Claire passed by the church.
It was surprisingly full.
She hesitated.87Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXXB8CRPsIR
Didn’t plan to stop, but glanced through the open doors anyway.
Right—today was Easter.
Evening service.87Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEqtKI2i7k4
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.87Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1q5Tg1pCLL
Too bad it didn’t make the front page.87Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡD0wo4Pt5Be
Nightwing’s butt did.
If every reset counted as a resurrection, she had Jesus beat.
— Jesus came back once.87Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOSXAUdbr9A
She came back every damn day.87Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMQe8vaeaD2
No crucifixion required. Just the same bed, the same morning, the same jazz.
No blood.87Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFw21f84iuR
No wounds.87Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdC677IwK0i
Not even symbolic suffering.87Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡb74jW3fSu1
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.87Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡL3rKkEfkwM
She caught a trace of perfume and smoked ham in the air.87Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUBL8qExjrb
Warm.87Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0g9a1ErGgY
Distant.
She didn’t look back.87Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2Er6EBSfJS
Didn’t slow down.87Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbeR3FYpC8M
Just pulled her jacket tighter around herself—trying not to look like someone on the run.
87Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqf9G4bwIjd
She’d picked up some sushi and salad on the way.87Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcb2fDFOcWw
Not because she was hungry.87Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCshNdjKIC2
Just… preemptive.87Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡheTFmY9ito
— A biological necessity.87Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ86kWeZvTMo
Eating was proof she still had a plan, even if it didn’t taste like one.
The motel looked old.
Faded walls.87Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyDTIAdS1DB
Window frames weathered like they’d been kissed by thirty years of ocean wind.87Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡu0jBu18Zdf
But the sign worked.87Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡq2rj9ciV5S
The light stayed on.87Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡadfThXHKAn
No flickers.
The online reviews had been solid.
— 4.5 stars for cleanliness.87Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyxBHlmCGTE
Quiet.87Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfSc836t3E9
No weird comments.87Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiktEvSLzmn
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.87Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiBVxeERPqZ
The window was proof: I still believe in a future.
She paid. Got the key. Sixth floor.
The elevator hummed with old energy.87Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWQZ9KgcIR6
The lights inside were yellow—not the cozy kind, but the nicotine-stained kind.
She entered the room.
Locked the door.
Exhaled.
— Quiet.
87Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJbraMt09u8
Locked.87Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4wxUJPGvKZ
New bed.87Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtTzyzW7fvB
New air.
It might all be gone tomorrow.87Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlDJDjVHiH2
But right now, she wasn’t home.87Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5KMGd7Brbi
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.87Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUNRMtyu48v
But she followed the routine.87Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgtgRtIpvZp
— Eat first.87Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6HbRSMvDM7
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.87Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvmZR496zFR
Not just a blur of motion.
It was a person.
Weight.87Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtOp36mE9QD
Posture.87Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡon1jxeWY7D
Presence.
Her body locked up.
She should have ducked.
Instead, she recognized him immediately.
Robin.
— Red. Green. Yellow.87Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7OEyVvzLhc
That mask.87Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQuRjDY0TdQ
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.87Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfiYN5h7B1o
Or patrolling.
His cape fluttered in the breeze.87Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzpv2TnF3Ve
The darkness carved his silhouette sharp against the city lights.
Then he noticed her.
A woman.87Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBlww2gipjs
Staring blankly at him.
Robin tilted his head.
Turned.87Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLuwkIMmeMm
Tapped gently on the glass.
— Not a warning.87Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1B4vrukH2J
Not a threat.87Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvpL4jLd9zj
Just a soft “I see you” kind of knock.
Claire opened the window like she was sleepwalking.
— Her hand moved first.87Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXZpLll4s2K
Her brain was still buffering.
It didn’t make sense.
Which made it impossible to react.
Robin was standing right there.
Not on TV.87Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1xNS6DpAwU
Not in a news segment.87Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxiKom2QBQ4
No crowd.87Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡy1LZJMhhxE
No distance.
Just… there.
Looking at her.
Like he already knew she’d be here.
A kid.
— Sorry, Claire thought. But yeah.87Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡH2d7DloDFv
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.87Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoQ9g9pJRBT
Inside a world where heroes weren’t supposed to show up.
87Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5YoiEYHRFJ
The kid—Robin—spoke politely.87Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡM0tYL32nhV
“Good evening, miss. Sorry to bother you. I was wondering… do you know how to get to Queen Street?87Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡh846vkjKLF
I’m kinda new around here.”
— It was a kid’s voice.
Not a deep-faked adult.87Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIXjuhNGosx
Not a pitch-shifted recording.
A real teenage voice.87Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡG4420bsrLA
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:87Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ28S7jUki40
Holy shit, he’s actually a kid.
Claire gave him a strange look.87Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFbxNgFlFQe
Then pointed toward the street below.
“Walk a hundred meters that way,” she said calmly.87Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSc3PvJnZY4
“Then turn right. It’s about two hundred more.”
— Her tone was flat.87Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡamyQqIucsl
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.87Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgQLW14f7BV
Walk to it?87Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUeZmFj7wF3
Swing to it?
She wanted to ask.87Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkBsN6SqSNz
But felt that if she did, she’d lose a shred of dignity as a normal citizen.
Robin nodded.87Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdWIwEXYeAM
Turned.87Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡValW88w6Oa
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.87Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDdR9wR7dI9
Loud.87Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRTCFvMUHgG
Ridiculous.87Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwj2R0NaOxZ
Undeniable.
Claire said:87Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHAWL6NfcSi
“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.87Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡV4DCghdHym
Just a background extra in the scene.
But somehow…
ns216.73.216.206da2
and then Add to home screen.