Claire didn’t want to open the window.58Please respect copyright.PENANApm5U0sCr98
Because outside—58Please respect copyright.PENANAJIomTVHior
was Batman.
Batman.
The guy who made street dealers piss themselves on sight.58Please respect copyright.PENANAvfwyq6xatR
The guy crime lords called their lawyers over.58Please respect copyright.PENANAvrxFl1Z74M
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.58Please respect copyright.PENANA9P6OTRkxtA
His cape poured across the floor like spilled ink.58Please respect copyright.PENANAEs3o3Ud6mu
The air grew heavier just by him being there.
And he didn’t come alone.
Of course not.58Please respect copyright.PENANAqpqnOk9vQH
Behind him—58Please respect copyright.PENANAlg3veoLtGs
Nightwing.58Please respect copyright.PENANA764aMTXUoK
And the little gremlin, Robin.
You two bastards.58Please respect copyright.PENANAqvACJIH7gL
Claire’s eyes went wide. Her mind screamed:58Please respect copyright.PENANAQCxuQegQCd
You told on me?! You snitched to the Final Boss?!
But then she looked again.58Please respect copyright.PENANADvQ7l3pGTf
Their faces were... weird.58Please respect copyright.PENANAXa9segAyLb
No smugness. No jokes.58Please respect copyright.PENANAKB9rOYNDG4
Robin looked sheepish. Guilty, even.58Please respect copyright.PENANA8EvDuc74Vq
Nightwing was avoiding her gaze altogether.
Batman’s stare was sharp enough to slice through her spine.58Please respect copyright.PENANAKYeSmf0urh
When he finally spoke, the words hit like a church bell inside her skull.
“Claire. I need an explanation.”
Panic bloomed instantly.58Please respect copyright.PENANA9ES2D5roQI
Gone was her usual snark.58Please respect copyright.PENANAja4kK6t4aV
All she could manage was a shaky:58Please respect copyright.PENANA95pJ1QpCSy
“Explanation for... what?”
He didn’t move.58Please respect copyright.PENANAkTly2uFt9j
Didn’t raise his voice.58Please respect copyright.PENANAT9UREdaYL7
But it was like gravity turned up a notch.
“Why did you know I was in the city.”
Her brain kicked into high gear.58Please respect copyright.PENANAfNwFW2Ekzf
Search the files. Find a lie.58Please respect copyright.PENANA4RacCauE71
Any lie.
Her mouth acted faster than her logic:
“I… I saw you. On the way back from church.”
Instant regret.58Please respect copyright.PENANAJFL1gfwxfh
Instant exposure.
Batman responded like he already had that line printed on a card.58Please respect copyright.PENANAcWFEIY8jC1
“That’s a lie. I didn’t pass that area. I need the truth.”
Still no yelling. Still no threats.58Please respect copyright.PENANAQ1FaDxb4DR
But somehow she couldn’t breathe.
Goddamn Nightwing. Goddamn brat.
She briefly considered:58Please respect copyright.PENANAn8qybfWtZ2
If I lie down right now and fall asleep—can I just reset?58Please respect copyright.PENANAAdzCQJejqN
Will the loop save me?58Please respect copyright.PENANAJcl5QTFuMI
Is that a thing?
Batman spoke again.58Please respect copyright.PENANAe40jXxeH8V
Same words.58Please respect copyright.PENANAHrO8PYfFrA
Same calm tone.58Please respect copyright.PENANAznhLWfTB0R
But this time, the weight behind them was unbearable.
“Miss. I need an explanation.”
Claire believed him.58Please respect copyright.PENANA9Kn38J8DdN
He could wait until sunrise if he had to.58Please respect copyright.PENANAGPutXT1vQh
He'd ask until she broke.
She looked down.58Please respect copyright.PENANAlZj95QGBXY
Her fingers curled around the edge of the note she’d written earlier.
And a thought snapped through her mind:58Please respect copyright.PENANAtLbumqRnQ3
It doesn’t matter. Tomorrow resets.58Please respect copyright.PENANAAGGwqbuA0W
They won’t remember anyway.
Her lips parted, slow and unsteady—58Please respect copyright.PENANAdRfOMQ6lst
She was going to tell him.
The secret.
58Please respect copyright.PENANAIbQoprxgxG
Claire kept her head down.58Please respect copyright.PENANAkwtz1GsecG
Her fingers dug into the seams of her jeans, knuckles white.58Please respect copyright.PENANADfRqVc7bk5
She knew—58Please respect copyright.PENANAVngaagbRE0
the moment she said it out loud, nothing would be the same.
But she was done.58Please respect copyright.PENANASBxWzmhAQM
So. Goddamn. Done.58Please respect copyright.PENANAMaeeAkEvhQ
Every morning at five, waking to the same sky.58Please respect copyright.PENANA0cTQxZTiKp
Same damn headlines on the radio.58Please respect copyright.PENANAmP40LhHriI
Same dough.58Please respect copyright.PENANAXTXGixBp70
Same customers.58Please respect copyright.PENANA15ILrbZQRj
Same stolen future—again and again and again.
“I’m stuck,” she said.58Please respect copyright.PENANAF1kbxlVtJ1
“I’m stuck in today.”
Her heart punched her ribs like it wanted out.58Please respect copyright.PENANARaXQsJsnj4
She couldn’t bring herself to look at Batman.
He frowned.58Please respect copyright.PENANAtyeSXgx0Hh
Those famously unreadable eyes locked onto her like lasers.58Please respect copyright.PENANAjPuzUyyPV7
“What does that mean?”58Please respect copyright.PENANAYtfXOOHJDZ
His voice was low. Steady. Too steady.
Claire took a breath—58Please respect copyright.PENANAIhciIlo2jw
No turning back.
“Every morning I wake up, and it’s today. This exact today.”58Please respect copyright.PENANAFFshJr1FRE
Her words rushed out, all in one breath.58Please respect copyright.PENANAP33NWe2XSm
“Five a.m., same morning show, same customers, same bagels, same goddamn newspaper—”58Please respect copyright.PENANAme95duqjcg
She jabbed a finger at Robin.58Please respect copyright.PENANAHsxFpCGZ6x
“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—58Please respect copyright.PENANAF96CplCFcG
I’m the only one who remembers anything!”
The room went dead quiet.58Please respect copyright.PENANANAoG1c1jxY
Her confession hit the air like a grenade.
Claire’s pulse slammed in her ears, drowning everything else.58Please respect copyright.PENANAQ6z1damRyD
She wasn’t crying—58Please respect copyright.PENANAuDjWH6RgSm
but the burn behind her eyes told a different story.
And Batman—58Please respect copyright.PENANAKmZ0soqklj
He looked at her.58Please respect copyright.PENANAvQxEz4oNdj
Really looked.
Not with suspicion.58Please respect copyright.PENANAveOwz0Wk2j
Not interrogation.58Please respect copyright.PENANAUIhJS2zzo7
Not intimidation.
But with that expression people only get when they’re trying to figure out if the world is insane…58Please respect copyright.PENANAkqHC4bk6jp
or you are.
And then—he just stood there.58Please respect copyright.PENANAlVxxlTrnBP
Silent.58Please respect copyright.PENANA5d4wf6RPEd
Thinking.58Please respect copyright.PENANAD0K24JiLV8
For a full minute. Maybe two.
Nightwing and Robin stared like they’d just seen a ghost fart rainbows.58Please respect copyright.PENANAxjXSEKzz5a
Robin’s face was twisted—skeptical, but rattled.58Please respect copyright.PENANAzR1ri9ED6i
Nightwing looked like he wanted to say something, but shock had his tongue hostage.
Claire braced herself.58Please respect copyright.PENANAt5wqdiJM3F
She expected Batman to dismiss her.58Please respect copyright.PENANAvEPDPMRyzQ
Turn. Leave.
But then he said it:
“Claire,”58Please respect copyright.PENANAiEJBLudrvX
“I believe you. For now.”
What?
“You need help. So do I.”
Robin’s jaw actually dropped.58Please respect copyright.PENANAQa0DCrG2wY
Nightwing blinked like the laws of physics had just rewritten themselves.
Batman—needing help?58Please respect copyright.PENANAVmYW8egdZy
And from her?
Just some woman who looked like she’d barely made it off a bakery shift.58Please respect copyright.PENANAviLE97WADz
A woman claiming the day was on an infinite loop.
Claire’s mind went white.58Please respect copyright.PENANABM88Of8UVF
She stared at the cowl like it was a portal to a dimension where none of this was supposed to happen.
58Please respect copyright.PENANANekzVsf144