Claire was still spiraling over her inability to write anything down.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡESpbVUQLyb
— That as-soon-as-you-write-it-it-disappears kind of frustration twisted in her chest like the early warning of a vomit you know has nowhere to go.
Then someone walked in.
A man. In uniform.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQDMywHqt5z
Not one she recognized.
— Claire flinched. Literally flinched.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnVDmfqtuhS
Not the kind of reflex you have when a customer walks in.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBzuBUjNZ0J
This was different.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwgalP6O9Qx
This was a variable.
Her eyes shot to the clock.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNVXHw2HpbB
The time was right.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡI98dwfQlS8
But the man was wrong.
He was young.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIJ83uOL0gX
Blue-eyed. Smiling. Polished.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLJcOS4UuJ9
Not like the usual middle-aged officers whose uniforms barely survived the war against their beer bellies.
— This wasn’t just unfamiliar.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0ZlK4GoC11
It was too new.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHhELrO7wfD
Too “present.”39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEo46lDzLvx
His movements didn’t carry yesterday’s echo.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXotwAGXzpN
Nothing about him felt pre-recorded.
He was... real.
He walked to the counter, removed his cap, and smiled.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9npXdENZa0
“Hi, you’re Claire, right? Kyle said the bagels would be out late today. Sent me to pick up the order.”
— Even his voice had warmth.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoi3gcidK14
Like morning sunlight just reaching a glass of water.
Claire nodded and reached for a paper bag.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR0kKYYPuuP
— Her thoughts still looping: He’s not in my memory.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡno1VKQ62mO
Not some cop’s kid. Not a familiar blur from the past.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡExzH6Hu5k1
He was a new puzzle piece—and this world wasn’t supposed to have any left.
As she packed the bagels, the blue-eyed officer glanced at the newspaper on the counter—the same old Nightwing photo.
The one with the annoyingly cheerful mid-air leap.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJXaiwrBTcP
And yes.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlRudYlXPDo
That shot.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfmv3ivdoqA
That damn ass.
The officer didn’t laugh.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvvLycfeWsz
Didn’t snort like Kyle.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡU8E3aGYXqg
Didn’t mutter “that kid again.”
He just looked.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUMVKldoUra
Silent.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNXzuGWkSN6
One eyebrow twitching—like he was thinking.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5KDiL6JWbK
Or recognizing something.
Claire stepped out from behind the counter and handed him the bag.
Her gaze flicked to the paper as she did, tracing the direction he had just been looking.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡN5DHyb6T4w
She knew he caught that glance.
She didn’t explain.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡC4aC6rKNrp
Didn’t ask.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnCc3lWqINa
Didn’t care what this bright-eyed stranger thought of Nightwing’s overexposed butt.
“Here’s your bagels,” she said flatly.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzbnUPQIi3k
It could’ve been “good morning” for all the emotion she gave it.
He nodded, smiled a little awkwardly. “Thanks.”
Then he paused.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIV5lQmgplw
“Hey… uh. Just wondering. What do you think of Nightwing? I mean, we work with him a lot. Curious what people think.”
Claire looked at him.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjLks58UMCw
Just once.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9IGx3eTOOt
Then turned away.
— Didn’t offer a smirk.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIdYF41wSo1
Didn’t offer a sigh.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAukWZML7cm
Just rolled her eyes with the weariness of someone who’s rolled them way too many times this week.
The officer would later swear he heard her mumble as she turned:
“Hope his ass falls off.”
He blinked.
Not because it was shocking.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsST0K3jXO6
But because she said it so effortlessly.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzoXypNAIGM
So plainly.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvKWLUHFCnR
Like she was saying “we’re out of cat food.”
He didn’t know whether to laugh or nod.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEJxGxggNsL
So he just held the bag a little tighter.
She was still fretting over the whole “can’t-write-anything-down” thing—39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkK9MJdyV3I
— That nausea-without-an-exit feeling sloshing in her chest, like a gag reflex that never gets to finish.
39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ633WuHYwcM
Claire figured if you wanted to fix a problem, you'd better look it in the face.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEEsWMcRYlJ
Avoidance didn’t make you miss the big picture—it made you miss the details.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVAVTBtGh09
This wasn’t a movie. No last-minute plot armor. No chosen one moment. If she was going to survive this, she had to do it herself.
She couldn’t write things down.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡftyLXdY7M5
So she’d memorize them instead.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt6DQ77McR5
If this place erased every mark she left, then her memory would be the map.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDRMhab4fNF
That was the deal—quietly made, silently accepted.
Tonight, Claire decided to stay up.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWgyC16zZOJ
Normally, she was in bed by ten. Sharp.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpT17KLs4xy
Not for beauty sleep. Not because she had to.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1PCbraq8CN
But because being awake at night had always meant danger.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPTbtllmy13
Losing control. Going missing.
That was the Gotham in her talking.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6bj7cYQkSD
Nighttime wasn’t a vibe—it was a warning.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡx3nHsP7t8Y
The city didn’t teach you that.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVjUUl4YzVk
It branded it into your bones.
She was only in Blüdhaven because of her aunt’s inheritance.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuwHT8NDxnJ
Not that this city was gentle. But compared to Gotham?39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXffVzu4cfp
Blüdhaven was a cupcake shop with a flickering sign.
Tonight, Claire made her own coffee.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7oNDMd7XBl
The clock said 11:00 PM.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYC1bV6MbLw
The calendar next to her had tomorrow’s date already circled.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡL1XgEXDFdm
Usually, she only circled the date when she sold out her bagels.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGWbPavbplP
It was her little ritual—write the number sold, feel a tiny sense of victory.
But tonight she circled it early.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUWWBHuQSvN
Like a declaration:39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgU60sSZ7p4
I’m still awake on this day. I’m still alive on this day.
She had no idea when the loop would reset.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVSU9Rdr4Wt
Midnight? Three in the morning?39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqmqJdSMifT
Maybe the second she fell asleep?39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6FfXYtbsJ9
Come to think of it, she’d never seen a “real” end to the day.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWwxjFOoR9i
Time always hit reset in the dark.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSLQ1kfxisG
Like someone pressed a button in her sleep.
Claire stared off into space.
39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJt9uqoL0Ss
Then came a sound.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ43U5AcPgGa
From the balcony.
Claire looked up.
Not a bang.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡL6s4SDbxTM
Just a soft “thunk.”39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡx9GDxGdXDh
Like someone landing gently on a metal railing.
Her Gotham instincts kicked in.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡn9l1FkzS0X
She grabbed a mirror, crouched low, slipped it between the curtain and the window, and checked the outside by reflection.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡovkndAsufZ
— She’d been practicing that move since she was twelve.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtfKDU5XOIF
Every Gotham kid knew better than to look directly into the dark.
Her eyes widened.
Nightwing.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEGJlqwmBwQ
She couldn’t mistake him.
— That black-and-blue suit.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHzLqYNLej0
The twin batons.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSOxmjTzPWS
That crouch.
She’d never been a fan, but she’d never expected him on her damn balcony either.
He was crouched on the railing, scanning the distance.
— His movement was smooth, breath quiet.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdSuuY2TKIk
Like he was part of the night.
Her hand on the mirror was damp with sweat.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwAvxYmkLLb
The scene didn’t belong to her life.
Then—he was gone.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzbEWTIVUB4
Just leapt.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡT2P3u0pfhp
Like a frame of film had been edited out.
Claire bolted upright and yanked the curtain open.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi7pMlW046q
Nightwing was already swinging away on his grappling line.
— Like a midnight pendulum.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwzXz1TUql6
Here, then not.
So... he passed by her balcony around eleven?
Had he always come by?
Had she been asleep, missing it every time?
— A blank spot appeared on her mental “loop chart.”39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡieYnPmrbO7
He’d been here.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoKssOb5DzA
And she’d never known.
She shut the curtain, stunned, dropped back onto the sofa.
What if her balcony was actually part of some secret patrol route?39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9ImGz4Rr3H
A rest stop?39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0uMd3SsQiT
A transit point?
And she—owner of this tiny café—had never even noticed the rhythm of her own city’s nights.
39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡx0rpLqzoAr
But not now.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeWgQozGqK9
Now wasn’t the time for that.
Tonight was about the reset.
— No distractions.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzfWjPd0D6a
No detours.
She tucked the “balcony incident” into a drawer in her mind.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJMFPPQLtUq
One she’d open later.
Tonight’s mission: figure out when this world restarts.
Claire stayed on the couch and sipped her coffee.
— Bitter. Too bitter.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYL3qogTjQe
She’d added way too much powder. On purpose.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡD6UASLWS4a
Her tongue was going numb.
Another sip.
She turned on the TV. A late-night talk show.
— Anything to stop thinking.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpbYVRtTUCJ
If she let her brain chew on itself too long, it would tie in knots.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsb8KsW8mmp
The host was still as loud and obnoxious as ever.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoPiXKegyWT
The laughter track made her want to throw the mug.
Fifth cup.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpI3SgBQHBt
Her stomach felt swollen, like she’d swallowed an airbag.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCIGB0m8Ymb
Bitterness and acid mingled on her tongue.
Like she’d just drunk a bellyful of gunpowder.
Fuck.
— She didn’t say it out loud.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAa1pQtpzoN
But it mushroomed in her mind like smoke from a silent bomb.
It was 4 a.m.
What now?
Was she supposed to stay up till sunrise?39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWpWsqdBMoR
Was today not even part of the loop?39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyVe1H2phCM
What if this was the real Day Two?
The thought made her want to cry.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2oSRmZuEdq
Which immediately made her angry at herself for being dramatic.
Her head throbbed.
Maybe… maybe this would be the night that finally led into a real tomorrow.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZnrOuIaPvW
A new paper.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8ltlcCVOaf
A new customer.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡujCTq5Fm4D
A different damn bagel.
— She found herself fantasizing that the cursed newspaper would finally change.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5Ictwoi501
Even if it still featured Nightwing’s butt, she’d settle for a different angle.
If that meant selling new bagels, she’d knead two extra batches as an offering.
The TV now sounded like a lullaby.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMtJp64pZio
The laughter rose and fell like ocean waves.
For a moment, she wondered if the host was trying to hypnotize her.
No.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPzd6SKHVMW
She couldn’t fall asleep.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡj0F0JHgxTs
She’d made it from ten to four.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCDIrlge2Ms
She couldn’t give up now.
Claire shut her eyes on the sofa.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4DmWVOtWVx
— Just for a second.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0HvtrvqrUv
Her eyelids were dry.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbDnuS18WCq
She wasn’t sleeping, just… letting her corneas rest.
Next moment—
The jazz started.
Claire opened her eyes.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOrUe1DkvA3
In bed.
Her head buzzed.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ30WsJlSYEF
Throat dry, like she’d inhaled ash.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9XpZJPyC9o
The ceiling blurred for half a second.
Another day had begun.
— Same damn song.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtGSHTmgbxq
Same damn voice.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJZ8BHP3Uem
That same punch-in-the-gut familiarity that made her want to throw the clock across the room.
She’d failed.
She stayed up all night.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDREEl4pcjN
And still—nothing stuck.
She saw nothing.
But this world remembered everything.
39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5SEpKOFXcz
and then Add to home screen.