Written for Ahmerst on tumblr! I actually really love writing Russia& America and their cats...they are so wonderfully adorable! Sigh. :) I think this is kinda AU, um...Enjoy!

Ivan came home to the house he shared with Alfred late that day. Alfred's boss had given him the day off today, but Ivan had had to work a double shift, well into the evening. His briefcase, heavy with a mountain of paperwork on various international affairs, felt like it was weighing him down. He couldn't wait to push the weight off and settle down for a relaxing night with the company of his boyfriend.

Ivan unlocked the door and swung it open, only to be immediately tackled by a soft mass, a pair of arms wrapping tightly around him and a golden head burying itself into his chest.

"Ah—Alfred?"

"Ivan!" Alfred looked up, absolutely distraught, "It's Teddy! He's missing!"

"What?" Teddy? Teddy, the persistent little ball of fluff that Alfred had taken to?

"What do you mean, he is missing. Where is he?" Ivan unwound his boyfriend's arms from around him, then taking hold on his hands as he continued to babble.

"I don't know! I let him out this morning, but he hasn't come back for dinner yet! I looked and looked but I can't find him anywhere!"

Alfred was getting himself more worked up about this with every passing moment. Ivan rubbed his boyfriend's back, trying to get him to calm down.

"Alfred, I'm sure he's just hiding somewhere, have you checked the backyard yet?"

"Of course I did! I checked everywhere! He's not with Yuri either! I looked in all the rooms, I looked under the beds and couches, I looked in the yard-I can't find him! Vanya, I can't find him anywhere!"

"Alfred!" Ivan clamped his hands down on the babbling American, trying to stop him from working himself into a hysteria. Alfred looked up with worried eyes, fidgeting with the drawstrings on his sweatshirt.

A small mew from behind caused both of the men to turn. A large, dark gray cat had padded up behind Alfred, swishing his fluffy, overlong tail on the hardwood floor.

Alfred frowned and turned away from Ivan, squatting down to pick up the large cat into his arms.

"Yuri misses him, y'know. That's how I can tell something's wrong. I-Ivan—" Alfred looked as if he was about to cry.

Before he could watch his boyfriend burst into tears, Ivan set down his briefcase by the door, straightening his coat and pulling his scarf tighter around his neck.

"I will go look for him." He says it with a remarkable amount of conviction, as if he's going out into enemy territory to save a man down.

Alfred took a step forward, setting down Yuri before stumbling forward to grab onto one of Ivan's hands.

"Wait! I'm going too."

Ivan turned, pushing their entwined hands back towards Alfred's chest.

"No, you stay. What if Teddy comes back, or if you may find him? Wait here, I will go look outside."

Alfred gave him a stubborn pout, opening his mouth to argue when he felt something brush up against his pant leg. Yuri nuzzles up against his calf, purple eyes-strange for a cat-looking up at the both of them.

Ivan gently let go of Alfred's hand. "You do not want him to be lonely, yes?"

The young man bent over, picking up the cat again. Ivan gave his boyfriend a little pat on the shoulder before pulling the door open and closed, locking it behind him.

Ivan spent nearly an hour out in the cold air, calling out Teddy's name and clapping his hands, hoping it would help to get the cat's attention. He called and walked until his throat felt dry and his legs hurt and he could see his breath in the cold of the growing night. He made a full circuit around the neighborhood, before finally heading home.

"Alfred?" Ivan called, closing the door behind him, shrugging off his coat and hanging the heavy winter garment on its peg. He wished he didn't have to tell his boyfriend that he didn't find the little cat, because that meant seeing Alfred's usually happy face fall into dejection.

"Alfred?" He called again, after not getting a response the first time.

The light in the living room was still on, so Ivan kicked off his boots and entered, stopping at the sight in front of him.

Alfred was lying on the couch, asleep, face buried into Yuri's fur, the cat snuggled up against his chest. He was still dressed in his day clothing, his glasses pressed against his face.

Ivan sighed, his chest stinging at the sad sight. He had no idea how much Alfred was attached to the cat. They had adopted the two animals on Alfred's whim. A few months ago, when Alfred had been volunteering at a local shelter in his spare time, he had seen the two cats together in the same cage and begged Ivan to take them in. He had insisted that Yuri, the big, gray cat, was exactly like Ivan. He had thought that was all the rationale behind Alfred's decision: simply because the two cats reminded him of himself and Ivan.

Ivan sat down on the couch besides Alfred's head, his movement causing Yuri to squirm awake in the young man's arms. When Alfred began to shift and let out a sleepy moan, Ivan lowered his hand to gently pet at his hair. Better to let his boyfriend sleep, than to have him wake up to find that Ivan had not located Teddy.

He pulled the blanket that was hanging on the back of the couch over Alfred, pulling it around both Alfred and Yuri, who had finally settled back into his catnap.

He supposed one night on the couch wouldn't hurt Alfred.

Both Ivan and Alfred had the next day off, which meant that the American would sleep in until at least ten in the morning. Ivan would always get up early to buy groceries, so when he had stirred from the couch and got up, kissing sleeping Alfred on the forehead before setting out into the gray morning air.

He expected Alfred to still be asleep by the time he got back, but, to his surprise, he found his boyfriend sitting up

Alfred still looked utterly dejected, the couch becoming his temporary residence. He was staring blankly at the TV before him, hugging a cushion tightly to his chest

"Fredka?" He leaned down, waving the little carton in front of America's face, "I bought you ice cream, the kind with the small chocolate fish? You will be wanting to eat it, yes?"

Alfred glanced at him, and at the container of ice cream, before his eyes flitted back to the TV screen and he scrunched a little more into his cushion.

"Okay," Ivan cautiously ruffled Alfred's hair, "I understand. I will cook for us some lunch, yes?"

Alfred was truly down on himself if he did not want to eat. Ivan frowned as he walked to the kitchen, setting down the bags of groceries on the counter. He separated the dry food from the perishables from the cans of cat food, noticing with a sad expression that he did not have to buy nearly as much, with Teddy not present.

He didn't think that the cat would cause more trouble absent than he did when he was present.

Ivan had debated simply getting Alfred another cat. But where would he find one exactly like Teddy? Big, fluffy, with those distinctive marking around his eyes-Ivan considered just buying a white cat and then drawing them on with a black marker, but decided it would be a cruel trick to pull on Alfred.

He turned at the sound of small meow to see his own cat behind him, yawning a little to show his small pink tongue.

Figuring that the cat had not eaten, Ivan peeled the top off one of the cans of cat food, tossing away the lid in the trash. He up-ended the can into Yuri's bowl, full and lonely next to Teddy's empty one.

Normally, Yuri would eagerly leap up onto the counter, at the sound, waiting to be fed. But instead, the big gray cat simply sat on the tile, his tail swishing back and forth limply.

Ivan frowned and grunted as he leaned down to pick up the cat, setting him onto the countertop.

"Are you trying to compensate for his laziness?" Ivan stroked the cat's back, before giving him a little pat towards the food.

The big cat crouched down dejectedly, sniffing at the food, but not eating. Ivan pushed the little bowl closer, but Yuri shied away, folding his paws beneath him to lie slumped on the counter. Ivan knew that cat's could not have expressions, but there was something about his cat's face, something about those dark-almost-purple eyes, that just looked sad.

Oh no. A depressed boyfriend was bad enough. But a depressed cat?

Ivan sighed and put a hand on Yuri's head, petting him gently.

"You are missing him too, yes?" Even Ivan had to admit that he didn't feel quite the same without the energetic furball.

After a few more moments of silently petting the cat, Ivan returned to preparing a small meal for himself and Alfred. Though, to Ivan's dismay, his boyfriend simply picked at the food before saying he was full and setting the barely touched plate aside.

Alfred wasn't much for talking or doing much of anything, so Ivan used the afternoon to work on some extra paperwork, making a few calls to his boss and coworkers. He also took the opportunity to craft a "Lost Cat" flier, printing several copies. It couldn't hurt.

When he finally returned to the living room he found that Alfred had laid on his side, blankets pulled up around his body, Yuri curled up on top of the nestle of fabric on his hip.

Thinking maybe Alfred would want to eat now, he retrieved the ice cream from the freezer, walking back to the living room.

"I am going out looking again, yes?" He knelt down by Alfred, petting his head in the same manner that he had Yuri. Alfred turned his eyes up towards him.

"Please," Ivan put the carton of ice cream and the small spoon into Alfred's hands, "Eat something. Please. I will find him."

Ivan spent nearly an hour and a half trawling about the neighborhood after he left, putting up posters, even knocking upon houses and asking the residents if anyone had seen the distinctive cat around. When the evening began to turn to night, Ivan set back towards home with a heavy heart, discouraged by his lack of luck.

Alfred sat up from the couch immediately when he heard the click of the door opening, but sagged back down when he saw that his boyfriend was empty-handed. Almost simultaneously, Yuri came padding out of the kitchen crossing to the couch, leaping up onto Alfred's lap. The American let out a sad little sigh and began to pet the cat's silky gray fur.

"You didn't find him?"

Alfred sounded so dejected that it broke Ivan's heart.

"No."

Alfred frowned and flopped back into the couch, lip trembling. His small form seemed to sink further into the couch, and Alfred seemed intent on again making the couch his bed, if Ivan hadn't decided to intervene.

He shooed Yuri off of Alfred as he pulled the boy up into a sitting position.

"Come. If you sleep like this another night, you will hurt your back."

Alfred stubbornly jerked back, trying to wriggle away from Ivan, but the larger man held firm. Alfred could be concerned about the animal, but this was getting ridiculous.

"Fine," Alfred finally grumbled, pushing himself up from the couch, blanket hanging around his shoulders like a shawl, not looking at his boyfriend. Yet, when Ivan put an arm around him and guided him over to the bedroom, he didn't protest.

Alfred sat down on the bed, springs creaking under his weight. He shifted back on his tailbone and brought his knees back up to his chest, slowly falling down on his side, curled into a fetal position. Alfred seemed content to stay like this, or at least unwilling to move, so Ivan left him, going to the bathroom to get ready for bed.

Ivan scrubbed his teeth, sighing into the damp washcloth as he cleaned his face. He should be hauling Alfred up and making him take care of his own hygiene, but knew that it would be useless.

He rubbed his eyes after a loud yawn, shaking his head. Was exhaustion catching up to him? He had not gotten much sleep the night before, worry about his boyfriend and their little fluffball keeping him up.

Bed was calling to him, so he finished wiping his face down, tied his annoyingly overlong hair back, and shrugged out of his clothing until he was in only a wifebeater and a pair of boxers.

Ivan came back to the room to find Alfred lying on his stomach, head buried into a tightly clutched pillow, his back shaking with inaudible sobs.

His boyfriend was killing him like this. Now Ivan felt like he wanted nothing more than to curl up and cry next to Alfred.

Instead, he again took up the role of the comforter and sat down on the bed next to Alfred, letting his hand run up and down the curve of his spine, rubbing lightly under the thin T-shirt.

"Alfred," He lightly patted him between his shoulder blades, "It will be all right."

There was a hoarse intake of air, muffled by the pillow, as Alfred pulled his face from its downy mask, his face spotted and red from crying. He bit his lip and looked up to Ivan. He grunted as he pushed himself up, eyes trained on his crumpled pillow.

"You're wrong."

He hated that Alfred sounded so resigned, so he tried to keep up the assuring charade.

"Alfred, do not be so silly, everything will be fine—"

Alfred interrupted him by punching his pillow with a soft thump, whirling his face to look again at his boyfriend, his eyes swimming with tears again.

"No it won't! Ivan," Alfred's breath hitched as he rubbed at his eyes, "He's never been gone this long, something happened to him, he's probably dead and I-"

Alfred broke off in a little hiccup, pulling up the collar of his shirt to wipe at his nose. Ivan made little soothing noises as he rubbed Alfred's back, trying to get him to calm down.

"Hush. Teddy is maybe not the most intelligent of cats, but perhaps he is just lost? Either way, he is sure to come back. It is strange for a cat, but Teddy is very loyal."

At least Alfred nodded a little at that. Maybe Ivan had not completely failed in his reassurance. He decided to go a little further.

"Like his owner, yes?"

Alfred pulled his face away from his shirt, looking up at Ivan, the bigger man taking the opportunity to wipe a tear away with his thumb. Alfred gave a little laugh, either at the tickling touch or at Ivan's comment, it wasn't clear.

"Yeah. You know, they always say that pets look like their owners after awhile, but I think it's the same with their personalities too."

"Yes?" Ivan cocked his head and pulled his legs up on the bed, so he was laying next to Alfred, "Do you think so?" He tugged at the covers that Alfred was lying on, the boy squirming so that Ivan could pull them out and cover his boyfriend with them.

"Yeah. I mean," Alfred finally turned over onto his back, resting his head on the pillow, his forehead barely touching Ivan's forearm, "This whole time, Yuri's stuck by my side and all, and even though I miss Teddy like crazy and want him to come home, he's done a great job making me feel like-safe, y'know? He's like a big fuzzy security blanket."

Ivan allowed a little smile, finishing Alfred's thought for him.

"Like his owner too, yes?"

As if on cue, both heads turned at the sound of a low mew, as the big gray cat came lumbering into the room. Ivan sat up a little.

"Ah! Speaking of the devil."

He turned on his side, bent down and picked Yuri up off the floor, moving the cat to lie next to Alfred. The American seemed to relax a little as he wormed out a hand to scratch behind the cat's ear. Ivan found himself doing the same, hand on Alfred's head, thumb stroking over his scalp. Alfred looked like he was about to fall asleep, but his eyes remained bright, watching Ivan, who had returned to a sitting position.

"Aren't you gonna go to sleep?"

"In a little while." Ivan gave a gentle scratch to the hair above Alfred's temple, "But you should certainly get some rest."

Alfred let out a loud yawn, removing his glasses and folding them into Ivan's outstretched palm. The Russian placed them onto the nightstand. With his glasses gone, Alfred finally let his eyes close, his breath evening out.

Once Ivan was sure Alfred was asleep, he got out from the bed, making sure to keep a rousing Yuri with Alfred when the cat tried to follow him, and went back downstairs.

He opened the door, wistfully looking out into the inky night, hoping to see a glimpse of the little white cat. He didn't want to imagine the poor little animal, lost, alone, dead out somewhere in that night, but he couldn't make it leave his thoughts. At this point, his hope was waning, much like Alfred's.

Before he went upstairs, however, he took a little can of cat food from the refrigerator, an dplaced it, unopened, on the doorstep, a little beacon in the midst of the surrounding night.

Just like his owner, huh?

It was worth a try.

He finally went back up to Alfred's room and lied down next to him, making sure to keep Yuri comfortably nestled between them, like a security blanket.

The gray morning rays between the slats of the wind blinds roused Ivan before Alfred, as they usually did. He got up, without jostling Alfred or Yuri too much, and was about to slouch into the bathroom to wake himself up with a cool towel to the face, when he heard a strange noise.

What was that?

A little thrill ran through him as he realized that the tiny, scratching sound was coming from down the hall, near the living room.

Next to the door.

Morning ritual forgotten, Ivan strode with quickened steps towards the entrance hall, speeding up as he heard a sound that sounded suspiciously like a little meow come from beyond the door.

He threw it open, eyes instantly trained downwards.

Sitting expectantly on the front porch was none other than Teddy, the little white cat looking none the worse for the wear. Ivan knew that cats did not have facial expression, but he could swear that the cat was grinning.

The cheeky bastard.

But Ivan couldn't stop himself from scooping up the cat into the arms and nuzzling it's fur with his nose, a light feeling blooming in his chest that made him feel absolutely elated.

Ivan didn't care that the cat was wet, or that it smelled terribly, or that it squirmed and mewled in his arms, scratching at his chest. He even pressed a little kiss to the top of Teddy's head, the little wayward strands of fur tickling against his nose.

"You cause a lot of trouble, do you know?" He whispered to the wriggling animal.

He practically ran back to Alfred's room, like a child on Christmas Day, smiling growing as he thought of the wonderful surprise that he and wriggly Teddy would be able to give the sleeping man.

Upon reentering Alfred's room, Teddy finally squirmed out of Ivan's hold and landed on the floor, bounding over and hopping up the bed. The cat instantly pounced upon the blanketed lump of Alfred's body, letting out a loud and enthusiastic meow.

Ivan heard Alfred groan and saw him shift under the covers until his scrunched up face was visible. Immediately, Teddy crawled up to his face and began licking at his cheek insistently.

"Ungh-what? I-Ivan, not now—" Ivan blushed at the statement, though he was distracted from his embarrassment as he saw Alfred's eyes flutter open at his cat's incessant pawing.

"Teddy!" Alfred exclaimed, shooting up from his sleeping position and instantly gathering the cat into his arms, the white ball of fluff meowing happily as he squirmed and pawed at Alfred's chest. Ivan giggled at the adorable sight, softly padding towards Alfred, who was hugging the cat like a child with their first pet.

"You found him!" Alfred exclaimed as Ivan sat on the bed, eyes swimming with happiness and relief.

"No, as a matter of fact, I think that he found us." Ivan smiled and scratched Teddy under his chin, making the cat purr as loud as a piece of heavy machinery.

"Hey, where's Yuri? Yuri!" Alfred called out, only to see the little gray head pop out from under a mass of squirming blankets. The cat blinked it's eyes sleepily, only to be tackled by a ball of fluff as Teddy squirmed out of Alfred's arms and began to snuggle up next to Yuri under the blankets. Alfred clapped his hands and let out a happy chuckle as the two animals cuddled up to each other: a perfect fit.

"Isn't that just totally cute, Ivan?" Alfred pet the two cats before he returned to his boyfriend's side and hugged him tightly, squirming up closer.

"Thank you so much," Alfred nuzzled his head into Ivan's chest, "I mean it, big guy."

Ivan put his arms around his boyfriend in return, pulling them both close together, just as Yuri curled up more around Teddy. Alfred twined their legs together just as Teddy nuzzled his head under Yuri's chin.

And Ivan smiled, because once again their little family was back together.