For several days the crowds continued outside the Registration building. Faces changed constantly as the general fear of mutants warred with natural curiosity. For a good part of the first day, when most of those registered were peaceful and/or timid mutants, the majority of the onlookers simply watched, and gossip was the worst of the weapons they came armed with. But with the arrival of those forcefully brought in, the hostility of the crowds rose. Words did more than sting, and physical weapons began appearing. After two days, the Riot Squad was called in to assist in keeping the humans back. Perhaps the Stalkers would have been more effective, but their goal was mutant-oriented; they were needed to keep the mutants in line, a rather difficult task until the restraining bracelets were locked on. Still, even though they were there to handle mutants only, the human crowd instinctively kept their distance from the the creature-like robots, instead hurling insults and trash. The current objects of revile were a trio of young girls, one of them feline in appearance, who were obviously making life difficult for both police and Stalkers.

Ringing the edge of the threatening mob were many other people, hovering indecisively between active involvement and passive observing. Among them was one figure, upper body and head covered by a baggy hoodie, several sizes too big for the slim figure underneath. The hood hid face and eyes from view; only a few stray strands of black hair stuck out randomly.

”This isn't right...” a soft female voice whispered, unheard by her surrounding companions. The woman winced as one of the Stalkers let loose with a bone-chilling screech. The crowd momentarily quieted, before resuming its deafening volume again. The woman used the distraction to slip into an alleyway.

She moved quickly down the alley, onto another street, several blocks down, then into another alley. This one was blocked by a fence halfway down. Rather than return the way she came, the woman began climbing up and over. On the way down the other side, her foot slipped, throwing her weight onto her arms unexpectedly. A pained cry escaped her throat, and she lost her grip. When she landed, she let her legs collapse to absorb the shock, and the hood fell back revealing short black hair and hazel eyes.

Iris rolled onto her hands and knees, one arm clutching her throbbing side. It had only be a little over twenty-four hours since she had crossed paths with the Stalker bot, and the wound in her side hadn't yet healed.

Moving to a sitting position, she put her hand inside her shirt, checking to be sure the guaze was still in place, and the wound wasn't bleeding again.

"Stupid robot," she muttered darkly.

“You should really get that seen to,” said a voice behind Iris. Hunter stood, balanced perfectly on top of the fence that Iris had just fallen from. Instead of wearing his usual business suit he had on a more casual set of clothes, black jeans with a white t shirt and a grey open shirt over the top.

“I do like the new hair colour,” he said with a smile, “but I think you’d look better with blue eyes.” Hunter’s own silver eyes were now a sparkling blue. Hopping down off the fence he offered Iris a hand up.

Iris inhaled sharply, scooting back a few inches as a figure spoke up. Almost instantly her expression went from fearful to hard as stone.

"I'm fine," she snapped. She was irritated, though not totally surprised, that Hunter had been keeping tabs on her.

She ignored his hand and got to her feet on her own, wincing slightly as she put a bit too much pressure on her side. Idly she considered redying her hair brown, then just as quickly pushed the childish thought aside. Instead she brushed her jeans off and turned to continue on her way.

Hunter watched as Paragon ignored him and went on here way. The moment she had turned around hunter leapt silently straight up and caught onto the fire escape above him. Swiftly pulling himself up he made his way into and through the building without so much as a sound before exiting the front and moving to the edge of the alley. He had just enough time to lean against the wall and look as if he had been there a while as Paragon rounded the corner.

“We need to talk,” he said, as if their conversation had never ended, “I need your help and you need mine. You won’t get your friends back on your own.” Hunter didn’t say it in a demeaning way, but merely as a statement of fact. Paragon alone was not strong enough to free her friends, and deep down she knew it.

Iris walked away, still holding her side. As she neared the corner and the main street, she glanced behind her. She couldn't shake the feeling of being watched, and she wasn't sure if it was because of the Stalker attack, or Hunter.

She let out a sigh when she saw he was gone.

<"You're just being paranoid, Iris..."> she scolded herself, and turned the corner.

“We need to talk.”

She nearly jumped out of her skin and let out a surprised half-shriek, which in turn made her side ache.

"Damn it Hunter!" She barely managed to keep her voice just below yelling volume. How did he do that??

“I need your help and you need mine. You won’t get your friends back on your own.”

She clenched her fists and began tapping her foot, then stopped when she realized what she was doing. What was it about him that made her act so childish?? It was infuriating!

She visibly forced herself to calm down, regain her composure, and then crossed her arms. "What do you need me for? You're the multi-billionaire. Just... buy somebody off. I'm sure you have enough political connections to pull it off."

While she managed to look calm enough, her tone of voice still betrayed irritation. She knew he was right. This situation was beyond her. But she didn't want to admit she needed his help as well.

After all, she had a stubborn streak running through her, one that she had likely inherited moreso than she'd care to admit....

Hunter couldn’t help but smile a little inwardly at Paragon’s reaction. He figured that this was what it was like to have a rebellious teenager. “If it were as simple as buying someone off don’t you think I would have already done that?” he asked, “The situation is far more complicated than that.”

He pushed off the wall and turned to face her. “I need your help because of your diverse abilities. I can only bring one person with me on this and you are the best one for it.” He left what he was planning out, hoping that Paragon’s curiosity would mean she asked him what he was planning.

“If it were as simple as buying someone off don’t you think I would have already done that? The situation is far more complicated than that.”

"Tell me about it..." she muttered. 'Complicated' was an understatement.

“I need your help because of your diverse abilities. I can only bring one person with me on this and you are the best one for it.”

Her eyes darkened momentarily before her expression was wiped blank again. She was less than happy with her 'diverse abilities' at the moment, and his presence only served to remind her of it.

Still.... She didn't really know much about him anymore, other than being a fast healer and having some sort of mental-based powers, and annoyingly fast reflexes.... And she was curious.....

Iris tilted her head slightly. "I'm listening."

And she was. She was listening. She still had no intentions of helping. But maybe he'd at least give her an idea of what was going on....

Hunter smiled a genuine smile at his daughter. He knew she wouldn’t just walk away. While she hated him, she knew that what was at stake was more important than her feelings about him. “The problem is not that mutants are being captured, but why they are being captured,” Hunter explained.

“Even if you could fight your way into that building, eliminate every guard and free every mutant it would do no good. They will simply try again. The only way to make this stop is to get them to withdraw the registration law.” He paused to make sure she understood.

“Currently the law has too much support. Those in favour of it are the most vocal group. Believe it or not there are humans who oppose the law, but their voices are drowned out by those who support it. To make their voices heard I intend to silence those who shout in support.”

“The loudest voice by far is the Church of Humanity, a religious organisation that believes that mutants are a blemish on human kind, the work of the devil. The only option as far as they are concerned is to purge humanity of this corruption. I intend to infiltrate the Church and bring it down, but I cannot do it alone. I need your help.”

“The problem is not that mutants are being captured, but why they are being captured. Even if you could fight your way into that building, eliminate every guard and free every mutant it would do no good." Okay, she admitted that she agreed with that much, especially having first-hand experience with the robotic guard. "They will simply try again. The only way to make this stop is to get them to withdraw the registration law.”

A slight frown wrinkled her eyebrows. Political fights could take forever. Did her friends have that much time?

“Currently the law has too much support. Those in favour of it are the most vocal group. Believe it or not there are humans who oppose the law, but their voices are drowned out by those who support it. To make their voices heard I intend to silence those who shout in support.”

She knew there were human fighting the law already; she'd received a text message from her Tio to the effect just that morning. It was one of the reasons she was at the Registration building in the first place. But apparently, as Hunter implied, New York's voice was in majority for the law, rather than against. She hadn't seen any pro-mutant demonstrators at all.

“The loudest voice by far is the Church of Humanity, a religious organisation that believes that mutants are a blemish on human kind, the work of the devil....."

Church of Humanity? Why did that sound so familiar? Her frown deepened a bit as she sorted through her recent memories.

"....I intend to infiltrate the Church and bring it down, but I cannot do it alone. I need your help.”

"What?" She blinked in surprise, having tuned him out until he asked for help again. "Oh. Well...."

She bit her lip in thought again, this time going through her options. She still didn't intend on helping him, but a flat out 'No' seemed a bit... well... cold. Sort of....

Well, he probably wouldn't accept it anyway, and keep badgering her to change her mind. And she didn't want to be bothered with him constantly popping out of the shadows like he did. She was already jumpy enough as it was without him appearing out of nowhere like a ghost. 'Yes' was out of the question, so that just left-

"I'll think about it."

There were whispered rumors of a Resistance in the lower circles of society; she'd never pursued them enough to find out details. Maybe some of the Xmen had escaped the Mansion raid. she'd check out this Church of Humanity on her own, and if it proved a worthy lead, then she'd see about finding help. On her own.

She turned to walk away, paused, then looked back at him. Why was she suddenly feeling guilty? She shrugged the feeling away under the guise of replacing her hood.

"I'll think about it," she repeated, then began walking away, hands in her pockets.

He saw something flicker in her eye when he mentioned the Church, as if she had heard of it before. While she paused to consider her answer he just watched her, waiting, wondering what she would say. Her abrupt turn to walk away left him a little disheartened, but then she stopped.

She turned back to him with something unreadable in her eyes. She’d think about it. Well, that was a improvement on all other conversations that they’d had since it was revealed that he was he father. He watched her walking away. For now he wouldn’t approach her, instead he would follow at a distance, invisible to her. Partly to see what she decided to do with the information she had received, but partly to keep an eye on her incase any Stalkers tried to attack her again.