Claire passed by the church.
It was surprisingly full.
She hesitated.63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmJOiQlCsSu
Didn’t plan to stop, but glanced through the open doors anyway.
Right—today was Easter.
Evening service.63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3uNQzPPtfg
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.63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRHWVHlOf7r
Too bad it didn’t make the front page.63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡk9kS3DWoOl
Nightwing’s butt did.
If every reset counted as a resurrection, she had Jesus beat.
— Jesus came back once.63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡm7wWroUM0n
She came back every damn day.63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡM9xGprf7gJ
No crucifixion required. Just the same bed, the same morning, the same jazz.
No blood.63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMvJ82YWKKQ
No wounds.63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvEjrVbCEDY
Not even symbolic suffering.63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjo9FFq8n7W
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.63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWVjQcin8cH
She caught a trace of perfume and smoked ham in the air.63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3DUWV3cUri
Warm.63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkHUHHddrG6
Distant.
She didn’t look back.63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡv87aq5kSTR
Didn’t slow down.63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4rj3nCgrZm
Just pulled her jacket tighter around herself—trying not to look like someone on the run.
63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdHx52815tB
She’d picked up some sushi and salad on the way.63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4LX7DyZrY8
Not because she was hungry.63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhGk96iOFQ3
Just… preemptive.63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA0vuaG4mQF
— A biological necessity.63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNdDAobnEHV
Eating was proof she still had a plan, even if it didn’t taste like one.
The motel looked old.
Faded walls.63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaZda9GvuEM
Window frames weathered like they’d been kissed by thirty years of ocean wind.63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXKsUKmDY1M
But the sign worked.63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqWCGBEaaAL
The light stayed on.63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6mGTLDAjek
No flickers.
The online reviews had been solid.
— 4.5 stars for cleanliness.63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcfadcjufbf
Quiet.63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhHKBEoYwhp
No weird comments.63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGYelHnPXNU
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.63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmq9caJWh3m
The window was proof: I still believe in a future.
She paid. Got the key. Sixth floor.
The elevator hummed with old energy.63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0lIU9JP58T
The lights inside were yellow—not the cozy kind, but the nicotine-stained kind.
She entered the room.
Locked the door.
Exhaled.
— Quiet.
63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpv8YdvoEaw
Locked.63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡE2SeyLm4s6
New bed.63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIYONsGtrUr
New air.
It might all be gone tomorrow.63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZCNGSoirYA
But right now, she wasn’t home.63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdk5JYR9IEq
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.63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZTq887iZgF
But she followed the routine.63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYKztfSRosH
— Eat first.63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmTL1oNqErF
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.63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKmKBXt9KPA
Not just a blur of motion.
It was a person.
Weight.63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡS5932Mfz7h
Posture.63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡB9Yeku6Wv8
Presence.
Her body locked up.
She should have ducked.
Instead, she recognized him immediately.
Robin.
— Red. Green. Yellow.63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXMgLBCHuNk
That mask.63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡozkVkWH2ya
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.63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBzx8P6HAhJ
Or patrolling.
His cape fluttered in the breeze.63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWXRpE6YwjC
The darkness carved his silhouette sharp against the city lights.
Then he noticed her.
A woman.63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmWa4BFBFgS
Staring blankly at him.
Robin tilted his head.
Turned.63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8e8SKwWixg
Tapped gently on the glass.
— Not a warning.63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡD0cxu7yLDA
Not a threat.63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbgIMzpRdIL
Just a soft “I see you” kind of knock.
Claire opened the window like she was sleepwalking.
— Her hand moved first.63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiXGOXFabGa
Her brain was still buffering.
It didn’t make sense.
Which made it impossible to react.
Robin was standing right there.
Not on TV.63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhP1VLDs7fV
Not in a news segment.63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfoi03a2rgs
No crowd.63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡchZRp7j1Bg
No distance.
Just… there.
Looking at her.
Like he already knew she’d be here.
A kid.
— Sorry, Claire thought. But yeah.63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡngmJZRqqOJ
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.63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9V7refY3sE
Inside a world where heroes weren’t supposed to show up.
63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6n2pdygAIq
The kid—Robin—spoke politely.63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoORuqMUb7N
“Good evening, miss. Sorry to bother you. I was wondering… do you know how to get to Queen Street?63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuA9ndH5Vtm
I’m kinda new around here.”
— It was a kid’s voice.
Not a deep-faked adult.63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaEPImtI82z
Not a pitch-shifted recording.
A real teenage voice.63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡD3utBRuQ3q
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:63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbn6iCXLJFg
Holy shit, he’s actually a kid.
Claire gave him a strange look.63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3e615Bsa2A
Then pointed toward the street below.
“Walk a hundred meters that way,” she said calmly.63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJuSD9SHM6k
“Then turn right. It’s about two hundred more.”
— Her tone was flat.63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ49r386uyU
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.63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhP4kwMmQZk
Walk to it?63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡo4zmfzZerJ
Swing to it?
She wanted to ask.63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuYgCKwlYrg
But felt that if she did, she’d lose a shred of dignity as a normal citizen.
Robin nodded.63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIUV8ApNMm5
Turned.63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡE37jRBKDQI
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.63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEtBHA4GNs9
Loud.63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJMxsNSrSSr
Ridiculous.63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8iSZZwDKUV
Undeniable.
Claire said:63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNznTgQfU5L
“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.63Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW7zl7Ndzan
Just a background extra in the scene.
But somehow…
ns216.73.216.140da2
and then Add to home screen.