Claire passed by the church.
It was surprisingly full.
She hesitated.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpetj0ILNGT
Didn’t plan to stop, but glanced through the open doors anyway.
Right—today was Easter.
Evening service.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuS7dAMlmzw
Everyone out to celebrate resurrection.
— She remembered the morning paper had a page with “He is risen” printed in bold above an image of Jesus cradling a lamb in golden light.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTGrJxEnnuh
Too bad it didn’t make the front page.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuydinbkMer
Nightwing’s butt did.
If every reset counted as a resurrection, she had Jesus beat.
— Jesus came back once.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2HtWmvbRyd
She came back every damn day.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡO9PAzutHEK
No crucifixion required. Just the same bed, the same morning, the same jazz.
No blood.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTOj3yxEMh5
No wounds.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsatDxHxV6C
Not even symbolic suffering.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9ALiAMai5B
Just... repeat.
You could celebrate Easter as many times as you wanted.
— So many that she wasn’t sure anymore: was she supposed to eat chocolate or take pills?
Claire kept walking, headed toward the hotel.
— People passed her in pressed clothes, holding wine bottles and cake boxes, on their way to family dinners.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaU5Fbyklju
She caught a trace of perfume and smoked ham in the air.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ140DoUi7RQ
Warm.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYYcRDZ1R5y
Distant.
She didn’t look back.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWEnY89DnZl
Didn’t slow down.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUvyKREtlhA
Just pulled her jacket tighter around herself—trying not to look like someone on the run.
8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhqRRYYmwqI
She’d picked up some sushi and salad on the way.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt0wR29nSZE
Not because she was hungry.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLs59e9geg1
Just… preemptive.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgsmUPDw2Df
— A biological necessity.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbyfKrjRW48
Eating was proof she still had a plan, even if it didn’t taste like one.
The motel looked old.
Faded walls.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhDPadT8De0
Window frames weathered like they’d been kissed by thirty years of ocean wind.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6ooJtGMbT1
But the sign worked.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKILKbTX3vJ
The light stayed on.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHtoqNZRnZv
No flickers.
The online reviews had been solid.
— 4.5 stars for cleanliness.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡolYDRUkZZ4
Quiet.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNZZKHCk3Hd
No weird comments.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtPg3BcCuyZ
No ghost stories.
She booked a room with a window. Slightly more expensive, but not by much.
— Even if the world reset, she wanted to live like someone who hadn’t given up.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeEKHZiwesg
The window was proof: I still believe in a future.
She paid. Got the key. Sixth floor.
The elevator hummed with old energy.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiOqnncdso0
The lights inside were yellow—not the cozy kind, but the nicotine-stained kind.
She entered the room.
Locked the door.
Exhaled.
— Quiet.
8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl1HHpxBopB
Locked.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2n5RiJzItb
New bed.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWIQA0O8WHe
New air.
It might all be gone tomorrow.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPZ1Cu4ljQX
But right now, she wasn’t home.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfgPJBSf70n
And that mattered.
Tonight was her first attempt to break the orbit.
She had to pay attention.
Claire went to the bathroom, washed her hands, sat down to eat.
She wasn’t happy.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGkxwXQmU7R
But she followed the routine.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtlIoAYHsoT
— Eat first.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWYuIdJ920D
Otherwise she’d end up looking like someone mid-breakdown.
She walked toward the nightstand—
Someone was on the balcony.
The curtains weren’t drawn.
Claire froze.
— It wasn’t a shadow.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ99HZwtQsV3
Not just a blur of motion.
It was a person.
Weight.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8Cj7BCTRLh
Posture.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0cw7nUN6Cx
Presence.
Her body locked up.
She should have ducked.
Instead, she recognized him immediately.
Robin.
— Red. Green. Yellow.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMyF94qgp2A
That mask.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzMQnLyznHV
That ridiculous “R” stamped across his chest like Gotham’s version of a birth certificate.
Every Gotham kid knew Robin.
But she never imagined seeing him on her motel balcony.
On the sixth floor.
He was standing there, staring out over the city.
— Like he was waiting.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcV0XY52AnA
Or patrolling.
His cape fluttered in the breeze.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOhOHstBVdS
The darkness carved his silhouette sharp against the city lights.
Then he noticed her.
A woman.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡN3BkGsoOUa
Staring blankly at him.
Robin tilted his head.
Turned.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhCCTRLbSaU
Tapped gently on the glass.
— Not a warning.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5L1eWegS7X
Not a threat.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡF2BGui8WaD
Just a soft “I see you” kind of knock.
Claire opened the window like she was sleepwalking.
— Her hand moved first.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfP8j0fTKfQ
Her brain was still buffering.
It didn’t make sense.
Which made it impossible to react.
Robin was standing right there.
Not on TV.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQPlsDatUpe
Not in a news segment.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY2IppAaO3W
No crowd.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoxPmCzvCzt
No distance.
Just… there.
Looking at her.
Like he already knew she’d be here.
A kid.
— Sorry, Claire thought. But yeah.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡP00pCdZx1r
He looked thirteen. Maybe fourteen.
Does Batman hire child labor now?
— Her inner sarcasm engine powered up instantly, beating her emotions to the punch.
She didn’t blink.
Afraid he’d vanish, like Nightwing had that night.
But he didn’t.
He stayed.
On her balcony.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXFDmdYqtEY
Inside a world where heroes weren’t supposed to show up.
8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoZrIJSMGoF
The kid—Robin—spoke politely.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpZJDvGesBp
“Good evening, miss. Sorry to bother you. I was wondering… do you know how to get to Queen Street?8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡP79GZXgXk6
I’m kinda new around here.”
— It was a kid’s voice.
Not a deep-faked adult.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBJpITJ4ihS
Not a pitch-shifted recording.
A real teenage voice.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7ziXHsdWUV
Still sealed in honesty.
So Batman really did hire child labor.
That burst the last bubble of her “maybe he’s just a very short adult” theory.
— The whole Gotham-illusion-explanation system in her head collapsed into one simple truth:8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSDbIAL3wxU
Holy shit, he’s actually a kid.
Claire gave him a strange look.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8RqtBtMo5k
Then pointed toward the street below.
“Walk a hundred meters that way,” she said calmly.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8t38X8Fb0G
“Then turn right. It’s about two hundred more.”
— Her tone was flat.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYyUjT7JWdK
Like she was giving directions to a lost fifth-grader.
But her mind?
Do you walk? Do you fly? Are we counting streets or rooftops?
She wasn’t sure which verb applied.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaLFEXNFMQJ
Walk to it?8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmgCRyoSQjH
Swing to it?
She wanted to ask.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5TxO5ku0Un
But felt that if she did, she’d lose a shred of dignity as a normal citizen.
Robin nodded.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl6hr9lwV37
Turned.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYMcrEsYvKI
Looked ready to leave.
Then—
A massive growl.
From his stomach.
Claire…
Robin…
Both froze.
The sound tore through the silence like a rip in paper.
The wind died.
Even the city noise paused.
It echoed.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqlqF2K57kb
Loud.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5pOMlDAKri
Ridiculous.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9WPykh0J8J
Undeniable.
Claire said:8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOgIi7wBx5X
“Uh… you want some sushi?”
— Her mouth moved before her brain approved.
She hadn’t even decided to share her food.
It just… came out.
Someone needed food, and her body had a default response.
She never meant to be anyone.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRsMoH1Wwdd
Just a background extra in the scene.
But somehow…
ns216.73.216.213da2
