Claire passed by the church.
It was surprisingly full.
She hesitated.84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCRtGpDgEO0
Didn’t plan to stop, but glanced through the open doors anyway.
Right—today was Easter.
Evening service.84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOJQ3DQxu1o
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.84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqXKK75sqR4
Too bad it didn’t make the front page.84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3LzsIsA9sJ
Nightwing’s butt did.
If every reset counted as a resurrection, she had Jesus beat.
— Jesus came back once.84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡy5U6ODuT8C
She came back every damn day.84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡv9gA0YiWlT
No crucifixion required. Just the same bed, the same morning, the same jazz.
No blood.84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRfWX19E6kp
No wounds.84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKDPu89BCZ7
Not even symbolic suffering.84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPcb8VSIqvT
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.84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOjdpbMi17K
She caught a trace of perfume and smoked ham in the air.84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQpwF4qnmZm
Warm.84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1QsjyXrs3e
Distant.
She didn’t look back.84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2pzzVMYRZt
Didn’t slow down.84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ97kAXxJm0B
Just pulled her jacket tighter around herself—trying not to look like someone on the run.
84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfHDkWaEP3C
She’d picked up some sushi and salad on the way.84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQrJJSR0vIW
Not because she was hungry.84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlnfjaPa6TV
Just… preemptive.84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5Zd0QjCLB7
— A biological necessity.84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsPADB9urOT
Eating was proof she still had a plan, even if it didn’t taste like one.
The motel looked old.
Faded walls.84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoPmqlYxF7k
Window frames weathered like they’d been kissed by thirty years of ocean wind.84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoRbReoFgg2
But the sign worked.84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfspKUKJIRO
The light stayed on.84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR30R04JLAD
No flickers.
The online reviews had been solid.
— 4.5 stars for cleanliness.84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeqO8jIAMiZ
Quiet.84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9cEyhIZKMy
No weird comments.84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5QXG2OlIKa
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.84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLy2OorYbHn
The window was proof: I still believe in a future.
She paid. Got the key. Sixth floor.
The elevator hummed with old energy.84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZGDB3m7amf
The lights inside were yellow—not the cozy kind, but the nicotine-stained kind.
She entered the room.
Locked the door.
Exhaled.
— Quiet.
84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuafwTQFqU4
Locked.84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkrSsVYagyr
New bed.84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWSerT15KGq
New air.
It might all be gone tomorrow.84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA6C5MFhZRh
But right now, she wasn’t home.84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡldsaRhWBy1
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.84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡH5EztD8LOf
But she followed the routine.84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAlEuolU48q
— Eat first.84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrjrGGr2T51
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.84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRjB2tSUDFl
Not just a blur of motion.
It was a person.
Weight.84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ57vXceiIcp
Posture.84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIOoT2KiByS
Presence.
Her body locked up.
She should have ducked.
Instead, she recognized him immediately.
Robin.
— Red. Green. Yellow.84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnkYwVi7EUR
That mask.84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6kWIyEtrJA
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.84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHAcbqNbnNy
Or patrolling.
His cape fluttered in the breeze.84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbi26PiOyJB
The darkness carved his silhouette sharp against the city lights.
Then he noticed her.
A woman.84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxuHIiv1UAK
Staring blankly at him.
Robin tilted his head.
Turned.84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9zuH1hWcL3
Tapped gently on the glass.
— Not a warning.84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbJT52FyYY6
Not a threat.84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzX1x2QjoDf
Just a soft “I see you” kind of knock.
Claire opened the window like she was sleepwalking.
— Her hand moved first.84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFTSWbzDSWK
Her brain was still buffering.
It didn’t make sense.
Which made it impossible to react.
Robin was standing right there.
Not on TV.84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ24PMR9WDpX
Not in a news segment.84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡey2p4pwbaG
No crowd.84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQw4OkwzrSJ
No distance.
Just… there.
Looking at her.
Like he already knew she’d be here.
A kid.
— Sorry, Claire thought. But yeah.84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUsDSElnzMC
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.84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0NkUHAO7mz
Inside a world where heroes weren’t supposed to show up.
84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWMHCqRbgZO
The kid—Robin—spoke politely.84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5Wv6sx65tZ
“Good evening, miss. Sorry to bother you. I was wondering… do you know how to get to Queen Street?84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2p8ZDNdM8f
I’m kinda new around here.”
— It was a kid’s voice.
Not a deep-faked adult.84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXTngipymQI
Not a pitch-shifted recording.
A real teenage voice.84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnRcw1MIqJX
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:84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFz8n60Mtwa
Holy shit, he’s actually a kid.
Claire gave him a strange look.84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrb3KbuM0ot
Then pointed toward the street below.
“Walk a hundred meters that way,” she said calmly.84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfz3IPpSwMe
“Then turn right. It’s about two hundred more.”
— Her tone was flat.84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZGMN1YUNHs
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.84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEmZ14korAo
Walk to it?84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUZAaHdM5QV
Swing to it?
She wanted to ask.84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡN164ba9fHZ
But felt that if she did, she’d lose a shred of dignity as a normal citizen.
Robin nodded.84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnlE8POqw8C
Turned.84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFSOl7lVz9H
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.84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhOncQPGjeP
Loud.84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJKhlE1ZuQX
Ridiculous.84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPytiE16woN
Undeniable.
Claire said:84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQjOQbBEAX5
“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.84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvEtzIfM1Vo
Just a background extra in the scene.
But somehow…
ns216.73.216.206da2
and then Add to home screen.