Claire passed by the church.
It was surprisingly full.
She hesitated.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnyNwurwG1W
Didn’t plan to stop, but glanced through the open doors anyway.
Right—today was Easter.
Evening service.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhcwJEqmJSg
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.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJkjIC8XXeN
Too bad it didn’t make the front page.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtMOCKtYbWR
Nightwing’s butt did.
If every reset counted as a resurrection, she had Jesus beat.
— Jesus came back once.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4godzqn2gt
She came back every damn day.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgptEPtGgfp
No crucifixion required. Just the same bed, the same morning, the same jazz.
No blood.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ85lUYvFfY
No wounds.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhMptcxrqGN
Not even symbolic suffering.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9x6XAxuif3
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.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLw7ITikWtC
She caught a trace of perfume and smoked ham in the air.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzdlNBWXnns
Warm.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZL82RYZBwv
Distant.
She didn’t look back.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkNpsLgeaZm
Didn’t slow down.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡh8NvHehU1V
Just pulled her jacket tighter around herself—trying not to look like someone on the run.
34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8H5wfpLyby
She’d picked up some sushi and salad on the way.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXJiQQD1dVC
Not because she was hungry.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡI4BeRtSJPU
Just… preemptive.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvhIugZf3XX
— A biological necessity.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYUOPUhVvC5
Eating was proof she still had a plan, even if it didn’t taste like one.
The motel looked old.
Faded walls.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡV6Ly2eMmVv
Window frames weathered like they’d been kissed by thirty years of ocean wind.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdEqEcKltMs
But the sign worked.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFtu68Kgap5
The light stayed on.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWX8UCx3nwN
No flickers.
The online reviews had been solid.
— 4.5 stars for cleanliness.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRkWLTnv61y
Quiet.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡb91fvgON18
No weird comments.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdXe73pG4YD
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.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlVofvFsqp3
The window was proof: I still believe in a future.
She paid. Got the key. Sixth floor.
The elevator hummed with old energy.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFy7xWs3Rbm
The lights inside were yellow—not the cozy kind, but the nicotine-stained kind.
She entered the room.
Locked the door.
Exhaled.
— Quiet.
34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡG7AhKPoYXP
Locked.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEhgs2OOb0a
New bed.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZmM41GCeYf
New air.
It might all be gone tomorrow.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZhLo7sMsjd
But right now, she wasn’t home.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyUoIxz6jGI
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.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡH01wVAl4Ge
But she followed the routine.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXBdjchDO5l
— Eat first.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7RUfoLJDx6
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.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwX5uouymZ4
Not just a blur of motion.
It was a person.
Weight.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKLlwZmZiBW
Posture.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0iHPGqqhhy
Presence.
Her body locked up.
She should have ducked.
Instead, she recognized him immediately.
Robin.
— Red. Green. Yellow.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡy4M7gGoZp1
That mask.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡI1g0kwmqdr
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.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡknBzCkH3Ym
Or patrolling.
His cape fluttered in the breeze.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡy3WFcCkffO
The darkness carved his silhouette sharp against the city lights.
Then he noticed her.
A woman.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSBGHUcjhmR
Staring blankly at him.
Robin tilted his head.
Turned.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8LtOKeRWfs
Tapped gently on the glass.
— Not a warning.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxxeFxCGbdu
Not a threat.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7Jf5Gqfui5
Just a soft “I see you” kind of knock.
Claire opened the window like she was sleepwalking.
— Her hand moved first.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡysCYjoaHUm
Her brain was still buffering.
It didn’t make sense.
Which made it impossible to react.
Robin was standing right there.
Not on TV.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKWpx2UAXgB
Not in a news segment.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkGRRcAC3NN
No crowd.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0ElPKjo8Ub
No distance.
Just… there.
Looking at her.
Like he already knew she’d be here.
A kid.
— Sorry, Claire thought. But yeah.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoSBb7d5zrk
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.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlo0iLruQyL
Inside a world where heroes weren’t supposed to show up.
34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKAVpEHNIZU
The kid—Robin—spoke politely.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡr1wbJ2WuMd
“Good evening, miss. Sorry to bother you. I was wondering… do you know how to get to Queen Street?34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvaHyv0sbRy
I’m kinda new around here.”
— It was a kid’s voice.
Not a deep-faked adult.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYBPZQqjJeP
Not a pitch-shifted recording.
A real teenage voice.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡabg01eGRZK
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:34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSJ10wpMEht
Holy shit, he’s actually a kid.
Claire gave him a strange look.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxrtnkfnSFD
Then pointed toward the street below.
“Walk a hundred meters that way,” she said calmly.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWo7T5LwlR9
“Then turn right. It’s about two hundred more.”
— Her tone was flat.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3TiD8C7OHc
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.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZg9sc6xxeu
Walk to it?34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLnlAhkGxjn
Swing to it?
She wanted to ask.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ94kVQ7vxla
But felt that if she did, she’d lose a shred of dignity as a normal citizen.
Robin nodded.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyZg3SXyLRG
Turned.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiRrXx8r8jb
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.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFt0feuJa7x
Loud.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJLmjY6Ua89
Ridiculous.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0LWHCBoFuz
Undeniable.
Claire said:34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjF7Ef5jWr5
“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.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0tWJ65Jvw8
Just a background extra in the scene.
But somehow…
ns216.73.216.251da2
and then Add to home screen.