Claire was still spiraling over her inability to write anything down.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqCu7NyDlol
— That as-soon-as-you-write-it-it-disappears kind of frustration twisted in her chest like the early warning of a vomit you know has nowhere to go.
Then someone walked in.
A man. In uniform.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBUuUDG5lCA
Not one she recognized.
— Claire flinched. Literally flinched.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrAekAWvgzC
Not the kind of reflex you have when a customer walks in.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ90vbG1xiab
This was different.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpid6U6BaJ9
This was a variable.
Her eyes shot to the clock.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQ2NoUNutfR
The time was right.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi7UEMivJgU
But the man was wrong.
He was young.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5jG6dLnR7p
Blue-eyed. Smiling. Polished.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0ePkJAoaxG
Not like the usual middle-aged officers whose uniforms barely survived the war against their beer bellies.
— This wasn’t just unfamiliar.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡffOtttzhR7
It was too new.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡM3zaOKO2ZL
Too “present.”11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNI1RXIT9Sf
His movements didn’t carry yesterday’s echo.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡg26f9o2lwg
Nothing about him felt pre-recorded.
He was... real.
He walked to the counter, removed his cap, and smiled.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRaDR58Kwut
“Hi, you’re Claire, right? Kyle said the bagels would be out late today. Sent me to pick up the order.”
— Even his voice had warmth.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡooQMpNrp8Z
Like morning sunlight just reaching a glass of water.
Claire nodded and reached for a paper bag.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡI5o4KMgZNc
— Her thoughts still looping: He’s not in my memory.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyA9WYTAjU5
Not some cop’s kid. Not a familiar blur from the past.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLbAWmv0qov
He was a new puzzle piece—and this world wasn’t supposed to have any left.
As she packed the bagels, the blue-eyed officer glanced at the newspaper on the counter—the same old Nightwing photo.
The one with the annoyingly cheerful mid-air leap.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEI18Pn5i0L
And yes.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkcANhVjXXh
That shot.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcGZu0Ds61D
That damn ass.
The officer didn’t laugh.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡu8lhKhrFmD
Didn’t snort like Kyle.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7U44jHdM53
Didn’t mutter “that kid again.”
He just looked.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxFrcRulVJc
Silent.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnv38WwOWij
One eyebrow twitching—like he was thinking.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdyfIUKGWvZ
Or recognizing something.
Claire stepped out from behind the counter and handed him the bag.
Her gaze flicked to the paper as she did, tracing the direction he had just been looking.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ6PAOram70
She knew he caught that glance.
She didn’t explain.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTEwo7hjSAd
Didn’t ask.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡui3lG9aGu4
Didn’t care what this bright-eyed stranger thought of Nightwing’s overexposed butt.
“Here’s your bagels,” she said flatly.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoMt1eSI7Ww
It could’ve been “good morning” for all the emotion she gave it.
He nodded, smiled a little awkwardly. “Thanks.”
Then he paused.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6WacAJ2liW
“Hey… uh. Just wondering. What do you think of Nightwing? I mean, we work with him a lot. Curious what people think.”
Claire looked at him.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDqdvMIfmGn
Just once.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhQL6wJ6Box
Then turned away.
— Didn’t offer a smirk.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPnl8uNkpuu
Didn’t offer a sigh.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcMfxKn6r36
Just rolled her eyes with the weariness of someone who’s rolled them way too many times this week.
The officer would later swear he heard her mumble as she turned:
“Hope his ass falls off.”
He blinked.
Not because it was shocking.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfMqFr3OlZ1
But because she said it so effortlessly.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2SiQlvi84c
So plainly.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbDiORQP0cf
Like she was saying “we’re out of cat food.”
He didn’t know whether to laugh or nod.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQM258CRkw3
So he just held the bag a little tighter.
She was still fretting over the whole “can’t-write-anything-down” thing—11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4zVVDnjzvS
— That nausea-without-an-exit feeling sloshing in her chest, like a gag reflex that never gets to finish.
11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNn64hrJYZN
Claire figured if you wanted to fix a problem, you'd better look it in the face.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbW9J5sulg1
Avoidance didn’t make you miss the big picture—it made you miss the details.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdmgMGADLFO
This wasn’t a movie. No last-minute plot armor. No chosen one moment. If she was going to survive this, she had to do it herself.
She couldn’t write things down.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsnGE4XCEkh
So she’d memorize them instead.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡq8yFl1hdSk
If this place erased every mark she left, then her memory would be the map.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHb24wxINx3
That was the deal—quietly made, silently accepted.
Tonight, Claire decided to stay up.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBxxUssUzFE
Normally, she was in bed by ten. Sharp.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGpgekkWxJ0
Not for beauty sleep. Not because she had to.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZIkJ2ojmxR
But because being awake at night had always meant danger.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs8KRQbOLTt
Losing control. Going missing.
That was the Gotham in her talking.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4mQri6lwii
Nighttime wasn’t a vibe—it was a warning.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOrjF1BkdoJ
The city didn’t teach you that.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs8hSmGkxu7
It branded it into your bones.
She was only in Blüdhaven because of her aunt’s inheritance.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2firCctdVr
Not that this city was gentle. But compared to Gotham?11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtyO7WWpiEl
Blüdhaven was a cupcake shop with a flickering sign.
Tonight, Claire made her own coffee.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSQdKYOszPk
The clock said 11:00 PM.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4QSjvHWL5W
The calendar next to her had tomorrow’s date already circled.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXeUYpOVI7a
Usually, she only circled the date when she sold out her bagels.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzNSFUMBWaw
It was her little ritual—write the number sold, feel a tiny sense of victory.
But tonight she circled it early.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8yP3X4OJp9
Like a declaration:11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ22ut8bWaMO
I’m still awake on this day. I’m still alive on this day.
She had no idea when the loop would reset.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmaVDS3d9A4
Midnight? Three in the morning?11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡm9efEX5U8L
Maybe the second she fell asleep?11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyOncgfNagR
Come to think of it, she’d never seen a “real” end to the day.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdfBT72LiWu
Time always hit reset in the dark.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGQg3ZpFrW9
Like someone pressed a button in her sleep.
Claire stared off into space.
11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwInd9QvbgP
Then came a sound.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9uFBkb5yau
From the balcony.
Claire looked up.
Not a bang.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6NiaKsiErW
Just a soft “thunk.”11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3VOP57E598
Like someone landing gently on a metal railing.
Her Gotham instincts kicked in.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡb2hS6ZuezY
She grabbed a mirror, crouched low, slipped it between the curtain and the window, and checked the outside by reflection.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhWBE21Rg4C
— She’d been practicing that move since she was twelve.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBv00TZR4OD
Every Gotham kid knew better than to look directly into the dark.
Her eyes widened.
Nightwing.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsjEre8PhzO
She couldn’t mistake him.
— That black-and-blue suit.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5rHmnYw3Ls
The twin batons.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCb9OFxxOk3
That crouch.
She’d never been a fan, but she’d never expected him on her damn balcony either.
He was crouched on the railing, scanning the distance.
— His movement was smooth, breath quiet.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhEYv1clrzp
Like he was part of the night.
Her hand on the mirror was damp with sweat.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5jeFAUFfXC
The scene didn’t belong to her life.
Then—he was gone.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXEAxQGxPOz
Just leapt.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVCOJKVJ3Jr
Like a frame of film had been edited out.
Claire bolted upright and yanked the curtain open.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbDjNgDmb35
Nightwing was already swinging away on his grappling line.
— Like a midnight pendulum.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR0z4Kncwd7
Here, then not.
So... he passed by her balcony around eleven?
Had he always come by?
Had she been asleep, missing it every time?
— A blank spot appeared on her mental “loop chart.”11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJVeBXMnBNO
He’d been here.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPWPJY40rsy
And she’d never known.
She shut the curtain, stunned, dropped back onto the sofa.
What if her balcony was actually part of some secret patrol route?11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡduh5O9oiMo
A rest stop?11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGBg8tzmSog
A transit point?
And she—owner of this tiny café—had never even noticed the rhythm of her own city’s nights.
11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQ5qmHjqebp
But not now.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLY3FK3wnh0
Now wasn’t the time for that.
Tonight was about the reset.
— No distractions.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFL4DL2Nsz1
No detours.
She tucked the “balcony incident” into a drawer in her mind.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVW82JOaAVD
One she’d open later.
Tonight’s mission: figure out when this world restarts.
Claire stayed on the couch and sipped her coffee.
— Bitter. Too bitter.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUBlggzIkye
She’d added way too much powder. On purpose.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSWvmABytvb
Her tongue was going numb.
Another sip.
She turned on the TV. A late-night talk show.
— Anything to stop thinking.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3d0olINOJH
If she let her brain chew on itself too long, it would tie in knots.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIuAszZKG5A
The host was still as loud and obnoxious as ever.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrJlEfDXeQm
The laughter track made her want to throw the mug.
Fifth cup.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡT85aIj5PR0
Her stomach felt swollen, like she’d swallowed an airbag.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡb0aJfY3a8n
Bitterness and acid mingled on her tongue.
Like she’d just drunk a bellyful of gunpowder.
Fuck.
— She didn’t say it out loud.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbEm52yWxjQ
But it mushroomed in her mind like smoke from a silent bomb.
It was 4 a.m.
What now?
Was she supposed to stay up till sunrise?11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ35P28RcMGb
Was today not even part of the loop?11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhsoc3gfDf9
What if this was the real Day Two?
The thought made her want to cry.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ65jl2QZs2N
Which immediately made her angry at herself for being dramatic.
Her head throbbed.
Maybe… maybe this would be the night that finally led into a real tomorrow.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfg2uPSUrxi
A new paper.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAPK8Bh7781
A new customer.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcd8mRFtjlm
A different damn bagel.
— She found herself fantasizing that the cursed newspaper would finally change.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxp8uD3GpRq
Even if it still featured Nightwing’s butt, she’d settle for a different angle.
If that meant selling new bagels, she’d knead two extra batches as an offering.
The TV now sounded like a lullaby.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8yzgSxaVfR
The laughter rose and fell like ocean waves.
For a moment, she wondered if the host was trying to hypnotize her.
No.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcxslpoUWEK
She couldn’t fall asleep.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqjLYAIrsLZ
She’d made it from ten to four.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzb7EHi2BXh
She couldn’t give up now.
Claire shut her eyes on the sofa.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgzcEu94okO
— Just for a second.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLMuHm1otMD
Her eyelids were dry.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmJWnzR0496
She wasn’t sleeping, just… letting her corneas rest.
Next moment—
The jazz started.
Claire opened her eyes.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUpPqoAyjCk
In bed.
Her head buzzed.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSYT5VLulf1
Throat dry, like she’d inhaled ash.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVmG4b8Vk3e
The ceiling blurred for half a second.
Another day had begun.
— Same damn song.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡd5aE0flo4L
Same damn voice.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIINNpDlJCm
That same punch-in-the-gut familiarity that made her want to throw the clock across the room.
She’d failed.
She stayed up all night.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWw7EvJ0d5Q
And still—nothing stuck.
She saw nothing.
But this world remembered everything.
11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKLzZ9sKyPa
