Claire passed by the church.
It was surprisingly full.
She hesitated.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDDKUriEDHL
Didn’t plan to stop, but glanced through the open doors anyway.
Right—today was Easter.
Evening service.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcnO4ALqV98
Everyone out to celebrate resurrection.
— She remembered the morning paper had a page with “He is risen” printed in bold above an image of Jesus cradling a lamb in golden light.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMlpfccuw0m
Too bad it didn’t make the front page.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1rYKmVmpzT
Nightwing’s butt did.
If every reset counted as a resurrection, she had Jesus beat.
— Jesus came back once.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKDGhYlcdSK
She came back every damn day.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPCuJgUmKvM
No crucifixion required. Just the same bed, the same morning, the same jazz.
No blood.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKdiCEozPLd
No wounds.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsu85aF8Qum
Not even symbolic suffering.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNshgTiUdyj
Just... repeat.
You could celebrate Easter as many times as you wanted.
— So many that she wasn’t sure anymore: was she supposed to eat chocolate or take pills?
Claire kept walking, headed toward the hotel.
— People passed her in pressed clothes, holding wine bottles and cake boxes, on their way to family dinners.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCB4xZceOUf
She caught a trace of perfume and smoked ham in the air.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVA63GjSMhQ
Warm.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgEl4uIauEM
Distant.
She didn’t look back.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKPYJq9qXmr
Didn’t slow down.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGJYOe6KkP2
Just pulled her jacket tighter around herself—trying not to look like someone on the run.
45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkmIVCaJcDZ
She’d picked up some sushi and salad on the way.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzrygExMTqQ
Not because she was hungry.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡX3Jx8rBsCa
Just… preemptive.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhwxFUxUWyJ
— A biological necessity.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡK4zA8Xp7Tg
Eating was proof she still had a plan, even if it didn’t taste like one.
The motel looked old.
Faded walls.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5yxSSYEuMD
Window frames weathered like they’d been kissed by thirty years of ocean wind.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjGoFuHbybP
But the sign worked.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdxzrJyIFXK
The light stayed on.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJb2TmDxX8I
No flickers.
The online reviews had been solid.
— 4.5 stars for cleanliness.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFpw2avHUK4
Quiet.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5ZHO3Q0E4e
No weird comments.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ68Ve6pocns
No ghost stories.
She booked a room with a window. Slightly more expensive, but not by much.
— Even if the world reset, she wanted to live like someone who hadn’t given up.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡG01Sm7L7EI
The window was proof: I still believe in a future.
She paid. Got the key. Sixth floor.
The elevator hummed with old energy.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5WhPFU4i6m
The lights inside were yellow—not the cozy kind, but the nicotine-stained kind.
She entered the room.
Locked the door.
Exhaled.
— Quiet.
45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEGw9mQeAK7
Locked.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡouayuGf3Hn
New bed.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkiRcf9jpXO
New air.
It might all be gone tomorrow.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0UBjcW0Kv6
But right now, she wasn’t home.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfc0ySOcuT0
And that mattered.
Tonight was her first attempt to break the orbit.
She had to pay attention.
Claire went to the bathroom, washed her hands, sat down to eat.
She wasn’t happy.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡL5f2MqWdGH
But she followed the routine.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBKsUpfrWTg
— Eat first.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFSSRv74hY8
Otherwise she’d end up looking like someone mid-breakdown.
She walked toward the nightstand—
Someone was on the balcony.
The curtains weren’t drawn.
Claire froze.
— It wasn’t a shadow.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSTMuy8qAow
Not just a blur of motion.
It was a person.
Weight.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpGYFMXJ79o
Posture.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNm90fBthrD
Presence.
Her body locked up.
She should have ducked.
Instead, she recognized him immediately.
Robin.
— Red. Green. Yellow.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBMx02cdWBW
That mask.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs8bULoMZOM
That ridiculous “R” stamped across his chest like Gotham’s version of a birth certificate.
Every Gotham kid knew Robin.
But she never imagined seeing him on her motel balcony.
On the sixth floor.
He was standing there, staring out over the city.
— Like he was waiting.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCJdr1pbtIC
Or patrolling.
His cape fluttered in the breeze.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9sBnLLMoDr
The darkness carved his silhouette sharp against the city lights.
Then he noticed her.
A woman.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcK63bceT3K
Staring blankly at him.
Robin tilted his head.
Turned.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmm6Fvn4yNV
Tapped gently on the glass.
— Not a warning.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9I4TwSDffr
Not a threat.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqT1IFzIxUC
Just a soft “I see you” kind of knock.
Claire opened the window like she was sleepwalking.
— Her hand moved first.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcAR4eEwsOD
Her brain was still buffering.
It didn’t make sense.
Which made it impossible to react.
Robin was standing right there.
Not on TV.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmHTLQYo5o2
Not in a news segment.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9rxb2LYdTH
No crowd.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRaalaSl97X
No distance.
Just… there.
Looking at her.
Like he already knew she’d be here.
A kid.
— Sorry, Claire thought. But yeah.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfdWMfDaPZZ
He looked thirteen. Maybe fourteen.
Does Batman hire child labor now?
— Her inner sarcasm engine powered up instantly, beating her emotions to the punch.
She didn’t blink.
Afraid he’d vanish, like Nightwing had that night.
But he didn’t.
He stayed.
On her balcony.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡB3onuA65TZ
Inside a world where heroes weren’t supposed to show up.
45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWHWI3IrckE
The kid—Robin—spoke politely.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡa8CuDzWzyx
“Good evening, miss. Sorry to bother you. I was wondering… do you know how to get to Queen Street?45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0FZxqFnVh2
I’m kinda new around here.”
— It was a kid’s voice.
Not a deep-faked adult.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfeXiyAGiFn
Not a pitch-shifted recording.
A real teenage voice.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwspLgb6bFJ
Still sealed in honesty.
So Batman really did hire child labor.
That burst the last bubble of her “maybe he’s just a very short adult” theory.
— The whole Gotham-illusion-explanation system in her head collapsed into one simple truth:45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJEno4c4efK
Holy shit, he’s actually a kid.
Claire gave him a strange look.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpgz5Y3zmvQ
Then pointed toward the street below.
“Walk a hundred meters that way,” she said calmly.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ9fLEGgkuH
“Then turn right. It’s about two hundred more.”
— Her tone was flat.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjqLHNZAVOv
Like she was giving directions to a lost fifth-grader.
But her mind?
Do you walk? Do you fly? Are we counting streets or rooftops?
She wasn’t sure which verb applied.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8ft9SON7q0
Walk to it?45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9TwYSXypvj
Swing to it?
She wanted to ask.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxLYbhrFvaY
But felt that if she did, she’d lose a shred of dignity as a normal citizen.
Robin nodded.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1GNp8ECChc
Turned.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJKQfMfShAm
Looked ready to leave.
Then—
A massive growl.
From his stomach.
Claire…
Robin…
Both froze.
The sound tore through the silence like a rip in paper.
The wind died.
Even the city noise paused.
It echoed.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡELLYO8yJ3l
Loud.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPa6l1apane
Ridiculous.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡn0YCAfwuyf
Undeniable.
Claire said:45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcOZwo8l9xw
“Uh… you want some sushi?”
— Her mouth moved before her brain approved.
She hadn’t even decided to share her food.
It just… came out.
Someone needed food, and her body had a default response.
She never meant to be anyone.45Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlioDkoSlRZ
Just a background extra in the scene.
But somehow…
ns216.73.216.252da2
and then Add to home screen.