FRIENDS IN SMALL PLACES


	"You know what the worst thing about being tied up is?" Parity
asked.  She scrunched her face a few times, closing her eyes and 
furrowing her brow, the latter being hidden behind her mask.
	Doug Greene looked at her and thought about it for a second.  
She was sitting perpendicular to him in a small closet, where they had 
both been locked several minutes before.  Parity had her arms bound 
behind her back with several loops of duct tape.  Her ankles had been 
likewise bound, and she had them pulled up beside her.  Looking at 
her, even in the dim light of the closet, even with several Fifth 
Column terrorists just beyond the door, he could think of a few of the 
best things about her being tied up, but the worst evaded him.
	"No, what is it?" he asked.
	"My nose always itches," she admitted.  "I can go weeks 
without thinking about my nose, but the second I can't scratch it: 
itch, itch, itch."  She shifted her knees, and tucked them against her 
chest.  Slowly, with exact movements, Parity rubbed her nose against 
her knees.  "That's better," she mused.
	"I'll have to remember that," Doug commented.
	Doug wracked his brain for a reply, something witty would be 
appropriate.  Nothing came, though.  Parity was taking the whole thing 
pretty well, as if this were an everyday thing.  Show up at a library 
to help with a book drive, get attacked by terrorists, and then get 
locked in a room with some rookie hero who tried to help, even though 
his armor was at home.  There really wasn't much to say.
	"Thanks for the assist out there, I'm sorry you got thrown in 
here," Parity apologized.
	The assist.  Doug inwardly shuddered at the very idea anything 
he had done was helpful.
	When the Fifth Column goons had piled in, Parity quickly took 
action.  She worked her way through several, when the boss of their 
group had the idea of taking a hostage.  As he moved toward a group of 
kids, Doug had thrown himself on the boss.  Ultimately, the kids had 
been spared being used as a human shield, but in the process, Doug 
ended up as the human shield.
	"Not much of an assist," he sighed.  He lowered his head.  
"You had everything under control, and I messed you up.  I should 
apologize to you for being in here."
	Parity shook her head.  "Hey, the kids got out, and none of 
them had a gun put up to their temple."  Doug looked back up in time 
to see Parity offer him a friendly grin.  "That's an assist in my 
book..."  She paused.  "I don't think we've been introduced," she 
said.  "I'm Parity."
	"Doug Greene," he said.  He thought about giving his superhero 
codename, but decided against it.  It was bad enough that Doug had 
been a part of their capture, there was no need to tell her that 
Utilitarian had been the one to drop the ball.
	"Nice to meet you, Doug," she replied.  "I'd offer to shake 
your hand, but--"
	"You're a little tied up?" he interjected.
	Parity laughed.  "Exactly."
	Doug chuckled alongside her.  She was amazing, he decided.  
Undaunted by everything that happened, Parity was able to laugh and 
joke.  He could barely think straight after everything, and she was 
cracking jokes.
	"So," he asked, "how often do you get tied up?"  He felt his 
face blush before the question was out, but years of asking stupid, 
technical questions kept him going.  "I ask because you said the worst 
thing was your nose, it sounds like you've had time to think about 
it."  By the end of that statement, his face was burning red.
	Parity snickered, and snorted ever so slightly.  "Let's just 
say," she answered slowly, "it's more than I'd like."  Doug nodded.  
"In my defense, though," she added, "I'm pretty good at getting out by 
myself."  Doug nodded again.  "The plan was to come in today, try to 
get a little publicity for the book drive, and get back to work; I 
left my usual, emergency stash escape artist tools at home."
	"You're an escape artist?"
	Parity shook her head.  "No, nothing like that, but you'd be 
surprised how handy a razor blade hidden in your boot or a hairpin can 
be."
	Doug nodded.  She had a point.  A razor blade hidden in her 
boot would do the trick.  They could cut free and escape in no time.  
It wouldn't even have to be a sharp razor blade.  With duct tape, all 
Parity would need to rip through it, would be something to tear the 
tape a bit.  That wouldn't need to be extremely sharp, just rough.  A 
nail or keys would do the job.
	"Keys!" Doug said suddenly.
	"Pardon?" Parity asked.
	"I keep my keys in my pocket," he explained.  He shifted a 
bit, trying to edge away from the wall to give his hands a bit more 
freedom.  "If I can reach them in my pocket--"
	"Maybe we can cut free," Parity finished.  She shifted, 
inching closer to Doug's side.  "May I?" she asked.  Her arms reached 
around from her back, and though her wrists were bound together, she 
had a better angle than Doug to get to his left, hip pocket.
	Doug nodded, "Sure."
	It didn't take long for Parity's long fingers to snag the keys 
from Doug's pocket, which was a good thing.  Just as she pulled them 
out of his pocket, the closet door began to rattle.  Parity and Doug 
slid back into their original positions, hoping that whoever opened 
the door had not heard their conspiring.
	The person on the other side of the door was a Fifth Column 
minion.  He didn't say anything as he entered.  The minion simply 
stepped inside, pulled out a knife, and moved toward Doug.  Neither 
captive had time to react before they realized the minion was cutting 
Doug's ankle bindings loose.  Once his knife was put away, the minion 
hauled Doug to his feet.
	"Where are you taking him?" Parity demanded.
	The Fifth Column boss stepped into view, taking up most of the 
door way, after the minion had carried Doug away.  "We intend to show 
the heroes and police of Paragon City what will happen to the rest of 
our more docile hostages if our demands are not met."  He stepped back 
and prepared to shut the door. "Should your ally's sacrifice be 
insufficient, you will be next."  Parity could only watch helplessly 
as the door slammed shut.
	"Dammit," she growled.  She immediately began fumbling with 
Doug's keys.  It took precious seconds, but she finally had a single 
key between her thumb and forefinger.  She started sawing on the edge 
of the tape.  If the Fifth Columnist held to their usual pattern, he'd 
first have to give a spiel about their moral superiority.  With any 
luck, and she silently preyed she was lucky, she'd have time to save 
Doug.
	She felt the edge of the tape snag and tear.  Parity flexed 
her wrists, which was all it took to continue what the key started.  
In no time her arms were loose, and her ankles followed suit very 
quickly.  She was almost free; all that stood in her way was the door. 
That was no problem at all.
	With one swift kick, the door flew open.  A nearby Fifth 
Columnist turned to see what was happening.  Before he could sound any 
alarm, Parity was on top of him.  Three direct punches was all she 
needed to render the guard unconscious before continuing her search 
for Doug and the Fifth Column boss.
	Parity heard the boss's giving his spiel before she saw him.  
As she peaked around the corner, she saw that he'd forced Doug down on 
his knees.  The Fifth Column boss stood behind him, holding a pistol 
mere inches from Doug's head.  For his part, Doug was being brave.  
His gaze was steely focused on the floor, not showing an ounce of 
fear.
	"If our demands are not met within the hour, this will be the 
first of much blood, you heroes of Paragon, will have on your hands," 
the boss spoke.  Parity could see he was holding a cell phone, no 
doubt speaking with a negotiator.  He closed the phone, and handed it 
off to a nearby minion.  "Goodbye, Mister Greene."
	"NO!" Parity shouted.  She lunged forward into the main room, 
directly at the boss.  Her cry had its desired affect: the boss looked 
away from Doug, moving his arm to aim at the intruding hero.  Parity 
did not give him the chance.  She continued forward, and used her 
momentum to land a devastating blow against the boss's jaw.  She 
followed up with a punch to his stomach, and then a two-fisted punch 
to his head.
	With the boss finished, the rest of the minions fell rather 
easily.  When several other heroes arrived, free to act once they saw 
the terrorists were distracted from the hostages; the entire crisis 
was put to rest.  With hostages freed and police on the scene to take 
statements, most of the heroes departed as quickly as they arrived.
	"These are yours," Parity told Doug.  He was sitting just 
outside of the library, on a stone bench.  As he looked up, Parity 
dangled his keys from her hand.  "Thought you might want them back."
	"Yeah," he said.  He accept the keys from her.  "I do."
	The two remained silent for a moment before Parity spoke.  
"Will you be okay?" she asked.
	Doug nodded.  "Oh, sure, I've lived through worse.  I just 
need to sort it all out," he explained.  With no warning, he stood up 
from the bench.  He looked at Parity for a moment, the opened his 
mouth to speak.  "I wanted to say," he began, "just, that I know what 
the best part about being tied up and locked in a closet is."
	Parity raised an eyebrow, smirking somewhere between curious 
and dubious.  "Oh yeah?" she asked.  "What's that?"
	"It's better than being held at gunpoint," he answered with a 
grin.
	Parity grinned and shook her head, giving Doug a friendly 
punch to the shoulder.  "You think?"
	Doug nodded.  "I speak from experience," he replied.
	"How much experience is that?" she asked jovially.
	"Let's just say," he replied, "it's more than I'd like."