Claire froze.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKqwHW2OFja
A chill ran down her spine, as if someone had quietly pushed her into a pool of ice water. Her shoulders tensed. Her fingers trembled, just slightly.
“The rift is watching her.”
That sentence stabbed into her mind like a pin.
Not she was looking at it, but that… thing—whatever it was—was staring back.
Her stomach twisted.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡH30qq7Lah8
The warmth of the soup she’d just had in the kitchen surged back up, stopped at her throat like it had second thoughts.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡc42sqCLyRC
The warmth was gone.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCwzgZLhI98
All that remained was an indescribable cold.
She had suspected it for a while now—that the rift didn’t just “appear” to her.
It let her see it.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡilRlN5i0nI
Like something pointing her out from a crowd and saying, you—look this way.
She swallowed, trying to stay calm.
But what caught her off guard… was that none of the three men denied what she said.
No one laughed.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbNJqbzrlKX
No one exchanged that “okay, she’s crazy” look.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwV6zg2TfMU
No one told her to calm down.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLXlnbQ58hP
No one gave her the “we’re just humoring you” smile.
There was no ridicule.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGTw9aozBiN
No patronizing sympathy.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxJkXuGxtP0
Not even a subject change.
Instead—Batman looked like someone who had just found a missing puzzle piece.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKt2yG3zim0
His eyes stayed fixed on the rift she’d drawn, brows furrowed deep—like a question that had haunted him for a long time was finally starting to make sense.
Nightwing sat beside her, a hand resting on one knee, his body slightly leaning forward.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIruQOuppF8
He looked like he was holding himself back—not from disbelief, but from the urge to tell her, “This can’t be real,” just to keep her sane. But he didn’t say it.
His posture said enough:62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ70S0tTozv8
Suspicion.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ14Hsq1sW94
Anxiety.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbDFPliJluC
But more than anything—alertness.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmcoqbuKlqO
Not toward her, but toward the possibility of something too dangerous to name.
Robin, meanwhile, had a hand to his chin, brows furrowed so tightly they looked carved in stone. He seemed stuck—trying to reconstruct something in his mind. Like some incomplete signal had lodged itself there, and he couldn’t decode it.
“If the rift is watching her,” Robin finally said, “does that mean it’ll come looking for her?”
The words dropped heavy.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUP1XxRdaeB
Even the wind seemed to hesitate.
It wasn’t a theory.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7xudDn7FqZ
It was a warning.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwKK3025JhS
We can’t let her face this alone.
Claire said nothing.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCEdepTK0SW
She wasn’t sure she could.
Her lips felt sealed shut.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6vREe2kZ3K
Her throat was full of ice.
Then it hit her.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡE3dXjNnWMJ
That in front of these people—saying there was a rift in the sky wasn’t delusion.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡva6IWtYaW1
It was… the start of an investigation.
This wasn’t a hallucination.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡn84IS7HYZO
It was a threat assessment.
And that terrified her more.
Because if they were taking it seriously—62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ69jzH5L69T
It meant the thing she saw might really exist.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUJ8SRwQEcN
Not just in her head.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZnRt7BewFe
But somewhere, out there.
Batman looked up, his gaze heavy as iron.
“Claire,” he said, his voice firm and final,62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHa5SmTRoZx
“I’m taking you to the safe house.”
There was no room for discussion.
“You’ll need something to protect yourself.”
Not maybe.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkJu5qUWkSE
Not if.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡq9K6eGcxw8
But definitely.
62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKVTHmvf7mM
Claire had expected the safehouse to be, well, a bit more Batman.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbhAhrUz4mk
You know—underground vault, biometric scans, a hidden elevator behind a sliding bookshelf. That kind of thing.
Because come on. It’s Batman. A little drama wouldn’t hurt.
But no. It was a regular apartment.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCL8KWt2vD1
Third floor. No trapdoor. No secret codes.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYeWSIDiSrz
Just a metal door and a creaky stairwell dim enough to make you wonder if the landlord forgot to change the lightbulb.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHqHTmhrcBS
Claire frowned and followed the three men inside.
When all four of them squeezed into what looked like a barely furnished studio, her first reaction was:
“Wow. Depressing.”
White walls. Wooden floor. Two chairs, one table.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡit690CjJWt
No couch.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt0i9Lg9gqx
No personality.
This wasn’t a safehouse.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYkZUCUUpkB
This was a rental someone never bothered to decorate because they knew the rent was highway robbery.
Before she could finish the mental roast, Batman walked to the wall, reached for a light fixture—62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKrMAmds6VR
Click.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXjLnYzhybo
A hidden door slid open, revealing a short staircase going down.
No dramatic music. No warning. Just—there.
Claire instinctively took a step back. Her heartbeat skipped.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4wOhz9LLJL
“…Okay, that’s a little dramatic,” she muttered.
They filed down one by one.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoTUBBF9LtR
She was last. Eyes darting left and right like she’d stepped into sacred ground.
Then her foot touched the first step, and the world opened up.
Her eyes widened.
It wasn’t a damp basement.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbYaseLVhLY
It was an underground command center.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDEynT4jxmH
High ceiling. Cold air. Monitors everywhere, blinking with graphs, maps, and strings of data that looked like alien stock reports.
Weapons lined the walls—some shaped like bat wings, others like mechanical scorpion tails.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIAP6VTyNYx
There was even something on the desk that looked suspiciously like it could fire lasers.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSban89tMI6
A red light blinked on its side like it was deciding who to vaporize first.
Her throat went dry.
“All this stuff…” she whispered.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0huX12MR0W
“Definitely funded. Like, no-one’s-asking-for-receipts funded.”
One phrase popped into her mind—weaponized wealth.
Where did vigilantes get their money?
She used to think they were all about justice and grit, powered by passion and determination.
Now it felt more like… WayneTech’s unauthorized tech demo.
She muttered under her breath,
“So Bruce Wayne really is the sponsor. That tracks…”
She didn’t finish the thought.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLaNX8YwiLF
Didn’t need to.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6ahEgVMvyo
The dots were connecting themselves.
Standing in that room, a memory surfaced—62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsGf6d2XiQk
her college years, back when she was on a full scholarship from the Wayne Foundation.
Every semester, like clockwork, a generous sum landed in her account.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡD5dehAGtpL
Big enough that her friends from other departments would whisper things like, “Are you in some kind of secret athletic program?”
All she had to do was run.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsb4aykDyXs
Win.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCaIJlgutpZ
Over and over.
Until that one race—62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡD7NpW8szAM
The one her knee didn’t survive.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpzZ5S3VyPS
She never crossed the finish line.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQkQHDn99IW
But that race ended more than just the competition.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIFm5zllLTZ
It cleaved her life into before and after.
Sometimes she still dreamed of running.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjtSS9dehyv
Wind slicing past her ears.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrasEFGNzw8
Feet barely touching the track.
When she woke up, the memory was so vivid, she could still feel it in her legs.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuT5wGlosVE
The weightlessness.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKJxSqloJNu
The flight.
It felt like a message from a previous life.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvRcVOwgMTT
A ghost of someone she used to be.
62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbfMCFKioSy
Claire had expected the safehouse to be, well, a bit more Batman.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrkgLKCtZ2l
You know—underground vault, biometric scans, a hidden elevator behind a sliding bookshelf. That kind of thing.
Because come on. It’s Batman. A little drama wouldn’t hurt.
But no. It was a regular apartment.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNxhWad8vKB
Third floor. No trapdoor. No secret codes.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8BKINEfRnt
Just a metal door and a creaky stairwell dim enough to make you wonder if the landlord forgot to change the lightbulb.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeZfifVlfPm
Claire frowned and followed the three men inside.
When all four of them squeezed into what looked like a barely furnished studio, her first reaction was:
“Wow. Depressing.”
White walls. Wooden floor. Two chairs, one table.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTIarXNGbsU
No couch.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqeDwMoMNrB
No personality.
This wasn’t a safehouse.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxG7UpUlgIy
This was a rental someone never bothered to decorate because they knew the rent was highway robbery.
Before she could finish the mental roast, Batman walked to the wall, reached for a light fixture—62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdOm4RDRwFJ
Click.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaheGR3RvTU
A hidden door slid open, revealing a short staircase going down.
No dramatic music. No warning. Just—there.
Claire instinctively took a step back. Her heartbeat skipped.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaJPRRLQW8v
“…Okay, that’s a little dramatic,” she muttered.
They filed down one by one.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHx5y94xYmL
She was last. Eyes darting left and right like she’d stepped into sacred ground.
Then her foot touched the first step, and the world opened up.
Her eyes widened.
It wasn’t a damp basement.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwZis0bXkVB
It was an underground command center.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ89WZ3jKHux
High ceiling. Cold air. Monitors everywhere, blinking with graphs, maps, and strings of data that looked like alien stock reports.
Weapons lined the walls—some shaped like bat wings, others like mechanical scorpion tails.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoUYH7I2JkW
There was even something on the desk that looked suspiciously like it could fire lasers.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7fpd6SdBd4
A red light blinked on its side like it was deciding who to vaporize first.
Her throat went dry.
“All this stuff…” she whispered.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFjwDUz3sdg
“Definitely funded. Like, no-one’s-asking-for-receipts funded.”
One phrase popped into her mind—weaponized wealth.
Where did vigilantes get their money?
She used to think they were all about justice and grit, powered by passion and determination.
Now it felt more like… WayneTech’s unauthorized tech demo.
She muttered under her breath,
“So Bruce Wayne really is the sponsor. That tracks…”
She didn’t finish the thought.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5hNkIChOMg
Didn’t need to.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeTYnl2p7YR
The dots were connecting themselves.
Standing in that room, a memory surfaced—62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxQGB3CquQ6
her college years, back when she was on a full scholarship from the Wayne Foundation.
Every semester, like clockwork, a generous sum landed in her account.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRnJBcNVEAC
Big enough that her friends from other departments would whisper things like, “Are you in some kind of secret athletic program?”
All she had to do was run.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡq7S7C1E9xD
Win.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGmsgHNTebY
Over and over.
Until that one race—62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLYlcgNf5HZ
The one her knee didn’t survive.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjZGjnpdeYj
She never crossed the finish line.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDXcDfQ8deV
But that race ended more than just the competition.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEc03pUbPgP
It cleaved her life into before and after.
Sometimes she still dreamed of running.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRGhEkMQ6Ax
Wind slicing past her ears.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEracQuCayM
Feet barely touching the track.
When she woke up, the memory was so vivid, she could still feel it in her legs.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwbmse6TPOW
The weightlessness.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAhlg2jF2bk
The flight.
It felt like a message from a previous life.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡagHXyf2Kw2
A ghost of someone she used to be.
62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY3e3eKH5Ov
Batman sat down at the console, his long cape fanning out over the back of the chair.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMsDQTMX4YF
His fingers moved fast—sharp, precise, mechanical. One by one, the monitors lit up, as if some dormant beast had just awakened, stretching its limbs with a low digital growl.
Claire lagged a few steps behind.
She stood there, eyes scanning the room.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYMZvwilpQk
Was this really not some kind of secret weapons cache?62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsGPtqQecvQ
Because honestly, it was giving serious classified-military-facility energy.
Metal-panel walls. Harsh fluorescent lighting. Devices whose functions she couldn’t begin to guess.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4F3D1azieV
There was even something that looked suspiciously like an operating table—which she immediately looked away from, because nope. No thanks. No curiosity here.
She was just about to poke at a black storage case labeled with a large “F”, when a voice—British, older, calm but gently concerned—spoke from the monitor.
“Sir, have you located Robin?”
Claire’s head snapped up.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6jFpD7z8j4
On screen was a sharply dressed older man in a suit that looked like it belonged in a vintage London magazine. A row of gleaming silver teapots lined the shelves behind him.
His eyes swept the screen—then paused.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9yhMnXdZa5
He blinked slightly as he spotted her standing in the corner.
“Sir… and this is?”
Batman didn’t look up. Still typing, still focused.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡK82yDgx8yB
But he answered steadily.
“This is Claire.”
Then, finally, he turned his head.
“Claire, explain yourself.”
Claire blinked.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpZJIZX9uUv
Here we go again.
Was he training her public speaking, or just too lazy to do the intro?
She inhaled, dug her nails into her palm, and willed herself into composure.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqtWcpVV2we
She’d already told this story twice—once to Nightwing and Robin, then again to Batman himself. But the third time? Still sucked.
She cleared her throat.
“I’m Claire. I’ve been… stuck repeating the same day.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJkOiSWKgJQ
And tonight, I saw something in the sky.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5Oeydz8qBe
Like a crack. A rip.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2dus7gI4J6
Only I can see it. No one else can. But I know it’s there.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9qhFD5qE77
Because I can still see it even when I close my eyes.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiVCekH3mi1
It’s not a hallucination.”
Her voice was steady—maybe a bit too fast—but it held.
The man on the screen didn’t flinch. Didn’t smirk. Didn’t doubt.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFsPbiL2k5W
He simply gave a small, understanding nod.
Claire blinked again.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtLNBTbufYe
She realized she’d been bracing for something—skepticism, sarcasm, at least a raised eyebrow.
But nothing came.
Silence settled around her.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlp19EGVx2d
Just the soft mechanical hum of the monitors at the edge of the room.
Well.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJNJ2p3RfQa
That was the third time.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDt2GOIEiYk
Story delivered.
Can someone get me a glass of water now?62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRewFogYxSG
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