Claire passed by the church.
It was surprisingly full.
She hesitated.81Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMc3U9HgHmA
Didn’t plan to stop, but glanced through the open doors anyway.
Right—today was Easter.
Evening service.81Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKaueeLhVot
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.81Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZgGpunhIW0
Too bad it didn’t make the front page.81Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAaOpnSjQxM
Nightwing’s butt did.
If every reset counted as a resurrection, she had Jesus beat.
— Jesus came back once.81Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiLV5gKThqQ
She came back every damn day.81Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpWNXqPNx1z
No crucifixion required. Just the same bed, the same morning, the same jazz.
No blood.81Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAakb1yt97q
No wounds.81Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRv7OKdIBmz
Not even symbolic suffering.81Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUjLTtOK2Gc
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.81Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ463JYO7Uh
She caught a trace of perfume and smoked ham in the air.81Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUSB7P8nHfj
Warm.81Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡieBse9YOci
Distant.
She didn’t look back.81Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8zjN8UhkeG
Didn’t slow down.81Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8Owt3E7y1K
Just pulled her jacket tighter around herself—trying not to look like someone on the run.
81Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡspeZ4I0G3s
She’d picked up some sushi and salad on the way.81Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXoXezq8D5C
Not because she was hungry.81Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiqnJToN7B5
Just… preemptive.81Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8cJXr327lF
— A biological necessity.81Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2InVqjOr6Y
Eating was proof she still had a plan, even if it didn’t taste like one.
The motel looked old.
Faded walls.81Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSRd6QmNvWS
Window frames weathered like they’d been kissed by thirty years of ocean wind.81Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7EPawjPN1C
But the sign worked.81Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuU3csWscxr
The light stayed on.81Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgyTqqPre49
No flickers.
The online reviews had been solid.
— 4.5 stars for cleanliness.81Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ40h1wGttBl
Quiet.81Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzYvxFh6nYK
No weird comments.81Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡauO2TCQ2Wl
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.81Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2D4xQUcSBH
The window was proof: I still believe in a future.
She paid. Got the key. Sixth floor.
The elevator hummed with old energy.81Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKLO2uNoZkY
The lights inside were yellow—not the cozy kind, but the nicotine-stained kind.
She entered the room.
Locked the door.
Exhaled.
— Quiet.
81Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTyBQFOIN0S
Locked.81Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡx67jfQMIFY
New bed.81Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs7O00dLWUY
New air.
It might all be gone tomorrow.81Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQrqUkhAvJD
But right now, she wasn’t home.81Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZD5CRCXBtU
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.81Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoYgK1dCUSL
But she followed the routine.81Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡczwJberBzr
— Eat first.81Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQyW3bITC7E
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.81Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxOnpLrk0so
Not just a blur of motion.
It was a person.
Weight.81Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡE1MRRdYhSW
Posture.81Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0ycD2H84SA
Presence.
Her body locked up.
She should have ducked.
Instead, she recognized him immediately.
Robin.
— Red. Green. Yellow.81Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ67o8XC5RoR
That mask.81Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsn1k0gf7mQ
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.81Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCQl2Vt7oyK
Or patrolling.
His cape fluttered in the breeze.81Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlcf3TfYGKf
The darkness carved his silhouette sharp against the city lights.
Then he noticed her.
A woman.81Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNAIqL4RWwy
Staring blankly at him.
Robin tilted his head.
Turned.81Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaOBhsfv0DB
Tapped gently on the glass.
— Not a warning.81Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuIDHFaDHm7
Not a threat.81Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ34TUNFilAX
Just a soft “I see you” kind of knock.
Claire opened the window like she was sleepwalking.
— Her hand moved first.81Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKWtLYJ1B97
Her brain was still buffering.
It didn’t make sense.
Which made it impossible to react.
Robin was standing right there.
Not on TV.81Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKx8zZ1S201
Not in a news segment.81Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlrf9kQ5nZk
No crowd.81Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvURt5uTvYa
No distance.
Just… there.
Looking at her.
Like he already knew she’d be here.
A kid.
— Sorry, Claire thought. But yeah.81Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7hBqQlxcWc
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.81Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1PZx1Fxd2C
Inside a world where heroes weren’t supposed to show up.
81Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUQN59bV5FI
The kid—Robin—spoke politely.81Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ3aNzeOCdk
“Good evening, miss. Sorry to bother you. I was wondering… do you know how to get to Queen Street?81Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ843lkR4nqB
I’m kinda new around here.”
— It was a kid’s voice.
Not a deep-faked adult.81Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ55eS5yfrgk
Not a pitch-shifted recording.
A real teenage voice.81Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSzAE0SVAQo
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:81Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRREBXdstFM
Holy shit, he’s actually a kid.
Claire gave him a strange look.81Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRF9eAu4qMC
Then pointed toward the street below.
“Walk a hundred meters that way,” she said calmly.81Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGNPyMZ0d8U
“Then turn right. It’s about two hundred more.”
— Her tone was flat.81Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡT0lEFOZHg6
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.81Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3qxRXtifSG
Walk to it?81Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl3mVXEMRP8
Swing to it?
She wanted to ask.81Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTskg11h721
But felt that if she did, she’d lose a shred of dignity as a normal citizen.
Robin nodded.81Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwJE7fXmxjN
Turned.81Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNTunKBfJsc
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.81Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjMQLJZpjFn
Loud.81Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBha24hgqcp
Ridiculous.81Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtZoaNODVoM
Undeniable.
Claire said:81Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSXplWZaGVm
“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.81Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5SKN75BdM9
Just a background extra in the scene.
But somehow…
ns216.73.216.238da2
