For the first time, Claire didn’t open the café.
No scent of coffee wafted from her window,27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpHinDmBD3p
No familiar whir from the bagel press.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBT9bBBRjcu
Instead, her hands—usually busy kneading dough by sunrise—were holding a marker,27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkVBXFD4oII
Drawing arrows across a whiteboard like she was about to teach a conspiracy seminar.
She hadn’t slept. Not a minute.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1f6XDOJ1C6
Because Batman had said:27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYinuH7OuHJ
“Don’t sleep.”
He’d said it calmly—too calmly.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgxqRLTYpCb
But the words had made her scalp tighten.
“If you fall asleep, the loop resets.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDqi1Hvs3pU
What we need tonight is continuity. Not broken memories trapped in the same repeating day.”
“You said everything stays the same every time you wake up.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡm74KvUOAdU
Then that means anything that changes—happens while you're still awake.”
Claire had wanted to push back—“Why does it matter? You’ll forget everything anyway.”27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvG4xDh5SM8
But Batman shook his head, speaking slowly, deliberately:
“You need analysis.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJkUAoibjzZ
You need to practice recounting your data.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNYcfBcH67k
I’ll leave a way to contact me.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHxKRmmt8QP
But you can’t start from the beginning every time.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡge7GNZe558
You’ll need to find a way to tell the future-me everything—precisely—and what to do next.”
Claire had just… stared at him.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3gQ9Xz0aHG
Because for the first time, someone wasn’t saying she was crazy.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyUhaHs3ibn
He was listening.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxc7FxATMKW
He was thinking.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvWmrBZcvqb
He was—Batman.
And being a Gotham native, she felt this absurd, unexpected comfort rise up in her chest:
“At least it’s Batman.”27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcM5wFq9vUP
If anyone could break the loop, it’d be him.
So she got to work.
Dragged the giant whiteboard her aunt had for some reason left behind from the second floor to the third.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsTHoylAmR4
It was the kind of thing you see in old cram schools—half cracked, fully inconvenient.
Nightwing offered to help.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRgcjf16sxj
They squeezed it up the stairs together, getting stuck at the landing for a moment.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ35si09srXF
He gave her a small glance and asked, voice quiet,27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0AlMqsXzno
“You holding up?”
Claire was not.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0xrgrLZbUY
Her arms were shaking.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTlI0ftJnX4
Her eyes were dry.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡS2HjayM7JK
She felt like she’d downed three energy drinks and was vibrating slightly off-axis.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJYPu0hkdLM
But she still smiled and replied:27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡe12VtsvuJA
“I’m good.”
It was a lie for herself.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVTVqIHyKxM
To remember she still could smile. Still could move forward.
Back upstairs, she brewed three coffees and a milk.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLmKVuE2nNd
Nightwing took his with a polite nod.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡttOHss4xtS
Robin sniffed the milk, made a face, and set it down.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡph70RglIwq
Batman didn’t touch his cup.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ3VSyMTegv
He was already focused on the board.
“Let’s start. When did you first notice something was off?”
Claire stood in front of the board.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4D4ANiNZeR
The marker hovered just above its surface.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpaqGZ6dNet
That’s when she realized—27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCphkgSIXmW
Her so-called "clues" were embarrassingly few.
“Uh... at first, nothing big. Thought I was just misremembering stuff,”27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAT1iGczBmO
“Then I noticed everything was the same. Every single thing. That’s when I started keeping track.”
She told them about the first time Robin knocked on the hotel window.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxeNqYQvoom
About Nightwing showing up on her balcony like clockwork.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEjJXLegzpF
About the cursed bagel swap—the chocolate replaced by plain.
(None of it felt funny anymore.)
Batman didn’t say a word.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡm0Y0UaVvZ5
He stood, back straight, listening.
After each section, he reached for the marker and jotted a few lines on the board.
She didn’t know if he’d remember any of it.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNsFqTq0HfQ
But right now—right this second—someone understood her loneliness.
Night fell.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYOPqeiGACa
The coffee went cold.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0rXkP2kyZf
The whiteboard filled up—timelines, branches, points of deviation.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRlLrwJrRso
Batman stared at it like it was a war map.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTU7jWldaBH
Brows drawn, jaw tense.
And Claire—27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡM16jgg41qC
For the first time in god-knows-how-many loops—27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0NgCDU8N24
wasn’t alone.
She didn’t have to whisper to herself anymore.
27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwVDcgNKkG6
Claire knew she wasn’t that smart.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ35G67VIFw5
No, really.
She stood in front of the giant whiteboard—originally used for notes like “Trash on Tuesday” or “Stop buying potatoes”—now filled to the edges with Batman’s handwriting.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIjJJsUugH4
Tactical terms.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeiQcjoR1vj
Observation protocols.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuiiRlaMdBP
Hypothesis trees.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡncVpSmqYkz
Arrow-filled logic webs about time loop mechanics.
Her brain was buzzing like someone turned on a high-frequency hum in her skull.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9gUZEaXkjO
She could read every word. But when put together, it felt like looking at someone else’s math homework—technically correct, completely unreadable.
Batman had even written her a memory guide.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeYeu5oJ5Vi
Bullet points.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4MIsdIqD4j
Key phrases.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtc5cfNacS8
Color-coded charts.
Didn’t matter.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLIdDW959IZ
Once she closed her eyes—gone.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8OLkMzfoNw
Just gone.
So she had to memorize.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡubQxGnMdT3
Raw memorization.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5Tmb66j0QJ
Claire slammed her pen down on the desk, fingers diving into her tangled hair.
“God, I hate memorizing.”
It was like elementary school all over again—facing a multiplication quiz while still stuck on “7 times 8 is... what again?”27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡT5vxJBNhKh
Total academic despair.
She glared at the board and forced herself to read it out loud:
- Establish a consistent, simplified daily communication method27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3e1pjzCgtk
- Design self-verification protocols27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡa6jSWpuMwB
- Identify the rupture point in the time loop27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2sD8gnPsFP
- Develop coping mechanisms for mental strain27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8Jnap1R1d8
- Test whether sleep is the trigger for resets27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4npxgCAofz
27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡigm6m3tIxD
And below those?27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4JiyBTQu9d
Bullet point hell.
Claire nearly burst into tears.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvDHNHKCNTZ
Wasn’t this the kind of thing you hired Batman to do?27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKUOM3nAR6x
She was a bagel-slinging café owner, not a goddamn temporal physicist.
Nightwing and Robin had left around dawn.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1HL2rvwrn7
She’d thought she’d feel relief.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAeXT90gc71
She didn’t.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSg1CF7WqVs
She felt like a balloon blown up way past safe capacity.
And Batman? Still here.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgbJHUOXnmF
Sitting at her tiny desk like he owned it.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTu2jS2AEii
Folding her notes into crisp little squares like some kind of insomnia robot.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR0m2BraAbV
She was starting to believe he didn’t even need sleep.
She had briefly wondered if he’d vanish at sunrise like a vampire or some brooding mythic shadow.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6ugzcxxtVi
Nope.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBV1547qmCY
Still here.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiIdT1xGDxk
Drank her coffee.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5f6vqLL16L
Ate a croissant.
Batman eats food.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAXuemJyWf8
Claire noted this with bewildered internal sarcasm.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWx4pqxDUeT
And, somehow… it made her feel a little more human.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0yah8IbRAs
A little more grounded.
Then 2 p.m. hit.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwTIrxOmfvW
And she just—couldn’t.
Her head throbbed like someone was banging pots inside it.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs8L2Ds2zWB
A rhythmic BONG—BONG—BONG of pure pain.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6f9I1KOmsM
Her ears were ringing.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡg32HeHSHPc
Her vision was starting to blur.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0llXRI1Ce9
She hadn’t slept in way too long.
Even Batman’s voice faded into background noise.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJZCS6nE0Ee
She could hear words, but they drifted by like waterlogged scraps of paper.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcok4cw9aYa
No structure. No connection.
Her neck gave out first.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOb9idHzUM6
Then her whole body slumped—soft and useless like an overcooked noodle.
Then she heard it.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2YRG4kqTlm
A sigh.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsM7er5YO1q
Low.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4kPuQ2UEYM
Close.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTFeEPBPWMK
The kind of sigh you make when you don’t want to do something… but know you have to.
Then she was being lifted.
That jolt of surprise cleared her vision just long enough to see a pair of blue eyes.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWYirkb6QUD
So blue. So clear.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7lyFoPpLkc
Like the first star that refuses to leave the morning sky.
Nightwing, she thought.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi7gbd3CMbG
But she couldn’t speak.
From somewhere nearby, Batman’s voice drifted in—calm, slow, final:
“Claire. Remember what I told you.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3OUAXrqJm4
Protect yourself first. Then find the truth.”
Someone laid her down.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡU4oMz3eb5z
Pulled the blanket up.
The scent of sunlight-warmed fabric and stale coffee beans wrapped around her.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡueRHIJAZV9
Her bed was soft. So soft.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUvSqvgJzXa
And for the first time in what felt like forever—she realized how badly she needed sleep.
Her mind tried to process what she’d forgotten.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbVvxUrVAD5
Was there something she needed to say? Do?
Too late.
The dark caught her.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8vrQjYkWhi
Held her.
Perfectly.
27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡM4WiXQDBYs
Claire was awake. Again.
Same ceiling.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLHE71JIPxZ
Same sheets.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbQhcr35QHV
Same sunlight slicing through the gap in the curtains.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbGEcV59fQl
Even the dust floating in the air looked copy-pasted from yesterday.
She stared at the ceiling for a few seconds, then took a long, deep breath.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡftvxmEUNHi
No headache.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFwxsxggOkt
No nausea.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3EkVQkFbcO
Her whole body felt like someone had swapped it out for a new one. Even her stomach was fine.
Creepy.
Apparently, any sickness will vanish overnight—27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmb6poI2MaS
If you're stuck in a time loop.
Day Ten.
She got out of bed, rubbing her temple as she walked. Her thoughts were sluggish, and the words "Day Ten" rolled through her mind like a bowling ball in slow motion—silent but heavy.
She grabbed a sheet of paper and wrote "Day 10" on it with a thick black marker, placing it in the corner of her desk.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkz2ylgxitN
It was her memory thread.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3MYJ6cfy03
Her own little mark carved into an unremembering world.
Day Ten was the day Batman showed up.
Claire looked at the words for a moment, and a small smirk tugged at the corner of her mouth.
"Guess I’m kind of impressive, huh?"
If people in Gotham knew all it took to summon Batman was repeating the same day ten times, half the city would start dabbling in time magic.
She got dressed, went downstairs, and opened the café.
Today she cleaned the windows extra thoroughly.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRDb60utiki
Then she took out a pink sticky note and scribbled on it:27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡajfrRG8sP0
“Today’s Bagel: Plain.”
She stuck it on the glass, stepped back to check.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnbGbmeSKdY
It stood out.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZCdAkOi3Vu
Bright and silly. Hard to miss.
Then she frowned.
Wait—why am I even doing this?
No one else would remember.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNd2qoStKLD
Only she knew what day it was.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQoOh4VqWAK
Only she knew today’s bagel was different from yesterday’s.
But Batman had said it:
“You need a daily signal. Something visible. Something subconscious. Something verifiable.”
Maybe, just maybe…27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBaKrA1fZWH
Someday, someone like her might see that note.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFcMaXJ9VF1
And feel something click.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzwLaye6DFG
Some resonance.
Claire snorted.
“No deadlines, infinite time. What a dream.”
Colder than her fridge.
What kind of absurd life was this?27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2tCRLte8vm
She felt like a corrupted file stuck in the wrong folder—just looping and glitching.
She glanced at the clock. 9:57.
Her eyes drifted to the door.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgId0tQWQrr
Her body tensed, that silent alertness creeping in.
Blue-eyed cop.
Batman had asked about him over and over last night—27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPL1kFKUxyD
What he wore.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7cAoks2aLJ
His tone of voice.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ07UV14k6Gi
Which hand he used to take out his wallet.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAd2ybvQ2HG
What angle he walked in from.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7C140uyebp
How long he looked at the counter.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyxeV27SOJo
The pitch of his thank-you.
“You see this man every day. That means he’s not random. He’s a variable. He’s meaningful.”
Claire stood behind the register, adjusting the screen angle while mentally replaying every word.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡE86ktv73Ya
Meaningful. Variable. Breach point.
She wanted to snap back—
“Oh sure, easy for you to say. This isn’t an RPG. How the hell am I supposed to spot a glitch in reality?”
But she didn’t.
She just bit her lip, sorted the coin tray, zipped up the change pouch.
She was still wondering—
Was he Batman’s informant at the station?
She shook her head, started folding a dish towel in half, just as she placed it into the second drawer—
The Door Chimed.
Crisp. On time.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡH7ljkHP5X1
Like it was baked into the script of the day.
Claire’s eyes flicked to the clock on the wall.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9m8A8ipcrG
9:59.
The door pushed open.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxJWLEZ5cMK
A familiar pair of blue eyes swept into the room.
They always looked like they carried morning fog—clear, cool, and oddly pure for a city like Gotham.
“Hi, you’re Claire, right? Kyle said the bagels would be out late today. Sent me to pick up the order.”
He smiled—polite, just a touch tired.
Claire didn’t respond right away. She just stared at him.
Stared so long she started to feel like a creep, as if she were peeking at the core of some cosmic mystery that hadn’t realized it was a mystery yet.
Is it you?27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbr6uREbfLQ
Or are you just another poor guy trying to buy breakfast?
God, she wanted him to be different.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTAwPhsYLVE
Even five minutes late would’ve been something.
But nope.
Right on time.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXkjxsddfNV
Said the exact same line.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0HZSQTxKD5
Paid with the same bills.
Claire considered doing a little test.
A spark lit in her head: Batman.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUTEMC4E4mw
If this guy was an informant, that name would definitely spark some kind of reaction.
She narrowed her eyes, parted her lips—
Then shut them again.
Nope. Too much.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLTF2vSOZJz
You don’t just ask a random cop, “Hey, do you know Batman?”27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw9Sa6nI0dU
That’s how you end up with a referral to a psychiatrist by tomorrow.
Plan B.
She pointed to the pink note on the window.
“Did you see that?”
Blue Eyes blinked, glanced at the window, then nodded.
“Yeah, I saw it.”
But his face clearly read: “Okay… and?”
Claire resisted the urge to roll her eyes.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWAxoYsL0zF
That one’s not working. Time to upgrade.
She grabbed a piece of paper, scribbled a sentence, and slid it across the counter.
“Do you ever feel like the sun today won’t make it to tomorrow?”
She’d spent days refining that line in her head—poetic, haunting, a little tragic.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡM0r2tilDn7
Surely it would hit something.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0uCGkPbr4O
Maybe he’d respond: “How did you know?” or “I’ve been feeling the same.”
He read it.
Paused.
Then frowned.
“Uhh… if you ever need someone to talk to, I know a really good therapist.”
Claire, mentally: ……
Great.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9vKWn6bIbr
Another morning, another conversation added to the Folder of Cringe.
She forced a smile.
“Thanks. I’ll think about it.”
He handed her the money, smiled again, and left.
The door shut.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtHh7WNMJ1z
The chime rang a second time.
Claire remained where she was, staring at the now-empty doorway.
A quiet line drifted through her mind:
Test Result: Inconclusive.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDHtBgJf7bp
Day 10. Blue-Eyed Officer.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwjNPe5F8KB
No noticeable deviations.
But hey—27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡscCsPckhV7
At least she tried.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQM20Edwr75
and then Add to home screen.