Claire passed by the church.
It was surprisingly full.
She hesitated.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhhnFfteaIY
Didn’t plan to stop, but glanced through the open doors anyway.
Right—today was Easter.
Evening service.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhe1gFYVo6E
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.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡa13cLkk414
Too bad it didn’t make the front page.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoWVWWMTftX
Nightwing’s butt did.
If every reset counted as a resurrection, she had Jesus beat.
— Jesus came back once.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxrqzd8AvBl
She came back every damn day.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnEXRWki3qE
No crucifixion required. Just the same bed, the same morning, the same jazz.
No blood.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡc2iR6g2Ywt
No wounds.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXVo9MiMiCY
Not even symbolic suffering.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡShMY0wJWDm
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.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzvoWGhvs4k
She caught a trace of perfume and smoked ham in the air.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvtUbgvI9Ys
Warm.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUobSbFZWOL
Distant.
She didn’t look back.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiq1mOyQwpz
Didn’t slow down.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkIukDxjF33
Just pulled her jacket tighter around herself—trying not to look like someone on the run.
7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpjSRFPRQvl
She’d picked up some sushi and salad on the way.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0uny3agTWc
Not because she was hungry.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1eey4gUiWh
Just… preemptive.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡICi1hL6qkG
— A biological necessity.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkH2AtIMHSd
Eating was proof she still had a plan, even if it didn’t taste like one.
The motel looked old.
Faded walls.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmSgwXEUXcQ
Window frames weathered like they’d been kissed by thirty years of ocean wind.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrmpsqjGK59
But the sign worked.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOE3zeuV8Gk
The light stayed on.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpFndH3BtRr
No flickers.
The online reviews had been solid.
— 4.5 stars for cleanliness.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2VnfqLswbF
Quiet.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrhiixsIEly
No weird comments.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMgphSdH8YP
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.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdL2C5l7VuP
The window was proof: I still believe in a future.
She paid. Got the key. Sixth floor.
The elevator hummed with old energy.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡypFRtU7Rz2
The lights inside were yellow—not the cozy kind, but the nicotine-stained kind.
She entered the room.
Locked the door.
Exhaled.
— Quiet.
7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi3rFBO45FT
Locked.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfl8ZB1rFM4
New bed.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPxG34aFHZs
New air.
It might all be gone tomorrow.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzMc4sIQkin
But right now, she wasn’t home.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYlLp9KY3Dg
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.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfI1RCjPpPc
But she followed the routine.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡE7uJiuJ7ys
— Eat first.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0Ubh5RyoEr
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.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwEJ2YE9ix7
Not just a blur of motion.
It was a person.
Weight.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzuJDlguJjE
Posture.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡc0KaRM904f
Presence.
Her body locked up.
She should have ducked.
Instead, she recognized him immediately.
Robin.
— Red. Green. Yellow.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLDy4dqIQjX
That mask.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpJfB9UWqaw
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.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5vkwXBrVkL
Or patrolling.
His cape fluttered in the breeze.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvpQPuBHqFC
The darkness carved his silhouette sharp against the city lights.
Then he noticed her.
A woman.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaf5s9ZJaHV
Staring blankly at him.
Robin tilted his head.
Turned.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrww6wMx93a
Tapped gently on the glass.
— Not a warning.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡO9P5NKlAlp
Not a threat.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡD8o6kwFhpZ
Just a soft “I see you” kind of knock.
Claire opened the window like she was sleepwalking.
— Her hand moved first.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLgPboI9MUU
Her brain was still buffering.
It didn’t make sense.
Which made it impossible to react.
Robin was standing right there.
Not on TV.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpCjlMOsglK
Not in a news segment.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMAw9p4zeMM
No crowd.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0OdVvANfa8
No distance.
Just… there.
Looking at her.
Like he already knew she’d be here.
A kid.
— Sorry, Claire thought. But yeah.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQTHN41T9u4
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.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNFJuFo06ad
Inside a world where heroes weren’t supposed to show up.
7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCyf8CLr3KP
The kid—Robin—spoke politely.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡK2nZV9IPGM
“Good evening, miss. Sorry to bother you. I was wondering… do you know how to get to Queen Street?7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlU7G4C0XfF
I’m kinda new around here.”
— It was a kid’s voice.
Not a deep-faked adult.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYb48FDivaZ
Not a pitch-shifted recording.
A real teenage voice.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0oTH1wS1xm
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:7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡP7J9Gnw3ij
Holy shit, he’s actually a kid.
Claire gave him a strange look.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDERTQfCMR4
Then pointed toward the street below.
“Walk a hundred meters that way,” she said calmly.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1t9HB0mcwh
“Then turn right. It’s about two hundred more.”
— Her tone was flat.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaB4pzRfCEh
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.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkLeSgCx3ER
Walk to it?7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdc0FDX1fII
Swing to it?
She wanted to ask.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIu5iuQ11yu
But felt that if she did, she’d lose a shred of dignity as a normal citizen.
Robin nodded.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEGBoCpwRgU
Turned.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmS01dv4tzM
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.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRDPdjDYfbG
Loud.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2zQr46pFm7
Ridiculous.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡn6YNOMgEcW
Undeniable.
Claire said:7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgkugQCHQlI
“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.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqEsFdmalXw
Just a background extra in the scene.
But somehow…
ns216.73.216.94da2
