For the first time, Claire didn’t open the café.
No scent of coffee wafted from her window,385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2FFgy4ekCN
No familiar whir from the bagel press.385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPVqqIYMcgD
Instead, her hands—usually busy kneading dough by sunrise—were holding a marker,385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAlZdtB5s0x
Drawing arrows across a whiteboard like she was about to teach a conspiracy seminar.
She hadn’t slept. Not a minute.385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1hGjapLfYK
Because Batman had said:385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqbx77N5EcH
“Don’t sleep.”
He’d said it calmly—too calmly.385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡk20w7FsUs1
But the words had made her scalp tighten.
“If you fall asleep, the loop resets.385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaiHPrMFAf5
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.385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJuop2JeJ0h
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.”385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXhAznwut71
But Batman shook his head, speaking slowly, deliberately:
“You need analysis.385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjrtEIdnlCp
You need to practice recounting your data.385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzsHrNGxWWR
I’ll leave a way to contact me.385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjC5xz28IfH
But you can’t start from the beginning every time.385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfNCi8vf4cF
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.385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡr0AOrghMWF
Because for the first time, someone wasn’t saying she was crazy.385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoGR2BHJaKE
He was listening.385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡL1oCOKzpMH
He was thinking.385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQJVny1AfLK
He was—Batman.
And being a Gotham native, she felt this absurd, unexpected comfort rise up in her chest:
“At least it’s Batman.”385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfyidhmW6jj
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.385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9TApAv56Gq
It was the kind of thing you see in old cram schools—half cracked, fully inconvenient.
Nightwing offered to help.385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjMaApeIbWr
They squeezed it up the stairs together, getting stuck at the landing for a moment.385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs5bS11aJRc
He gave her a small glance and asked, voice quiet,385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡr6ugFDkCoI
“You holding up?”
Claire was not.385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQwFfMr0EK4
Her arms were shaking.385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkQgok4MeCB
Her eyes were dry.385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7a2Uhhvsky
She felt like she’d downed three energy drinks and was vibrating slightly off-axis.385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsNQfm1ncsd
But she still smiled and replied:385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoOhJ15RZva
“I’m good.”
It was a lie for herself.385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCrfDVwlsr3
To remember she still could smile. Still could move forward.
Back upstairs, she brewed three coffees and a milk.385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfkoMQxxrcZ
Nightwing took his with a polite nod.385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7srhEdOaTC
Robin sniffed the milk, made a face, and set it down.385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRCv2UOg7g7
Batman didn’t touch his cup.385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZs9EVVohzc
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.385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIEonHIbxJN
The marker hovered just above its surface.385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPZSeHyS3Ka
That’s when she realized—385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrosWEXJwHQ
Her so-called "clues" were embarrassingly few.
“Uh... at first, nothing big. Thought I was just misremembering stuff,”385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPkLbHIH2pL
“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.385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmC1bm3tNTn
About Nightwing showing up on her balcony like clockwork.385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzMpSePscZ6
About the cursed bagel swap—the chocolate replaced by plain.
(None of it felt funny anymore.)
Batman didn’t say a word.385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7SqeMcTeZR
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.385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0s5jdvgLw9
But right now—right this second—someone understood her loneliness.
Night fell.385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7AUuN817nm
The coffee went cold.385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVUVDccEvya
The whiteboard filled up—timelines, branches, points of deviation.385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSZnrD9lncx
Batman stared at it like it was a war map.385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnV3rXsofKc
Brows drawn, jaw tense.
And Claire—385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxKdeb1NLOf
For the first time in god-knows-how-many loops—385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyMdlKIjf4h
wasn’t alone.
She didn’t have to whisper to herself anymore.
385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ39fwuFinbb
Claire knew she wasn’t that smart.385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ278Mg9tssK
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.385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIxbjjcs5iy
Tactical terms.385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjm7pNJNdfK
Observation protocols.385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPjqJTAOiIA
Hypothesis trees.385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXhaVOeg1tA
Arrow-filled logic webs about time loop mechanics.
Her brain was buzzing like someone turned on a high-frequency hum in her skull.385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxm3x3qXw7r
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.385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDYB9m01bKo
Bullet points.385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhzKrV0wPLd
Key phrases.385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqbjoEY1mwR
Color-coded charts.
Didn’t matter.385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgRs2psgdM9
Once she closed her eyes—gone.385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJY0V2QAlyY
Just gone.
So she had to memorize.385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqqErBvD2xR
Raw memorization.385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdeUJjCw4gm
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?”385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQDzJmoEElo
Total academic despair.
She glared at the board and forced herself to read it out loud:
- Establish a consistent, simplified daily communication method385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgGLZCWpbY2
- Design self-verification protocols385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡskHuIyEIwR
- Identify the rupture point in the time loop385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkZkjdC7Hqg
- Develop coping mechanisms for mental strain385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ7LETIlVIl
- Test whether sleep is the trigger for resets385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKGRHQPseZ4
385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHGPpmQVSuj
And below those?385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ83Rzyw3wYq
Bullet point hell.
Claire nearly burst into tears.385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcXAKQOGmls
Wasn’t this the kind of thing you hired Batman to do?385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWvzSzw7YIt
She was a bagel-slinging café owner, not a goddamn temporal physicist.
Nightwing and Robin had left around dawn.385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY6GVZpeTXb
She’d thought she’d feel relief.385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKHQZNCBlo6
She didn’t.385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlfsA4QfUdk
She felt like a balloon blown up way past safe capacity.
And Batman? Still here.385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgPNOZAFzGR
Sitting at her tiny desk like he owned it.385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ960VhfMABO
Folding her notes into crisp little squares like some kind of insomnia robot.385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCSEqWakOah
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.385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQI6xfiBYNb
Nope.385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtSas7VSREN
Still here.385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVd6puOGerY
Drank her coffee.385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0xR7UYhBmt
Ate a croissant.
Batman eats food.385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAEYshidu6I
Claire noted this with bewildered internal sarcasm.385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA0q5txAYCD
And, somehow… it made her feel a little more human.385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡun5Nihtk8w
A little more grounded.
Then 2 p.m. hit.385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGr4SHaI44j
And she just—couldn’t.
Her head throbbed like someone was banging pots inside it.385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡC5eimSsvRW
A rhythmic BONG—BONG—BONG of pure pain.385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZel1Booql5
Her ears were ringing.385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEeTVT2A8qz
Her vision was starting to blur.385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjjvyhMhc1g
She hadn’t slept in way too long.
Even Batman’s voice faded into background noise.385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNw72FP0jlU
She could hear words, but they drifted by like waterlogged scraps of paper.385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaMlN5dCPE1
No structure. No connection.
Her neck gave out first.385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhJ761nTRx3
Then her whole body slumped—soft and useless like an overcooked noodle.
Then she heard it.385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQpO9ZnrtNW
A sigh.385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9Vy7yntIUJ
Low.385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGLf3P0CN3O
Close.385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGacJo265pw
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.385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8sLeTfGRpO
So blue. So clear.385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZXc9M9yLxk
Like the first star that refuses to leave the morning sky.
Nightwing, she thought.385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOCNh9MstEu
But she couldn’t speak.
From somewhere nearby, Batman’s voice drifted in—calm, slow, final:
“Claire. Remember what I told you.385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkXNzfecuNk
Protect yourself first. Then find the truth.”
Someone laid her down.385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCRKkgRlICX
Pulled the blanket up.
The scent of sunlight-warmed fabric and stale coffee beans wrapped around her.385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUqYPT9aewF
Her bed was soft. So soft.385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkhoetS2Erh
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.385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJgydFreHrW
Was there something she needed to say? Do?
Too late.
The dark caught her.385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3lZXLfUX9V
Held her.
Perfectly.
385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjVpnAI10Hm
Claire was awake. Again.
Same ceiling.385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡc3GuKB9Ny5
Same sheets.385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2VgsEXvVWD
Same sunlight slicing through the gap in the curtains.385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9nbmWPhW7C
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.385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmsjVxXnXjs
No headache.385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIvMXorbGCd
No nausea.385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiz8NMQJ69H
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—385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡg3D1BKEnv0
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.385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTegXssxaff
It was her memory thread.385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2rk18Qkyj2
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.385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQt9CYGIx7W
Then she took out a pink sticky note and scribbled on it:385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjchQanBLiR
“Today’s Bagel: Plain.”
She stuck it on the glass, stepped back to check.385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡB02LQUKgc2
It stood out.385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnIgb4L2OZk
Bright and silly. Hard to miss.
Then she frowned.
Wait—why am I even doing this?
No one else would remember.385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9VzEhLMOXr
Only she knew what day it was.385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7wWcdisKdW
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…385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLeKcT0Q1dK
Someday, someone like her might see that note.385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrX4s76kISW
And feel something click.385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2VjhQTcgzf
Some resonance.
Claire snorted.
“No deadlines, infinite time. What a dream.”
Colder than her fridge.
What kind of absurd life was this?385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGbxnv8EpvT
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.385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgIsViAlMFn
Her body tensed, that silent alertness creeping in.
Blue-eyed cop.
Batman had asked about him over and over last night—385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡv1rK4EOt6M
What he wore.385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlhvbIziJtu
His tone of voice.385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9TyWI254py
Which hand he used to take out his wallet.385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3WGovBHZKA
What angle he walked in from.385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUs8HTSC6Pm
How long he looked at the counter.385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVEWgKBfMSM
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.385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEI3SxmcJg1
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.385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYRltFb0x23
Like it was baked into the script of the day.
Claire’s eyes flicked to the clock on the wall.385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnj69dJInHd
9:59.
The door pushed open.385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡygI9lAv3zx
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?385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjPDkLKxVCm
Or are you just another poor guy trying to buy breakfast?
God, she wanted him to be different.385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXjc2AhGW43
Even five minutes late would’ve been something.
But nope.
Right on time.385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyGFr8ltCP4
Said the exact same line.385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEc7m1Sflre
Paid with the same bills.
Claire considered doing a little test.
A spark lit in her head: Batman.385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0l8JGgKL37
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.385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnZHDff2aXq
You don’t just ask a random cop, “Hey, do you know Batman?”385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbaYHIkwaUj
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.385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsxetNz0B8h
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.385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHRTjhdDcO0
Surely it would hit something.385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNSSoCOkDsI
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.385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9kWSZ2A0kN
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.385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9pW8f3DKHn
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.385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcBW5N3duMm
Day 10. Blue-Eyed Officer.385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTHizmEev8P
No noticeable deviations.
But hey—385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzaTtJak9pg
At least she tried.385Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjOlL2CrYXW
and then Add to home screen.