For the first time, Claire didn’t open the café.
No scent of coffee wafted from her window,78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTAsMloUolS
No familiar whir from the bagel press.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCuB6IAjHt5
Instead, her hands—usually busy kneading dough by sunrise—were holding a marker,78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkcB1MxqZbD
Drawing arrows across a whiteboard like she was about to teach a conspiracy seminar.
She hadn’t slept. Not a minute.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSN5iUXf21O
Because Batman had said:78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIuGXvuGXrE
“Don’t sleep.”
He’d said it calmly—too calmly.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwxAu5dnDop
But the words had made her scalp tighten.
“If you fall asleep, the loop resets.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoX2r9iOyYL
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.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgcU4cO0hMH
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.”78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhDKxhKMYGL
But Batman shook his head, speaking slowly, deliberately:
“You need analysis.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4gAv7QHNqs
You need to practice recounting your data.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhsPiYGXcPM
I’ll leave a way to contact me.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5wAyIDe1Dr
But you can’t start from the beginning every time.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5EP1w9lF0j
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.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1RE9HHQXov
Because for the first time, someone wasn’t saying she was crazy.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBCP6P2tk6H
He was listening.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxOBX2pX0Iv
He was thinking.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡk3gZfuPw2z
He was—Batman.
And being a Gotham native, she felt this absurd, unexpected comfort rise up in her chest:
“At least it’s Batman.”78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpHzm2gCPc2
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.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFjaEZXmYfi
It was the kind of thing you see in old cram schools—half cracked, fully inconvenient.
Nightwing offered to help.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLLaa9wqBD7
They squeezed it up the stairs together, getting stuck at the landing for a moment.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ70x5HA7Cy
He gave her a small glance and asked, voice quiet,78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMzmF3YUwcD
“You holding up?”
Claire was not.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡePEL8ttz6L
Her arms were shaking.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIgamv9OSjA
Her eyes were dry.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfm99u7EC4l
She felt like she’d downed three energy drinks and was vibrating slightly off-axis.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡg8GT30CJ87
But she still smiled and replied:78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwtDI0WKtAY
“I’m good.”
It was a lie for herself.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNP9sZk9HYD
To remember she still could smile. Still could move forward.
Back upstairs, she brewed three coffees and a milk.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1XSSfCjSPU
Nightwing took his with a polite nod.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOE7oDzJIJD
Robin sniffed the milk, made a face, and set it down.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfzXFZeKiiN
Batman didn’t touch his cup.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXzGhZTGtg5
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.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwlMEd8kyRh
The marker hovered just above its surface.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrQJRnXBlu9
That’s when she realized—78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡO0XNa7aqya
Her so-called "clues" were embarrassingly few.
“Uh... at first, nothing big. Thought I was just misremembering stuff,”78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUoSf6cXUj1
“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.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPiq7nyu9Ux
About Nightwing showing up on her balcony like clockwork.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQYN156C1SB
About the cursed bagel swap—the chocolate replaced by plain.
(None of it felt funny anymore.)
Batman didn’t say a word.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3hrJIniPte
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.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZOZ9H1nFSf
But right now—right this second—someone understood her loneliness.
Night fell.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRAg9cTNUDz
The coffee went cold.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAeWzh9Rjyb
The whiteboard filled up—timelines, branches, points of deviation.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOhnSv1MqrX
Batman stared at it like it was a war map.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEVteCM1jcB
Brows drawn, jaw tense.
And Claire—78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLi3yhN72hO
For the first time in god-knows-how-many loops—78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtMfVYvmDa5
wasn’t alone.
She didn’t have to whisper to herself anymore.
78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTFGtSCeehN
Claire knew she wasn’t that smart.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGsBVuubiE1
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.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ47bLyiOpWq
Tactical terms.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcfaNT1laAI
Observation protocols.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡk4wz8sA2oe
Hypothesis trees.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRgbLNB0Vn1
Arrow-filled logic webs about time loop mechanics.
Her brain was buzzing like someone turned on a high-frequency hum in her skull.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2Vc50WQC3I
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.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkKCn1FtGIV
Bullet points.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡavKpEd7Z17
Key phrases.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZGB3HRZ31A
Color-coded charts.
Didn’t matter.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYoDXcMLBdE
Once she closed her eyes—gone.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTA1DbA7Q5p
Just gone.
So she had to memorize.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVp1QRQqPVm
Raw memorization.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFQADgumWPK
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?”78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKbjRMmPueQ
Total academic despair.
She glared at the board and forced herself to read it out loud:
- Establish a consistent, simplified daily communication method78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjScQCccSez
- Design self-verification protocols78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNpGniNbgR5
- Identify the rupture point in the time loop78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQe9aOLb9yd
- Develop coping mechanisms for mental strain78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡu4dmlQZ91G
- Test whether sleep is the trigger for resets78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVcs9Wd0InF
78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbpipUUCgTW
And below those?78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHAmLdkVnPt
Bullet point hell.
Claire nearly burst into tears.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiK7WAiKspf
Wasn’t this the kind of thing you hired Batman to do?78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwqBFSORUYb
She was a bagel-slinging café owner, not a goddamn temporal physicist.
Nightwing and Robin had left around dawn.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcPfsb8F718
She’d thought she’d feel relief.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDOiXoe0Xoj
She didn’t.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpmIPqOt3bk
She felt like a balloon blown up way past safe capacity.
And Batman? Still here.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsJO1zRe0Bv
Sitting at her tiny desk like he owned it.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6rLc07PV66
Folding her notes into crisp little squares like some kind of insomnia robot.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyYS63wAu6M
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.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡryoEjKVG7m
Nope.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMOMwTlSbBq
Still here.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTU2mPLOSMB
Drank her coffee.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkwQaH09ZiK
Ate a croissant.
Batman eats food.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXkkOh87PZk
Claire noted this with bewildered internal sarcasm.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWnwAqZ52Eo
And, somehow… it made her feel a little more human.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqJI3RnIpts
A little more grounded.
Then 2 p.m. hit.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDpKRx7piHL
And she just—couldn’t.
Her head throbbed like someone was banging pots inside it.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡI6IcmvEvjZ
A rhythmic BONG—BONG—BONG of pure pain.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡK86SWWisfS
Her ears were ringing.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡX7YhbLYfet
Her vision was starting to blur.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXiedr5wSnM
She hadn’t slept in way too long.
Even Batman’s voice faded into background noise.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSmUT23YpmO
She could hear words, but they drifted by like waterlogged scraps of paper.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡChJSZJYvLY
No structure. No connection.
Her neck gave out first.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgQw6a7Qf1r
Then her whole body slumped—soft and useless like an overcooked noodle.
Then she heard it.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ86vfCEs5Ho
A sigh.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQPo0wbB5Zw
Low.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgeulevvvkM
Close.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHSi4n5e7po
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.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4onFICCOfV
So blue. So clear.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdlukYwkXoB
Like the first star that refuses to leave the morning sky.
Nightwing, she thought.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhu0kTFwOoM
But she couldn’t speak.
From somewhere nearby, Batman’s voice drifted in—calm, slow, final:
“Claire. Remember what I told you.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡk7GtyUZQhz
Protect yourself first. Then find the truth.”
Someone laid her down.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8Rm8rd3D6u
Pulled the blanket up.
The scent of sunlight-warmed fabric and stale coffee beans wrapped around her.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGOOnHpZ5VZ
Her bed was soft. So soft.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvR8m34hNl9
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.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡov5QWa9yoe
Was there something she needed to say? Do?
Too late.
The dark caught her.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡH12CtSzwEX
Held her.
Perfectly.
78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrNIG53PKni
Claire was awake. Again.
Same ceiling.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY7BhQzm1Te
Same sheets.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYOOBAxRxf3
Same sunlight slicing through the gap in the curtains.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡibABxjOKDI
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.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWXN5xO5NHh
No headache.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLSOW0Ffave
No nausea.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡalTkpb9CPu
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—78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcyc5gAilkT
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.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFAWTIngMAM
It was her memory thread.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUFMp6aqpXx
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.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFF4ACf778o
Then she took out a pink sticky note and scribbled on it:78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeZDxqn6bv8
“Today’s Bagel: Plain.”
She stuck it on the glass, stepped back to check.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlofaj5iiKI
It stood out.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoxEUdIJYWP
Bright and silly. Hard to miss.
Then she frowned.
Wait—why am I even doing this?
No one else would remember.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡa7K9pbgHVm
Only she knew what day it was.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHfXMzi2LKY
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…78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCSf9p6OVCY
Someday, someone like her might see that note.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzWUfauTpP7
And feel something click.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjzh7SlXHAw
Some resonance.
Claire snorted.
“No deadlines, infinite time. What a dream.”
Colder than her fridge.
What kind of absurd life was this?78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJYexHoxFbZ
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.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ76sWl4606C
Her body tensed, that silent alertness creeping in.
Blue-eyed cop.
Batman had asked about him over and over last night—78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoqlKlLCTWa
What he wore.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7SP0OpNW2p
His tone of voice.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbHP1UOKTVs
Which hand he used to take out his wallet.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWRZceC3xN7
What angle he walked in from.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrnLK5renWp
How long he looked at the counter.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqzLgImkO1p
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.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDWOBVWJ5rf
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.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZBxilKZgCg
Like it was baked into the script of the day.
Claire’s eyes flicked to the clock on the wall.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡm68gOuJcAS
9:59.
The door pushed open.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWgKGnmQP52
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?78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡr0bUeNYsBj
Or are you just another poor guy trying to buy breakfast?
God, she wanted him to be different.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJqwMB6uAMd
Even five minutes late would’ve been something.
But nope.
Right on time.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXknj9AQ5BU
Said the exact same line.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhuqq6x9dFK
Paid with the same bills.
Claire considered doing a little test.
A spark lit in her head: Batman.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJEJonmDXF4
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.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ61ikaH7QHY
You don’t just ask a random cop, “Hey, do you know Batman?”78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlSfZ0LYgQz
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.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi6OCDfQShE
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.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQG1URWcqmV
Surely it would hit something.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡu8KV2UOjTx
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.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjQpvZbIVjO
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.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡipDXa5YAt6
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.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9dNd7qbQKJ
Day 10. Blue-Eyed Officer.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxp1H8RmbVB
No noticeable deviations.
But hey—78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8fHBLq4M8i
At least she tried.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjFGjWAGfgp
