Claire passed by the church.
It was surprisingly full.
She hesitated.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHgtXklSuQT
Didn’t plan to stop, but glanced through the open doors anyway.
Right—today was Easter.
Evening service.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRPBsFfwSuH
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.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaPH8c71fSY
Too bad it didn’t make the front page.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡg5dEKuATQ5
Nightwing’s butt did.
If every reset counted as a resurrection, she had Jesus beat.
— Jesus came back once.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfkXwIgiF2x
She came back every damn day.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6DPA3WSlhJ
No crucifixion required. Just the same bed, the same morning, the same jazz.
No blood.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ69S1H0TyuB
No wounds.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8CYNgEsc8l
Not even symbolic suffering.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8sbRcMUwTK
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.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDgtJpfKOBJ
She caught a trace of perfume and smoked ham in the air.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtHSnK9n579
Warm.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDaNeUbeFNY
Distant.
She didn’t look back.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlGBd7zQObU
Didn’t slow down.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTsicrtglp4
Just pulled her jacket tighter around herself—trying not to look like someone on the run.
8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOwKVNdzS6h
She’d picked up some sushi and salad on the way.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2LuEMHaD6Y
Not because she was hungry.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡn7Mk3t4kkS
Just… preemptive.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSeHZY8uzja
— A biological necessity.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡC3j6PX9At7
Eating was proof she still had a plan, even if it didn’t taste like one.
The motel looked old.
Faded walls.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuRxIUqmrgS
Window frames weathered like they’d been kissed by thirty years of ocean wind.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡK8rYAaHxnn
But the sign worked.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡr65alusu4b
The light stayed on.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpzWDJ7RtWg
No flickers.
The online reviews had been solid.
— 4.5 stars for cleanliness.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ38Kdp0Oq4W
Quiet.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCCLqcJk5uS
No weird comments.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3t2qfecNCJ
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.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeUW13pQmrm
The window was proof: I still believe in a future.
She paid. Got the key. Sixth floor.
The elevator hummed with old energy.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhwYuNzt95a
The lights inside were yellow—not the cozy kind, but the nicotine-stained kind.
She entered the room.
Locked the door.
Exhaled.
— Quiet.
8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwDuxdAILM2
Locked.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJyC511XTyI
New bed.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBjo26VE410
New air.
It might all be gone tomorrow.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxoMdNa3unk
But right now, she wasn’t home.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuuNVtjc8Mc
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.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡO4HuI6aJDB
But she followed the routine.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0jUMvtVrUl
— Eat first.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRkSVeGIV1L
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.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡa0ReDxrDcq
Not just a blur of motion.
It was a person.
Weight.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmTJHRoWJZ0
Posture.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRmLc0TAZ8v
Presence.
Her body locked up.
She should have ducked.
Instead, she recognized him immediately.
Robin.
— Red. Green. Yellow.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkDPeADU6qg
That mask.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcN4sC5bAPM
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.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0wHaO9HviX
Or patrolling.
His cape fluttered in the breeze.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtG8xDEiphB
The darkness carved his silhouette sharp against the city lights.
Then he noticed her.
A woman.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXqHmwZfZEt
Staring blankly at him.
Robin tilted his head.
Turned.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9iLoKyP7vv
Tapped gently on the glass.
— Not a warning.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjIcsJRJ0mD
Not a threat.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFDqrmWO4Tg
Just a soft “I see you” kind of knock.
Claire opened the window like she was sleepwalking.
— Her hand moved first.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡj6Cbtu2ncX
Her brain was still buffering.
It didn’t make sense.
Which made it impossible to react.
Robin was standing right there.
Not on TV.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbqiRabZ9Oe
Not in a news segment.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyRImXscnnu
No crowd.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhz5mVlveQo
No distance.
Just… there.
Looking at her.
Like he already knew she’d be here.
A kid.
— Sorry, Claire thought. But yeah.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdrImDIXvff
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.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuk4vh9pbUU
Inside a world where heroes weren’t supposed to show up.
8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4WBStOS1SD
The kid—Robin—spoke politely.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxRaxaKHVQW
“Good evening, miss. Sorry to bother you. I was wondering… do you know how to get to Queen Street?8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxJhD73HEka
I’m kinda new around here.”
— It was a kid’s voice.
Not a deep-faked adult.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxkWB7QtROT
Not a pitch-shifted recording.
A real teenage voice.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLSayePFoRf
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:8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNYC57RIjHe
Holy shit, he’s actually a kid.
Claire gave him a strange look.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQiT9WS3sgW
Then pointed toward the street below.
“Walk a hundred meters that way,” she said calmly.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡINuIp1eDMa
“Then turn right. It’s about two hundred more.”
— Her tone was flat.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLYPkzEaNYx
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.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGZJCbXYsYw
Walk to it?8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmdHjkJJZKO
Swing to it?
She wanted to ask.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgFmBwMMXiz
But felt that if she did, she’d lose a shred of dignity as a normal citizen.
Robin nodded.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7c8kiwEQ25
Turned.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhtiezuPCdE
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.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡx0lvI1GSp6
Loud.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9hGjkEwqcx
Ridiculous.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSHQBQD12Yv
Undeniable.
Claire said:8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWLvjc6tPlD
“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.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkwuBmcotUx
Just a background extra in the scene.
But somehow…
ns216.73.216.94da2
