For the first time, Claire didn’t open the café.
No scent of coffee wafted from her window,107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlqffyrmvob
No familiar whir from the bagel press.107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGggmvNaumc
Instead, her hands—usually busy kneading dough by sunrise—were holding a marker,107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwfcp28JGB6
Drawing arrows across a whiteboard like she was about to teach a conspiracy seminar.
She hadn’t slept. Not a minute.107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡr3BPpXEY7w
Because Batman had said:107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡprars3lUMR
“Don’t sleep.”
He’d said it calmly—too calmly.107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡujdXBfFD3s
But the words had made her scalp tighten.
“If you fall asleep, the loop resets.107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtDUVC2Ed3I
What we need tonight is continuity. Not broken memories trapped in the same repeating day.”
“You said everything stays the same every time you wake up.107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlDNZULJvSy
Then that means anything that changes—happens while you're still awake.”
Claire had wanted to push back—“Why does it matter? You’ll forget everything anyway.”107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡP1KTlhzZQR
But Batman shook his head, speaking slowly, deliberately:
“You need analysis.107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzgKtN6HA5s
You need to practice recounting your data.107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEVZVMg9Dvs
I’ll leave a way to contact me.107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡu5v1jmopnD
But you can’t start from the beginning every time.107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuyPzrqGdz4
You’ll need to find a way to tell the future-me everything—precisely—and what to do next.”
Claire had just… stared at him.107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6EtteS4sff
Because for the first time, someone wasn’t saying she was crazy.107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXOZG8weE2z
He was listening.107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGfKLF3CIPt
He was thinking.107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡC1FahQiUUr
He was—Batman.
And being a Gotham native, she felt this absurd, unexpected comfort rise up in her chest:
“At least it’s Batman.”107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgoO4WU0sEF
If anyone could break the loop, it’d be him.
So she got to work.
Dragged the giant whiteboard her aunt had for some reason left behind from the second floor to the third.107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡE1oyK8YcB6
It was the kind of thing you see in old cram schools—half cracked, fully inconvenient.
Nightwing offered to help.107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjv5mdbsoOW
They squeezed it up the stairs together, getting stuck at the landing for a moment.107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFIfsr2PeUY
He gave her a small glance and asked, voice quiet,107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwjAwdbE3aM
“You holding up?”
Claire was not.107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFJv9OSbZaZ
Her arms were shaking.107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIDUB15Ca1C
Her eyes were dry.107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJScqKMzxdB
She felt like she’d downed three energy drinks and was vibrating slightly off-axis.107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxI6rbwDWoB
But she still smiled and replied:107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqAjkHHYPmd
“I’m good.”
It was a lie for herself.107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw9PTkPQcjj
To remember she still could smile. Still could move forward.
Back upstairs, she brewed three coffees and a milk.107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoOvJXleAWI
Nightwing took his with a polite nod.107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1I2YJRRw1u
Robin sniffed the milk, made a face, and set it down.107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfTVDIcdkuw
Batman didn’t touch his cup.107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡySRbwSPlY9
He was already focused on the board.
“Let’s start. When did you first notice something was off?”
Claire stood in front of the board.107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKRoxh4tkoI
The marker hovered just above its surface.107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡe2DLVpqpjS
That’s when she realized—107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVDIO9eSYZU
Her so-called "clues" were embarrassingly few.
“Uh... at first, nothing big. Thought I was just misremembering stuff,”107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkT8WXkIoA6
“Then I noticed everything was the same. Every single thing. That’s when I started keeping track.”
She told them about the first time Robin knocked on the hotel window.107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡX9bdWkQVX8
About Nightwing showing up on her balcony like clockwork.107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdBCcMIHl0l
About the cursed bagel swap—the chocolate replaced by plain.
(None of it felt funny anymore.)
Batman didn’t say a word.107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxYKa78eW8V
He stood, back straight, listening.
After each section, he reached for the marker and jotted a few lines on the board.
She didn’t know if he’d remember any of it.107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwTZR4z3H50
But right now—right this second—someone understood her loneliness.
Night fell.107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBwxfEQnQ8B
The coffee went cold.107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDDSmWWWltT
The whiteboard filled up—timelines, branches, points of deviation.107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpMuD8DvufW
Batman stared at it like it was a war map.107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkDRK0aVBAj
Brows drawn, jaw tense.
And Claire—107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuJBrenVdDr
For the first time in god-knows-how-many loops—107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡz1TOlDfQFw
wasn’t alone.
She didn’t have to whisper to herself anymore.
107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8E7nW77XF5
Claire knew she wasn’t that smart.107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡP6SBSZhzCK
No, really.
She stood in front of the giant whiteboard—originally used for notes like “Trash on Tuesday” or “Stop buying potatoes”—now filled to the edges with Batman’s handwriting.107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQXJKcgVjST
Tactical terms.107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlJe8daBv3E
Observation protocols.107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaNBz5qg45K
Hypothesis trees.107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡldJnzw4VRp
Arrow-filled logic webs about time loop mechanics.
Her brain was buzzing like someone turned on a high-frequency hum in her skull.107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHvROVNW8Q1
She could read every word. But when put together, it felt like looking at someone else’s math homework—technically correct, completely unreadable.
Batman had even written her a memory guide.107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKrN5YcrL5H
Bullet points.107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxH3u4SntZw
Key phrases.107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzug7e7U2E7
Color-coded charts.
Didn’t matter.107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3r634bwCoJ
Once she closed her eyes—gone.107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIX589nmXS3
Just gone.
So she had to memorize.107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9LzCS89DBj
Raw memorization.107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqFi1DUxYI2
Claire slammed her pen down on the desk, fingers diving into her tangled hair.
“God, I hate memorizing.”
It was like elementary school all over again—facing a multiplication quiz while still stuck on “7 times 8 is... what again?”107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡffSy2NyPth
Total academic despair.
She glared at the board and forced herself to read it out loud:
- Establish a consistent, simplified daily communication method107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡU6aTcMbz2H
- Design self-verification protocols107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHjOzBoJb7t
- Identify the rupture point in the time loop107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt9zry4ySIB
- Develop coping mechanisms for mental strain107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1lrqlifV1W
- Test whether sleep is the trigger for resets107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡguDrswFUif
107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjg0EG6rwHs
And below those?107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIIiVQCOWBt
Bullet point hell.
Claire nearly burst into tears.107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWm3RluaCfE
Wasn’t this the kind of thing you hired Batman to do?107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqu9SMDprD7
She was a bagel-slinging café owner, not a goddamn temporal physicist.
Nightwing and Robin had left around dawn.107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnlycrOhSma
She’d thought she’d feel relief.107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGrIlI7rH6Z
She didn’t.107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNzs33ZZTN4
She felt like a balloon blown up way past safe capacity.
And Batman? Still here.107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSwATiHNbUz
Sitting at her tiny desk like he owned it.107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPvQF2GVIAB
Folding her notes into crisp little squares like some kind of insomnia robot.107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3lsU3IxBJz
She was starting to believe he didn’t even need sleep.
She had briefly wondered if he’d vanish at sunrise like a vampire or some brooding mythic shadow.107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkV1LtUI61X
Nope.107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBAyJpi7GQG
Still here.107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgIzwez460O
Drank her coffee.107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAiolZf9PfI
Ate a croissant.
Batman eats food.107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiOB0DKa2rj
Claire noted this with bewildered internal sarcasm.107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡncMuSVsmKs
And, somehow… it made her feel a little more human.107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDbs2xKJeRu
A little more grounded.
Then 2 p.m. hit.107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJMjWeDy1wH
And she just—couldn’t.
Her head throbbed like someone was banging pots inside it.107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqVPDHmtlbW
A rhythmic BONG—BONG—BONG of pure pain.107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkS8prm67vM
Her ears were ringing.107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6ndCNG274e
Her vision was starting to blur.107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFG2ngJJY4y
She hadn’t slept in way too long.
Even Batman’s voice faded into background noise.107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkz2UInbgyG
She could hear words, but they drifted by like waterlogged scraps of paper.107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4gkdOw2Rcv
No structure. No connection.
Her neck gave out first.107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiWqx7iLT5R
Then her whole body slumped—soft and useless like an overcooked noodle.
Then she heard it.107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxDeN4QtYgq
A sigh.107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡC1Dtn5K0H1
Low.107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡX15Ig43Xhz
Close.107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvrAVd2vnna
The kind of sigh you make when you don’t want to do something… but know you have to.
Then she was being lifted.
That jolt of surprise cleared her vision just long enough to see a pair of blue eyes.107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkL1dzbVXTc
So blue. So clear.107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4fSchBXETq
Like the first star that refuses to leave the morning sky.
Nightwing, she thought.107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3ojF6hXV31
But she couldn’t speak.
From somewhere nearby, Batman’s voice drifted in—calm, slow, final:
“Claire. Remember what I told you.107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡumRMAJY5DN
Protect yourself first. Then find the truth.”
Someone laid her down.107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWOaMpfk6OI
Pulled the blanket up.
The scent of sunlight-warmed fabric and stale coffee beans wrapped around her.107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvsDr7xxgaV
Her bed was soft. So soft.107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwJg2RpIZeu
And for the first time in what felt like forever—she realized how badly she needed sleep.
Her mind tried to process what she’d forgotten.107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiCbrwW52Nj
Was there something she needed to say? Do?
Too late.
The dark caught her.107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPz9YMOsjBf
Held her.
Perfectly.
107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhgwr8vJfok
Claire was awake. Again.
Same ceiling.107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYKKq04w5k1
Same sheets.107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡllZ3BjyNqj
Same sunlight slicing through the gap in the curtains.107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQyaSdzBxWB
Even the dust floating in the air looked copy-pasted from yesterday.
She stared at the ceiling for a few seconds, then took a long, deep breath.107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2z6S6AJpou
No headache.107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXUbvMRQZ48
No nausea.107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlGOK3jjdCq
Her whole body felt like someone had swapped it out for a new one. Even her stomach was fine.
Creepy.
Apparently, any sickness will vanish overnight—107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ5Qpz8hRgK
If you're stuck in a time loop.
Day Ten.
She got out of bed, rubbing her temple as she walked. Her thoughts were sluggish, and the words "Day Ten" rolled through her mind like a bowling ball in slow motion—silent but heavy.
She grabbed a sheet of paper and wrote "Day 10" on it with a thick black marker, placing it in the corner of her desk.107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZIYq3HiyMQ
It was her memory thread.107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfF2oN1IPOT
Her own little mark carved into an unremembering world.
Day Ten was the day Batman showed up.
Claire looked at the words for a moment, and a small smirk tugged at the corner of her mouth.
"Guess I’m kind of impressive, huh?"
If people in Gotham knew all it took to summon Batman was repeating the same day ten times, half the city would start dabbling in time magic.
She got dressed, went downstairs, and opened the café.
Today she cleaned the windows extra thoroughly.107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9LdxZENsPr
Then she took out a pink sticky note and scribbled on it:107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMy0mVehFou
“Today’s Bagel: Plain.”
She stuck it on the glass, stepped back to check.107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqQupz7doRs
It stood out.107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6ATFiz0Hyr
Bright and silly. Hard to miss.
Then she frowned.
Wait—why am I even doing this?
No one else would remember.107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5339Gbv9NA
Only she knew what day it was.107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhgP5XkktOk
Only she knew today’s bagel was different from yesterday’s.
But Batman had said it:
“You need a daily signal. Something visible. Something subconscious. Something verifiable.”
Maybe, just maybe…107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkIt9WYU0Sk
Someday, someone like her might see that note.107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡByiK0SbYce
And feel something click.107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9LFJRJOo8I
Some resonance.
Claire snorted.
“No deadlines, infinite time. What a dream.”
Colder than her fridge.
What kind of absurd life was this?107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ80eF0MiFwd
She felt like a corrupted file stuck in the wrong folder—just looping and glitching.
She glanced at the clock. 9:57.
Her eyes drifted to the door.107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxocGe70wlP
Her body tensed, that silent alertness creeping in.
Blue-eyed cop.
Batman had asked about him over and over last night—107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgNmiWisngB
What he wore.107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡX4q98ByFqr
His tone of voice.107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMeMX7Pbd0S
Which hand he used to take out his wallet.107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMsJacsSFII
What angle he walked in from.107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCNX8CEClUL
How long he looked at the counter.107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqJU8qPDVeO
The pitch of his thank-you.
“You see this man every day. That means he’s not random. He’s a variable. He’s meaningful.”
Claire stood behind the register, adjusting the screen angle while mentally replaying every word.107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdhX3AoOuxN
Meaningful. Variable. Breach point.
She wanted to snap back—
“Oh sure, easy for you to say. This isn’t an RPG. How the hell am I supposed to spot a glitch in reality?”
But she didn’t.
She just bit her lip, sorted the coin tray, zipped up the change pouch.
She was still wondering—
Was he Batman’s informant at the station?
She shook her head, started folding a dish towel in half, just as she placed it into the second drawer—
The Door Chimed.
Crisp. On time.107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWAeKtfwf9c
Like it was baked into the script of the day.
Claire’s eyes flicked to the clock on the wall.107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXAJbsTbjmv
9:59.
The door pushed open.107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡERZJqVwlqx
A familiar pair of blue eyes swept into the room.
They always looked like they carried morning fog—clear, cool, and oddly pure for a city like Gotham.
“Hi, you’re Claire, right? Kyle said the bagels would be out late today. Sent me to pick up the order.”
He smiled—polite, just a touch tired.
Claire didn’t respond right away. She just stared at him.
Stared so long she started to feel like a creep, as if she were peeking at the core of some cosmic mystery that hadn’t realized it was a mystery yet.
Is it you?107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbBU4OwhkoM
Or are you just another poor guy trying to buy breakfast?
God, she wanted him to be different.107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYIaXZwdgLM
Even five minutes late would’ve been something.
But nope.
Right on time.107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ44J0PSRbaG
Said the exact same line.107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7Do4DqF6nT
Paid with the same bills.
Claire considered doing a little test.
A spark lit in her head: Batman.107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiF4UYziciZ
If this guy was an informant, that name would definitely spark some kind of reaction.
She narrowed her eyes, parted her lips—
Then shut them again.
Nope. Too much.107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrUVBbGZACV
You don’t just ask a random cop, “Hey, do you know Batman?”107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ55Fdb97XYC
That’s how you end up with a referral to a psychiatrist by tomorrow.
Plan B.
She pointed to the pink note on the window.
“Did you see that?”
Blue Eyes blinked, glanced at the window, then nodded.
“Yeah, I saw it.”
But his face clearly read: “Okay… and?”
Claire resisted the urge to roll her eyes.107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrfc3VoSrTC
That one’s not working. Time to upgrade.
She grabbed a piece of paper, scribbled a sentence, and slid it across the counter.
“Do you ever feel like the sun today won’t make it to tomorrow?”
She’d spent days refining that line in her head—poetic, haunting, a little tragic.107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTP7fmZJRmI
Surely it would hit something.107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLzDA87QkPI
Maybe he’d respond: “How did you know?” or “I’ve been feeling the same.”
He read it.
Paused.
Then frowned.
“Uhh… if you ever need someone to talk to, I know a really good therapist.”
Claire, mentally: ……
Great.107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3NPIzfGxha
Another morning, another conversation added to the Folder of Cringe.
She forced a smile.
“Thanks. I’ll think about it.”
He handed her the money, smiled again, and left.
The door shut.107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVZB8QW9Zld
The chime rang a second time.
Claire remained where she was, staring at the now-empty doorway.
A quiet line drifted through her mind:
Test Result: Inconclusive.107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTKlPL4hkL5
Day 10. Blue-Eyed Officer.107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoR3UrvfR5q
No noticeable deviations.
But hey—107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiwZ2PyD24r
At least she tried.107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ9Hs5hD0j2
