"Man, I don't BELIEVE this!" Ray Kowalski exclaimed as he threw his
newspaper down on his desk and headed for the men's washroom. Concerned,
his partner, Fraser, followed him. 

Fraser found Ray washing his face in the sink. "What's wrong, Ray?" he
asked. 

Ray dried his face on a paper towel. "Some wingnuts who call themselves
religious leaders are saying that the September 11 attacks are the fault
of feminists, civil libertarians, pagans and gay people. Can you believe
that? I mean, I didn't see any feminists or gay people piloting those
planes." 

"No, I don't believe they did," Fraser agreed.

"For fuck's sake, in the countries where those terrorists came from, you
can be *executed* for being gay! They chop your head off, or drop a brick
wall on you. People should be proud that we're not like that in this
country." 

"Perhaps that's the point, Ray."

"Huh?"

"Perhaps those religious wingnuts, as you call them, are correct."

Ray glared at his partner. "What exactly are you talking about, Fraser?"

"Well, in the United States people have the freedom to express their
sexuality, their political beliefs and their religion more or less openly.
Gay people, for example, are becoming more accepted in society all the
time. That's bound to anger people from more repressive countries who
think that the our way of life is sinful. So perhaps that is part of what
inspired those terrorists to attack. They don't like our lifestyle, our
freedoms." 

"It still pisses me off, though, that these so-called Christian people
would say things like that,"  Ray muttered, clenching his fists and
turning toward the wall. 

Fraser's hand closed on his. "Don't hit the wall, Ray," he said. "Remember
what happened last time." 

Ray turned so that he was facing Fraser, the Mountie's hand still holding
his. He stepped forward so that their faces were scant millimetres apart.
"Hey, Fraser," he said. "I just had a great idea." 

"And what would that be?" the Canadian asked.

"How to piss off both those right-wing nuts as well as the terrorists," he
said. 

"How is that?" 

The detective wrapped his arms around his partner's neck and kissed him.
Benton was surprised for a moment, then he returned the kiss. The two men
stayed like that for several minutes. 

When they finally broke apart, Ray gasped, "So, do you think we might go
express our sexual freedom in my apartment? Maybe piss off some terrorists
while we're at it?" 

Fraser smiled his agreement. "That sounds like an excellent idea," he
said, following his partner to the door. 

END