Claire passed by the church.
It was surprisingly full.
She hesitated.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVoJUCIvG77
Didn’t plan to stop, but glanced through the open doors anyway.
Right—today was Easter.
Evening service.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgyc6Uzn4Um
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.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvuffn9YQcw
Too bad it didn’t make the front page.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡf3EHoc3hKU
Nightwing’s butt did.
If every reset counted as a resurrection, she had Jesus beat.
— Jesus came back once.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrmty9ki0ts
She came back every damn day.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHQaRy5apfl
No crucifixion required. Just the same bed, the same morning, the same jazz.
No blood.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPXdbx5DvRB
No wounds.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnzgfQ5oVqJ
Not even symbolic suffering.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3to3DhxxEA
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.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDXHsXw6BQq
She caught a trace of perfume and smoked ham in the air.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqeWBpcFPvf
Warm.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ419tIbd5MW
Distant.
She didn’t look back.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrTsPnCrrjv
Didn’t slow down.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYkyjMsnwPf
Just pulled her jacket tighter around herself—trying not to look like someone on the run.
58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQWAoDXEGEP
She’d picked up some sushi and salad on the way.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGZrxU2tqc3
Not because she was hungry.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOGej9arvSq
Just… preemptive.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIXqTJfoEhQ
— A biological necessity.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNmwhssp4Yh
Eating was proof she still had a plan, even if it didn’t taste like one.
The motel looked old.
Faded walls.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTuei2n89RX
Window frames weathered like they’d been kissed by thirty years of ocean wind.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡF6J9a27Hjh
But the sign worked.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2SLY9RSZeX
The light stayed on.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡowvGABZBfP
No flickers.
The online reviews had been solid.
— 4.5 stars for cleanliness.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfDI54z6T01
Quiet.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzxfG1wMxaS
No weird comments.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡG7stJ0UJ9x
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.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAgbkE9Lqck
The window was proof: I still believe in a future.
She paid. Got the key. Sixth floor.
The elevator hummed with old energy.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡklkMCASR4X
The lights inside were yellow—not the cozy kind, but the nicotine-stained kind.
She entered the room.
Locked the door.
Exhaled.
— Quiet.
58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ84VHvag9em
Locked.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrk5LUmbZEt
New bed.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCc8jAFp9nn
New air.
It might all be gone tomorrow.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxSALvMPX5Z
But right now, she wasn’t home.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkgtQ55jxb3
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.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCK3QDMReMS
But she followed the routine.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlS6qjUtmO4
— Eat first.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡz4tezQ8oTq
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.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfrWuJ9kgdw
Not just a blur of motion.
It was a person.
Weight.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡANIc1wDmA7
Posture.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNq1UDsZ96p
Presence.
Her body locked up.
She should have ducked.
Instead, she recognized him immediately.
Robin.
— Red. Green. Yellow.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡChUaf56nDt
That mask.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlL1w9F1eYp
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.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTyOhtcFtbo
Or patrolling.
His cape fluttered in the breeze.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5IJS405VuA
The darkness carved his silhouette sharp against the city lights.
Then he noticed her.
A woman.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKKQPoZQbzB
Staring blankly at him.
Robin tilted his head.
Turned.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLLaj8aPoOu
Tapped gently on the glass.
— Not a warning.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXLHisqOpb8
Not a threat.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnuMIH5ZIjm
Just a soft “I see you” kind of knock.
Claire opened the window like she was sleepwalking.
— Her hand moved first.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡE7rB7wiaEs
Her brain was still buffering.
It didn’t make sense.
Which made it impossible to react.
Robin was standing right there.
Not on TV.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡu5FEDgqNvR
Not in a news segment.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKo4EH0kz9x
No crowd.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdRosZJevs0
No distance.
Just… there.
Looking at her.
Like he already knew she’d be here.
A kid.
— Sorry, Claire thought. But yeah.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5frpSR6V61
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.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkjFayqtzGq
Inside a world where heroes weren’t supposed to show up.
58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPkz5U28eua
The kid—Robin—spoke politely.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqSqfNesTzA
“Good evening, miss. Sorry to bother you. I was wondering… do you know how to get to Queen Street?58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4ie86Y4qkQ
I’m kinda new around here.”
— It was a kid’s voice.
Not a deep-faked adult.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5PzfsACyAm
Not a pitch-shifted recording.
A real teenage voice.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEkxwNrs0Ys
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:58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxtIF492m1a
Holy shit, he’s actually a kid.
Claire gave him a strange look.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfPFg8ojHVn
Then pointed toward the street below.
“Walk a hundred meters that way,” she said calmly.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMKzp8VIMhD
“Then turn right. It’s about two hundred more.”
— Her tone was flat.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡflByRGz1Dd
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.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsiGn2BR1We
Walk to it?58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1OGflEz8hD
Swing to it?
She wanted to ask.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiuBalRKH5o
But felt that if she did, she’d lose a shred of dignity as a normal citizen.
Robin nodded.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1u8MqTwZbQ
Turned.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEZSVWzsyyk
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.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ95mprlHrwb
Loud.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvTZmCd9hdj
Ridiculous.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9zHkIwe29R
Undeniable.
Claire said:58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvi2rA58DuI
“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.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAmGVCtOO8K
Just a background extra in the scene.
But somehow…
ns216.73.216.79da2
and then Add to home screen.