For the first time, Claire didn’t open the café.
No scent of coffee wafted from her window,79Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1dLTY560og
No familiar whir from the bagel press.79Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvB0aCsm25v
Instead, her hands—usually busy kneading dough by sunrise—were holding a marker,79Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPOWCvAHgkL
Drawing arrows across a whiteboard like she was about to teach a conspiracy seminar.
She hadn’t slept. Not a minute.79Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaiDjqBAZ0k
Because Batman had said:79Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2BHDC4YFtQ
“Don’t sleep.”
He’d said it calmly—too calmly.79Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjuwl0e2U6C
But the words had made her scalp tighten.
“If you fall asleep, the loop resets.79Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXRKVfPSoUF
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.79Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡP6wDTnv7kB
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.”79Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNfIGwrSb2D
But Batman shook his head, speaking slowly, deliberately:
“You need analysis.79Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIxGhGz8ZC2
You need to practice recounting your data.79Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt8Hm4aWq6V
I’ll leave a way to contact me.79Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTuaqf0rUHx
But you can’t start from the beginning every time.79Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzCIeSXGiQX
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.79Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRwXexuAt1f
Because for the first time, someone wasn’t saying she was crazy.79Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡppRor9QSYj
He was listening.79Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpJVXBVWEhb
He was thinking.79Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPvbuP5FgF7
He was—Batman.
And being a Gotham native, she felt this absurd, unexpected comfort rise up in her chest:
“At least it’s Batman.”79Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡggeUq4LON0
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.79Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBnbsqoY1QR
It was the kind of thing you see in old cram schools—half cracked, fully inconvenient.
Nightwing offered to help.79Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSIP6TdBn0n
They squeezed it up the stairs together, getting stuck at the landing for a moment.79Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEfbQaSkHek
He gave her a small glance and asked, voice quiet,79Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRTULgLuZdn
“You holding up?”
Claire was not.79Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvve7ruWgV0
Her arms were shaking.79Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCFuprZHsOv
Her eyes were dry.79Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQiXuWUNert
She felt like she’d downed three energy drinks and was vibrating slightly off-axis.79Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2Di3RuZ2eF
But she still smiled and replied:79Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhKZApbxxQj
“I’m good.”
It was a lie for herself.79Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡV3Lbcdfq3m
To remember she still could smile. Still could move forward.
Back upstairs, she brewed three coffees and a milk.79Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡun24v8sMO3
Nightwing took his with a polite nod.79Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwoEbyHc5sW
Robin sniffed the milk, made a face, and set it down.79Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyETZ0AGTnI
Batman didn’t touch his cup.79Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3F5s1VKYiC
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.79Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtbygrbax6V
The marker hovered just above its surface.79Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6OodTQq95L
That’s when she realized—79Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuWQ5ElQlcV
Her so-called "clues" were embarrassingly few.
“Uh... at first, nothing big. Thought I was just misremembering stuff,”79Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡadXN1me3hK
“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.79Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2q9In8Lnth
About Nightwing showing up on her balcony like clockwork.79Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrvDCxbw0Fp
About the cursed bagel swap—the chocolate replaced by plain.
(None of it felt funny anymore.)
Batman didn’t say a word.79Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFWfMhjGD2U
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.79Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrbP1Xfx3zh
But right now—right this second—someone understood her loneliness.
Night fell.79Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkFdj8dpy7c
The coffee went cold.79Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSmvk1PnLf4
The whiteboard filled up—timelines, branches, points of deviation.79Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRqwnlmWt1s
Batman stared at it like it was a war map.79Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZCzP7rZSg1
Brows drawn, jaw tense.
And Claire—79Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdYfXwjyrnQ
For the first time in god-knows-how-many loops—79Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡohjGaav4F2
wasn’t alone.
She didn’t have to whisper to herself anymore.
79Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwcswlfHEMy
Claire knew she wasn’t that smart.79Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ37bAt0GdEn
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.79Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDCbbjDBfCV
Tactical terms.79Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡq9hFvaboAv
Observation protocols.79Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqaTuLcp2zF
Hypothesis trees.79Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzi4vYAmNLj
Arrow-filled logic webs about time loop mechanics.
Her brain was buzzing like someone turned on a high-frequency hum in her skull.79Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzBhlYrylfd
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.79Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnHNDxWnyjT
Bullet points.79Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIoqjDLq5PT
Key phrases.79Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQ7QBFb3oFE
Color-coded charts.
Didn’t matter.79Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoCgYGctxxP
Once she closed her eyes—gone.79Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMykG83g5hQ
Just gone.
So she had to memorize.79Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡK4m1kXuLfq
Raw memorization.79Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsXGEIxoku3
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?”79Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzDw66xDpCH
Total academic despair.
She glared at the board and forced herself to read it out loud:
- Establish a consistent, simplified daily communication method79Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyGruoBgvQi
- Design self-verification protocols79Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡD2bbLn9w6t
- Identify the rupture point in the time loop79Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTbb6eGfoGr
- Develop coping mechanisms for mental strain79Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYD0Oc4BDIm
- Test whether sleep is the trigger for resets79Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFiHRZBslJR
79Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4JBoyvKmxP
And below those?79Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlQIC1i7GoP
Bullet point hell.
Claire nearly burst into tears.79Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYfGvGtpYgR
Wasn’t this the kind of thing you hired Batman to do?79Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvK5P1RiHtg
She was a bagel-slinging café owner, not a goddamn temporal physicist.
Nightwing and Robin had left around dawn.79Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡStSjOSEgyN
She’d thought she’d feel relief.79Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOW10WBjT90
She didn’t.79Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdN4g95CLz3
She felt like a balloon blown up way past safe capacity.
And Batman? Still here.79Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFfZuuVCJzI
Sitting at her tiny desk like he owned it.79Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzF2qD56UgC
Folding her notes into crisp little squares like some kind of insomnia robot.79Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIAssRb8tr7
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.79Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIatVmAzI27
Nope.79Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIQRZkYpPrb
Still here.79Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdBAOwsB7JX
Drank her coffee.79Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzz2btGKG5F
Ate a croissant.
Batman eats food.79Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡED0euMc35I
Claire noted this with bewildered internal sarcasm.79Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5xzRv5ZXUc
And, somehow… it made her feel a little more human.79Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ18FcXnCUvH
A little more grounded.
Then 2 p.m. hit.79Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwBU7WQgccm
And she just—couldn’t.
Her head throbbed like someone was banging pots inside it.79Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSXFq34RSXP
A rhythmic BONG—BONG—BONG of pure pain.79Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKr1cowPy9a
Her ears were ringing.79Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWA43F0X3uB
Her vision was starting to blur.79Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6z2NKqF8PO
She hadn’t slept in way too long.
Even Batman’s voice faded into background noise.79Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMFTUG9TF1a
She could hear words, but they drifted by like waterlogged scraps of paper.79Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdlammaWDrM
No structure. No connection.
Her neck gave out first.79Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6PCv9H6dsZ
Then her whole body slumped—soft and useless like an overcooked noodle.
Then she heard it.79Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2QSPvzvs7v
A sigh.79Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWG9S6KTXff
Low.79Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡm3QSwskkw0
Close.79Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqmY2j0ZIOD
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.79Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWqWtrWpKDa
So blue. So clear.79Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkjXqSfEz7d
Like the first star that refuses to leave the morning sky.
Nightwing, she thought.79Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡN9St7tKJVa
But she couldn’t speak.
From somewhere nearby, Batman’s voice drifted in—calm, slow, final:
“Claire. Remember what I told you.79Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAm7omePnoJ
Protect yourself first. Then find the truth.”
Someone laid her down.79Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4Rxn9lv4tg
Pulled the blanket up.
The scent of sunlight-warmed fabric and stale coffee beans wrapped around her.79Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaAeImrkgkB
Her bed was soft. So soft.79Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHsOZuGwKCz
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.79Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡE4O5EkkzfK
Was there something she needed to say? Do?
Too late.
The dark caught her.79Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0oNNnttln8
Held her.
Perfectly.
79Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwHXpdaaKoq
Claire was awake. Again.
Same ceiling.79Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyKIqcEmmTv
Same sheets.79Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2hClyEJm5A
Same sunlight slicing through the gap in the curtains.79Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQVfoxw1SN6
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.79Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8T6OLgDFYD
No headache.79Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ60O5KbTxWh
No nausea.79Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ93EPeDadSB
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—79Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2kIBZvDhv7
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.79Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡz7gbexhuND
It was her memory thread.79Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmkDfZRaSsW
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.79Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4VBfpfr3VU
Then she took out a pink sticky note and scribbled on it:79Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTp4LJfZH8V
“Today’s Bagel: Plain.”
She stuck it on the glass, stepped back to check.79Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDDqWfbjdok
It stood out.79Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCTcFSV32Nu
Bright and silly. Hard to miss.
Then she frowned.
Wait—why am I even doing this?
No one else would remember.79Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYUqFFaIEho
Only she knew what day it was.79Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDzAlIGSEis
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…79Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfgUPIWK18E
Someday, someone like her might see that note.79Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLoRpJcUZn6
And feel something click.79Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxIM9MYMlvU
Some resonance.
Claire snorted.
“No deadlines, infinite time. What a dream.”
Colder than her fridge.
What kind of absurd life was this?79Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjfWZZ1UQZH
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.79Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzm9NAM2ejJ
Her body tensed, that silent alertness creeping in.
Blue-eyed cop.
Batman had asked about him over and over last night—79Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGLrMq3AO7f
What he wore.79Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwbLEzKJCte
His tone of voice.79Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡc30IEBmpcH
Which hand he used to take out his wallet.79Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOPWike6yKz
What angle he walked in from.79Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2YMmK11wUM
How long he looked at the counter.79Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbdTq77b9ba
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.79Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1YvXeUSmB2
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.79Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7h3wlt3bYJ
Like it was baked into the script of the day.
Claire’s eyes flicked to the clock on the wall.79Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡd6pRzuti7Y
9:59.
The door pushed open.79Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡB0SkLM8k0f
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?79Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZgldqV6wCo
Or are you just another poor guy trying to buy breakfast?
God, she wanted him to be different.79Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcmuJ9yM44M
Even five minutes late would’ve been something.
But nope.
Right on time.79Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4puE6GRijN
Said the exact same line.79Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKdf9fnoklg
Paid with the same bills.
Claire considered doing a little test.
A spark lit in her head: Batman.79Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGpZihWzvyC
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.79Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwHannB92Rm
You don’t just ask a random cop, “Hey, do you know Batman?”79Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFoQwr8Ago7
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.79Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmlxk6ViJeF
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.79Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4TQCDvYvse
Surely it would hit something.79Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡz3f8RwI7co
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.79Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDvPM5NcCOC
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.79Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPpi2Ns7p8b
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.79Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUeHLOdei0O
Day 10. Blue-Eyed Officer.79Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPImO2Vemgm
No noticeable deviations.
But hey—79Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7aW8Ns9zDk
At least she tried.79Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ30PLvHuVr5
