For the first time, Claire didn’t open the café.
No scent of coffee wafted from her window,35Please respect copyright.PENANAKp6BsnS5JS
No familiar whir from the bagel press.35Please respect copyright.PENANATLuuJe8MBv
Instead, her hands—usually busy kneading dough by sunrise—were holding a marker,35Please respect copyright.PENANA7ZrCfiQSBj
Drawing arrows across a whiteboard like she was about to teach a conspiracy seminar.
She hadn’t slept. Not a minute.35Please respect copyright.PENANACQUjmalxPR
Because Batman had said:35Please respect copyright.PENANAUc6s6Kjfg9
“Don’t sleep.”
He’d said it calmly—too calmly.35Please respect copyright.PENANALTAngyooZs
But the words had made her scalp tighten.
“If you fall asleep, the loop resets.35Please respect copyright.PENANApkDsCzS1Pd
What we need tonight is continuity. Not broken memories trapped in the same repeating day.”
“You said everything stays the same every time you wake up.35Please respect copyright.PENANA1usepaey2U
Then that means anything that changes—happens while you're still awake.”
Claire had wanted to push back—“Why does it matter? You’ll forget everything anyway.”35Please respect copyright.PENANAlYuWgh3ybE
But Batman shook his head, speaking slowly, deliberately:
“You need analysis.35Please respect copyright.PENANAS6QXfg90Au
You need to practice recounting your data.35Please respect copyright.PENANAJo2b5iFkUE
I’ll leave a way to contact me.35Please respect copyright.PENANA8VDAPb3vjA
But you can’t start from the beginning every time.35Please respect copyright.PENANAJN7jDwBCxD
You’ll need to find a way to tell the future-me everything—precisely—and what to do next.”
Claire had just… stared at him.35Please respect copyright.PENANAs0y1ELo9L1
Because for the first time, someone wasn’t saying she was crazy.35Please respect copyright.PENANAC30KNHWM2Q
He was listening.35Please respect copyright.PENANAQvKi7UNE4x
He was thinking.35Please respect copyright.PENANAgVlHVRCJ68
He was—Batman.
And being a Gotham native, she felt this absurd, unexpected comfort rise up in her chest:
“At least it’s Batman.”35Please respect copyright.PENANAr6pAbvIqgI
If anyone could break the loop, it’d be him.
So she got to work.
Dragged the giant whiteboard her aunt had for some reason left behind from the second floor to the third.35Please respect copyright.PENANAu0vaq8SMku
It was the kind of thing you see in old cram schools—half cracked, fully inconvenient.
Nightwing offered to help.35Please respect copyright.PENANABScmcb8VTq
They squeezed it up the stairs together, getting stuck at the landing for a moment.35Please respect copyright.PENANA7Ev6tLUwFc
He gave her a small glance and asked, voice quiet,35Please respect copyright.PENANAWUWOaGM7wv
“You holding up?”
Claire was not.35Please respect copyright.PENANAd5ixOb5M2j
Her arms were shaking.35Please respect copyright.PENANAxD7CkY90RR
Her eyes were dry.35Please respect copyright.PENANAU32hIU7S3E
She felt like she’d downed three energy drinks and was vibrating slightly off-axis.35Please respect copyright.PENANAkpXOIwXQXy
But she still smiled and replied:35Please respect copyright.PENANACmcz67hkAC
“I’m good.”
It was a lie for herself.35Please respect copyright.PENANA91LdAITuB7
To remember she still could smile. Still could move forward.
Back upstairs, she brewed three coffees and a milk.35Please respect copyright.PENANALkctmMeSFQ
Nightwing took his with a polite nod.35Please respect copyright.PENANAKyIeVxC7rz
Robin sniffed the milk, made a face, and set it down.35Please respect copyright.PENANAKLfOEDV2wz
Batman didn’t touch his cup.35Please respect copyright.PENANACIJB3SzI54
He was already focused on the board.
“Let’s start. When did you first notice something was off?”
Claire stood in front of the board.35Please respect copyright.PENANA9ARmZ0cFvA
The marker hovered just above its surface.35Please respect copyright.PENANA6fUzZxUONq
That’s when she realized—35Please respect copyright.PENANAd09ZeAcXAx
Her so-called "clues" were embarrassingly few.
“Uh... at first, nothing big. Thought I was just misremembering stuff,”35Please respect copyright.PENANAyQXJTYdTRV
“Then I noticed everything was the same. Every single thing. That’s when I started keeping track.”
She told them about the first time Robin knocked on the hotel window.35Please respect copyright.PENANAFckRirYs4W
About Nightwing showing up on her balcony like clockwork.35Please respect copyright.PENANAl8XUAeeZcL
About the cursed bagel swap—the chocolate replaced by plain.
(None of it felt funny anymore.)
Batman didn’t say a word.35Please respect copyright.PENANAXtxppwwHYe
He stood, back straight, listening.
After each section, he reached for the marker and jotted a few lines on the board.
She didn’t know if he’d remember any of it.35Please respect copyright.PENANAVB8BBuM0s0
But right now—right this second—someone understood her loneliness.
Night fell.35Please respect copyright.PENANAH2Wi7MDJVk
The coffee went cold.35Please respect copyright.PENANAQzbM6GFuM8
The whiteboard filled up—timelines, branches, points of deviation.35Please respect copyright.PENANAKc8irUDQX2
Batman stared at it like it was a war map.35Please respect copyright.PENANAPFTYNOGeyz
Brows drawn, jaw tense.
And Claire—35Please respect copyright.PENANAoA8ROrmDTX
For the first time in god-knows-how-many loops—35Please respect copyright.PENANAoDHPXEwMlB
wasn’t alone.
She didn’t have to whisper to herself anymore.
35Please respect copyright.PENANAmruHmyy6wt
Claire knew she wasn’t that smart.35Please respect copyright.PENANAo6KdSb7Y6U
No, really.
She stood in front of the giant whiteboard—originally used for notes like “Trash on Tuesday” or “Stop buying potatoes”—now filled to the edges with Batman’s handwriting.35Please respect copyright.PENANAx18IJPjUpS
Tactical terms.35Please respect copyright.PENANAKQERAid7kz
Observation protocols.35Please respect copyright.PENANAOlzVXhTkBB
Hypothesis trees.35Please respect copyright.PENANAD6ZjCZfLoJ
Arrow-filled logic webs about time loop mechanics.
Her brain was buzzing like someone turned on a high-frequency hum in her skull.35Please respect copyright.PENANAUc0xCkzK6V
She could read every word. But when put together, it felt like looking at someone else’s math homework—technically correct, completely unreadable.
Batman had even written her a memory guide.35Please respect copyright.PENANAwh87aVTRNk
Bullet points.35Please respect copyright.PENANAYCGKZofCyQ
Key phrases.35Please respect copyright.PENANA8ze5x2Iadz
Color-coded charts.
Didn’t matter.35Please respect copyright.PENANAkrwS61Ojwi
Once she closed her eyes—gone.35Please respect copyright.PENANAO8awa33HdM
Just gone.
So she had to memorize.35Please respect copyright.PENANA4mfQj0VgZB
Raw memorization.35Please respect copyright.PENANABCVN86GNQn
Claire slammed her pen down on the desk, fingers diving into her tangled hair.
“God, I hate memorizing.”
It was like elementary school all over again—facing a multiplication quiz while still stuck on “7 times 8 is... what again?”35Please respect copyright.PENANA32gz1B10Oa
Total academic despair.
She glared at the board and forced herself to read it out loud:
- Establish a consistent, simplified daily communication method35Please respect copyright.PENANAkV1o04Ijxv
- Design self-verification protocols35Please respect copyright.PENANA4Vyl2yg3V7
- Identify the rupture point in the time loop35Please respect copyright.PENANAhVcVpRVwYl
- Develop coping mechanisms for mental strain35Please respect copyright.PENANA1tqwaNaKwZ
- Test whether sleep is the trigger for resets35Please respect copyright.PENANAx5sAe9guLa
35Please respect copyright.PENANAJcqYOvroex
And below those?35Please respect copyright.PENANALWzP1VAEZ1
Bullet point hell.
Claire nearly burst into tears.35Please respect copyright.PENANAqDWILziq0k
Wasn’t this the kind of thing you hired Batman to do?35Please respect copyright.PENANA1AXPtlAonE
She was a bagel-slinging café owner, not a goddamn temporal physicist.
Nightwing and Robin had left around dawn.35Please respect copyright.PENANAPRdzYffYWK
She’d thought she’d feel relief.35Please respect copyright.PENANAEO1MZOolNY
She didn’t.35Please respect copyright.PENANAYsbTKK731L
She felt like a balloon blown up way past safe capacity.
And Batman? Still here.35Please respect copyright.PENANAyPeElz24cI
Sitting at her tiny desk like he owned it.35Please respect copyright.PENANATJ0GmnoSuS
Folding her notes into crisp little squares like some kind of insomnia robot.35Please respect copyright.PENANAVUnKVki7Fc
She was starting to believe he didn’t even need sleep.
She had briefly wondered if he’d vanish at sunrise like a vampire or some brooding mythic shadow.35Please respect copyright.PENANAGJTObEVbWD
Nope.35Please respect copyright.PENANAkHRQOzFnV2
Still here.35Please respect copyright.PENANAds1IFecwLB
Drank her coffee.35Please respect copyright.PENANAG5iMu7tvbS
Ate a croissant.
Batman eats food.35Please respect copyright.PENANAmp243RMDLD
Claire noted this with bewildered internal sarcasm.35Please respect copyright.PENANARRNURcWPOS
And, somehow… it made her feel a little more human.35Please respect copyright.PENANAaqDY3hCBnP
A little more grounded.
Then 2 p.m. hit.35Please respect copyright.PENANA3IQDh3pH7x
And she just—couldn’t.
Her head throbbed like someone was banging pots inside it.35Please respect copyright.PENANA8KWelzYOxE
A rhythmic BONG—BONG—BONG of pure pain.35Please respect copyright.PENANAtzEA4qmjJN
Her ears were ringing.35Please respect copyright.PENANAB3NYNFDVAS
Her vision was starting to blur.35Please respect copyright.PENANAOCRYEmTAjO
She hadn’t slept in way too long.
Even Batman’s voice faded into background noise.35Please respect copyright.PENANAY2ZkKeIAp2
She could hear words, but they drifted by like waterlogged scraps of paper.35Please respect copyright.PENANAHP0CHlbgDq
No structure. No connection.
Her neck gave out first.35Please respect copyright.PENANAab2E2ZChaU
Then her whole body slumped—soft and useless like an overcooked noodle.
Then she heard it.35Please respect copyright.PENANAOaspvFy02L
A sigh.35Please respect copyright.PENANAthJJ8D9kV2
Low.35Please respect copyright.PENANALs3txVNKSm
Close.35Please respect copyright.PENANA51Kjr7HJm5
The kind of sigh you make when you don’t want to do something… but know you have to.
Then she was being lifted.
That jolt of surprise cleared her vision just long enough to see a pair of blue eyes.35Please respect copyright.PENANAQRkJzJ6McR
So blue. So clear.35Please respect copyright.PENANATOLBu0TzUh
Like the first star that refuses to leave the morning sky.
Nightwing, she thought.35Please respect copyright.PENANAECPNBlApen
But she couldn’t speak.
From somewhere nearby, Batman’s voice drifted in—calm, slow, final:
“Claire. Remember what I told you.35Please respect copyright.PENANArBAUKAzJbU
Protect yourself first. Then find the truth.”
Someone laid her down.35Please respect copyright.PENANAyOwJ1bKRjb
Pulled the blanket up.
The scent of sunlight-warmed fabric and stale coffee beans wrapped around her.35Please respect copyright.PENANA6tO0239i8D
Her bed was soft. So soft.35Please respect copyright.PENANAAnHz98SlzD
And for the first time in what felt like forever—she realized how badly she needed sleep.
Her mind tried to process what she’d forgotten.35Please respect copyright.PENANA2fipTySDjo
Was there something she needed to say? Do?
Too late.
The dark caught her.35Please respect copyright.PENANAyk1DzmbaSI
Held her.
Perfectly.
35Please respect copyright.PENANA4Xzm3aIbUG
Claire was awake. Again.
Same ceiling.35Please respect copyright.PENANAifaQkJqLkg
Same sheets.35Please respect copyright.PENANA8BJMkHbYN8
Same sunlight slicing through the gap in the curtains.35Please respect copyright.PENANADg4eTTbi1f
Even the dust floating in the air looked copy-pasted from yesterday.
She stared at the ceiling for a few seconds, then took a long, deep breath.35Please respect copyright.PENANAx9mCwfvRUM
No headache.35Please respect copyright.PENANA2WWD68t3Rp
No nausea.35Please respect copyright.PENANAZNXUs0m9Fu
Her whole body felt like someone had swapped it out for a new one. Even her stomach was fine.
Creepy.
Apparently, any sickness will vanish overnight—35Please respect copyright.PENANACeoefvOXen
If you're stuck in a time loop.
Day Ten.
She got out of bed, rubbing her temple as she walked. Her thoughts were sluggish, and the words "Day Ten" rolled through her mind like a bowling ball in slow motion—silent but heavy.
She grabbed a sheet of paper and wrote "Day 10" on it with a thick black marker, placing it in the corner of her desk.35Please respect copyright.PENANAcl8ITxTpVi
It was her memory thread.35Please respect copyright.PENANAVCwtGbggWp
Her own little mark carved into an unremembering world.
Day Ten was the day Batman showed up.
Claire looked at the words for a moment, and a small smirk tugged at the corner of her mouth.
"Guess I’m kind of impressive, huh?"
If people in Gotham knew all it took to summon Batman was repeating the same day ten times, half the city would start dabbling in time magic.
She got dressed, went downstairs, and opened the café.
Today she cleaned the windows extra thoroughly.35Please respect copyright.PENANAYcD8T0P5Qv
Then she took out a pink sticky note and scribbled on it:35Please respect copyright.PENANAGkArGUgGuk
“Today’s Bagel: Plain.”
She stuck it on the glass, stepped back to check.35Please respect copyright.PENANAYqbPSUbCq5
It stood out.35Please respect copyright.PENANAV5e3KylZn3
Bright and silly. Hard to miss.
Then she frowned.
Wait—why am I even doing this?
No one else would remember.35Please respect copyright.PENANAwAJynN7Bim
Only she knew what day it was.35Please respect copyright.PENANAFGJmql6HN8
Only she knew today’s bagel was different from yesterday’s.
But Batman had said it:
“You need a daily signal. Something visible. Something subconscious. Something verifiable.”
Maybe, just maybe…35Please respect copyright.PENANAQDUxDKAEY5
Someday, someone like her might see that note.35Please respect copyright.PENANAGGSPfdMueA
And feel something click.35Please respect copyright.PENANAdhyOVHvQM4
Some resonance.
Claire snorted.
“No deadlines, infinite time. What a dream.”
Colder than her fridge.
What kind of absurd life was this?35Please respect copyright.PENANAqYcIBKAtab
She felt like a corrupted file stuck in the wrong folder—just looping and glitching.
She glanced at the clock. 9:57.
Her eyes drifted to the door.35Please respect copyright.PENANAenWv1Y6OvH
Her body tensed, that silent alertness creeping in.
Blue-eyed cop.
Batman had asked about him over and over last night—35Please respect copyright.PENANAb8cZABpgH7
What he wore.35Please respect copyright.PENANAzwWnfdeqbt
His tone of voice.35Please respect copyright.PENANAkfjXnwRs5b
Which hand he used to take out his wallet.35Please respect copyright.PENANADVIfzaIOdA
What angle he walked in from.35Please respect copyright.PENANA31uPpOZxlI
How long he looked at the counter.35Please respect copyright.PENANAWfvsmktSkI
The pitch of his thank-you.
“You see this man every day. That means he’s not random. He’s a variable. He’s meaningful.”
Claire stood behind the register, adjusting the screen angle while mentally replaying every word.35Please respect copyright.PENANA7umgA8PVch
Meaningful. Variable. Breach point.
She wanted to snap back—
“Oh sure, easy for you to say. This isn’t an RPG. How the hell am I supposed to spot a glitch in reality?”
But she didn’t.
She just bit her lip, sorted the coin tray, zipped up the change pouch.
She was still wondering—
Was he Batman’s informant at the station?
She shook her head, started folding a dish towel in half, just as she placed it into the second drawer—
The Door Chimed.
Crisp. On time.35Please respect copyright.PENANA8aszKfVHVG
Like it was baked into the script of the day.
Claire’s eyes flicked to the clock on the wall.35Please respect copyright.PENANAmcfJKPjXp8
9:59.
The door pushed open.35Please respect copyright.PENANA7kwxcx3DHp
A familiar pair of blue eyes swept into the room.
They always looked like they carried morning fog—clear, cool, and oddly pure for a city like Gotham.
“Hi, you’re Claire, right? Kyle said the bagels would be out late today. Sent me to pick up the order.”
He smiled—polite, just a touch tired.
Claire didn’t respond right away. She just stared at him.
Stared so long she started to feel like a creep, as if she were peeking at the core of some cosmic mystery that hadn’t realized it was a mystery yet.
Is it you?35Please respect copyright.PENANAvr39Xlrm6G
Or are you just another poor guy trying to buy breakfast?
God, she wanted him to be different.35Please respect copyright.PENANARi47pDExYZ
Even five minutes late would’ve been something.
But nope.
Right on time.35Please respect copyright.PENANAPG1o5GVL8l
Said the exact same line.35Please respect copyright.PENANAAQPgHdEG5I
Paid with the same bills.
Claire considered doing a little test.
A spark lit in her head: Batman.35Please respect copyright.PENANApKsPCsO85W
If this guy was an informant, that name would definitely spark some kind of reaction.
She narrowed her eyes, parted her lips—
Then shut them again.
Nope. Too much.35Please respect copyright.PENANAkDA7pMWmCc
You don’t just ask a random cop, “Hey, do you know Batman?”35Please respect copyright.PENANAgN7yXu3n4Z
That’s how you end up with a referral to a psychiatrist by tomorrow.
Plan B.
She pointed to the pink note on the window.
“Did you see that?”
Blue Eyes blinked, glanced at the window, then nodded.
“Yeah, I saw it.”
But his face clearly read: “Okay… and?”
Claire resisted the urge to roll her eyes.35Please respect copyright.PENANAdeUGY6bDMd
That one’s not working. Time to upgrade.
She grabbed a piece of paper, scribbled a sentence, and slid it across the counter.
“Do you ever feel like the sun today won’t make it to tomorrow?”
She’d spent days refining that line in her head—poetic, haunting, a little tragic.35Please respect copyright.PENANAzamnp365Nq
Surely it would hit something.35Please respect copyright.PENANAgx0H4gZfs2
Maybe he’d respond: “How did you know?” or “I’ve been feeling the same.”
He read it.
Paused.
Then frowned.
“Uhh… if you ever need someone to talk to, I know a really good therapist.”
Claire, mentally: ……
Great.35Please respect copyright.PENANAOpVVABkCPF
Another morning, another conversation added to the Folder of Cringe.
She forced a smile.
“Thanks. I’ll think about it.”
He handed her the money, smiled again, and left.
The door shut.35Please respect copyright.PENANALueApmOZY1
The chime rang a second time.
Claire remained where she was, staring at the now-empty doorway.
A quiet line drifted through her mind:
Test Result: Inconclusive.35Please respect copyright.PENANAu879PRHAJC
Day 10. Blue-Eyed Officer.35Please respect copyright.PENANANMB7Jej2b9
No noticeable deviations.
But hey—35Please respect copyright.PENANAa3BiMXK6sT
At least she tried.35Please respect copyright.PENANABBfng3VgTq