Claire passed by the church.
It was surprisingly full.
She hesitated.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhB97QH6AZx
Didn’t plan to stop, but glanced through the open doors anyway.
Right—today was Easter.
Evening service.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbH09I1kOdC
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.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ11C35NaPUP
Too bad it didn’t make the front page.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhuS9LF7ELt
Nightwing’s butt did.
If every reset counted as a resurrection, she had Jesus beat.
— Jesus came back once.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYx2xCeK1wL
She came back every damn day.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1KYfl0US6m
No crucifixion required. Just the same bed, the same morning, the same jazz.
No blood.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnsAaKW6p1T
No wounds.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsCm5UlAv6m
Not even symbolic suffering.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsIC8DcDgeP
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.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3SmNHO6obL
She caught a trace of perfume and smoked ham in the air.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeLGogCiYxd
Warm.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡapa5jf2VBg
Distant.
She didn’t look back.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5vEZyPeDXZ
Didn’t slow down.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDLb5WUHELa
Just pulled her jacket tighter around herself—trying not to look like someone on the run.
10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzev85w0Ptn
She’d picked up some sushi and salad on the way.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOyGpBQhpyq
Not because she was hungry.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHbrYI3II1M
Just… preemptive.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrJb9MmoLcl
— A biological necessity.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbyHrFcchAm
Eating was proof she still had a plan, even if it didn’t taste like one.
The motel looked old.
Faded walls.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxwcE7YAvTU
Window frames weathered like they’d been kissed by thirty years of ocean wind.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUv4vHKfR4q
But the sign worked.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2xeH2yEvzY
The light stayed on.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmntDdw3yul
No flickers.
The online reviews had been solid.
— 4.5 stars for cleanliness.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡG0hoflYott
Quiet.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡB8Lt1EfbPg
No weird comments.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGQo9tT2AD7
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.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoRManwtW1k
The window was proof: I still believe in a future.
She paid. Got the key. Sixth floor.
The elevator hummed with old energy.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLAZIo56Hfq
The lights inside were yellow—not the cozy kind, but the nicotine-stained kind.
She entered the room.
Locked the door.
Exhaled.
— Quiet.
10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPgM05g6kp1
Locked.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiWZuMjfAyx
New bed.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl2JXrh4HsW
New air.
It might all be gone tomorrow.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjy5iCzo62Y
But right now, she wasn’t home.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡP2ByoeGUB7
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.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWkZNGbGhMA
But she followed the routine.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡffP1CedEIA
— Eat first.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzyvtjIlGEm
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.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡF2S2ogBA4X
Not just a blur of motion.
It was a person.
Weight.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZxs4APLfy2
Posture.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTTpT27V6hu
Presence.
Her body locked up.
She should have ducked.
Instead, she recognized him immediately.
Robin.
— Red. Green. Yellow.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsniWsDFD1R
That mask.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMdGOuGHoFX
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.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡk443IUR1wk
Or patrolling.
His cape fluttered in the breeze.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7bQtFYMWMD
The darkness carved his silhouette sharp against the city lights.
Then he noticed her.
A woman.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1KMcJ9b7Wm
Staring blankly at him.
Robin tilted his head.
Turned.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡh9SZCo1gpf
Tapped gently on the glass.
— Not a warning.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡS2dheWGt2c
Not a threat.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡF5WUXBGxZW
Just a soft “I see you” kind of knock.
Claire opened the window like she was sleepwalking.
— Her hand moved first.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRyApX5z7uS
Her brain was still buffering.
It didn’t make sense.
Which made it impossible to react.
Robin was standing right there.
Not on TV.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ486EKSKZUl
Not in a news segment.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3YRgTurylF
No crowd.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcgH8GvD3Vb
No distance.
Just… there.
Looking at her.
Like he already knew she’d be here.
A kid.
— Sorry, Claire thought. But yeah.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcPXybWzvky
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.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDr11IAmF6I
Inside a world where heroes weren’t supposed to show up.
10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZcohckkuvg
The kid—Robin—spoke politely.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAjwZezkqpS
“Good evening, miss. Sorry to bother you. I was wondering… do you know how to get to Queen Street?10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPeGntWXxAQ
I’m kinda new around here.”
— It was a kid’s voice.
Not a deep-faked adult.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGigkujKfRu
Not a pitch-shifted recording.
A real teenage voice.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2pYuYAnEOd
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:10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRlekHwlxuJ
Holy shit, he’s actually a kid.
Claire gave him a strange look.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyfRGALVL1N
Then pointed toward the street below.
“Walk a hundred meters that way,” she said calmly.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvUqr9izF5t
“Then turn right. It’s about two hundred more.”
— Her tone was flat.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfVIqoV3H0G
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.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9GVzEyqO6r
Walk to it?10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8OKauulDJw
Swing to it?
She wanted to ask.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlIuubKs1U7
But felt that if she did, she’d lose a shred of dignity as a normal citizen.
Robin nodded.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkwMFsUYwsy
Turned.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfOFTbNB0zL
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.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡH4sNo4Npxc
Loud.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡH29fQ164Rd
Ridiculous.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1bS7Gbtl6p
Undeniable.
Claire said:10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdya7sWCa4D
“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.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNCyY0SEBH2
Just a background extra in the scene.
But somehow…
ns216.73.216.210da2
