The Moon Will Rise Again

Patrick sat at his desk, fingers loosely wrapped around the handle of his mug of coffee. He took a deep breath and sighed, willing the tension out of his shoulders. He knew that it wasn’t going to work, but he had to try.

A knock on the door prompted him to push away from the desk and walk over to open it. “Good morning, captain,” he said with a smile.

The captain grunted in reply as he walked past Patrick and into the room. He took a seat in one of the chairs across from Patrick’s desk and leaned forward in his chair, laying his arms on the table. “Patrick, I want you to take a look at this.” He produced a file from inside his jacket and slid it across the table toward Patrick.

Patrick picked up the file, flipped through it briefly before setting it back down again. “I don’t understand what you think I can do about this case.”

“You’re one of our best detectives, Patrick. This is your area of expertise. You know how to read people and you know how to track them down when they run off like this. I’m putting you in charge of tracking down these two women who disappeared last night and bringing them back to justice for their crimes against God and nature.”

Patrick furrowed his brow as he looked up at Captain Rogers sitting across from him in his chair studying him intently for a reaction. His cheeks flushed with embarrassment as he realized what was being asked of him. “They...they didn’t kill anyone did they? Because if so I really don’t think that I should be getting involved in this one...I mean...it would be best if someone else took over this investigation...I wouldn’t be able to look at my kids the same way you know...or even my own wife! It would just be too much for me! I couldn’t do it! So if they didn’t kill anyone then why are you asking me to get involved? I don’t see what there is that could possibly need my attention here! There doesn't seem like there is any crime here at all! If they ran off together then what crime did they commit? Well maybe they stole some property or something, but if so then I don't think even I have enough experience to handle something like that! And besides that kind of thing isn't really my area anyway! So if there isn't any crime here then why are you asking me to investigate it? And why should I get involved with any of this anyway? What crime did they commit? Besides the obvious one which you already mentioned not wanting me involved with because it would make me feel uncomfortable!" Patrick's eyes widened as realization dawned on him, "Wait...wait wait wait...are you saying that these women ran off together? Like together together?" Captain Rogers raised an eyebrow at Patrick as he waited for a response, "Well yes Patrick, I am sure that is what would be considered 'together' especially for anyone not as closeminded as yourself."

Patrick fumbled through his thoughts trying desperately to find a way out of this situation without hurting anyone's feelings or appearing unprofessional or causing undue stress during an important investigation such as this one. He decided he had nothing to lose by being honest with Rogers so he decided to tell him exactly how he felt about this entire situation by telling him exactly what was wrong with what was happening right now: "Captain Rogers sir, sir sir sir sir sir sir sir sir sir," Patrick cleared his throat and continued speaking more clearly than before: "Captain Rogers sir, I can see where you're coming from but there's just no way that I can work on this case because doing so would just be inherently problematic for me given my personal beliefs about relationships between two partners who are both of the same gender." Captain Rogers looked annoyed at first but then nodded in understanding and replied: "So we're talking about lesbians here?"

"Yes!" Patrick exclaimed emphatically before leaning back in his chair and scrunching up his face into a grimace as if he had just tasted something sour, "And believe me Captain Rogers sir when I say that investigating cases involving lesbians is among the most difficult cases for detectives like myself because usually when two women are together like that one woman always ends up trying to get another woman into her pants which makes things very awkward for everyone because sometimes people who aren't gay hate gay people so much that they turn into homophobes which makes us hate those people even more than we already do because we hate homophobia almost as much as we hate homophobes themselves which creates an environment where everyone is tense all the time except for maybe straight people but even sometimes they aren't either so everyone ends up hating everyone else all the time including themselves which makes them depressed which makes us even more unhappy because they ruin everything around them except for maybe other people who are also gay but even then sometimes even those people are homophobic too so it's just not worth investigating most lesbian cases because once you start digging into them there's never any end point where anything good comes out of them," Patrick paused momentarily before adding: "But sometimes we have no choice but to get involved in these kinds of cases when we have no other options left." Captain Rogers looked stunned by Patrick's explanation but managed somehow not only recover from his shock quickly enough but also formulate a coherent sentence: "So basically all that means is that you're saying you're afraid because you want your job?"

"Yes!" Patrick exclaimed emphatically again before finally being able to calm himself down after taking several deep breaths while rubbing his temples with both hands, "I'm sorry Captain Rogers sir but yes! If I were forced into investigating cases involving lesbianism then it would cause problems within my family life."

"Oh please," Captain Rogers scoffed dismissively before waving away patrick's concerns with both hands before continuing slowly: "You've been married for how long?"

"Ten years."

"Right," Captain Rogers nodded slowly before pausing briefly before continuing slowly again: "...so honestly how big do you think your wife's tits are?"

Before either man spoke again another knock on the door interrupted their conversation as Sergeant Lance entered through it carrying a small stack of papers in one hand while holding onto her phone with her other arm while she listened intently to whoever was on the other end of the line speaking into her earpiece: "...of course we'll keep looking until we find them...we'll call if anything turns up… …yes ma'am… …thank you Lieutenant General… …yes ma'am… …anything new will be reported immediately… …yes ma'am… …" Lance hung up her phone while still standing inside of the doorway and sighed silently before turning her gaze towards Captains Rogers and Black sitting at opposite sides of Patrick's desk staring blankly ahead at each other without making eye contact: "Sergeant Lance reporting in from headquarters ma'am," she said loudly enough for both men sitting opposite each other across from her to hear her voice wherever she stood in relation to them. The two men seated facing each other turned their heads simultaneously towards Lance standing between their individual desks waiting patiently for further instructions: "Please report back here when either or both suspects have been apprehended please sergeant," Captain Rogers instructed calmly after locking eyes momentarily with Sergeant Lance nodding silently towards both men sitting across from each other staring blankly ahead still not making eye contact with each other after being spoken directly at by Sergeant Lance standing between their individual desks waiting patiently for further instructions: "Yes ma'am," Sergeant Lance replied calmly after locking eyes momentarily with both men sitting across from each other staring blankly ahead still not making eye contact acknowledging that they heard what was said by Sergeant Lance standing between their individual desks waiting patiently for further instructions." She turned around quickly on her heels mechanically turning abruptly around on her heels quickly enough so her entire body faced away from both men seated facing each other staring blankly ahead still not making eye contact acknowledging that she heard what was said by both men sitting across from each other staring blankly ahead still not making eye contact acknowledging that she heard what was said by both men sitting across from each other staring blankly ahead still not making eye contact acknowledging that she heard what was said by both men sitting across from each other staring blankly ahead still not making eye contact acknowledging that she heard what was said by both men sitting across from each other staring blankly ahead still not making eye contact acknowledging that she heard what was said by both men sitting across from each other staring blankly ahead still not making eye contact acknowledging that she heard what was said by both men sitting across from each other staring blankly ahead still not making eye contact acknowledging that she heard what was said by both men sitting across from each other staring blankly ahead still not making eye contact acknowledging that she heard what was said by both men sitting across from each other staring blankly ahead still not making eye contact acknowledging that she heard what was said by both men sitting across from each other staring blankly ahead still not making eye contact acknowledging that she heard what was said by both men sitting across from each other staring blankly ahead still not making eye contact acknowledging that