Claire froze.40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHLGs9Te37u
A chill ran down her spine, as if someone had quietly pushed her into a pool of ice water. Her shoulders tensed. Her fingers trembled, just slightly.
“The rift is watching her.”
That sentence stabbed into her mind like a pin.
Not she was looking at it, but that… thing—whatever it was—was staring back.
Her stomach twisted.40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt4RN6r6VyZ
The warmth of the soup she’d just had in the kitchen surged back up, stopped at her throat like it had second thoughts.40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHgQ87Zdnlq
The warmth was gone.40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIX7RJbsrv0
All that remained was an indescribable cold.
She had suspected it for a while now—that the rift didn’t just “appear” to her.
It let her see it.40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNUTrMl7npq
Like something pointing her out from a crowd and saying, you—look this way.
She swallowed, trying to stay calm.
But what caught her off guard… was that none of the three men denied what she said.
No one laughed.40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡni2CmAE2ms
No one exchanged that “okay, she’s crazy” look.40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWlwfs4HcoI
No one told her to calm down.40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzlj1Kbe4ea
No one gave her the “we’re just humoring you” smile.
There was no ridicule.40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDh5XKWRN6N
No patronizing sympathy.40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtbzA0eZ7Cx
Not even a subject change.
Instead—Batman looked like someone who had just found a missing puzzle piece.40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPGvLUY5z50
His eyes stayed fixed on the rift she’d drawn, brows furrowed deep—like a question that had haunted him for a long time was finally starting to make sense.
Nightwing sat beside her, a hand resting on one knee, his body slightly leaning forward.40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvkQJJG6B4E
He looked like he was holding himself back—not from disbelief, but from the urge to tell her, “This can’t be real,” just to keep her sane. But he didn’t say it.
His posture said enough:40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvnKea4n7B8
Suspicion.40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡufEbujVNsd
Anxiety.40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmSe4n6nbJH
But more than anything—alertness.40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTbcLlFw90e
Not toward her, but toward the possibility of something too dangerous to name.
Robin, meanwhile, had a hand to his chin, brows furrowed so tightly they looked carved in stone. He seemed stuck—trying to reconstruct something in his mind. Like some incomplete signal had lodged itself there, and he couldn’t decode it.
“If the rift is watching her,” Robin finally said, “does that mean it’ll come looking for her?”
The words dropped heavy.40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡppOCAaS9DK
Even the wind seemed to hesitate.
It wasn’t a theory.40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMhWr0Kcbl4
It was a warning.40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbETHG9Mhj2
We can’t let her face this alone.
Claire said nothing.40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡq7AdP4JnnA
She wasn’t sure she could.
Her lips felt sealed shut.40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQV0FMjmUfP
Her throat was full of ice.
Then it hit her.40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNvs28eXXmN
That in front of these people—saying there was a rift in the sky wasn’t delusion.40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDTVQOBJSng
It was… the start of an investigation.
This wasn’t a hallucination.40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡb8wSLmQZoB
It was a threat assessment.
And that terrified her more.
Because if they were taking it seriously—40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡh3z5TtnIoH
It meant the thing she saw might really exist.40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0oQKQ0OYDQ
Not just in her head.40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWwBSectmDa
But somewhere, out there.
Batman looked up, his gaze heavy as iron.
“Claire,” he said, his voice firm and final,40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxbBl2w822V
“I’m taking you to the safe house.”
There was no room for discussion.
“You’ll need something to protect yourself.”
Not maybe.40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0Y20DV8UkQ
Not if.40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡy0B1jwkHLI
But definitely.
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpFzQCQg1r8
Claire had expected the safehouse to be, well, a bit more Batman.40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjwofSJeUYx
You know—underground vault, biometric scans, a hidden elevator behind a sliding bookshelf. That kind of thing.
Because come on. It’s Batman. A little drama wouldn’t hurt.
But no. It was a regular apartment.40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrHHy7eyCe3
Third floor. No trapdoor. No secret codes.40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi1Z6NBiYsa
Just a metal door and a creaky stairwell dim enough to make you wonder if the landlord forgot to change the lightbulb.40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJSoO8JFlMa
Claire frowned and followed the three men inside.
When all four of them squeezed into what looked like a barely furnished studio, her first reaction was:
“Wow. Depressing.”
White walls. Wooden floor. Two chairs, one table.40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXoxPcrI1T3
No couch.40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDrT1wsMPKk
No personality.
This wasn’t a safehouse.40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBgLfwLVQ5A
This was a rental someone never bothered to decorate because they knew the rent was highway robbery.
Before she could finish the mental roast, Batman walked to the wall, reached for a light fixture—40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvZQocqGoxk
Click.40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6i6GrVqXrQ
A hidden door slid open, revealing a short staircase going down.
No dramatic music. No warning. Just—there.
Claire instinctively took a step back. Her heartbeat skipped.40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlrAtijyTUU
“…Okay, that’s a little dramatic,” she muttered.
They filed down one by one.40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyZ6YYLuX46
She was last. Eyes darting left and right like she’d stepped into sacred ground.
Then her foot touched the first step, and the world opened up.
Her eyes widened.
It wasn’t a damp basement.40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7xPqTxdpqX
It was an underground command center.40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQvzidGlS8K
High ceiling. Cold air. Monitors everywhere, blinking with graphs, maps, and strings of data that looked like alien stock reports.
Weapons lined the walls—some shaped like bat wings, others like mechanical scorpion tails.40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡayqSuKWroB
There was even something on the desk that looked suspiciously like it could fire lasers.40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYxe6vpmhEU
A red light blinked on its side like it was deciding who to vaporize first.
Her throat went dry.
“All this stuff…” she whispered.40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuhLY62GkqH
“Definitely funded. Like, no-one’s-asking-for-receipts funded.”
One phrase popped into her mind—weaponized wealth.
Where did vigilantes get their money?
She used to think they were all about justice and grit, powered by passion and determination.
Now it felt more like… WayneTech’s unauthorized tech demo.
She muttered under her breath,
“So Bruce Wayne really is the sponsor. That tracks…”
She didn’t finish the thought.40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ608LPnjwq
Didn’t need to.40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwZz71mcf53
The dots were connecting themselves.
Standing in that room, a memory surfaced—40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuxg6Rg5Fo2
her college years, back when she was on a full scholarship from the Wayne Foundation.
Every semester, like clockwork, a generous sum landed in her account.40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeGyWW1oiep
Big enough that her friends from other departments would whisper things like, “Are you in some kind of secret athletic program?”
All she had to do was run.40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPTwl9krFRV
Win.40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnGcwl4Xy3X
Over and over.
Until that one race—40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxyHaC5gS2z
The one her knee didn’t survive.40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwLX9SPlEXM
She never crossed the finish line.40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhPMr8ykOiO
But that race ended more than just the competition.40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡS8rM84rcxN
It cleaved her life into before and after.
Sometimes she still dreamed of running.40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3kEQiBMbC0
Wind slicing past her ears.40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsUNjkI5anx
Feet barely touching the track.
When she woke up, the memory was so vivid, she could still feel it in her legs.40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡH1SqHP07ch
The weightlessness.40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡP88daHrG4v
The flight.
It felt like a message from a previous life.40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKJtoeVQysi
A ghost of someone she used to be.
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY6zUnYNse7
Claire had expected the safehouse to be, well, a bit more Batman.40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdbZQhsq0Mj
You know—underground vault, biometric scans, a hidden elevator behind a sliding bookshelf. That kind of thing.
Because come on. It’s Batman. A little drama wouldn’t hurt.
But no. It was a regular apartment.40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaqrL9VEclQ
Third floor. No trapdoor. No secret codes.40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGq1Yhk19nO
Just a metal door and a creaky stairwell dim enough to make you wonder if the landlord forgot to change the lightbulb.40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2qqWC69cfp
Claire frowned and followed the three men inside.
When all four of them squeezed into what looked like a barely furnished studio, her first reaction was:
“Wow. Depressing.”
White walls. Wooden floor. Two chairs, one table.40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5vmtKmnWSv
No couch.40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6ES3lwQisb
No personality.
This wasn’t a safehouse.40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxxVXdjTODr
This was a rental someone never bothered to decorate because they knew the rent was highway robbery.
Before she could finish the mental roast, Batman walked to the wall, reached for a light fixture—40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3o11cCfVmi
Click.40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFZYHlNGDd4
A hidden door slid open, revealing a short staircase going down.
No dramatic music. No warning. Just—there.
Claire instinctively took a step back. Her heartbeat skipped.40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQJ5LUdY29B
“…Okay, that’s a little dramatic,” she muttered.
They filed down one by one.40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcvI7QDyDh7
She was last. Eyes darting left and right like she’d stepped into sacred ground.
Then her foot touched the first step, and the world opened up.
Her eyes widened.
It wasn’t a damp basement.40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8PFoZpuaGX
It was an underground command center.40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGkCyCz0Nwi
High ceiling. Cold air. Monitors everywhere, blinking with graphs, maps, and strings of data that looked like alien stock reports.
Weapons lined the walls—some shaped like bat wings, others like mechanical scorpion tails.40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAmVRSr8IRL
There was even something on the desk that looked suspiciously like it could fire lasers.40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHU26xKIt0S
A red light blinked on its side like it was deciding who to vaporize first.
Her throat went dry.
“All this stuff…” she whispered.40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbCdX33X27O
“Definitely funded. Like, no-one’s-asking-for-receipts funded.”
One phrase popped into her mind—weaponized wealth.
Where did vigilantes get their money?
She used to think they were all about justice and grit, powered by passion and determination.
Now it felt more like… WayneTech’s unauthorized tech demo.
She muttered under her breath,
“So Bruce Wayne really is the sponsor. That tracks…”
She didn’t finish the thought.40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQIlvBgv24z
Didn’t need to.40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkVUhQzuZVI
The dots were connecting themselves.
Standing in that room, a memory surfaced—40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCuk1TZlPiF
her college years, back when she was on a full scholarship from the Wayne Foundation.
Every semester, like clockwork, a generous sum landed in her account.40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3oJNO021rk
Big enough that her friends from other departments would whisper things like, “Are you in some kind of secret athletic program?”
All she had to do was run.40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEeIbq4caKN
Win.40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRYj6HOpZPq
Over and over.
Until that one race—40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkdzb3T8vDJ
The one her knee didn’t survive.40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡowB0CN2kAt
She never crossed the finish line.40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwViIVkjoUJ
But that race ended more than just the competition.40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUXyGfGbu2v
It cleaved her life into before and after.
Sometimes she still dreamed of running.40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1HrXDCFaRW
Wind slicing past her ears.40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡofLIBtSidq
Feet barely touching the track.
When she woke up, the memory was so vivid, she could still feel it in her legs.40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9k1xSQttcm
The weightlessness.40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRWwlWg9Ncv
The flight.
It felt like a message from a previous life.40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBFleWX9wRu
A ghost of someone she used to be.
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡff0vvBmwU9
Batman sat down at the console, his long cape fanning out over the back of the chair.40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKQZRX3kzII
His fingers moved fast—sharp, precise, mechanical. One by one, the monitors lit up, as if some dormant beast had just awakened, stretching its limbs with a low digital growl.
Claire lagged a few steps behind.
She stood there, eyes scanning the room.40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡedJqqOsMj9
Was this really not some kind of secret weapons cache?40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0e11RQaSmc
Because honestly, it was giving serious classified-military-facility energy.
Metal-panel walls. Harsh fluorescent lighting. Devices whose functions she couldn’t begin to guess.40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnGKIrr5Sn3
There was even something that looked suspiciously like an operating table—which she immediately looked away from, because nope. No thanks. No curiosity here.
She was just about to poke at a black storage case labeled with a large “F”, when a voice—British, older, calm but gently concerned—spoke from the monitor.
“Sir, have you located Robin?”
Claire’s head snapped up.40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡg0gi5M6c3U
On screen was a sharply dressed older man in a suit that looked like it belonged in a vintage London magazine. A row of gleaming silver teapots lined the shelves behind him.
His eyes swept the screen—then paused.40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZswWFD0ADT
He blinked slightly as he spotted her standing in the corner.
“Sir… and this is?”
Batman didn’t look up. Still typing, still focused.40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0MQV3TYcjr
But he answered steadily.
“This is Claire.”
Then, finally, he turned his head.
“Claire, explain yourself.”
Claire blinked.40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZxFpHwBM6A
Here we go again.
Was he training her public speaking, or just too lazy to do the intro?
She inhaled, dug her nails into her palm, and willed herself into composure.40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9FBt32hceJ
She’d already told this story twice—once to Nightwing and Robin, then again to Batman himself. But the third time? Still sucked.
She cleared her throat.
“I’m Claire. I’ve been… stuck repeating the same day.40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVhEtoPgSFe
And tonight, I saw something in the sky.40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrBRy2ejfNF
Like a crack. A rip.40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIIjI4Kgzso
Only I can see it. No one else can. But I know it’s there.40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzAB0zc7NEl
Because I can still see it even when I close my eyes.40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQVUtRqxQ3a
It’s not a hallucination.”
Her voice was steady—maybe a bit too fast—but it held.
The man on the screen didn’t flinch. Didn’t smirk. Didn’t doubt.40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡd72P6Tws1x
He simply gave a small, understanding nod.
Claire blinked again.40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoGG79cp2ME
She realized she’d been bracing for something—skepticism, sarcasm, at least a raised eyebrow.
But nothing came.
Silence settled around her.40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUjLy1hvdVW
Just the soft mechanical hum of the monitors at the edge of the room.
Well.40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNHBvJUk3nG
That was the third time.40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ89mXBxqBx0
Story delivered.
Can someone get me a glass of water now?40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8KKMiIMfub
