(A/N)- Rather than straight up AU this prompt, which would probably have been the easier option, I decided Control Freak should be the one responsible for sending Robin and Starfire into the gritty shadowed world of the Film Noir genre.
Turned out to be a lot of fun.
Disclaimer: Nope, not me.
RobStar Week 2017, Day 7 - Film Noir
"No exit," Robin sighed, dropping the cheap plastic blinds over the grungy, grayed-out window. He turned to Starfire, shaking his head. "It doesn't look like there's another way out."
"You mean… we cannot simply channel hop as we did the last time Control Freak trapped us inside the land of the television?" she asked, looking worried. She glanced around the small messy office with its overstuffed desk and lingering smell of cigarette smoke. "This is not a very pleasant place to be stuck," she said.
"Where are we anyway?" Robin wondered, crossing over to the frosted-glass door and pulling it open to read the peeling black letters curiously.
"Are we not inside the old movie Beast Boy had us watch last Saturday?" Starfire replied, tilting her head.
Robin squinted, taking another look around the dingy room. The corkboard poster on the wall, littered with clippings about a string of eerily similar thefts, the peeling wallpaper, the distinctive blue fedora hung haphazardly on the corner of the chair…
"You're right," he realized. He stepped behind the desk to check something in the top drawer. "Yep," he said, spotting the black velvet engagement ring box, a sad memento of the protagonist's ex-fiance, and the reason the detective was as jaded and as cynical as he was. Robin shut the drawer again. "We're definitely in Streetlight."
"Do you think—" Starfire began, then stopped, turning her face with a blush. "Never mind."
"What is it?"
Starfire took a deep breath to compose herself. "Do you think perhaps," she suggested, "that if we played the scenario out to its conclusion… we might be able to escape?"
"You mean, run through the events of the film?" Robin considered it. If they could find the end credits, could the exit be waiting there?
He shrugged.
"Couldn't hurt to try," he reasoned.
"I shall go take my place outside!" Starfire declared, smiling in relief that he didn't think her idea was silly.
She breezed out the door, fluttering the blinds as she passed.
-TT-
Smoke trailed up from the ashtray by his elbow, tickling his nose. Detective Grayson perused his open case file, idly tugging the buttons of his wrinkled white shirt cuffs open.
Dead end. Another dead end and this time a dead body to go with it. Some unlucky kid who caught the business end of a knife and had his body dumped in the gutter. His mother had already been in earlier, crying hysterically and insisting her son was a good boy.
Grayson shook his head with a snort. Was anyone truly good anymore? Long years at this job and he almost didn't believe it anymore.
A timid knock came at the door.
"Come in," he grunted, not looking up.
The door opened to admit a beautiful redhead, clutching her gloves close to her chest.
"Forgive my intrusion, Detective," she apologized demurely. "I know you must be very busy."
Robin grinned privately to himself. 1930s fashion looked good on her. Made her look exceptionally soft and feminine.
He did wonder where she'd found the clothes though.
He looked up, closing his case file. "I got time to spare for a pretty dame," he said. "What d'you want?"
Starfire assumed the tentative posture of a worried woman, wringing her gloves in her hands.
"My sister has disappeared," she told him.
"Missing persons is Detective Todd down the hall darlin'," Grayson interrupted, pointing off dismissively.
"Yes, yes, no I realize that, however…"
Starfire paused to inhale, giving her next words the gravitas they deserved.
"I believe… I have reason to suspect that she had become involved with an underground gambling ring with ties to Boss Scarface."
Robin shifted forward in his seat appropriately, even as his mind idly supplied the image of Blackfire next to poor timid Arnold Wesker and his perpetual wooden arm attachment. Now that would be a weird team-up.
"Big Boss Scarface, the city's shiftiest scumbag?" he asked. "What makes you think that?"
"She has been in a… relationship," she explained, "with a young man who works for him as an enforcer."
"That's almost half the local youth population. Care to be a little more specific?"
"A boy named 'Red' Robby Smith. I believe he did some time for petty jewelry theft."
For some reason the words made Robin think of Red X, and his imagination inserted the thief next to Blackfire. He tried to picture the two together and then his brain immediately regretted it, scrambling to erase the image of the two tangled up tongue-deep in each other and sans clothing.
"So your sister has terrible taste in men. You think she ran off with him?" he asked.
She shook her head. "I fear it is more serious than that. I intercepted letters—"
She fished around in her pockets a moment, then looked around at a bit of a loss, the mysterious force that had supplied her wardrobe having evidently failed to provide her with adequate props. She waved her hands in a dismissive 'never mind' gesture.
"—of correspondence between the two, discussing some big heist Boss Scarface wanted Red to do for him."
"These letters say what the target was?"
Robin was eyeing the little glass cup of scotch on his desk, wondering if that would help bleach out the horrible thought of Red X and Blackfire necking, which was still plaguing his imagination.
"No, but…" She gave a heavy sigh. "I am very certain it is the Crown Emeralds Necklace. It is our shared inheritance and my sister has expressed numerous times her desire to have it for herself."
"So you think she's conspiring with her man to steal it? That's a mightly bold accusation to make against your own flesh and blood, Miss—?"
Starfire beamed.
"Anders. Kory Anders, sir."
It wasn't the name of the character, but he'd take it. They usually had some leeway to play around and improvise whenever Control Freak trapped them inside fictional worlds.
Robin gave in to temptation and slid the glass of scotch next to him. He picked it up for an experimental sip.
"Do you have any proof besides your gut feelings that she's—"
He took his sip and immediately choked, the alcohol burning the back of his throat. Robin coughed, his eyes watering, losing composure.
"Robin?" Starfire called in concern, breaking character.
Robin carefully put the glass down and pushed it away. "Never mind that then," he said hoarsely. He coughed into his fist, clearing his throat.
Getting them back on track, Starfire slipped back into her Kory Anders persona.
"Please Detective, I know it is not much to go on but I am worried for her. Ever since our parents passed, she has not been the same. We are all each other have left, and the police will not help me. You are my only recourse."
He was tempted. Lord knows he couldn't resist a beautiful woman. And she was beautiful, there was no question about that, and if his ex hadn't ruined him for dames forever he might have been attracted. But he didn't do charity cases.
He shifted forward in his seat. "You willing to pay double?" he grunted.
"Done," Kory told him.
Detective Grayson brushed off his desk. "Fine then. I'll look into it." He reached for his coat, slung across a stool to his left. "It's boiling in here, why don't you join me for lunch and tell me about the last time you saw your sister?"
The dame and the detective exited the dingy room, shuffling the clippings on the wall.
-TT-
After a harrowing hour of mystery, pursued leads, twists and turns, and unexpected peril, the two had come to the final showdown. Starfire had accompanied him the whole time—again, not exactly accurate to the movie but the other characters had reacted appropriately without the story going off the rails so Robin figured they were doing fine. He didn't much like the idea of losing track of her in this world anyway. Gangsters and shootouts were on every corner, corrupt cops leered at her as they passed, and the constant shadows and dramatic atmospheric lighting made it ridiculously hard to see. They'd already been shot at and locked inside an abandoned building. He wasn't putting her in any more danger.
Which suited the scene they were about to play perfectly.
Detective Grayson peered around the wall, his trusty pistol clutched in hand.
"Think they're gone," he said, stowing his sidearm. "They're heading for the bridge. I can cut 'em off if I duck down Fifth."
Kory grabbed hold of his sleeve, eyes plaintive. "Let me come with you," she begged. "Let me talk to her."
He shrugged her off. "You'll only get in the way," he spat. "She's already taken a shot at you, I don't think she's in the mood to talk," he pointed out with biting snark.
"She is my sister!" Kory insisted.
"She's a loony and a lost cause!" Grayson snapped back at her, rounding to face her. "Like everyone in this damn district!"
Kory's eyes burned fiercely. "I do not believe anyone is a lost cause, Detective," she said, echoing a statement she had made earlier, in a more comfortable, casual context. "I am coming with you."
Grayson shook his head. "I can't let you do that. Stay here."
"And do what?" she demanded. "Wait helplessly?"
The detective took a long time in replying.
Robin's face was in his hands and he was shaking his head.
"Robin?" Starfire whispered, amused.
"This is stupid…" he muttered, face hot and ears burning.
Eyes sparkling, Starfire gave him a quick peck on his cheek. "You are doing wonderfully," she encouraged. She stepped back to give him some space and prompted:
"Is it because I'm a woman?"
"No, dammit!" Grayson yelled, grabbing her shoulders. "It's because it's dangerous and I don't want you to get hurt!" The words seemed to deflate him. "Because I care about you," he confessed softly. "And after Edith I didn't think I could care about someone again. But I do."
He let go of her shoulders with a huff.
"There. Ya happy? Got me all sentimental like a damn fool from Brooklyn."
Kory placed a hand on her chest, looking starstruck. "Detective…" she breathed. "…you've made me the happiest woman alive."
"Lovely," he snorted. "We get outta this remind me to take you to the Charleston. You could use a good drink." He chuckled. "So could I."
Starfire clapped happily. "That was excellent, Robin!" she enthused. "Most heartfelt!"
"I still think this dialogue is amateurish," Robin said, shaking his head as he took her hand and led her towards the final set piece.
-TT-
The exaggerated 1930s world had faded out to all black, and to their left were the credits, appearing and disappearing alongside the faces of the major players in the film.
"I do not see the exit yet," Starfire said, looking worried.
"Just wait," Robin told her, holding up a finger.
As the last titlecard faded out, there was a pause and a sputter of audio static. Then, far to their right, a white doorway opened up.
Robin grinned. "Good instincts Starfire!" he gushed. "Come on."
They linked hands again and rushed towards the blinding doorway. There was a brilliant white flash and then—
"Well look who decided to join the party!"
Robin blinked, squinting in the sudden bright light of reality. They were back in Control Freak's lair, standing in front of one of the many walls of TVs. Cyborg, Beast Boy, and Raven were already there, Beast Boy pulling leaves and bugs out of his hair (apparently he'd been inside a Tarzan film, Robin figured, seeing one playing on a screen a little ways behind the changeling), and Cyborg and Raven both standing there with amused smirks.
"How long were we stuck?" Robin asked, brushing off his uniform, which was now firmly back in place.
"Well," reasoned Beast Boy, picking a twig from his armpit, "we got zapped about seven minutes in. Right after the cold open I think. So pretty much the entire hour and a half runtime." He thumbed at Cyborg. "Cy actually got out of his movie first and figured out how to unzap us about twenty minutes ago."
"What?!" Robin blustered, turning to glare at the half-robot. "Why didn't you let us out?"
Cyborg, rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "Well… I mean… I was gonna but… you know… y'all were just so much more entertaining to watch."
"It was indeed very amusing!" Starfire agreed, floating up and twirling around.
"You certainly had more chemistry than the film's actual leads," Raven commented, with a fond smile at them.
Beast Boy took offense to that. "Hey! Streetlight is a classic!" he protested.
"Oh Robin!" Starfire said, zipping over to grab her boyfriend's arm. "May we watch the movie again sometime?"
Her cute begging face was irresistible. Robin smiled and told her, "Sure Star."
He punched a fist into his hand.
"Right after we go downtown Bronx on Control Freak."
She giggled. "Indeed. Let us introduce him to some 'street justice', as it were."
"You two are disgusting," groaned Beast Boy, brushing the last of the jungle dust off him.