Author's Note:

Separated is a small story arc that I wanted to include in Gifts but finally didn't because I couldn't find a way to shoehorn it inside without breaking continuity. Maybe I could've made it into a separate, longer story, but I'm just too lazy to do it right now, so I decided to put it in here. It's turning out a bit long, and since I don't want to take the fluff out I will make it a two-parter.

Separated, Part 1

Raven frowned at Nightwing.

"I don't understand why you're sending me, Richard. He specifically asked for Starfire!"

"She and Victor are with the Titans East until next week, Rae! You know that!"

"So? Send me to Steel City to replace her, and she can go to –"

"She would need to brief you first! It would take at least a full day, maybe two! He said it was urgent!"

"You make it sound as if he was under attack as we speak, Richard. One or two days more or less –"

His face darkened with anger. "I really don't see why I have to discuss this with you! You are going tonight! Get your stuff ready!"

Startled by his intensity, she studied him through their bond, trying to pierce the defenses he had put up. She managed to sense the feelings he was forcing down and her eyes widened as the puzzle pieces clicked into place.

"You are jealous! You think he loves her, and you are jealous! That's why you don't want her going there!"

Nightwing's flush deepened.

"That's not true!" he shouted at her, his fists clenching.

"Not true? Can you really look me in the eyes and say that, Richard? Do you forget that I know what you feel?"

He stared at her for a few seconds. Her eyes were defiant, unaffected by his outburst. He felt his fury suddenly leave him.

"What you may think is... irrelevant, Rae. It does not change the facts. Objectively it's the correct decision, and it still stands."

It was her turn to get angry. "It is a stupid and inefficient decision! If he required Starfire, it's because he needs her specific talents! He is an intelligent and professional –"

He frowned at her, more in disappointment than in anger. "And you dare accuse me of selfishness? Tell me, are you really so concerned about your ability to do the job, or are you just trying to avoid being away from Garfield?"

Her face went even paler than usual, then a blush started creeping over her cheeks. Furious at him for revealing what she thought she had hidden well, she whirled and left his room without a word.

"I don't want to do it, Gar" she said, her voice muffled, her face buried deep between his neck and shoulder. "I won't go!"

"I'm not happy about it myself, Rae. But you have to."

"No."

"Rae…"

"No!"

He sighed. "I've never thought that I'd be saying this to you, but you're behaving like a spoiled child!"

She lifted her head and gazed at him, a spark of anger flashing in her eyes.

"Rae, since you melded with your aspects, you are unable to insulate yourself from your emotions. They are coming full-force at you, and you still haven't learned how to deal with them."

She watched him for a moment, then her anger vanished and she buried her face in his shoulder again and sighed. "I guess you are right" she whispered.

"Of course I am. Look, it'll pass quickly, you'll be away only a couple of weeks. Sometimes it is good for lovers to separate for a while and feel the longing, just so they don't start taking their love for granted. And hopefully the experience will also help you understand yourself better."

She lifted her head again and looked at him, surprised.

"Who are you and what did you do to Garfield?" she asked him, only half joking.

He chuckled. "I'm not that hopeless any more, love. You of all people should know. You made me so."

She embraced him fiercely, not responding.

He caressed a strand of hair away from her forehead. "Tell ya what. I'll set something up for when you get back. So, what do you like best? A concert? Dinner? A picnic?"

"Making love to you" she said as she nipped him gently on the ear, knowing how sensitive he was there. He shivered and felt her react with a slight tremor.

"Um, OK, can't say I don't like that answer, but I was looking for something else, like going to see a show, or simply taking a stroll in the park. How about the second best thing?"

"Cuddling with you after we make love."

"Raven! I'm trying to be serious here!"

She nipped his ear again. "I am very serious, Garfield."

"Please, I'm trying to find out what you'd like me to prepare to welcome you back!"

"Surprise me" she said and kissed him deeply.

Cyborg and Starfire had taken the T-Ship with them, so Raven had to rely on external transportation. Luckily, Nightwing managed to get the Justice League to pull some strings and Raven soon found herself in a G-suit, strapped into the co-pilot's seat of a supersonic fighter, streaking at Mach 2.1 over the ocean.

She used the time to meditate and focus, forcing herself not to think of him, knowing it would just make it more difficult. But once out of meditation it was a losing battle, her thoughts and feelings straying back to him no matter how she tried to think of other things. She finally gave up and slowly opened herself to their bond. She was trying not to make herself felt; she did not want to distress or interrupt him. Soon she could feel the familiar pattern of his emotions washing over her in a soothing wave. He was excited, probably playing a game.

His excitement peaked, then lessened, leaving a pleasant afterglow. He must have reached a new level or whatever the game was about. She smiled inwardly, enjoying his feelings.

A sense of puzzlement came from him, then realization, then happiness and love. He was aware of her. She answered with her own joy. It was almost as good as being beside him. Not quite, but almost. She allowed a small amount of regret to spark through her and over their bond. He understood and sent his reassurance.

Longing escaped from her before she could smother it. As he felt it she sensed a flash of concern in him, but it was soon replaced by amusement. A small frown formed on her face, a slight irritation coursing through to needle him. His amusement increased. Words were unnecessary, she knew exactly what he was trying to say.

C'mon, Rae. It's only been a few hours.

She tried to increase her annoyance so that he would take her seriously, but she found it impossible to mask how fake it was. She gave up, smiled and allowed the sheer joy of feeling him to pervade her.

The jet landed on a military airfield. She was quickly whisked away, the G-suit removed and her papers approved and stamped. Soon afterwards they drove her to a civilian airport and helped her board the airliner that would take her to her next destination.

Thankfully, this leg of her trip was a lot shorter. She managed to find enough interest in what was happening around her to keep her mind busy during the flight. Soon the airliner landed and taxied to the terminal. She left the plane, mingling with the rest of the passengers, wondering when she will be contacted.

She tried to open up to her empathic sense and find if there was anyone looking for her, but she was immediately overwhelmed by the intensity of the combined feelings of so many people around her. Dazed, she quickly shut herself off and tried to restore her inner balance.

Suddenly two huge hands descended and grabbed her, lifting her several feet off the ground as a deep voice bellowed at her.

"Voronyonok! How are you, sestrenka?"

"Leo!" Raven cried, joy in her voice. "Put me down, you big bear!"

The friendship between Red Star and Raven started almost two years ago, during one of those parties in the Tower that she was not able to avoid. She had made a point of bringing a book and sitting to read it as far away from everyone as possible, both to entertain herself and to make it perfectly clear to everybody that she was not interested in socializing. Intrigued, he managed to overcome her initial resistance through a combination of sheer Slavic stubbornness and a few well-placed comments about the book she was reading. Soon she found herself discussing with him the merits of Turgenev versus Beecher and the relative impacts their work had on society. She discovered he also liked poetry and chess, and after the party they remained in touch, exchanging books and playing chess remotely.

"I forget how tiny you are!" he roared on, still holding her aloft. "Maybe I just put you in my shirt pocket, carry you around, da?"

"It would be a loose fit, Leo" she said, laughing. "You've grown even bigger than last time we saw each other!"

"We meet too seldom, sestrenka" he rumbled, finally putting her down. "You have been well?"

"More than well. I have a boyfriend now."

"I know" he said winking. "Garfield Markovitch is lucky man!" He offered her his arm and led her away.

"Thanks, Leo. I suppose he is!" she smiled, trying to ignore the sudden longing scything through her.

Red Star chuckled and looked down at her, slightly amused. "So, you get my Pushkin? Best translation I find!"

"It was great, Leo. I enjoyed it a lot. Did you get my Baudelaire?"

"Too dark, Voronushka. It is good, but it makes me sad."

"You are Russian!" she smirked. "Everything makes you sad!"

They boarded a helicopter that took them to a military airfield. Again she was enveloped in a G-suit and strapped into the cockpit of a supersonic fighter, but this time it was Red Star that did the piloting. He took off on full afterburner, knowing that his passenger could take it.

She remained silent until the fighter leveled off on its course, not wishing to disturb him while he was busy piloting. Once she felt he had relaxed, she spoke.

"What is our destination?"

His voice crackled back through the intercom. "We go to Krasnoyarsk, then we take helicopter North."

"Richard briefed me before I left and I read the file while I was crossing the ocean, but I would like to hear it from you."

"Why not? We have time" he chuckled. "You know that on 30th of June 1908 something exploded over Tunguska river. It is very well known."

"Yes, everybody thinks it was a meteor, but there was no impact crater. Could have been an airburst, like over Chelyabinsk in 2013."

"There are many more theories, some of them crazy, nyet?"

"You mean like an alien ship crashing or exploding?"

"Yes. But as with meteor impact, no remains or fragments were ever found. I did not believe these theories, until few weeks ago."

"It's been more than a hundred years, Leo. Why would it start acting up now?"

"That is one of the things we have to find out, ptichka!"

"The file said that hunters started finding frozen animals close to that spot. In summer."

"Da. But this would not call much attention. It was only curiosity until a group of hunters disappeared and was found after few days. Their weapons were discharged. They were defending themselves. But they finished frozen also."

"That was in the file, too. Do you think something attacked them?"

"Evidence indicates so" he said darkly. "What is not in file is that a group of soldiers searching that area did not report since yesterday."

She felt the concern and anguish coming from him. "Were they your men?"

He remained silent.

"No sense punishing yourself, Leo. Maybe it's just that their radio –"

"I hope so" he cut her off. "But there is more that is not in file."

"Oh?"

"The frozen men and animals. I received laboratory report this morning. It says they are not only frozen. The technical term is 'vitrified'."

Raven's eyes narrowed. "Then they were subjected to extremely low temperatures very suddenly. Vitrification means the freezing process was so fast that ice crystals did not have time to form."

"It is not only that, ptichka. It also means they were frozen from inside."

"I realize that. It would be impossible to freeze them so quickly otherwise. But that could happen only if they swallowed gallons of liquid nitrogen."

"Or if something pumped them full of it. But that would leave frost burns, scorch marks. There were no burns, no wounds."

Her mind was racing, trying to make sense of it all. The information seemed contradictory, but…

"Anything else that you didn't include in the file?"

He was silent for a moment and then he spoke, his voice low.

"Yes. There is sense of radiation on frozen bodies" he said. "It is very weak, but I could feel it."

"Why didn't you report that?"

"It was very weak. I was not certain, but report from laboratory this morning confirms it. There is radiation consistent with short half-life elements."

"I see" she said, then suddenly she connected the dots. "Is that why you asked for Starfire?"

"Da. She can resist much radiation."

He was again silent. Raven sighed, realizing it was a mistake to mention Starfire. She tried to recover something from the blunder.

"She is doing some important work with Titans East, Leo. I'm sorry if –"

"Please, Voronyonok. I am happy you are here. You will be of great help."

"I know, Leo, but I don't want to become a burden –"

"You can take care of yourself" he cut her off, dismissing her concern. "You will not be burden."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence."

He grunted in return and fell silent. She tried to say something but could not come up with anything relevant that would not steer the conversation back to the sensitive topic.

In the end it was Red Star that broke the silence.

"Richard Ivanovitch, he is… he did not want her to come?"

"Leo, she is busy elsewhere, I told you! He –"

Again he cut her off. "I know truth, Voronushka. I understand and I am not angry."

She kept quiet, trying to close herself to the emotions that he was radiating. It was affecting her much more than usual, awakening her own longing and regret.

"He needs not to be" he spoke suddenly, startling her. "My feelings for Zvezdochka are not like that."

"Leo…"

"No, sestrenka. Listen. She gave me my life back. I was buried, she showed me the sun again. I was dead, she made me live again. She gave me friendship, and courage, and hope. I do not love her. Not that way. I adore her."

She felt uncomfortable. "I... I don't know why you're telling me this, Leo, but I promise I will keep it to myself."

"I tell it to you because you are only one that can understand me, nyet?"

"Why do you say that?" she asked, puzzled.

"Because you know what it is like. Garfield Markovitch, he gave you life as well. He gave you something you thought you could never have. He opened your eyes and your heart, made you feel joy and love and tenderness."

She felt the longing burn in her eyes. "I… miss him."

"Good. It is well that you suffer a little. It will make good Russian girl out of you."

She couldn't help laughing at that. "You're hopeless!"

"I know."

Just one quick A/N at the bottom; I don't speak Russian so if I screwed up PM me to fix it please!