WHO: Cordelia Chase, Kathy McAvera, Nathan Petrelli, Peter Petrelli, and various NPC government official types. WHAT: Checking on the citizenship status of a certain little Irish girl... WHEN: A few hours after this. WHERE: Lobby of the Hyperion RATING: TBD STATUS: In Progress
Cordelia gave Kathy a brilliant smile as she finished the latest set of movements she'd just learned. "You're doing great," she assured the girl. "You still need to make sure not to rush through things. Remember, the point of Tai Chi is to relax and take your time. Let the energy flow through you. Don't force it." Her smile widened. "But all of that crap aside, you really are doing great honey."
She was going to say more, was about to take her place back beside the girl to show her another type of movement that they'd yet to cover, when she heard her cellphone beep. "Just one second," she stated and moved across the room to the table. Picking up her phone, she glanced down at the text message she'd received and frowned a bit.
"Okay," she announced after a second, glancing back to Kathy, "looks like we need to take a break. We have a visitor in the lobby." She knew it was a visitor, too, because of the significant lack of alarms. That meant whoever it was - potential client, random stranger, whoever - they weren't there with the intention of causing any harm.
"Want to come with?" she asked as she slipped her shoes back onto her feet and began re-doing her hair into a less messy version of the ponytail it had just been in. "Or you can sit down here and keep on working on your sets." Really, either was fine with her, so long as Kathy was able to do what she wanted.
Maybe not the best way to raise a child, but Kathy had been through enough that Cordelia thought she rather deserved the chance to make a few decisions on her own once in a while. In a controlled environment, of course.
Moving toward the stairs, she began climbing them and let Kathy choose whether to follow or stay behind. As she reached the top of the stairs and saw the two uniformed officers standing there (along with two other people that she didn't recognize either), though, she found herself wishing she'd told the girl to stay out of sight. This... didn't look good. When police were standing in the lobby of the hotel, it usually wasn't good, either.
"Um, hi. Can I help you?" she questioned evenly as she stepped out of the doorway.
"We've received notice, Miss..." The woman who was speaking trailed off and Cordelia mentally rolled her eyes. Yeah, because just asking for my name is a tough one.
"Chase," she offered. "Cordelia Chase. Now - and no offense, really, but - who are you and what are you doing here."
The woman sniffed in disdain. "I'm Barbara Tyler, from the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, and as I was saying Miss Chase, we've received notice that a young girl by the name of Katherine McAvera is residing within this establishment. Is that correct?"
Cordelia felt her stomach tighten sharply, but kept her expression neutral. "Why do you want to know?" she replied out loud in a calm, collected tone. Hearing a sound behind her and knowing it to be Kathy, Cordelia instinctively stepped in front of the girl... although not before one of the officers had spotted her.
"Ma'am, please step away from the girl," he spoke up instantly, but Cordelia pointedly ignored him and kept her attention on the other woman.
"I asked you a question," she pointed out. "Why do you want to know if we have someone here by that name?"
"Ma'am, I won't ask you again. Step away from the girl," the officer stated. Immediately following his words, Barbara Tyler answered, "We've received information that she is not a citizen of this country, Miss Chase. I'm sure I needn't tell you that harboring an illegal immigrant is a very serious offense."
Cordelia opened her mouth to say something else, trying her best to stall, but was stopped short by the officer finally deciding to take some action. Which resulted in her one minute standing between Kathy and these strangers, and the next she being face-first on the ground with her arms behind her back, and a sense of panic filling her that made her have to physically bite her tongue to keep from screaming at the unwanted physical contact.
Instead, though, she screamed out inside of her mind in a voice that was filled with panic and anger all wrapped up into one.
PETER! GET TO THE LOBBY NOW! AND BRING NATHAN! THEY'RE TRYING TO TAKE KATHY!
Hauled roughly to her feet, Cordelia turned her attention immediately to Kathy and said, "Just hang on, honey. Peter's on his way." Not that Cordelia expected Peter to be able to fix this... but she was hoping against hope that somehow, some way, Nathan could.