A/N: This is a continuation off a Genderbend AU that I came up with during the 2017 Frobin Fortnight, that takes place in roughly the late 1950's where Robin is an archeologist on an expedition and Frankie is a mechanic. By the time of this fic they are lowkey dating, so if you want to check that one out first, it is also the 3rd story in the Grissley Frobin Fortnight collection here.

Ancient

With a firm thud, Frankie planted her boot on the rockface in front of her. Her fingers felt along the small crevice's edge above her until she found a secure place to grip. As she prepared to pull herself up, a strand of her light blue hair escaped her small pomp, falling into her face. She blew it off to the side and inwardly groaned. All this jungle humidity was weakening her hair gel. She marked her next foot position and ascended the cliff-face another foot.

"So, what are we looking for?" She called down to the long-haired man below, scanning the top of the ridge. It was only a few meters away now, but, in this heat, it felt much farther.

Honestly, the mechanic was beginning to question why she had even agreed to climb up here in the first place. Robin had lured her out to this hidden canyon with promises of a fun adventure, treasure, and alone time. Damn that pretty-boy scholar with his dark sexy eyes and cute grin every time he talked about ancient civilizations. Frankie let out a huff. That look he got whenever he analyzed a new find was enough to make this worth it. However, this stupid rockface was really starting to get on her nerves. If she wasn't twenty feet up above uneven terrain she would probably consider just hopping down, but this was a matter of safety and pride at this point.

Meanwhile, below her, Robin carefully studied his notes. He knew he had to stay focused to make sure his companion could come back down as quickly as possible, but there was an undeniable temptation to just watch her work. Afterall, her butt was quite cute from this lower angle, squeezed into those greasy jean shorts. He cleared his throat.

"The inscription said that the compartment will be marked by the hieroglyph for 'piety'," He said.

Frankie's lip curled up in disgust and confusion. "Huh?!"

There were a couple of symbols etched into the rock up there and she was not about to start blindly stabbing at all of them. Robin, sensing her frustration, closed his book and posed with his arms out to the side.

"It looks vaguely like a stick man getting stabbed in the crotch like this," He clarified.

"Thank you!" Frankie said, understanding his meaning.

She spotted the symbol to the top-right of her, only a foot or so away. Carefully, she made her way over to it until it was directly in front of her. Around the symbol there was a distinct edge for where a secret drawer might be, but Frankie was unsure of how she would go about opening it.

"Do you see a hole to the right of it?" Robin called up to her. Frankie did. "According to this, if you strike the contraption in the back of that hole, the container should pop out."

Frankie repositioned her foot and handholds, before slowly retrieving the screwdriver from her tool belt. Then she lowered her sunglasses and grinned.

"If I fall Cat Daddy, I'm expecting you to catch me!" she teased, prepping herself.

Robin let out an amused snort. Despite the risks in the situation, he had full confidence in the woman's ability to pull this off. However, he still held his arms out just in case.

With a forceful stab, the mechanic drove the screwdriver into the cliffside hole, and with an even more forceful bang a stone drawer exploded from its hiding spot, narrowly missing both Frankie and Robin as it fell to the ground below. The two froze in shock.

The drawer, and likely whatever was inside, audibly shattered on the ancient riverbed behind Robin, but he didn't even glance back. He was far more concerned about the woman on the cliff-face. "Frankie are you alright?"

She definitely had dirt in her mouth, but other than that she was physically fine. Her knuckles were white from how hard she was gripping the stone and her screwdriver, and all around her was the lingering stench of gunpowder. She spat.

"Super," She yelled back, before tossing her screwdriver beginning her descent. "Woo! That was some explosion!"

Robin relaxed slightly after hearing her laugh but refused to take his eyes off her until she was close enough to kick playfully at him.

"What are you doing?" She grumbled, taking a swipe at his outstretched arm. "I nearly got blown up by that thing, the least you could do is make sure it's alright."

Robin looked over his shoulder at where the pieces of drawer lay strewn about the rocky ground, before looking back at Frankie.

"I am pretty sure it's safe to say it is broken," he replied.

"Aww man," Frankie groaned, hopping down to land between Robin's arms. She wiped the sweat from her brow. "All that work for nothin'."

Robin gently helped dust the woman off, smiling in his usual soft secretive way, before giving her small kiss on the cheek. Frankie froze, turning almost instantly red.

"We can learn plenty of things, even if it is broken," he assured her. "Even if it's empty, we've already learned a lot... like how to be more careful next time. Thank you for helping me."

Frankie snorted. If she knew he wouldn't object to it, she'd happily die for that nerd. She lifted her glasses to wink at him.

"Of course," she said, clapping him on the shoulder. "Now let's go see this treasure of yours."

Robin nodded and offered his arm to her. Then the two made their way over to where the remnants of the drawer were strewn. With careful precision, the archeologist sifted through the smooth pieces of stone until he spotted the glint of metal. It was a piece of chain. The man then lifted it to reveal an intricately carved pendant of some kind.

Frankie squatted next to him. "What is it?"

Robin shrugged.

"Not sure," he admitted. "But it must be something of further significance or else they wouldn't have locked it away."

The mechanic grinned devilishly, leaning towards the man. "What if it's cursed?"

He was unfazed.

"Could be."

Frankie almost choked from shock. She supposed it served her right for thinking that Robin would get creeped out, but he was being way too nonchalant about that. She didn't have time to worry if she was going to be murdered in her sleep by ghosts.

The man let out a gentle laugh.

"Just kidding." He glanced over at her and grinned. "It's far more likely that we would die from an undetected pathogen than a curse when it comes to these things."

She nodded; a pained smile spread across her face. "What a wonderful discovery."

"Anyways," he said, pushing himself to stand. "It's getting late. The others are probably wondering what we are up to."

Frankie sighed and stood as well. "Knowing that group of idiots, they've already made the wrong assumption."

Robin chuckled, before wrapping an arm around her sweaty dusty waist and pulling her close.

"We could always prove them right later," he teased.

She cocked an eyebrow at him and rested her weight to one hip. Her pointer and middle finger trotted up his chest. "Now that depends, honey. Do you got a lamp that needs more fixing?"

His dark brown eyes were full of mischievous confidence. It was hard to believe this was the same man who had forgotten how generators worked.

"It's distinctly possible," Robin whispered, drawing his mouth closer to hers.

Frankie smiled, allowing her lips to part just enough to fit with his own. "Super..."