Claire didn’t want to open the window.62Please respect copyright.PENANAtaQm0rIB0t
Because outside—62Please respect copyright.PENANAVKubRPsrCN
was Batman.
Batman.
The guy who made street dealers piss themselves on sight.62Please respect copyright.PENANAVMFU4rdqgb
The guy crime lords called their lawyers over.62Please respect copyright.PENANADbA5936Oks
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.62Please respect copyright.PENANA1VMLS1BqlG
His cape poured across the floor like spilled ink.62Please respect copyright.PENANACJQTnfJMG3
The air grew heavier just by him being there.
And he didn’t come alone.
Of course not.62Please respect copyright.PENANA5Zxg5pDvNg
Behind him—62Please respect copyright.PENANAbNGYmlwDLX
Nightwing.62Please respect copyright.PENANA1krFvEIHpk
And the little gremlin, Robin.
You two bastards.62Please respect copyright.PENANA6vDrj39LTO
Claire’s eyes went wide. Her mind screamed:62Please respect copyright.PENANAATncsFIxvf
You told on me?! You snitched to the Final Boss?!
But then she looked again.62Please respect copyright.PENANAhKLfOiDH6T
Their faces were... weird.62Please respect copyright.PENANAFzLIPpdyul
No smugness. No jokes.62Please respect copyright.PENANAkVdlgelH8e
Robin looked sheepish. Guilty, even.62Please respect copyright.PENANAhQQ37ae4Vb
Nightwing was avoiding her gaze altogether.
Batman’s stare was sharp enough to slice through her spine.62Please respect copyright.PENANA2lBkcTvXuP
When he finally spoke, the words hit like a church bell inside her skull.
“Claire. I need an explanation.”
Panic bloomed instantly.62Please respect copyright.PENANAtkX5tYa8CS
Gone was her usual snark.62Please respect copyright.PENANAlepvLS6jvt
All she could manage was a shaky:62Please respect copyright.PENANAmGSjbghOif
“Explanation for... what?”
He didn’t move.62Please respect copyright.PENANAETK2iCKI82
Didn’t raise his voice.62Please respect copyright.PENANAwxwJuPF1iZ
But it was like gravity turned up a notch.
“Why did you know I was in the city.”
Her brain kicked into high gear.62Please respect copyright.PENANAVhMGgyPT5v
Search the files. Find a lie.62Please respect copyright.PENANAiLQWotDm6L
Any lie.
Her mouth acted faster than her logic:
“I… I saw you. On the way back from church.”
Instant regret.62Please respect copyright.PENANA8OuthMPynI
Instant exposure.
Batman responded like he already had that line printed on a card.62Please respect copyright.PENANA9QnwoRZfNX
“That’s a lie. I didn’t pass that area. I need the truth.”
Still no yelling. Still no threats.62Please respect copyright.PENANAo3t4GRmtUg
But somehow she couldn’t breathe.
Goddamn Nightwing. Goddamn brat.
She briefly considered:62Please respect copyright.PENANAXGfFoOEaR4
If I lie down right now and fall asleep—can I just reset?62Please respect copyright.PENANACXKydKbxxB
Will the loop save me?62Please respect copyright.PENANAX8X2jC0trt
Is that a thing?
Batman spoke again.62Please respect copyright.PENANA4ml3l6vpnG
Same words.62Please respect copyright.PENANAPYxOmNpBaZ
Same calm tone.62Please respect copyright.PENANA8iZOcDtimV
But this time, the weight behind them was unbearable.
“Miss. I need an explanation.”
Claire believed him.62Please respect copyright.PENANA8cnVFkjAw4
He could wait until sunrise if he had to.62Please respect copyright.PENANAQeMV8rV92t
He'd ask until she broke.
She looked down.62Please respect copyright.PENANAvuneJFhfWj
Her fingers curled around the edge of the note she’d written earlier.
And a thought snapped through her mind:62Please respect copyright.PENANALMFLx99puC
It doesn’t matter. Tomorrow resets.62Please respect copyright.PENANAdDqMtPPcaC
They won’t remember anyway.
Her lips parted, slow and unsteady—62Please respect copyright.PENANADodt7wMZ5R
She was going to tell him.
The secret.
62Please respect copyright.PENANAv4hvekw0gS
Claire kept her head down.62Please respect copyright.PENANAWkRqFuxkpC
Her fingers dug into the seams of her jeans, knuckles white.62Please respect copyright.PENANAMpbKLX6wnW
She knew—62Please respect copyright.PENANAyqoywmMDnp
the moment she said it out loud, nothing would be the same.
But she was done.62Please respect copyright.PENANAkbKyvgsUO8
So. Goddamn. Done.62Please respect copyright.PENANAHOyGcP05j1
Every morning at five, waking to the same sky.62Please respect copyright.PENANAwyBUtF6zO8
Same damn headlines on the radio.62Please respect copyright.PENANAipQONyRA6D
Same dough.62Please respect copyright.PENANAaZDR5XR9lz
Same customers.62Please respect copyright.PENANAWaa80kCKqi
Same stolen future—again and again and again.
“I’m stuck,” she said.62Please respect copyright.PENANAr0mCDseom3
“I’m stuck in today.”
Her heart punched her ribs like it wanted out.62Please respect copyright.PENANAxHHzzYbQFQ
She couldn’t bring herself to look at Batman.
He frowned.62Please respect copyright.PENANAem7YOxdAbZ
Those famously unreadable eyes locked onto her like lasers.62Please respect copyright.PENANAdIithWbdE8
“What does that mean?”62Please respect copyright.PENANAAhJpvwitbT
His voice was low. Steady. Too steady.
Claire took a breath—62Please respect copyright.PENANAZaLsIdAHWT
No turning back.
“Every morning I wake up, and it’s today. This exact today.”62Please respect copyright.PENANAkeaYuXS7pu
Her words rushed out, all in one breath.62Please respect copyright.PENANA5ankd4RMCu
“Five a.m., same morning show, same customers, same bagels, same goddamn newspaper—”62Please respect copyright.PENANAn5yoRSHjuc
She jabbed a finger at Robin.62Please respect copyright.PENANAczT5Q5R3nZ
“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—62Please respect copyright.PENANAR2MO4q2IX9
I’m the only one who remembers anything!”
The room went dead quiet.62Please respect copyright.PENANAqFdabAXQgk
Her confession hit the air like a grenade.
Claire’s pulse slammed in her ears, drowning everything else.62Please respect copyright.PENANApw4PWB75vc
She wasn’t crying—62Please respect copyright.PENANAl8RYSAix4X
but the burn behind her eyes told a different story.
And Batman—62Please respect copyright.PENANAIBvkFWYx6w
He looked at her.62Please respect copyright.PENANAPEbOYKmz69
Really looked.
Not with suspicion.62Please respect copyright.PENANAepPHxQu6ln
Not interrogation.62Please respect copyright.PENANAqgeTR9ivOg
Not intimidation.
But with that expression people only get when they’re trying to figure out if the world is insane…62Please respect copyright.PENANAJEUkpDR75P
or you are.
And then—he just stood there.62Please respect copyright.PENANAtSZtdsZLHs
Silent.62Please respect copyright.PENANAetzwUXELpY
Thinking.62Please respect copyright.PENANAIOOJquPizG
For a full minute. Maybe two.
Nightwing and Robin stared like they’d just seen a ghost fart rainbows.62Please respect copyright.PENANAeU1bSJmMw5
Robin’s face was twisted—skeptical, but rattled.62Please respect copyright.PENANA17qaIfwgl8
Nightwing looked like he wanted to say something, but shock had his tongue hostage.
Claire braced herself.62Please respect copyright.PENANAFLPYmjpbAk
She expected Batman to dismiss her.62Please respect copyright.PENANAvPXc0iZFTf
Turn. Leave.
But then he said it:
“Claire,”62Please respect copyright.PENANAsUTsbz2eaV
“I believe you. For now.”
What?
“You need help. So do I.”
Robin’s jaw actually dropped.62Please respect copyright.PENANAI1Ti7TGUOR
Nightwing blinked like the laws of physics had just rewritten themselves.
Batman—needing help?62Please respect copyright.PENANApYBpx1UJaD
And from her?
Just some woman who looked like she’d barely made it off a bakery shift.62Please respect copyright.PENANA4FSjLkKGnt
A woman claiming the day was on an infinite loop.
Claire’s mind went white.62Please respect copyright.PENANA33poKL3ioK
She stared at the cowl like it was a portal to a dimension where none of this was supposed to happen.
62Please respect copyright.PENANAyYnRJt7zTZ