Claire was still spiraling over her inability to write anything down.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnY72VBvurP
— That as-soon-as-you-write-it-it-disappears kind of frustration twisted in her chest like the early warning of a vomit you know has nowhere to go.
Then someone walked in.
A man. In uniform.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmHBhUiSMnc
Not one she recognized.
— Claire flinched. Literally flinched.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1vh9X3RhUy
Not the kind of reflex you have when a customer walks in.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ24BL8n71Vd
This was different.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9uHJljwga6
This was a variable.
Her eyes shot to the clock.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgCIxwCHcVw
The time was right.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKfEFgaUfl7
But the man was wrong.
He was young.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiWQRcrdXyT
Blue-eyed. Smiling. Polished.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYsztwJtpXg
Not like the usual middle-aged officers whose uniforms barely survived the war against their beer bellies.
— This wasn’t just unfamiliar.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAKLJnRGeFR
It was too new.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7xFAV1iF7i
Too “present.”8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBiuCp2X0as
His movements didn’t carry yesterday’s echo.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWkYCQooHh0
Nothing about him felt pre-recorded.
He was... real.
He walked to the counter, removed his cap, and smiled.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmvpWd6InFr
“Hi, you’re Claire, right? Kyle said the bagels would be out late today. Sent me to pick up the order.”
— Even his voice had warmth.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡN82LwnAFXX
Like morning sunlight just reaching a glass of water.
Claire nodded and reached for a paper bag.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqVWRcIjRIi
— Her thoughts still looping: He’s not in my memory.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfkg7IptIJf
Not some cop’s kid. Not a familiar blur from the past.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIpSVyxO0dV
He was a new puzzle piece—and this world wasn’t supposed to have any left.
As she packed the bagels, the blue-eyed officer glanced at the newspaper on the counter—the same old Nightwing photo.
The one with the annoyingly cheerful mid-air leap.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡd2oXBE20Xy
And yes.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBl8hpgSPi2
That shot.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdRrb5GKDNc
That damn ass.
The officer didn’t laugh.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0eDIzRQZ9j
Didn’t snort like Kyle.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbUcIT3f6vR
Didn’t mutter “that kid again.”
He just looked.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8LIG5zndNs
Silent.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9Uu7wSJo9u
One eyebrow twitching—like he was thinking.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡp2vWquVDqG
Or recognizing something.
Claire stepped out from behind the counter and handed him the bag.
Her gaze flicked to the paper as she did, tracing the direction he had just been looking.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3dbAPPVRgY
She knew he caught that glance.
She didn’t explain.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFlqaxu2joN
Didn’t ask.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡls6UVbrDYb
Didn’t care what this bright-eyed stranger thought of Nightwing’s overexposed butt.
“Here’s your bagels,” she said flatly.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡq4jtPabXuC
It could’ve been “good morning” for all the emotion she gave it.
He nodded, smiled a little awkwardly. “Thanks.”
Then he paused.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXOfzUsfFdp
“Hey… uh. Just wondering. What do you think of Nightwing? I mean, we work with him a lot. Curious what people think.”
Claire looked at him.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSuAlhSVd4W
Just once.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTZOhdFZnrX
Then turned away.
— Didn’t offer a smirk.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHZdHlPE2Ji
Didn’t offer a sigh.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡy2RXN1XLas
Just rolled her eyes with the weariness of someone who’s rolled them way too many times this week.
The officer would later swear he heard her mumble as she turned:
“Hope his ass falls off.”
He blinked.
Not because it was shocking.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0Pv5prsh20
But because she said it so effortlessly.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRWiXJ23mCp
So plainly.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfesW6xyxnR
Like she was saying “we’re out of cat food.”
He didn’t know whether to laugh or nod.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgC8uhkjqZv
So he just held the bag a little tighter.
She was still fretting over the whole “can’t-write-anything-down” thing—8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJBix5uuQGT
— That nausea-without-an-exit feeling sloshing in her chest, like a gag reflex that never gets to finish.
8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLqr4cmtPeT
Claire figured if you wanted to fix a problem, you'd better look it in the face.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdjjx044uB9
Avoidance didn’t make you miss the big picture—it made you miss the details.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLnw40OSNuS
This wasn’t a movie. No last-minute plot armor. No chosen one moment. If she was going to survive this, she had to do it herself.
She couldn’t write things down.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3IPQH3FfBV
So she’d memorize them instead.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxce9DHEWUO
If this place erased every mark she left, then her memory would be the map.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiEP8HXISdJ
That was the deal—quietly made, silently accepted.
Tonight, Claire decided to stay up.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6ABsiQ5N0S
Normally, she was in bed by ten. Sharp.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcJsuCiL3in
Not for beauty sleep. Not because she had to.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7Ae52vJrSS
But because being awake at night had always meant danger.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaGNhOoqFrz
Losing control. Going missing.
That was the Gotham in her talking.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZZrGLbJ1vE
Nighttime wasn’t a vibe—it was a warning.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoHY7QeNv3C
The city didn’t teach you that.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡp3r1HcVL5g
It branded it into your bones.
She was only in Blüdhaven because of her aunt’s inheritance.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡapaoh8DFhf
Not that this city was gentle. But compared to Gotham?8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTZbq30kryt
Blüdhaven was a cupcake shop with a flickering sign.
Tonight, Claire made her own coffee.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4k2nhmAzd5
The clock said 11:00 PM.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡn7ZKtqHjKZ
The calendar next to her had tomorrow’s date already circled.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTaIzPFhvp4
Usually, she only circled the date when she sold out her bagels.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGviZWyaDlr
It was her little ritual—write the number sold, feel a tiny sense of victory.
But tonight she circled it early.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5WVedFaoaE
Like a declaration:8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBohYN2EuRT
I’m still awake on this day. I’m still alive on this day.
She had no idea when the loop would reset.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGlmKUQUZTI
Midnight? Three in the morning?8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhZaKbwC9vZ
Maybe the second she fell asleep?8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHeJVUGMDJn
Come to think of it, she’d never seen a “real” end to the day.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWkSP5oKrSG
Time always hit reset in the dark.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWyA7qaY0XP
Like someone pressed a button in her sleep.
Claire stared off into space.
8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvYSsBA4FFp
Then came a sound.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgTtLx9dfO4
From the balcony.
Claire looked up.
Not a bang.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMrSYO279l0
Just a soft “thunk.”8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJyg1SxRNqB
Like someone landing gently on a metal railing.
Her Gotham instincts kicked in.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1l6I55AzDR
She grabbed a mirror, crouched low, slipped it between the curtain and the window, and checked the outside by reflection.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2J81TvWrXV
— She’d been practicing that move since she was twelve.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ1RIRpf7Uy
Every Gotham kid knew better than to look directly into the dark.
Her eyes widened.
Nightwing.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaLLB4LpWYG
She couldn’t mistake him.
— That black-and-blue suit.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuojLBLYXop
The twin batons.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuUGpQAyhZ7
That crouch.
She’d never been a fan, but she’d never expected him on her damn balcony either.
He was crouched on the railing, scanning the distance.
— His movement was smooth, breath quiet.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoMPc7aZLfH
Like he was part of the night.
Her hand on the mirror was damp with sweat.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgCjEWseVj8
The scene didn’t belong to her life.
Then—he was gone.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡITZKH90R3h
Just leapt.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIlkVTnlORG
Like a frame of film had been edited out.
Claire bolted upright and yanked the curtain open.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmO03ttN8Mz
Nightwing was already swinging away on his grappling line.
— Like a midnight pendulum.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡe2wXKIKBIm
Here, then not.
So... he passed by her balcony around eleven?
Had he always come by?
Had she been asleep, missing it every time?
— A blank spot appeared on her mental “loop chart.”8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkRs3q55M5Y
He’d been here.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3DLMHDT1zV
And she’d never known.
She shut the curtain, stunned, dropped back onto the sofa.
What if her balcony was actually part of some secret patrol route?8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3OrNxt410S
A rest stop?8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7YGJWsH55N
A transit point?
And she—owner of this tiny café—had never even noticed the rhythm of her own city’s nights.
8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡD2WFLqDAyM
But not now.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvS23xoBhAv
Now wasn’t the time for that.
Tonight was about the reset.
— No distractions.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsjD7grNxPX
No detours.
She tucked the “balcony incident” into a drawer in her mind.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbAiZc94EjH
One she’d open later.
Tonight’s mission: figure out when this world restarts.
Claire stayed on the couch and sipped her coffee.
— Bitter. Too bitter.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHhvt9wU1jn
She’d added way too much powder. On purpose.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTiHhsVjBJr
Her tongue was going numb.
Another sip.
She turned on the TV. A late-night talk show.
— Anything to stop thinking.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUwJmENdtfI
If she let her brain chew on itself too long, it would tie in knots.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXHCZvQUoMg
The host was still as loud and obnoxious as ever.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡe3ERND1AnV
The laughter track made her want to throw the mug.
Fifth cup.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ6wO14ZRaB
Her stomach felt swollen, like she’d swallowed an airbag.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhY5NnQBUyF
Bitterness and acid mingled on her tongue.
Like she’d just drunk a bellyful of gunpowder.
Fuck.
— She didn’t say it out loud.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5DVUyf9drv
But it mushroomed in her mind like smoke from a silent bomb.
It was 4 a.m.
What now?
Was she supposed to stay up till sunrise?8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjAb6Ix8wF9
Was today not even part of the loop?8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0eFUkP9GLO
What if this was the real Day Two?
The thought made her want to cry.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkkCkQyEXk8
Which immediately made her angry at herself for being dramatic.
Her head throbbed.
Maybe… maybe this would be the night that finally led into a real tomorrow.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyjclVK0kQZ
A new paper.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSJtWSHZGv2
A new customer.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhf3nMthMC2
A different damn bagel.
— She found herself fantasizing that the cursed newspaper would finally change.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGf8rsXZLhI
Even if it still featured Nightwing’s butt, she’d settle for a different angle.
If that meant selling new bagels, she’d knead two extra batches as an offering.
The TV now sounded like a lullaby.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfT622yRSDn
The laughter rose and fell like ocean waves.
For a moment, she wondered if the host was trying to hypnotize her.
No.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡd3FSkcgbuT
She couldn’t fall asleep.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdf7kog3vnJ
She’d made it from ten to four.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLreqwYOFsC
She couldn’t give up now.
Claire shut her eyes on the sofa.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7HUXXKYNwg
— Just for a second.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡE545niMp5W
Her eyelids were dry.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtIsLqsw4p3
She wasn’t sleeping, just… letting her corneas rest.
Next moment—
The jazz started.
Claire opened her eyes.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡB5o8ymE13z
In bed.
Her head buzzed.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBvM3XV9X9p
Throat dry, like she’d inhaled ash.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtCLtig1imQ
The ceiling blurred for half a second.
Another day had begun.
— Same damn song.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9V9qEpWG6d
Same damn voice.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnjNumf9VPv
That same punch-in-the-gut familiarity that made her want to throw the clock across the room.
She’d failed.
She stayed up all night.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDHKJmQw5Xk
And still—nothing stuck.
She saw nothing.
But this world remembered everything.
8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9uW5UWeGcp
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