Claire didn’t want to open the window.54Please respect copyright.PENANAgHmCKh9hyu
Because outside—54Please respect copyright.PENANAGnRadVsBPy
was Batman.
Batman.
The guy who made street dealers piss themselves on sight.54Please respect copyright.PENANAYd9BbQgvCx
The guy crime lords called their lawyers over.54Please respect copyright.PENANAvAyWaUfiu6
The walking trauma of every Gotham kid’s childhood.
And now, that shadow was standing on her balcony.
Claire swallowed hard. Her hand trembled slightly, but she still reached for the latch and pulled the window open.
Batman stepped inside like he brought the night with him.54Please respect copyright.PENANASeEiN7bl7x
His cape poured across the floor like spilled ink.54Please respect copyright.PENANApnl1sHqdTz
The air grew heavier just by him being there.
And he didn’t come alone.
Of course not.54Please respect copyright.PENANAeBvQ86KVat
Behind him—54Please respect copyright.PENANABip6KJRaAY
Nightwing.54Please respect copyright.PENANAbGTS9oknFR
And the little gremlin, Robin.
You two bastards.54Please respect copyright.PENANAWL4LHlgM6K
Claire’s eyes went wide. Her mind screamed:54Please respect copyright.PENANAefNgGGhA6I
You told on me?! You snitched to the Final Boss?!
But then she looked again.54Please respect copyright.PENANAP9aZFT4F97
Their faces were... weird.54Please respect copyright.PENANAOT9OpBvhbr
No smugness. No jokes.54Please respect copyright.PENANA0tIIPpJffh
Robin looked sheepish. Guilty, even.54Please respect copyright.PENANAuiszKADO5Z
Nightwing was avoiding her gaze altogether.
Batman’s stare was sharp enough to slice through her spine.54Please respect copyright.PENANAgsaJmelWrW
When he finally spoke, the words hit like a church bell inside her skull.
“Claire. I need an explanation.”
Panic bloomed instantly.54Please respect copyright.PENANAsdjBl6Zdie
Gone was her usual snark.54Please respect copyright.PENANArWtV07EPoE
All she could manage was a shaky:54Please respect copyright.PENANATcPY0ljsRL
“Explanation for... what?”
He didn’t move.54Please respect copyright.PENANAusUCdllNjL
Didn’t raise his voice.54Please respect copyright.PENANA3sfzOxr7c1
But it was like gravity turned up a notch.
“Why did you know I was in the city.”
Her brain kicked into high gear.54Please respect copyright.PENANA5bsO6GvfET
Search the files. Find a lie.54Please respect copyright.PENANA3vZLkgn8IL
Any lie.
Her mouth acted faster than her logic:
“I… I saw you. On the way back from church.”
Instant regret.54Please respect copyright.PENANAvCbcImAK5y
Instant exposure.
Batman responded like he already had that line printed on a card.54Please respect copyright.PENANA5vG94sgu1H
“That’s a lie. I didn’t pass that area. I need the truth.”
Still no yelling. Still no threats.54Please respect copyright.PENANAGZysxCSUxR
But somehow she couldn’t breathe.
Goddamn Nightwing. Goddamn brat.
She briefly considered:54Please respect copyright.PENANAmCTaujYrTL
If I lie down right now and fall asleep—can I just reset?54Please respect copyright.PENANAQCfwmJM62s
Will the loop save me?54Please respect copyright.PENANAqf4Rp5rYkl
Is that a thing?
Batman spoke again.54Please respect copyright.PENANAClZm6yT3Ap
Same words.54Please respect copyright.PENANAeFDjhfba6W
Same calm tone.54Please respect copyright.PENANAhROMbZoUaI
But this time, the weight behind them was unbearable.
“Miss. I need an explanation.”
Claire believed him.54Please respect copyright.PENANAufchAlAf9j
He could wait until sunrise if he had to.54Please respect copyright.PENANAji6SsdH4IF
He'd ask until she broke.
She looked down.54Please respect copyright.PENANAel9goE7Xc9
Her fingers curled around the edge of the note she’d written earlier.
And a thought snapped through her mind:54Please respect copyright.PENANApfD2GIRKbv
It doesn’t matter. Tomorrow resets.54Please respect copyright.PENANAxs0bPSRfSk
They won’t remember anyway.
Her lips parted, slow and unsteady—54Please respect copyright.PENANAWMZQbyYooo
She was going to tell him.
The secret.
54Please respect copyright.PENANABJZXKbkop8
Claire kept her head down.54Please respect copyright.PENANAWsVI8ewMmP
Her fingers dug into the seams of her jeans, knuckles white.54Please respect copyright.PENANAln6jA8uizR
She knew—54Please respect copyright.PENANAHAKW4TXqDG
the moment she said it out loud, nothing would be the same.
But she was done.54Please respect copyright.PENANA6tGpds34OH
So. Goddamn. Done.54Please respect copyright.PENANAhd0oUpHX79
Every morning at five, waking to the same sky.54Please respect copyright.PENANA0b6TB6jdgc
Same damn headlines on the radio.54Please respect copyright.PENANAnJHhUFwRea
Same dough.54Please respect copyright.PENANATlk5Nl9XgB
Same customers.54Please respect copyright.PENANAD9f9tRJI8Q
Same stolen future—again and again and again.
“I’m stuck,” she said.54Please respect copyright.PENANAkMGr8rpbp9
“I’m stuck in today.”
Her heart punched her ribs like it wanted out.54Please respect copyright.PENANA9TTetOXQfX
She couldn’t bring herself to look at Batman.
He frowned.54Please respect copyright.PENANAG4PWJCWVXb
Those famously unreadable eyes locked onto her like lasers.54Please respect copyright.PENANAor58DAhCI5
“What does that mean?”54Please respect copyright.PENANAbltYCvnqy9
His voice was low. Steady. Too steady.
Claire took a breath—54Please respect copyright.PENANAmmfEdulcrl
No turning back.
“Every morning I wake up, and it’s today. This exact today.”54Please respect copyright.PENANAemrjNwAY3J
Her words rushed out, all in one breath.54Please respect copyright.PENANAWL0PPn5HS3
“Five a.m., same morning show, same customers, same bagels, same goddamn newspaper—”54Please respect copyright.PENANAnO8BgdXequ
She jabbed a finger at Robin.54Please respect copyright.PENANAvqQjRGaRkU
“And him. He ate my sushi. Yesterday. Which is still today. They went to meet you right after.”
Her voice was rising, cracking.
“I’m the only one who remembers this day—fuck—54Please respect copyright.PENANA6aHtVTBqpN
I’m the only one who remembers anything!”
The room went dead quiet.54Please respect copyright.PENANAiQFaU8s3uj
Her confession hit the air like a grenade.
Claire’s pulse slammed in her ears, drowning everything else.54Please respect copyright.PENANAwZDenPLkpV
She wasn’t crying—54Please respect copyright.PENANAp92HE926Kh
but the burn behind her eyes told a different story.
And Batman—54Please respect copyright.PENANAeyV3zkuO6M
He looked at her.54Please respect copyright.PENANAYo9W8VrTla
Really looked.
Not with suspicion.54Please respect copyright.PENANAqUMbQD1wwr
Not interrogation.54Please respect copyright.PENANAdLuewMzb07
Not intimidation.
But with that expression people only get when they’re trying to figure out if the world is insane…54Please respect copyright.PENANAZhda1zSUoz
or you are.
And then—he just stood there.54Please respect copyright.PENANAo0MJSBdFI2
Silent.54Please respect copyright.PENANADGt5mMIzQL
Thinking.54Please respect copyright.PENANAljP1IuR75K
For a full minute. Maybe two.
Nightwing and Robin stared like they’d just seen a ghost fart rainbows.54Please respect copyright.PENANA8pwEMODl8X
Robin’s face was twisted—skeptical, but rattled.54Please respect copyright.PENANAP8Tnmi5OyI
Nightwing looked like he wanted to say something, but shock had his tongue hostage.
Claire braced herself.54Please respect copyright.PENANAGrLABWcfSs
She expected Batman to dismiss her.54Please respect copyright.PENANAGGSNvra31N
Turn. Leave.
But then he said it:
“Claire,”54Please respect copyright.PENANAJPRkp2oPWy
“I believe you. For now.”
What?
“You need help. So do I.”
Robin’s jaw actually dropped.54Please respect copyright.PENANAwSY72qkc3s
Nightwing blinked like the laws of physics had just rewritten themselves.
Batman—needing help?54Please respect copyright.PENANAYEvCEtiV9u
And from her?
Just some woman who looked like she’d barely made it off a bakery shift.54Please respect copyright.PENANAJCAHOOX3Jt
A woman claiming the day was on an infinite loop.
Claire’s mind went white.54Please respect copyright.PENANATW7sX94FjO
She stared at the cowl like it was a portal to a dimension where none of this was supposed to happen.
54Please respect copyright.PENANA6KvKNxCCXR