Leila stepped into the Batcave, her movements soft and quiet. She hadn’t been here many times—just a handful, and always because Jason had stayed down here too long, and she’d come to check on him.133Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSgV4FddRYt
She never touched the screens, the gadgets, the glowing maps. She simply stood silently, observing and waiting—just like she did now.
133Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOgSZVPfae4
“Leila?” Jason quickly noticed the figure descending the stairs and strode toward her.
She reached for her husband’s hand and began signing:
“Jason, I have new information. About Claire.”
Jason froze for a beat, then immediately pulled over a chair for her.
“Here, sit down and tell me everything.”
Leila sat with calm poise, then began to sign again—her fingers and palms moving like they were transmitting a coded message, urgent and precise:
“Yesterday, I posted on a barter forum—offering ‘new information about Claire Black’ in exchange for a ticket to a private show.”
Jason looked confused, clearly not yet following where this was going.
Leila nodded, speeding up slightly:
“Bat-Mite actually responded.”
Around the cave, the others glanced over—some frowned, others held their breath.
“I asked a few questions. This was the response.”
She handed Jason a summarized transcript. He uploaded it to the holographic screen so the rest of the team could see. The text appeared line by line:
133Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMHSW8VCYgv
133Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6kjapijydz
133Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbAYQa6wj3g
Q: What’s Claire’s condition?133Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGT9YasKhMl
Bat-Mite: She’s asleep in her own space. Hasn’t moved in a long time.
Q: What happened to the purple slime creature?133Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOcnvQJx1AU
Bat-Mite: You mean the Cosmic Slow Worm? It probably left. I mean, there’s nothing to eat anymore. But it moves really, really slow.133Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7jg1tpVJtd
Claire’s waiting for it to fully leave—far from Earth. Only then will her plan be complete. It’s not like she can kill it.
Q: Is there any chance Claire can return to Earth?133Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAs9WPBGEkE
Bat-Mite: Maybe—if she remembers.
Q: What does that mean?133Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡv0flMnDfId
Bat-Mite: You know… Claire was stuck in that single repeating day for a very long time.133Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ45fZuTB1q1
She’s still sleeping now. To be honest, I doubt there’s much humanity or memory left in her.133Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJzDFLhCE1H
I’d actually recommend just letting her sleep—until the end of the universe.
133Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMGHAcE0ZVb
When the final line appeared on the screen, the Batcave fell into a heavy, suffocating silence.133Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsQ4DrPtQRr
Barbara bit her lower lip, her gaze frozen on the words “not much humanity or memory left.” Tim lowered his eyes, as if silently calculating the sheer length of time involved. Damian said nothing, but his fists were clenched tight, knuckles pale.
And Jason—133Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXUaouYFHG5
Jason looked furious. His expression had darkened to a dangerous low. He stared at that last sentence, the fire in his eyes barely restrained.133Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiaO3FEcaho
Claire was still alive.133Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡk7rGINpUQu
Alive, but alone.133Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQNPE200d75
Still sleeping in that space.
Her body lived.133Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRWjPHULRIx
But her mind?133Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEb9dRr48tm
Did she remember them? Did she even remember herself?133Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡInbaJlwjVG
She’d been forgotten—by them, by the world—and now, it seemed, by her own heart.
Every face in the Batcave was grim. The weight of what they’d just read settled like lead in the room.
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133Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZV4zyXspFv
The silence grew so thick, they could almost hear the screen’s quiet hum.
Leila slowly raised her hands to sign:133Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡS2GVF0D1ET
“Actually… I asked Bat-Mite if it could try contacting Claire. The deal was—I’d write it an original song. It agreed.”
She stood in the center of the room. Her hands came to a gradual stop, and her gaze shifted to the right—flickering, almost as if looking for an escape route.
In that instant, every trained vigilante in the cave picked up on it.133Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ45CxzrwjVc
That subtle shift in body language: the evasive glance, the slight hunch of her shoulders, the slowing of her fingers.133Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJAf4RSO4zP
If it wasn’t guilt, it was something very close—133Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXasGbcR07P
No. Not guilt.133Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMiqiukKfKC
Embarrassment. Deep, burning shyness.
Jason had already noticed the change. He moved to stand beside her, steady and calm, his voice gentle:133Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpA2zqesNfJ
“And…?”
Leila’s cheeks turned visibly pink, the blush slowly spreading to the tips of her ears. She shrank behind Jason, her petite frame nearly disappearing behind his broader one.
But she didn’t stop signing.
Bat-Mite said visiting Claire requires a gift.133Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjrWTKLnJrI
Claire might not welcome strangers.
Her hands slowed, fumbling slightly now—like a cat trying to sneak into a crawlspace.
It said… there’s one gift that would be perfect.
One second. Two.133Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdOWa1Aa5a5
Everyone’s eyes instinctively followed the direction of Leila’s gaze.
She was looking at Dick.
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Dick blinked, still catching up. He hesitated, then asked, “Leila? What kind of gift are we talking about?”
Leila let out a helpless little “Mmph” and promptly ducked behind Jason, refusing to face a single soul.
Jason turned around to face her directly.
The rest of the Batfamily stared at the petite woman now completely hidden behind Jason’s tall frame, collectively confused.
Leila’s hands began to move—quickly, nervously, desperately signing.
After about a minute of silent flailing, Jason slowly turned back to the others.
His expression was unreadable, like a man walking calmly through a fever dream.133Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPspT3wy3Qr
His eyes were hollow.133Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMdI8lqKyJ1
His voice was flat as a pond in winter.
“…Bat-Mite wants Nightwing’s newspaper.”
Everyone: “???”
Jason continued, in the tone of a man who’d seen too much, each word laced with existential pain despite being merely a translation:133Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJBQwCmoL0X
“You all watched the film, right? Claire made one wish. Just once. She said she wanted to read newspapers from different days.”133Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkdV2EIyPEl
He added, grimly,133Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHtIkzkLPHb
“You know what this means. Nightwing’s butt. The other side.”
And then—133Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCrNi6gTotC
The Batcave collapsed into chaos.
Tim nearly choked on his drink, spraying a mist of water.133Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrKfyXztO0z
Steph was shaking so hard from trying to hold back laughter she looked like a popcorn machine mid-burst.133Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuNyLW9bHp3
Barbara covered her face with both hands. “Nope. I should not be here for this meeting.”133Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkVjsZN0nIp
Damian, voice like arctic steel: “I refuse to participate in this mission.”133Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpop7goy5TN
Alfred gave a soft cough, and with the dignity of a man who’d lived through too many Wayne family shenanigans, began dusting his gloves in silence—as if pretending none of this had just happened.
And the man of the hour—133Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmDB6hV75ge
Dick Grayson.
His expression froze somewhere between “What just happened?” and “This is the weirdest day of my life.”
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and then Add to home screen.