Claire passed by the church.
It was surprisingly full.
She hesitated.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCkXlPuL0W5
Didn’t plan to stop, but glanced through the open doors anyway.
Right—today was Easter.
Evening service.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcqJVyx3bud
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.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAd3sozCZqh
Too bad it didn’t make the front page.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsIVqe2bYao
Nightwing’s butt did.
If every reset counted as a resurrection, she had Jesus beat.
— Jesus came back once.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt2g6hfiHbj
She came back every damn day.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKodCW187y1
No crucifixion required. Just the same bed, the same morning, the same jazz.
No blood.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ70kqgVawbU
No wounds.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1GE5XPKy2v
Not even symbolic suffering.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlKGb2iGyK7
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.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbWb6nZiMZs
She caught a trace of perfume and smoked ham in the air.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoZnjdreFq6
Warm.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCuKikzzByW
Distant.
She didn’t look back.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUd9k0kOIEp
Didn’t slow down.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9gsdZCwQfY
Just pulled her jacket tighter around herself—trying not to look like someone on the run.
39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYf4LWBgApw
She’d picked up some sushi and salad on the way.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡK3UA72P6ih
Not because she was hungry.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡu79dyFFviz
Just… preemptive.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYJndJAkDyd
— A biological necessity.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡz5GSg0HZ1i
Eating was proof she still had a plan, even if it didn’t taste like one.
The motel looked old.
Faded walls.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡg90keYMX5w
Window frames weathered like they’d been kissed by thirty years of ocean wind.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqObF1ouEXP
But the sign worked.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKGq8Pk6h6j
The light stayed on.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡinxS0Ms8fO
No flickers.
The online reviews had been solid.
— 4.5 stars for cleanliness.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0pc7lS8idR
Quiet.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtCUghKLOfF
No weird comments.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvyP0868lcZ
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.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgeGGVsjHBs
The window was proof: I still believe in a future.
She paid. Got the key. Sixth floor.
The elevator hummed with old energy.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCmBhmrHWXk
The lights inside were yellow—not the cozy kind, but the nicotine-stained kind.
She entered the room.
Locked the door.
Exhaled.
— Quiet.
39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfzDwz7dFMp
Locked.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVXTS48WuxY
New bed.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrOqUM1Kkwx
New air.
It might all be gone tomorrow.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLY1zB9qEHs
But right now, she wasn’t home.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡf3DLMY06st
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.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqybTYcJwOK
But she followed the routine.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡigWERjoDl1
— Eat first.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdqtVwDS2fz
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.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHooFNOi9uP
Not just a blur of motion.
It was a person.
Weight.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdEZCLIfnZr
Posture.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOEkwPEb7xR
Presence.
Her body locked up.
She should have ducked.
Instead, she recognized him immediately.
Robin.
— Red. Green. Yellow.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAQuXMJQfWA
That mask.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡx5pj6MiIPi
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.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡovRzEy2BFZ
Or patrolling.
His cape fluttered in the breeze.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs9j105lDYl
The darkness carved his silhouette sharp against the city lights.
Then he noticed her.
A woman.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSqYKUZnKXB
Staring blankly at him.
Robin tilted his head.
Turned.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡq9P0WviqNG
Tapped gently on the glass.
— Not a warning.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡF3UjGsg3lW
Not a threat.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡv6E8RaUHCH
Just a soft “I see you” kind of knock.
Claire opened the window like she was sleepwalking.
— Her hand moved first.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpGPo8S3Q4S
Her brain was still buffering.
It didn’t make sense.
Which made it impossible to react.
Robin was standing right there.
Not on TV.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡM4pHnBU6si
Not in a news segment.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgMwD6iR4UL
No crowd.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKpQ3vuWfJf
No distance.
Just… there.
Looking at her.
Like he already knew she’d be here.
A kid.
— Sorry, Claire thought. But yeah.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzXdL0urcYg
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.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrV4EHxIPAT
Inside a world where heroes weren’t supposed to show up.
39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPLSDso0cu8
The kid—Robin—spoke politely.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQDCLzpQ0Og
“Good evening, miss. Sorry to bother you. I was wondering… do you know how to get to Queen Street?39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGm2oq1hgCc
I’m kinda new around here.”
— It was a kid’s voice.
Not a deep-faked adult.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPibgWs41Qn
Not a pitch-shifted recording.
A real teenage voice.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRy4wl70cpQ
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:39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡm9ApSPezgh
Holy shit, he’s actually a kid.
Claire gave him a strange look.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡARJm6mP8b5
Then pointed toward the street below.
“Walk a hundred meters that way,” she said calmly.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuhwPBM52IU
“Then turn right. It’s about two hundred more.”
— Her tone was flat.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsWo3I1Ykpd
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.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXrU9RxLXIb
Walk to it?39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPgp5ett1Xu
Swing to it?
She wanted to ask.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTFkfKKKU3m
But felt that if she did, she’d lose a shred of dignity as a normal citizen.
Robin nodded.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZeYbAHTUpz
Turned.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3nCo4ZM3G3
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.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlXxJ2mTvhL
Loud.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAzVGmdrSpe
Ridiculous.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKeWNy65hxk
Undeniable.
Claire said:39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFrWtgkKhpn
“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.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIiikC36oIh
Just a background extra in the scene.
But somehow…
ns216.73.216.252da2
and then Add to home screen.