Kent digests her words before she breaks into his contemplation, "That's why I not going to forbid you from pursuing your case. God knows that if I do you'll just investigate anyway. But I do order that you pursue the case on your own time and that you do not allow it to interfere with your duties here on the taskforce. The moment that happens I will shut you down. That said, I will even allow you to use taskforce resources, again, only on your own time and as long as it doesn't impede any ongoing investigations. And if you find something that you think is worth pursuing bring it to me and I promise to give you a fair hearing. You aren't alone, Kent. We're all cops here and if anyone can understand what you are going through it's the people here."
"Uh…thankyou, Captain. That's more than I could have possibly hoped for," responds a very surprised Kent.
"Yes, well, enough said on that topic for now. In regards your duties here, despite Detective Esposito just being made Detective First Class your rank and seniority makes you the senior detective under me and therefor my second in command. As such I will expect you to be and an example to the other members of our team. We have a mixed bag of talent that I'm still getting a feel for, Kent. There is a lot of experience out there but a couple of our team are relatively fresh so I will look to you to help me with their development," Kate tells him, her tone now all business.
"Does that include your husband?" Kent asks her obviously confident after the confidences that Kate has shared.
Kate quirks an eyebrow at the confident tone but also at the hint of teasing in the man's voice which reminds her of a couple of detectives not sitting a hundred miles from where she is, "Oh, you're going to fit in here alright, Kent. No, Ryan and Esposito are Castle's TOs they are responsible for his development, not, in all honesty, that he needs that much. Despite only just being appointed Castle has more case experience than a lot of full time detectives. He is…um…unorthodox sometimes but he is one of the most instinctive and intelligent investigators I have ever seen but if you don't want to see a demonstration of his equally significant ego you will not mention to him that I said that."
Kent bows his head in acceptance, "Of course, Captain."
"Well, I….," Kate is interrupted by the phone on her desk ringing. She picks up the handset and declares down the line, "Captain Beckett-Castle."
It takes a couple of minutes with Kate making some notes on a notepad on her desk. Then she hangs up and indicates with her head for Kent to follow as she rises from her chair and walks out of her office. Standing in the centre of the bullpen she sees Castle rise to his feet and look at her curiously as she stands there with Kent at her back.
"Well, everyone, looks like we have the first official case for this taskforce. There's been a murder upstate and the NYSP and the local sheriff have asked for our assistance. We'll hit the road in five," Kate announces to the room before turning to the nearest desk passing a piece of paper to Esposito, "Espo, call Lanie and tell her to meet us there."
As the rest of the members of her team gather their things in preparation for the journey to the crime scene Castle walks up to her and in a low voice asks, "How'd it go?"
"Better than I thought," she looks over at where Kent is collecting some items from the desk he has obviously appropriated. She and Castle had discussed her selections of new team members and they both had agreed that Kent would have some very significant and familiar baggage when he arrived. "He knows where I stand and what the limits are. I don't think he'll be a problem."
"Good," he gives her an understanding look. "It takes a crusader to know a crusader. Anyway, the taskforce's first case. Discounting my multiple mid-air arrests this should be exciting," Castle rubs his hands together in anticipation.
Kate rolls her eyes at her husband's enthusiasm, "Come on, Castle. The sooner we get there the sooner we see how exciting this case is."
The Roggenkamp Farm
Castle steps out of Kate's cruiser as she and Kent do the same. The three of them have shared a long and mostly silent journey to the crime scene. Kate has a request in with 1PP for more vehicles for the taskforce that they assure her would be fulfilled by the end of the week but at the moment they only had hers and the boy's cars to use. With no spare units available in the 12th's motor pool he, Kate and Kent had travelled in her car and the boys with Gibson and Kaminski in the back had travelled in theirs. He smiles to himself as he recalls Kate's words to the effect that if the promised vehicles didn't turn up on time she would be going down to headquarters herself to shove the request up some pencil pusher's backside.
During their trip he had tried to engage their newest team member with his usual selection of witty banter but after some slightly engaging and polite replies to begin with the conversation had dried up as the New Jersey Detective became more and more reticent. The man had shown promise though as couple of his rejoinders had shown a quick and bright mind. It was just obvious to him as he'd shared a look with Kate as she drove when the conversation finally dried up that the man sitting in the back of the car, understandably, still had a lot on his mind.
The three of them are snapping on blue crime scene gloves as the rest of the team, Ryan, Espo, Gibson and Kaminski join them after alighting from the boys red Charger. Once everyone has their gloves on he watches as Kate indicates with her head for the team to follow and he is quick to put himself at her side and match her long stride as they walk towards the wide open barn door. They pass a beat up old pick up next to local sheriff's and a couple of NYSP cruisers that are parked at the barn's entrance and Caste nods pleasantly to the NYSP trooper that is standing post there.
Upon entering the large open space his eyes are immediately drawn to the scene on barn floor in front of them that is being illuminated by a couple of bright portable lights on stands nearby and which a NYSP CSU tech is taking photos of. He hears an audible gasp from Investigator Gibson who has sidled up to where Kate and he are standing and he can understand the young woman's shock.
On the floor in front of them is the body of a middle aged, grey haired man wearing a red plaid shirt, faded and dirty blue jeans and brown work boots. The man is lying on his side and a large pool of blood soaks the ground around the body. What makes it particularly shocking is that from where he is standing Castle can see that his shirt is open and his torso is a bloody mess as he has been cut open from throat to navel to expose the gruesome sight of his innards. On top of that the body is resting in the centre of a pentagram that has been carved into dirt floor of the barn.
Castle himself is unnerved by the grisly sight in front of him but further contemplation is interrupted by the approach of two people in uniform. One is a middle aged man in a tan sheriff's uniform while the other is a familiar woman in an NYSP Lieutenant's uniform.
"Lieutenant Collins, it's good to see you again. It's just unfortunate for it to be under such circumstances," Kate says in greeting to the woman that they last saw at a barn not too dissimilar to this this one.
"It's good to see you and your team as well, Captain. When I saw the scene I immediately thought of you and your taskforce," greets the olive skinned NYSP officer. She turns to the man next to her, "Sheriff Hogan this is Captain Beckett-Castle and the Special Investigations Taskforce they are the ones best suited to find out what happened to Mr Roggenkamp."
Sheriff Hogan steps forward to shake Kate's hand, "I'm glad you and your people are here, Captain. My people don't have the expertise for something like this. We wouldn't be able to give Arty's widow the justice she deserves and find those responsible."
"It's why the taskforce was created, Sheriff," Kate replies pleasantly as they release hands. In a more serious tone she asks, "What can you tell me about what happened here?"
The sheriff turns briefly to look at the body behind him before turning back to the group of detectives, "The victim's name is Arthur 'Arty' Roggenkamp this is his land and his barn. At about 11pm last night we received a call from his wife, Sherrie. She was worried as her husband hadn't returned home for dinner without any word from him which was very out of character. He had been working for most of the day in a remote field and wasn't answering his cell phone. A car with a couple of deputies visited Mrs Roggenkamp and upon determining where her husband would have gone backtracked his route. At about 12:30am they spotted his truck outside and then this when they looked inside the barn."
"Was his wife the last one to see him alive, Sheriff?" asks Ryan who is standing on the other side of Kate.
"No, according to Sherrie a part-time farm hand, Russell Baker, was working with Arty that afternoon fixing some fences. He lives in town and a couple of my deputies have brought him into our station for questioning but Russ has known the Roggenkamps most of his life. They have him over for dinner all the time and as he doesn't have any family left himself he even spends the holidays with them so I don't see him doing something as terrible as this," responds Sheriff Hogan.
"Well, we still have to eliminate him as a suspect, Sherriff, so we'll need to speak to him," says Kate to the older man. She then addresses her team, "Espo, Kent, I want you to go with the Sheriff and speak to the deputies that found the body see what they can tell you then go the Sheriff's station and interview Baker. Ryan, Kaminski, go check out the vic's pick-up and then get some troopers and deputies and do a walk-around of the barn. This place is too isolated so whoever did this drove so look for tyre tracks, oil patches anything to try and identify the vehicle used. Sheriff, is Mrs Roggenkamp at her home?"
The man takes off this cream coloured Stetson and scratches his head, "Uh, no. I had one of my deputies with her and she heard on her radio that her husband was here so she gave her the slip and turned up here in their other car. We were able to stop her from seeing his body but she's pretty broken up, as you'd expect. She's sitting in my car outside, I was just about to take her back to her house."
"Ok, Gibson, you come with me and we'll talk to Mrs Roggenkamp. Castle you stay here and do a visual search of the interior and see if you can pick anything up relevant. When Lanie gets here give her a hand," instructs Kate.
"Did I hear someone using my name in vain," comes the distinctive and sassy voice of Lanie at that moment from the doorway behind them and they all turn to see her standing there in dark blue coveralls and carrying a large black equipment case.
"Hey, Lane. Got a creepy one for you," Kate says to the ME in as pleasant a tone as the situation allows.
Castle watches as Lanie's eyebrows rise as she get a full view of the body on the floor, "Oh, yeah, you aren't kiddin', sweetie. Ok, Auxiliary Detective, help me with my stuff but don't step near the body unless I tell you."
Castle bites down on a line about handling Lanie's stuff as he goes over to take the surprisingly heavy case from the ME. As he does that, at a look from Kate, everyone else disperses to start the tasks assigned to them by her.
A few minutes later Lanie is on her knees next to the body and Caste is slowing walking around the body looking at the ground. Seeing something near the doorway he crouches down, presses a gloved finger into the dirt, brings the finger up to his lips and tastes. Hmmm, he thinks, salt and gunpowder.
He looks up at a nearby male CSU tech who is doing his own walk around and Castle points at the patch of ground he just tasted, "You might want to mark and take a sample for analysis. Did the victim have a shotgun with him?"
As the man approaches he looks surprised that Castle would know that, "Yeah," the man points to a yellow plastic triangle with the number five on it a few feet away. "It was on the ground over there. One chamber had been fired."
"Hmm, loaded with rock salt. Looks like he got off a shot before he was killed but didn't hit anyone so he was probably surprised," muses Castle as he stands and leaves the tech to his work.
He then stands back looking thoughtfully at the tableau in front of him. There is something about the positioning of he body that is familiar but also feels wrong to him. Inspiration striking he pulls out his cell phone and starts tapping at the screen.
Lanie looks up at him from where she is on the ground and in exasperation, "Castle, you better not be playing Angry Birds when you're supposed to be working."
"Nooo, I'm just looking up a website. There is something about the way the body's been arranged that seems off to me," counters Castle.
"Looks like a typical occult ritual to me," says an unfamiliar female voice at Castle's elbow.
Jumping at the unexpected voice right next to him Castle turns to find a dirty blond haired woman in a black pants suit and an FBI badge on her hip standing next to him. She has her hands on her hips and is looking at the crime scene critically.
Quickly getting over his surprise Castle asks the woman, "And you are?"
The woman steps closer to the body to look closer at it and responds over her shoulder, "Special Agent Alice Douglas, I'm the bureau's liaison to the taskforce. You're Richard Castle I take it. So from what I see here the vic interrupted some weirdos doing some freaky satanic stuff and they used him as their human sacrifice. All pretty obvious to me. I would of thought even a part time detective would be able to figure it out."
"Ah, actually that's not what happened but that's what we're supposed to think," counters Castle. The woman in front of him is sounding a little too arrogant and sure of herself for his liking so he wants to put her in her place.
Lanie is largely ignoring them and continuing to work on the body and at that moment Kate's voice comes from behind him, "What do you mean, Castle, and who's this?"
He turns to see Kate stepping into the barn looking at him and the FBI agent quizzically.
"Ah, Captain Beckett-Castle, let me introduce you to Special Agent Alice Douglas of the FBI and the final member of the team. Agent Douglas this is Captain Katherine Beckett-Castle the leader of our merry band and my wife," introduces Castle.
"Agent Douglas, I thought you were due at the end of the week?" Kate asks as she steps up to the woman who turns to face her.
"I got into New York a few days early. When I got to your precinct an Officer Tolliver told me that the taskforce had been called to a case and your tech analyst, Ms Ellis, gave me the location," Agent Douglas tells her.
"Ok, but I would have appreciated it if you could have reported to me first before entering the crime scene," Kate tells her fixing her with a stern look that Castle is sure she learnt from Gates. Kate then turns back to him, "Again, Castle, what did you mean when you said we were supposed to think this was some kind of occult ritual? Do you think it was staged?"
Castle nods enthusiastically, "As you well know for one of my early if lesser works, 'Hell Hath No Fury,' I undertook quite a bit of research into the occult. I just did a search on a website on the subject just to verify what I remember. The body has been staged to look like it's part of some satanic ritual. The pentagram, the disembowelling but the positioning of the body is wrong. In the very few sacrifice rituals that have been documented the body is always splayed out in either the shape of a cross, sometimes inverted, or in the shape of a star. Never has a sacrifice just been left on it's side like that."
"That doesn't necessarily mean anything. These could be wannabes that got some of the details wrong," rebuts Douglas a little forcefully obviously put out that her theory has been so readily challenged.
Kate takes another step forward to get her another look at the body, "What can you tell me, Lanie?"
"Well, liver temp puts the time of death between 8 and 10pm last night. From what I can see here the cause of death was a single knife cut across the neck severing the artery. The mutilation to the torso happened post mortem. As to whether this was part of some freaky devil worship ritual I leave that kind of thing to you and your husband. Though I will say if Castle is the one discounting the weird theory then you might want to take notice of him because how often, if ever, does that happen?" says Lanie giving Kate an ironic look.
Kate almost gives laugh at that and shares a look with Caste before turning to Douglas, "At this stage we can't discount anything so why don't you find me some information or look for evidence that supports your theory, Agent Douglas."
The woman looks between the couple then, as she moves off to comply, she says, "Yes, Captain."
As they watch the FBI agent dig out a cell phone from her jacket, place a call and walk away Castle addresses Kate, "Boy! Jordan wasn't wrong in her email when she said that Agent Douglas was a little too sure of herself."
"Yeah, well, we have to work with her and while I think you are right I wasn't lying. We still have to consider everything," Kate turns to look at him. "So if this wasn't a human sacrifice then what was it, Castle?"
Castle shrugs his shoulders and then looks down soberly at the body that Lanie has resumed examining, "I'm not one hundred percent sure yet but they found a discharged shotgun near the door and I found rock salt and gunpowder residue not far away. I'd say Arty here walked in and was surprised in the doorway and had his throat cut there. I bet if CSU test the ground near the entrance they'll find traces of blood spray there that has been mixed into the dirt to try and hide it. That doesn't tell the story of a satanic ritual. If that was the case he would have been killed in the pentagram and there would be blood spray around the body not just pooling as it is."
Castle looks back up into the hazel eyes of Kate and says more assuredly, "No, my theory is that he came in, saw something he shouldn't have and that is what got him killed."
A/N : So here we have the first case of the taskforcea and everyone is on board. As for Kate's talk to Kent, I won't deny what is hapening in the begining of Season 8 influenced me but I did have this scene in mind when I came up with Kent's backstory and that was before the season started. Current events just give that scene a little more significance and contiues to show how AU my story is.
Sorry for not replying to everyone's reviews. I am currently on a trip and I concentrated on getting this chapter out. I will endeavor to reply to everyone in due course. Thanks again to you all for reading.