Claire passed by the church.
It was surprisingly full.
She hesitated.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiTgCKhV5YT
Didn’t plan to stop, but glanced through the open doors anyway.
Right—today was Easter.
Evening service.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhFn86CSwFL
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzm5j7AqGig
Too bad it didn’t make the front page.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvdHqe2tdlb
Nightwing’s butt did.
If every reset counted as a resurrection, she had Jesus beat.
— Jesus came back once.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIIM5YtZMkm
She came back every damn day.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDlzXBfEhgn
No crucifixion required. Just the same bed, the same morning, the same jazz.
No blood.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAeNYiE0eix
No wounds.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6SNXalMYUz
Not even symbolic suffering.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJsIxYHlEe1
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlPO9lb2lA9
She caught a trace of perfume and smoked ham in the air.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡU5VJicmbYd
Warm.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYlVuoHyFek
Distant.
She didn’t look back.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQPL4wvdnWr
Didn’t slow down.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡO1P3ZUQJo2
Just pulled her jacket tighter around herself—trying not to look like someone on the run.
8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡad9VYiqedn
She’d picked up some sushi and salad on the way.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbROaZ0vmaR
Not because she was hungry.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJvKBqAHfkP
Just… preemptive.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡU3KygpwEEa
— A biological necessity.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ42Zj2toUrO
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkHTPPproLp
Window frames weathered like they’d been kissed by thirty years of ocean wind.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZr7jTcmC9H
But the sign worked.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9tXWUdPgGw
The light stayed on.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1hJtZpMQjw
No flickers.
The online reviews had been solid.
— 4.5 stars for cleanliness.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ93K8juZTBO
Quiet.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZgtlzqoaPs
No weird comments.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLRmT5H2aWd
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCwlUtvruta
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrzlP8a5NsE
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnije7VH4S7
Locked.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHkVwVus0ct
New bed.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY5GsuMCEAA
New air.
It might all be gone tomorrow.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnckBlSaj2q
But right now, she wasn’t home.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡULVW5mSGKW
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcGwa4cg6qX
But she followed the routine.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJPXNb96qLP
— Eat first.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaRi1mdldN2
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5fo4aXOxuI
Not just a blur of motion.
It was a person.
Weight.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPwrHcYHuCw
Posture.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ320QAAKyKk
Presence.
Her body locked up.
She should have ducked.
Instead, she recognized him immediately.
Robin.
— Red. Green. Yellow.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡO4U5M8oo38
That mask.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFuBW1uJs0W
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ332k4qAQBr
Or patrolling.
His cape fluttered in the breeze.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGdc1BB39aJ
The darkness carved his silhouette sharp against the city lights.
Then he noticed her.
A woman.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPFWHjuPeFd
Staring blankly at him.
Robin tilted his head.
Turned.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfMLLguKOHj
Tapped gently on the glass.
— Not a warning.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqcdKur97QH
Not a threat.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzW83AMgNB4
Just a soft “I see you” kind of knock.
Claire opened the window like she was sleepwalking.
— Her hand moved first.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTBQKFpB1sm
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZgSjGQlPzU
Not in a news segment.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlzq2FM4uki
No crowd.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0DR5jugkr8
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQgn3Hz6Ajm
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnYnOvukoOX
Inside a world where heroes weren’t supposed to show up.
8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6na33rUFux
The kid—Robin—spoke politely.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgeMI8BaEW0
“Good evening, miss. Sorry to bother you. I was wondering… do you know how to get to Queen Street?8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡu7pul1oJfI
I’m kinda new around here.”
— It was a kid’s voice.
Not a deep-faked adult.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYbQHBKKuM0
Not a pitch-shifted recording.
A real teenage voice.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA4psoCVj02
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡj4FJVC2UHG
Holy shit, he’s actually a kid.
Claire gave him a strange look.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMkBcqV00q6
Then pointed toward the street below.
“Walk a hundred meters that way,” she said calmly.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡg7j5wp6wue
“Then turn right. It’s about two hundred more.”
— Her tone was flat.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwXh6QKKhcj
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQitw51E7nN
Walk to it?8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwCwrwgBRst
Swing to it?
She wanted to ask.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpua79JuaXD
But felt that if she did, she’d lose a shred of dignity as a normal citizen.
Robin nodded.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6Z42vmF9Qa
Turned.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNPgX52U4iM
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUjGHclURtI
Loud.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡT282qJMHvu
Ridiculous.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6yEaaY50nZ
Undeniable.
Claire said:8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuM10Q0GogQ
“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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5rgLd3goCe
Just a background extra in the scene.
But somehow…
ns216.73.216.210da2
