Claire passed by the church.
It was surprisingly full.
She hesitated.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9qPsvSnJZ6
Didn’t plan to stop, but glanced through the open doors anyway.
Right—today was Easter.
Evening service.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcNfrK2rSD1
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1iUM8DW0CG
Too bad it didn’t make the front page.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1ZjOybdq8A
Nightwing’s butt did.
If every reset counted as a resurrection, she had Jesus beat.
— Jesus came back once.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ34TJEZvmCO
She came back every damn day.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwEWAPJwOVE
No crucifixion required. Just the same bed, the same morning, the same jazz.
No blood.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNEzOBZMQgs
No wounds.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJRTgSMPz0R
Not even symbolic suffering.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlDqsD0Voa2
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡF8AcpkIw9R
She caught a trace of perfume and smoked ham in the air.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNA7V8hmGVa
Warm.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLiKNayjg2E
Distant.
She didn’t look back.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVOkZrsPZWk
Didn’t slow down.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfYip2VVCIf
Just pulled her jacket tighter around herself—trying not to look like someone on the run.
8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ35YZSCfWqn
She’d picked up some sushi and salad on the way.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsvxNAqKDRe
Not because she was hungry.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuE2lDyKJUi
Just… preemptive.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVe3RS3bgOV
— A biological necessity.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWVkUI7VpZ0
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡypUWEFSYG3
Window frames weathered like they’d been kissed by thirty years of ocean wind.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi1reQq11v6
But the sign worked.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiYsSNZGhnS
The light stayed on.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2Cz0n77gSq
No flickers.
The online reviews had been solid.
— 4.5 stars for cleanliness.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡF25BWESgFw
Quiet.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ01pAYz2kMU
No weird comments.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkxRHpCWoH6
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiIyTr4GdA2
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA0eUi32mD2
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvphq33GdhF
Locked.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2XGLKUdkTO
New bed.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfLme22cJDp
New air.
It might all be gone tomorrow.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDYEdy4kFZB
But right now, she wasn’t home.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ7wHhWhDBy
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuLMvwmOdIp
But she followed the routine.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡg6zR6dcrKs
— Eat first.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeU4rhYWNMC
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpJACPMenwX
Not just a blur of motion.
It was a person.
Weight.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTjz4exjvT9
Posture.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTyaYFRhbhP
Presence.
Her body locked up.
She should have ducked.
Instead, she recognized him immediately.
Robin.
— Red. Green. Yellow.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBqaz8ucy56
That mask.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGcWOqKAbQh
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmb0sMV18ho
Or patrolling.
His cape fluttered in the breeze.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdvUTJ8VTPQ
The darkness carved his silhouette sharp against the city lights.
Then he noticed her.
A woman.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ726qK4GsMZ
Staring blankly at him.
Robin tilted his head.
Turned.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeoTGcEbYdQ
Tapped gently on the glass.
— Not a warning.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡngQFmFASvh
Not a threat.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpcxOEvEZjl
Just a soft “I see you” kind of knock.
Claire opened the window like she was sleepwalking.
— Her hand moved first.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEjNhxtSDnI
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR2OJrthNcK
Not in a news segment.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡthvmu8V9qM
No crowd.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKLZoyMQ9Fo
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUsvcYF0u9L
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1olJBXlci5
Inside a world where heroes weren’t supposed to show up.
8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUqZrOW1ifB
The kid—Robin—spoke politely.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCowYnHuhNh
“Good evening, miss. Sorry to bother you. I was wondering… do you know how to get to Queen Street?8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVzbrH5bavv
I’m kinda new around here.”
— It was a kid’s voice.
Not a deep-faked adult.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVSSrp9avBT
Not a pitch-shifted recording.
A real teenage voice.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5g6jqqQYAw
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiWy90NHfTg
Holy shit, he’s actually a kid.
Claire gave him a strange look.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGlZ6vjLDgi
Then pointed toward the street below.
“Walk a hundred meters that way,” she said calmly.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOzzL2D2QzI
“Then turn right. It’s about two hundred more.”
— Her tone was flat.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡf0EIm5lAPd
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡh96p3zz6nN
Walk to it?8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpoecgMSJK2
Swing to it?
She wanted to ask.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpzfNgfvjPy
But felt that if she did, she’d lose a shred of dignity as a normal citizen.
Robin nodded.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLCvb4G5wHZ
Turned.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFzccDVJyEy
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHY9dX5jDMi
Loud.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpn8gYEXJ5k
Ridiculous.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡySHIoKpLYK
Undeniable.
Claire said:8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIFENpUU8ao
“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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6d4KMoARs6
Just a background extra in the scene.
But somehow…
ns216.73.216.213da2
