For the first time, Claire didn’t open the café.
No scent of coffee wafted from her window,49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6BHdc5VIzd
No familiar whir from the bagel press.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡe47b9xTUJm
Instead, her hands—usually busy kneading dough by sunrise—were holding a marker,49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCo3VlgUoEu
Drawing arrows across a whiteboard like she was about to teach a conspiracy seminar.
She hadn’t slept. Not a minute.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIf1T9BYtLH
Because Batman had said:49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡc4Z1sGJ9mY
“Don’t sleep.”
He’d said it calmly—too calmly.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaeM0jKfMjC
But the words had made her scalp tighten.
“If you fall asleep, the loop resets.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVCE9bsyRKI
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.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlD0J9Fniwv
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.”49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfkcL0M2GIa
But Batman shook his head, speaking slowly, deliberately:
“You need analysis.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrtseHRTnfn
You need to practice recounting your data.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAHPvpRIax9
I’ll leave a way to contact me.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOGdWBJx0Tf
But you can’t start from the beginning every time.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpNSE4f49ka
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.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWAvLT3lQnr
Because for the first time, someone wasn’t saying she was crazy.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAyfRhUewsY
He was listening.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMwLRWrMVpH
He was thinking.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKl3SizyX7h
He was—Batman.
And being a Gotham native, she felt this absurd, unexpected comfort rise up in her chest:
“At least it’s Batman.”49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtijFMeIXlt
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.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCo2Inx3bcq
It was the kind of thing you see in old cram schools—half cracked, fully inconvenient.
Nightwing offered to help.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtw9OwG6oLk
They squeezed it up the stairs together, getting stuck at the landing for a moment.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpV1W2RHaqU
He gave her a small glance and asked, voice quiet,49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6iwwcYOryM
“You holding up?”
Claire was not.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKifYHBaDir
Her arms were shaking.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7kukIrW4qb
Her eyes were dry.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPuCuFnNOZd
She felt like she’d downed three energy drinks and was vibrating slightly off-axis.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkiOOEZnLib
But she still smiled and replied:49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWpjAAGbwvi
“I’m good.”
It was a lie for herself.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8ZwHxfDFnH
To remember she still could smile. Still could move forward.
Back upstairs, she brewed three coffees and a milk.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXe6O6sXT6W
Nightwing took his with a polite nod.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQuEssW2v2o
Robin sniffed the milk, made a face, and set it down.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpo2hzYOJtg
Batman didn’t touch his cup.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0QABT3B3mB
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.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrwtCRaL2NJ
The marker hovered just above its surface.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6Al4211TT0
That’s when she realized—49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt6XFXOPRDD
Her so-called "clues" were embarrassingly few.
“Uh... at first, nothing big. Thought I was just misremembering stuff,”49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTndZd6VV7t
“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.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡF3M2K0p8G7
About Nightwing showing up on her balcony like clockwork.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcupMtUt28V
About the cursed bagel swap—the chocolate replaced by plain.
(None of it felt funny anymore.)
Batman didn’t say a word.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzPk2Efa96k
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.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvqa8j1y7UQ
But right now—right this second—someone understood her loneliness.
Night fell.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZuIBK6IVrE
The coffee went cold.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGo948xqYtL
The whiteboard filled up—timelines, branches, points of deviation.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzUJTWX80Nr
Batman stared at it like it was a war map.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡucxrOKMHs2
Brows drawn, jaw tense.
And Claire—49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8TlaeALdWx
For the first time in god-knows-how-many loops—49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxPAmMWTqlc
wasn’t alone.
She didn’t have to whisper to herself anymore.
49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrTUw3kW11V
Claire knew she wasn’t that smart.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡja7uZawoJ0
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.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡedSH1NcyAf
Tactical terms.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdFkmXpFHHr
Observation protocols.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡb76USnokw7
Hypothesis trees.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIkV6k65Rxx
Arrow-filled logic webs about time loop mechanics.
Her brain was buzzing like someone turned on a high-frequency hum in her skull.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCMWOx6oKeM
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.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmqbKdyXXEs
Bullet points.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLuYSm8lnZF
Key phrases.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUDNYkaANXl
Color-coded charts.
Didn’t matter.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUmAj3F7Lg5
Once she closed her eyes—gone.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9ybidvQWOt
Just gone.
So she had to memorize.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡudIwcX6yUe
Raw memorization.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡj3GZMGeEv8
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?”49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRjAnikRJHO
Total academic despair.
She glared at the board and forced herself to read it out loud:
- Establish a consistent, simplified daily communication method49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ79UHeYSV5O
- Design self-verification protocols49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkvd7EnGq62
- Identify the rupture point in the time loop49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDjFnkbIXDE
- Develop coping mechanisms for mental strain49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoAelbCkPCa
- Test whether sleep is the trigger for resets49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZfCl0jPfoA
49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡc8uhCCAu3h
And below those?49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVnVbEgnvsM
Bullet point hell.
Claire nearly burst into tears.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXQpuqCmAG6
Wasn’t this the kind of thing you hired Batman to do?49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6VB6JICUsD
She was a bagel-slinging café owner, not a goddamn temporal physicist.
Nightwing and Robin had left around dawn.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0SgeMVOujE
She’d thought she’d feel relief.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1mhm3822Do
She didn’t.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMwqi1wm5jY
She felt like a balloon blown up way past safe capacity.
And Batman? Still here.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJofJXLNS7S
Sitting at her tiny desk like he owned it.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkSjMrct4NJ
Folding her notes into crisp little squares like some kind of insomnia robot.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCAMJtbtdH0
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.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUuX8Q5pMGn
Nope.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ04bleDfJf3
Still here.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOegcmVfuCB
Drank her coffee.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnl58L4FJ4y
Ate a croissant.
Batman eats food.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkgbz3X44kC
Claire noted this with bewildered internal sarcasm.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡawoRbH6o3d
And, somehow… it made her feel a little more human.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVgsagHN83J
A little more grounded.
Then 2 p.m. hit.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxCLQkofs2z
And she just—couldn’t.
Her head throbbed like someone was banging pots inside it.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkgmJ8IM454
A rhythmic BONG—BONG—BONG of pure pain.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYgY4N2gBo0
Her ears were ringing.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHn1NxVI6Ug
Her vision was starting to blur.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAX6wG8GFU4
She hadn’t slept in way too long.
Even Batman’s voice faded into background noise.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrjUg4KJIGn
She could hear words, but they drifted by like waterlogged scraps of paper.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnlOEW2u7iy
No structure. No connection.
Her neck gave out first.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDBVeFiEoiz
Then her whole body slumped—soft and useless like an overcooked noodle.
Then she heard it.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGiQ6LL1h52
A sigh.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4Xhde8wWfa
Low.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡk31X5r9MDn
Close.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMeGkdi3Mwd
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.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlvZZu2Qusi
So blue. So clear.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgQETqV5ogo
Like the first star that refuses to leave the morning sky.
Nightwing, she thought.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzhXkfLH0pw
But she couldn’t speak.
From somewhere nearby, Batman’s voice drifted in—calm, slow, final:
“Claire. Remember what I told you.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMhMy4TIMgX
Protect yourself first. Then find the truth.”
Someone laid her down.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8HK4kKceBe
Pulled the blanket up.
The scent of sunlight-warmed fabric and stale coffee beans wrapped around her.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAwTMRM0ODe
Her bed was soft. So soft.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡD1maj6ar7G
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.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFkyPH9hMdA
Was there something she needed to say? Do?
Too late.
The dark caught her.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiwkhLxyqqM
Held her.
Perfectly.
49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAkfgaMszsW
Claire was awake. Again.
Same ceiling.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0wx3ILTMQx
Same sheets.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkuI9qQalyF
Same sunlight slicing through the gap in the curtains.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡijcX6CSFg1
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.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHgaBvDc5NR
No headache.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlvBHQ0OVrT
No nausea.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcLY0vwzwCi
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—49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡj9KfjBG9Aw
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.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2SSasYatgY
It was her memory thread.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCZ1P2j24pc
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.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhZFA4M78oz
Then she took out a pink sticky note and scribbled on it:49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOEi78WH8VK
“Today’s Bagel: Plain.”
She stuck it on the glass, stepped back to check.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡx8STwPuLpK
It stood out.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQQZZrTQ290
Bright and silly. Hard to miss.
Then she frowned.
Wait—why am I even doing this?
No one else would remember.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJjPlhk1krE
Only she knew what day it was.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdbTlOao3Tr
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…49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCBDW3LvZvI
Someday, someone like her might see that note.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjgF6fesIvS
And feel something click.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrXz5ux6Y5Q
Some resonance.
Claire snorted.
“No deadlines, infinite time. What a dream.”
Colder than her fridge.
What kind of absurd life was this?49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCR9UBY60hj
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.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBc12ux7mee
Her body tensed, that silent alertness creeping in.
Blue-eyed cop.
Batman had asked about him over and over last night—49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeDuS8Wq0sz
What he wore.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5Dm5KWJmJz
His tone of voice.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡM7FlVgHLXy
Which hand he used to take out his wallet.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqRzaZYvzGQ
What angle he walked in from.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPu9OYOab4B
How long he looked at the counter.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgmT1UdmSgo
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.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ4QJE4vF75
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.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡioMBrH6BNc
Like it was baked into the script of the day.
Claire’s eyes flicked to the clock on the wall.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYFbqsScOHO
9:59.
The door pushed open.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhp5A1rbZNq
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?49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmyT3N5IT8Z
Or are you just another poor guy trying to buy breakfast?
God, she wanted him to be different.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFhrbRAjIks
Even five minutes late would’ve been something.
But nope.
Right on time.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhQhEawYIB4
Said the exact same line.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOdE3nhpdkW
Paid with the same bills.
Claire considered doing a little test.
A spark lit in her head: Batman.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4RgATMyd8B
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.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡM5Rub47AkM
You don’t just ask a random cop, “Hey, do you know Batman?”49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgez0oaFBBo
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.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfEfSOidxU8
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.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHuh5pGVtiw
Surely it would hit something.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBn1dyiohEC
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.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQVDKiCjT0W
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.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNdImYwsQY7
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.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFhkS4ikGl0
Day 10. Blue-Eyed Officer.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡth0505qFoP
No noticeable deviations.
But hey—49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnm36w94fE2
At least she tried.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCEaDm9r0b3
