Claire passed by the church.
It was surprisingly full.
She hesitated.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡr92a7hlfem
Didn’t plan to stop, but glanced through the open doors anyway.
Right—today was Easter.
Evening service.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwaYDXxD3wN
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.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgE4E80ormL
Too bad it didn’t make the front page.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡg9voxO7pzC
Nightwing’s butt did.
If every reset counted as a resurrection, she had Jesus beat.
— Jesus came back once.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9jSYlZUPvN
She came back every damn day.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡX78API670U
No crucifixion required. Just the same bed, the same morning, the same jazz.
No blood.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjhIem49gq5
No wounds.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaaKhELsTaF
Not even symbolic suffering.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSYfWBVLDWp
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.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpn5MWpKSuC
She caught a trace of perfume and smoked ham in the air.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnILlP87t7q
Warm.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVtKyjjN2VD
Distant.
She didn’t look back.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgXJbkNX8dl
Didn’t slow down.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbNLnamfDB9
Just pulled her jacket tighter around herself—trying not to look like someone on the run.
60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuHmTyy43R2
She’d picked up some sushi and salad on the way.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2gObNanCMD
Not because she was hungry.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGwFhfUSL1g
Just… preemptive.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi3k2vXUnvL
— A biological necessity.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRxllfaEq3a
Eating was proof she still had a plan, even if it didn’t taste like one.
The motel looked old.
Faded walls.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRmjteSpzfh
Window frames weathered like they’d been kissed by thirty years of ocean wind.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuPCemuxkUB
But the sign worked.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGBuDG8m2gU
The light stayed on.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVvGwt67suE
No flickers.
The online reviews had been solid.
— 4.5 stars for cleanliness.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxmo6eJjNti
Quiet.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtjadnXWWff
No weird comments.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCvOVmNUeze
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.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡg5kUwc5PeW
The window was proof: I still believe in a future.
She paid. Got the key. Sixth floor.
The elevator hummed with old energy.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5bSTP1Dilp
The lights inside were yellow—not the cozy kind, but the nicotine-stained kind.
She entered the room.
Locked the door.
Exhaled.
— Quiet.
60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbigVGcmng5
Locked.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8ZlUaoJXPJ
New bed.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9t9VsMxQt1
New air.
It might all be gone tomorrow.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaylHRTmLX1
But right now, she wasn’t home.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJk4wqGQGze
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.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2L3eEwv8G4
But she followed the routine.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKnIQIU6uic
— Eat first.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLwJ3N18yA2
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.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNuPHmgvQDY
Not just a blur of motion.
It was a person.
Weight.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDE197FFdBX
Posture.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzI0EbR5id4
Presence.
Her body locked up.
She should have ducked.
Instead, she recognized him immediately.
Robin.
— Red. Green. Yellow.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKq28u44Mlc
That mask.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfPwz8eLT0j
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.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFfZs9EKha0
Or patrolling.
His cape fluttered in the breeze.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0G5Jh0m5e0
The darkness carved his silhouette sharp against the city lights.
Then he noticed her.
A woman.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdlA564gPfk
Staring blankly at him.
Robin tilted his head.
Turned.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbOejJBQYiN
Tapped gently on the glass.
— Not a warning.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡO21eWPOcmu
Not a threat.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡV8JxbxOgyT
Just a soft “I see you” kind of knock.
Claire opened the window like she was sleepwalking.
— Her hand moved first.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXtuGM25uGO
Her brain was still buffering.
It didn’t make sense.
Which made it impossible to react.
Robin was standing right there.
Not on TV.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMqfxYVFKDZ
Not in a news segment.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSL76CuuKFd
No crowd.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡr8zjbGBSxv
No distance.
Just… there.
Looking at her.
Like he already knew she’d be here.
A kid.
— Sorry, Claire thought. But yeah.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡj5F13XDndT
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.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7inMwz8Bp4
Inside a world where heroes weren’t supposed to show up.
60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuNOE1SPwCb
The kid—Robin—spoke politely.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ675l7qCQvy
“Good evening, miss. Sorry to bother you. I was wondering… do you know how to get to Queen Street?60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoGpGGhEwp5
I’m kinda new around here.”
— It was a kid’s voice.
Not a deep-faked adult.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDCLpy5dtto
Not a pitch-shifted recording.
A real teenage voice.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmdznoVqoAV
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:60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY8UsEh9P35
Holy shit, he’s actually a kid.
Claire gave him a strange look.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRisU2GG872
Then pointed toward the street below.
“Walk a hundred meters that way,” she said calmly.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHjqlM3pQXF
“Then turn right. It’s about two hundred more.”
— Her tone was flat.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnTyL0gGGa1
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.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpfAwjF9z8D
Walk to it?60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8VQoOQxREJ
Swing to it?
She wanted to ask.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaBUEYZKn8h
But felt that if she did, she’d lose a shred of dignity as a normal citizen.
Robin nodded.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOArvN3oa0v
Turned.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡj3EbhJOL0V
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.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBLiLcyaK1o
Loud.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGRh496r60S
Ridiculous.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWtBTWhL72a
Undeniable.
Claire said:60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCCiWlfp1AV
“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.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMqDc0tOAxC
Just a background extra in the scene.
But somehow…
ns216.73.216.12da2
