Claire was still spiraling over her inability to write anything down.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAdIAahT7mh
— 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.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmYqRfX21pg
Not one she recognized.
— Claire flinched. Literally flinched.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXZIbygM9gD
Not the kind of reflex you have when a customer walks in.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUwAMK9CexK
This was different.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLneaO5VQYA
This was a variable.
Her eyes shot to the clock.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcVcJDw0Q2K
The time was right.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxrhSnRUOfB
But the man was wrong.
He was young.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiuUWYbJl8O
Blue-eyed. Smiling. Polished.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ03vfNWeO6S
Not like the usual middle-aged officers whose uniforms barely survived the war against their beer bellies.
— This wasn’t just unfamiliar.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvVq4YroGQi
It was too new.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxCFljc5X6q
Too “present.”7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJGquk39aPK
His movements didn’t carry yesterday’s echo.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhcweU6swBS
Nothing about him felt pre-recorded.
He was... real.
He walked to the counter, removed his cap, and smiled.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjWaDXBTYqW
“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.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡN4Ijffd24y
Like morning sunlight just reaching a glass of water.
Claire nodded and reached for a paper bag.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTY4RKYHbKR
— Her thoughts still looping: He’s not in my memory.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrxakYq4021
Not some cop’s kid. Not a familiar blur from the past.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvDEfDS9bMh
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.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmI2fkeeU0m
And yes.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZtC32yXhbE
That shot.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEtni0GTS9N
That damn ass.
The officer didn’t laugh.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWdU1cwvGdM
Didn’t snort like Kyle.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYLsat4yN5x
Didn’t mutter “that kid again.”
He just looked.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSXx0EqHlKd
Silent.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMPo9r6TYrd
One eyebrow twitching—like he was thinking.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8eqt86JbID
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.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAbhXA0qV8G
She knew he caught that glance.
She didn’t explain.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡy33k3olc6d
Didn’t ask.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡp7txhJNi1O
Didn’t care what this bright-eyed stranger thought of Nightwing’s overexposed butt.
“Here’s your bagels,” she said flatly.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqz7qk4xb33
It could’ve been “good morning” for all the emotion she gave it.
He nodded, smiled a little awkwardly. “Thanks.”
Then he paused.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBCyRnLRVH7
“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.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡODfj1CJc8h
Just once.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQXHFPffe9G
Then turned away.
— Didn’t offer a smirk.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqj7W3YitbU
Didn’t offer a sigh.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkyB3Xw3oqp
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.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8HV1ZLtJqA
But because she said it so effortlessly.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR0Cyc9vccG
So plainly.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiXLWKRw2t0
Like she was saying “we’re out of cat food.”
He didn’t know whether to laugh or nod.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWzlUS4vL1l
So he just held the bag a little tighter.
She was still fretting over the whole “can’t-write-anything-down” thing—7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9InI7mIKG9
— That nausea-without-an-exit feeling sloshing in her chest, like a gag reflex that never gets to finish.
7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2Zaloi8LY0
Claire figured if you wanted to fix a problem, you'd better look it in the face.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ96CbJAlNO9
Avoidance didn’t make you miss the big picture—it made you miss the details.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiYEjAopKnU
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.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiU2SJIekK9
So she’d memorize them instead.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ62J0r6pZ8R
If this place erased every mark she left, then her memory would be the map.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡx8W6Mtpg7y
That was the deal—quietly made, silently accepted.
Tonight, Claire decided to stay up.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwAO2H9mQVW
Normally, she was in bed by ten. Sharp.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQy4m5bNn79
Not for beauty sleep. Not because she had to.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ635pnG6R65
But because being awake at night had always meant danger.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzkRREgqzmf
Losing control. Going missing.
That was the Gotham in her talking.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRIAgaie03E
Nighttime wasn’t a vibe—it was a warning.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKZlElPwwhJ
The city didn’t teach you that.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjrFx7T7dXq
It branded it into your bones.
She was only in Blüdhaven because of her aunt’s inheritance.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQE7Q5FIyWj
Not that this city was gentle. But compared to Gotham?7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJVH02N1L8g
Blüdhaven was a cupcake shop with a flickering sign.
Tonight, Claire made her own coffee.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ92LHu9sbjW
The clock said 11:00 PM.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsurBeaU2Rz
The calendar next to her had tomorrow’s date already circled.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjA1IwPU5Xc
Usually, she only circled the date when she sold out her bagels.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZszj4umEbE
It was her little ritual—write the number sold, feel a tiny sense of victory.
But tonight she circled it early.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡC8N9ONr2Gz
Like a declaration:7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeMlMXYIVsC
I’m still awake on this day. I’m still alive on this day.
She had no idea when the loop would reset.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡx8egNAoleB
Midnight? Three in the morning?7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxxT7eL3Uqz
Maybe the second she fell asleep?7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2XQiU0EFbI
Come to think of it, she’d never seen a “real” end to the day.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKroqImD86H
Time always hit reset in the dark.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUNdxrzPtux
Like someone pressed a button in her sleep.
Claire stared off into space.
7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaY4pPDzjyV
Then came a sound.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLhLq4b2lEc
From the balcony.
Claire looked up.
Not a bang.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFhFnmVxWNK
Just a soft “thunk.”7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzwXKmsiCkS
Like someone landing gently on a metal railing.
Her Gotham instincts kicked in.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvvavnyhiBO
She grabbed a mirror, crouched low, slipped it between the curtain and the window, and checked the outside by reflection.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLHwPhirrhD
— She’d been practicing that move since she was twelve.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvGtoe2q1b5
Every Gotham kid knew better than to look directly into the dark.
Her eyes widened.
Nightwing.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡq0R7GYQM1s
She couldn’t mistake him.
— That black-and-blue suit.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzvTRKPoI8l
The twin batons.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmTVihIZl2L
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.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡu2ZoFMvRf0
Like he was part of the night.
Her hand on the mirror was damp with sweat.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2DeRvn3S8b
The scene didn’t belong to her life.
Then—he was gone.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmZaBwyiXVs
Just leapt.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡy4TcsUUY4e
Like a frame of film had been edited out.
Claire bolted upright and yanked the curtain open.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ52tE5D1QSK
Nightwing was already swinging away on his grappling line.
— Like a midnight pendulum.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡupXwj4CFxX
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.”7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1L6QP9ojaY
He’d been here.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡh3qcJc2b71
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?7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡusaAym1IjR
A rest stop?7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡccSvnEnmT6
A transit point?
And she—owner of this tiny café—had never even noticed the rhythm of her own city’s nights.
7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFHqYazS6LT
But not now.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡP1nqNNqI11
Now wasn’t the time for that.
Tonight was about the reset.
— No distractions.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTVTZHZjC6E
No detours.
She tucked the “balcony incident” into a drawer in her mind.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCXggDKxRNP
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.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡG9Ko0SiUzS
She’d added way too much powder. On purpose.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3MXXNcaal5
Her tongue was going numb.
Another sip.
She turned on the TV. A late-night talk show.
— Anything to stop thinking.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBCFDpcMLt7
If she let her brain chew on itself too long, it would tie in knots.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ7r2mhssMB
The host was still as loud and obnoxious as ever.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjixSl6TBay
The laughter track made her want to throw the mug.
Fifth cup.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2vUdrMpbFH
Her stomach felt swollen, like she’d swallowed an airbag.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbXPh3BWlFD
Bitterness and acid mingled on her tongue.
Like she’d just drunk a bellyful of gunpowder.
Fuck.
— She didn’t say it out loud.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFllxL4xD07
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?7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7GVjlHTvid
Was today not even part of the loop?7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkhIDnYlUDx
What if this was the real Day Two?
The thought made her want to cry.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAt3fJRCsTp
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.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHMiyJq4Kdc
A new paper.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3fR0SoUf2B
A new customer.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡna2Q8Tx1ZU
A different damn bagel.
— She found herself fantasizing that the cursed newspaper would finally change.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYxPEZbDGxs
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.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwEmexFf1pe
The laughter rose and fell like ocean waves.
For a moment, she wondered if the host was trying to hypnotize her.
No.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqYYYvw5DJV
She couldn’t fall asleep.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEYZGRgRasY
She’d made it from ten to four.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡP8Sic4R9IN
She couldn’t give up now.
Claire shut her eyes on the sofa.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPmoIhtf4B8
— Just for a second.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcOiDSMMHxD
Her eyelids were dry.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmVyQUVgFeM
She wasn’t sleeping, just… letting her corneas rest.
Next moment—
The jazz started.
Claire opened her eyes.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbBNSbrsGN1
In bed.
Her head buzzed.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUbw5KnpauQ
Throat dry, like she’d inhaled ash.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfWgiS1XRah
The ceiling blurred for half a second.
Another day had begun.
— Same damn song.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhosStRGgeZ
Same damn voice.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWljQefHEcn
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.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxR9nfkRXgr
And still—nothing stuck.
She saw nothing.
But this world remembered everything.
7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbufVUh2gwb
