Claire was still spiraling over her inability to write anything down.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWYnmniLfpT
— That as-soon-as-you-write-it-it-disappears kind of frustration twisted in her chest like the early warning of a vomit you know has nowhere to go.
Then someone walked in.
A man. In uniform.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡixZLAOLJOT
Not one she recognized.
— Claire flinched. Literally flinched.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl1Cx1ikNNq
Not the kind of reflex you have when a customer walks in.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡO3bsMv55ay
This was different.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡm9xJIKcjJs
This was a variable.
Her eyes shot to the clock.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3IF467eFDI
The time was right.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1rrHuCvm0K
But the man was wrong.
He was young.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbm81AzB43h
Blue-eyed. Smiling. Polished.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtxOV73No1U
Not like the usual middle-aged officers whose uniforms barely survived the war against their beer bellies.
— This wasn’t just unfamiliar.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGAU6HrL6X7
It was too new.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqRufO4dvpP
Too “present.”45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqTIOMxFUIT
His movements didn’t carry yesterday’s echo.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaLxql9ec17
Nothing about him felt pre-recorded.
He was... real.
He walked to the counter, removed his cap, and smiled.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuykGpsAsVa
“Hi, you’re Claire, right? Kyle said the bagels would be out late today. Sent me to pick up the order.”
— Even his voice had warmth.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvLEazxbCM8
Like morning sunlight just reaching a glass of water.
Claire nodded and reached for a paper bag.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQFpUx3aPoe
— Her thoughts still looping: He’s not in my memory.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWXrKUKlYMT
Not some cop’s kid. Not a familiar blur from the past.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdCMDAGIkzA
He was a new puzzle piece—and this world wasn’t supposed to have any left.
As she packed the bagels, the blue-eyed officer glanced at the newspaper on the counter—the same old Nightwing photo.
The one with the annoyingly cheerful mid-air leap.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCWK5z4m6Og
And yes.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrtKX9PE7GK
That shot.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjsR1wuBlKG
That damn ass.
The officer didn’t laugh.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGbM3uewhZF
Didn’t snort like Kyle.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHlXdFRW1vM
Didn’t mutter “that kid again.”
He just looked.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrCxceLtKUD
Silent.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡr1PGQdr105
One eyebrow twitching—like he was thinking.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6QTT1JNiUZ
Or recognizing something.
Claire stepped out from behind the counter and handed him the bag.
Her gaze flicked to the paper as she did, tracing the direction he had just been looking.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLGi9Ud51EP
She knew he caught that glance.
She didn’t explain.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdjL5BL4vy4
Didn’t ask.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxMVPsxHrrd
Didn’t care what this bright-eyed stranger thought of Nightwing’s overexposed butt.
“Here’s your bagels,” she said flatly.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGPj9HutMA9
It could’ve been “good morning” for all the emotion she gave it.
He nodded, smiled a little awkwardly. “Thanks.”
Then he paused.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2ovEwZj9wD
“Hey… uh. Just wondering. What do you think of Nightwing? I mean, we work with him a lot. Curious what people think.”
Claire looked at him.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡV1ANjPMd2b
Just once.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyxiW2jaIDa
Then turned away.
— Didn’t offer a smirk.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡthFsM8H6rl
Didn’t offer a sigh.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYihbJUYIDF
Just rolled her eyes with the weariness of someone who’s rolled them way too many times this week.
The officer would later swear he heard her mumble as she turned:
“Hope his ass falls off.”
He blinked.
Not because it was shocking.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMboSZgH1d2
But because she said it so effortlessly.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡO98N4SyRxm
So plainly.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ45Uxn0vmq7
Like she was saying “we’re out of cat food.”
He didn’t know whether to laugh or nod.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ9stRfnkH6
So he just held the bag a little tighter.
She was still fretting over the whole “can’t-write-anything-down” thing—45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoWKSJWZF3Y
— That nausea-without-an-exit feeling sloshing in her chest, like a gag reflex that never gets to finish.
45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4GImIG7MWw
Claire figured if you wanted to fix a problem, you'd better look it in the face.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFlhJTZLjc5
Avoidance didn’t make you miss the big picture—it made you miss the details.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjvYo1bhGx0
This wasn’t a movie. No last-minute plot armor. No chosen one moment. If she was going to survive this, she had to do it herself.
She couldn’t write things down.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkdXEhLhWCh
So she’d memorize them instead.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRoUGQVkXX4
If this place erased every mark she left, then her memory would be the map.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡul8u2PcFxn
That was the deal—quietly made, silently accepted.
Tonight, Claire decided to stay up.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlk3wviQAW0
Normally, she was in bed by ten. Sharp.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVIyVNfZ2zB
Not for beauty sleep. Not because she had to.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBxOJ4MaYiD
But because being awake at night had always meant danger.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQj6Ef67QCn
Losing control. Going missing.
That was the Gotham in her talking.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVC3kynwmbO
Nighttime wasn’t a vibe—it was a warning.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbl2dQECEpp
The city didn’t teach you that.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLdqeARKC5A
It branded it into your bones.
She was only in Blüdhaven because of her aunt’s inheritance.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbxGRnJDo7m
Not that this city was gentle. But compared to Gotham?45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRorkT4xxfm
Blüdhaven was a cupcake shop with a flickering sign.
Tonight, Claire made her own coffee.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHIA2hbDyHi
The clock said 11:00 PM.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9TPZ8PSAI9
The calendar next to her had tomorrow’s date already circled.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyWZrkFsYLD
Usually, she only circled the date when she sold out her bagels.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2ms34UAB7G
It was her little ritual—write the number sold, feel a tiny sense of victory.
But tonight she circled it early.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlOYDOaPCXR
Like a declaration:45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5SWCuCfZbq
I’m still awake on this day. I’m still alive on this day.
She had no idea when the loop would reset.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFoeYmdxFAk
Midnight? Three in the morning?45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9Q6ukwO22Y
Maybe the second she fell asleep?45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeweVkZgb8k
Come to think of it, she’d never seen a “real” end to the day.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡloduJbKHHw
Time always hit reset in the dark.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdQbJrKZhEH
Like someone pressed a button in her sleep.
Claire stared off into space.
45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCQM8UPsTMk
Then came a sound.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ58xkUkixxh
From the balcony.
Claire looked up.
Not a bang.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRiNwtRVEG3
Just a soft “thunk.”45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhSTaIAA3Nd
Like someone landing gently on a metal railing.
Her Gotham instincts kicked in.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVbJFZho3a3
She grabbed a mirror, crouched low, slipped it between the curtain and the window, and checked the outside by reflection.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbht19tzl32
— She’d been practicing that move since she was twelve.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmmKpBu4NmD
Every Gotham kid knew better than to look directly into the dark.
Her eyes widened.
Nightwing.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0Uee65rFsq
She couldn’t mistake him.
— That black-and-blue suit.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlPXlO2T7uZ
The twin batons.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRhHTS8bccK
That crouch.
She’d never been a fan, but she’d never expected him on her damn balcony either.
He was crouched on the railing, scanning the distance.
— His movement was smooth, breath quiet.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAEyJISW0rY
Like he was part of the night.
Her hand on the mirror was damp with sweat.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ63sNE8WR4a
The scene didn’t belong to her life.
Then—he was gone.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcaoMkCP50X
Just leapt.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡApkjzE71tf
Like a frame of film had been edited out.
Claire bolted upright and yanked the curtain open.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4MNTk6TZOr
Nightwing was already swinging away on his grappling line.
— Like a midnight pendulum.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3aaId0k8mV
Here, then not.
So... he passed by her balcony around eleven?
Had he always come by?
Had she been asleep, missing it every time?
— A blank spot appeared on her mental “loop chart.”45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPXLkvv8pWd
He’d been here.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡE3nCsR2GyI
And she’d never known.
She shut the curtain, stunned, dropped back onto the sofa.
What if her balcony was actually part of some secret patrol route?45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2hsCv8lZcO
A rest stop?45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡN98Ld9Ajig
A transit point?
And she—owner of this tiny café—had never even noticed the rhythm of her own city’s nights.
45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVTRSXevKAZ
But not now.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡN5i9bfDHrv
Now wasn’t the time for that.
Tonight was about the reset.
— No distractions.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ58c2AAllZX
No detours.
She tucked the “balcony incident” into a drawer in her mind.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVMkvT7u37N
One she’d open later.
Tonight’s mission: figure out when this world restarts.
Claire stayed on the couch and sipped her coffee.
— Bitter. Too bitter.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvh3XUZnxTt
She’d added way too much powder. On purpose.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMQZkKmr8FY
Her tongue was going numb.
Another sip.
She turned on the TV. A late-night talk show.
— Anything to stop thinking.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3Ml6aMIKFG
If she let her brain chew on itself too long, it would tie in knots.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5SbZn7St26
The host was still as loud and obnoxious as ever.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6J87NLkXv2
The laughter track made her want to throw the mug.
Fifth cup.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLGShWIlac2
Her stomach felt swollen, like she’d swallowed an airbag.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnKZZIW09aG
Bitterness and acid mingled on her tongue.
Like she’d just drunk a bellyful of gunpowder.
Fuck.
— She didn’t say it out loud.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWktkNIOvxg
But it mushroomed in her mind like smoke from a silent bomb.
It was 4 a.m.
What now?
Was she supposed to stay up till sunrise?45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlVOZmI1JVj
Was today not even part of the loop?45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡh07PXw8axx
What if this was the real Day Two?
The thought made her want to cry.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyExhMpSu78
Which immediately made her angry at herself for being dramatic.
Her head throbbed.
Maybe… maybe this would be the night that finally led into a real tomorrow.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡM7x2u6ODEB
A new paper.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeOIKMC5wAR
A new customer.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxNViQJSEMe
A different damn bagel.
— She found herself fantasizing that the cursed newspaper would finally change.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0UPQDzusXq
Even if it still featured Nightwing’s butt, she’d settle for a different angle.
If that meant selling new bagels, she’d knead two extra batches as an offering.
The TV now sounded like a lullaby.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSVLxv9Kmad
The laughter rose and fell like ocean waves.
For a moment, she wondered if the host was trying to hypnotize her.
No.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEv8BESuPPb
She couldn’t fall asleep.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdTnRwyjCxD
She’d made it from ten to four.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYZZCCc9EOU
She couldn’t give up now.
Claire shut her eyes on the sofa.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwvCmtKKomW
— Just for a second.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0chFqb4G4G
Her eyelids were dry.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5RQ3CwEZAg
She wasn’t sleeping, just… letting her corneas rest.
Next moment—
The jazz started.
Claire opened her eyes.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡj7ZdCQlSxb
In bed.
Her head buzzed.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ974V1DJmaw
Throat dry, like she’d inhaled ash.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGIM8MXToMl
The ceiling blurred for half a second.
Another day had begun.
— Same damn song.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi0a5Epl8zc
Same damn voice.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMb12Q8yIwq
That same punch-in-the-gut familiarity that made her want to throw the clock across the room.
She’d failed.
She stayed up all night.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡN7PoRaWulJ
And still—nothing stuck.
She saw nothing.
But this world remembered everything.
45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyDpqsZLraC
and then Add to home screen.