Alfred was silent for a moment, staring at Ivan. He sighed quietly. "Fine... Only for the theft. Though you really should report her for the stalking." he told him. Though he knew doing that would put him out of a job. It really was the best option, but he wasn't going to force the other to do it. He pulled out his phone and called the police, telling them what had happened and who the thief was.

Ivan just wasn't ready to give up on Natalia yet. She still had time and maybe stealing his skates was an escalation, but it still wasn't much. He watched in silence as Alfred made the phone call. Although they would probably have to go in later to do a formal report, it wasn't pressing for such a thing right now. "Can we go home?" he asked again. Today was just getting more and more tiring.

Alfred put his phone in his pocket and nodded. "Yeah. They'll be sending an officer over later to get the full report, but we are free to head back to the house." he told him. Their outing was definitely ruined and that was making him dislike Natalia even more. Sighing quietly, he led the way out to the car.

They drove home in silence and Ivan couldn't shake his glum mood. How could his sister become like this? It made him so sad to see things turn out this way when all he wanted to do was be a good person. He sighed a bit as they entered the house once more. "I'm sorry I dragged you out and all of this happened," he said, turning to Alfred.

"While it sucked that your psycho sister had to show up, I'm glad we went. I enjoyed going and it was a good way to get you out of the house." Alfred said. He really had been having fun out on the ice, something he hadn't really been expecting since he hadn't really enjoyed it when Matthew had tried to teach him. Mostly because his brother was a bit of a psycho on the ice and was really the wrong person to ask to teach him. Though he did try, it just didn't work out well.

"You really enjoyed it?" Ivan asked after a second of hesitation. He knew Alfred didn't want to go at first, but if Ivan thought past how it ended, he realized he enjoyed it too. Having a skating partner just meant so much. "It's a pity we can't go again without my skates. Anyway, I should probably go get some work done. Let me know if you need anything?" He sighed and headed toward his office, but at least this time he offered more than a closed door. Just a hint of an opening into his life.

"I did enjoy it." Alfred assured him. He had had a lot more fun than he thought he would. But that was probably because Ivan was a much more patient teacher than Matthew had been. He was confused by why they couldn't go without the skates. Couldn't the Russian just rent some? But he didn't question him about it. After the other walked away, he headed to his own room.

Ivan sat down at his computer and put his headphones in, letting the words of his native language fill his head as he started translating the nearest tapes. He let them pile up today so he spent the rest of his day working on them. It was necessary though and relaxing in its own way. He made a quick dinner of vegetables and went to bed early. In his head, he had the silly delusion that things with his sister would be better in the morning.

Alfred stayed in his room, playing games with his online friends. When the police officer had come to get their report, he dealt with it himself, not wanting to disturb Ivan. Besides, he knew everything that happened anyway. He then went back to his games after talking to his brother for a little bit, talking about how he had started to learn to skate that day. Matthew was pleased to hear that, and they made plans to go skating the next time the younger brother was in town. Once he was done talking to his twin, he grabbed some snacks and went back to his game, going to bed late at night.

Ivan twisted in his sleep, a horrible noise doing its best to drag him awake. Brother...the voice murmured, hauntingly soft. He felt like claws dragged themselves down his arms. The voice persisted though, becoming louder and more on edge. With a start, he realized the voice did not come from his dream. "Brother!"

Natalia wailed at the front door before dragging her nails down it. He shivered, remembering the dream feeling of those nails on him. She called his name again, her nails still making awful noises and the door shook a little.

"Alfred!" Ivan yelped. Oh god, it was real. Natalia was really at his door.

Alfred jumped awake at the noise coming from the front door and from Ivan's yell. He instantly rolled out of bed and grabbed his gun, not caring that he was only in his boxers. He was instantly down the hall and at the door, his grip tight on the gun. This was the one with tranquilizer bullets. Though he did have one with real ones. He pulled the door open and pointed the gun at her. "Back off of I'll shoot." he said, his voice serious.

Ivan hid under a blanket on his bed, eyes squeezed shut as if that would make his reality go away. It didn't work. He did listen intently to what went on though and a hint of alarm went through him at Alfred's yell. "Don't shoot her!" he yelped even though his voice sounded too pathetic, like he wouldn't stop Alfred if he did try.

Natalia jumped when the door swung open and she looked wide eyed at both Alfred's appearance and the gun. She took a step back. "You wouldn't dare. Ivan won't let you hurt me!" No matter what, she did believe that. He always protected her and even if he said no, deep down, he did love her back.

"Ivan doesn't get a choice in this matter. You try anything towards him, and I will shoot. Period." Alfred said. He gave no hint that they were just tranquilizers. She didn't need to know that. If he did have to shoot her, he'd have to call the police and she will go to jail. It didn't matter what Ivan wanted with the matter. "You have two options. You can leave or I can shoot. You're choice."

Natalia refused to back all the way down, but she hadn't come prepared for a fight. "Ivan!" she yelled loud enough for him to hear. "Don't you love me?!"

"Noooo...." he moaned back from where he still hid. She could barely hear Ivan's answer, but it still had her eyes narrowing in a glare.

"Why can't you love me? You have to love me! I-if you don't, I'll take away everything that you do love!" Natalia's eyes landed on Alfred before she took another few steps back, still trying not to get shot. After a deep breath, she spoke again. "I'll leave now, but I'll definitely be back. This is my last warning to you too. If you don't stay away from my brother, next time you'll be the one in my sights." Her message said, she turned and ran.

"I'm not afraid of you!" Alfred called after her, not sure if she heard him or not. Once she was gone, he closed and re-locked the door before resetting the alarm. Then turned and went to Ivan's room, his gun tucked into the waistband of his pants. "She's gone. For now at least." he told him, standing in the doorway. He meant it that he wasn't afraid of her. She needed to learn that he wasn't going to back down from this job and if she kept going like she was, she'd end up in jail.

Ivan poked his head out to look at Alfred. "Why is she doing this? What did I do to deserve a sister like her?" he whined before he sniffled. Unlike Alfred, he felt no hesitation to say he feared her. Natalia terrified him and nothing would make that change. "I just want this to be over!" More than anything, he wanted to go back in time to before they were unhappy, to before his family tore itself apart at the seams.

"This wouldn't have even gotten to this point if you had just gotten her the help she needed when she first started showing these signs." Alfred said bluntly. He knew Ivan had nobody to blame for his problems except for himself. He really should have taken Natalia to get mental help the moment she started showing that she was crazy. But he hadn't and now they were here.

"Just shut up," Ivan hissed and disappeared under his blanket again. He almost felt thankful for Alfred's presence but if he was just going to guilt trip him when he'd already done that enough to himself, then Ivan wanted nothing to do with him. "It's not like I saw the signs until it was too late. Hindsight is 20/20 isn't it? I don't need you to tell me what I did wrong. If that's all you have to say, then just leave so I can be miserable alone!"

Alfred knew he should just walk away and leave Ivan alone. It wasn't his job to cheer him up, after all. Just protect him. But his conscious wouldn't allow him to do that. With a quiet sigh to himself, he grabbed the blanket and pulled it off the other. "Nope! No can do! You are not going to lay here and wallow in self-pity. I won't allow it." he told him.

Ivan let out a very un-like him squeak sort of noise as his hiding place vanished. "What are you doing?! Give that back!" he exclaimed as he reached for the blanket. "Why should it matter to you what I do in my free time? I'm just some guy who's paying you money. It's not like you're going to care after this job is done!" Of course, that implied that somehow this job would ever end and Ivan had some doubts about this, or a pessimism at least.

Alfred held the blanket out of Ivan's reach. "This job doesn't end until either Natalia stops being completely crazy and leaves you alone, or you decide I'm not longer needed. Until then, while it may not be my job to care, it doesn't mean I don't. I happen to care about the people in my life. Which includes you at this point in time."

Ivan eyed Alfred, trying to judge the truth in his words. He wanted to doubt, but Alfred's eyes showed conviction that he could not deny. "But what if neither of those things happen?" he asked in a whisper. What if he was never strong enough to push Natalia away or Alfred. Each day, one became more likely and the other less likely and that really should not have been happening. Alfred was messing things up. "What if...Natalia never leaves?" What if you never do?

"If that were to happen, at a certain point, I will have to have her institutionalized. If she doesn't stop, it will be the only option for her. They'd give her the help she needs to stop this obsession. What you want won't get a say in the matter." Alfred responded. He didn't want to have to do that, but he wasn't going to sugar-coat it. If he ever felt that was the only way to protect Ivan, that is what he was going to do. No exceptions.

"...Okay," Ivan said after a few seconds. He nodded his head just a bit. For once, he didn't fight Alfred though. He could still remember Natalia's threat and it left him shivering, her words echoing in his head. She never said anything like that before Alfred showed up and he couldn't help but think the presence of the other male made things worse even if it kept him safe. "And then I will have an empty house again."

Alfred was silent, not sure what to say to that. He could make a comment on how the house was empty before he came here, but felt that would be rude. He thought for a moment. "Well then, you'll have to get out and about and make some friends. Then you won't be alone." he eventually told him, giving him a smile.