"A-Alfred?" Natalia spoke into the phone uneasily.

"…Nat?" a groggy voice replied in question. "What's the matter." There was a pause. "It's two in the morning." This only caused the girl to start sobbing again. "Natalia, what's wrong?" he asked again.

"He…He left me!" she sobbed out.

"Wait…Natalia, what happened?"

"He left me!" she screamed into the phone, letting go of the remains of her composure.

"I-I'll be-I'm on my way." He stuttered, his voice sounded ever so calm though. "Where are you?"

"I'm out. I don't know where I am." She began to hiccup a bit.

"Don't worry." Alfred spoke. "I'll be there as soon as I can."

"WAIT!" she screamed "Wait…"

The other end was silent.

"Don't hang up on me…please. Please don't hang up."

There was a soft sigh on his end. "Alright, I won't."

"T-Thank you." Natalia smiled a bit. A cold wind blew right by her in the dead town air. Everyone else was asleep at this time of night. She leaned against a dim lamppost, sighing tiredly and longingly. "A-Alfred?"

"I'm here, Nat." he spoke. She heard the low hum of a car engine in the background.

She remained silent for a moment before speaking. "Do you think I'm worthless?"

Alfred sighed on his end, trying to find the appropriate response for that. "I think you're far from it."

Natalia smiled bitterly. "I think I know why I always clung to Big Brother." She took the silence as a sign to continue. "I was always very shy. Even now, I don't open up well…as well as you do. I can't entertain a crowd or make people laugh." She chuckled lowly. "Pitiful, isn't it?"

The low hum of the engine was all she heard as a response. She knew he was listening. She pressed on. "Big Brother reached out to me. At the time, I had no idea that he was far from what he made me think he was; kind and gentle. I was so protective of him, too. I guess I just didn't want to lose the only family I've ever known." The Belarusian unpleasantly laughed once more as she shoved a hand into her coat pocket.

She sighed. "Say, Alfred?" she spoke calmly as a tear fell out of her eye. She was no longer sobbing, but her eyes continued to water. "…Thank you." She sighed again. "Thank you…for everything." She repeated. "I must have been such a burden, huh?" Natalia withdrew her hand from her coat pocket and drew out a folded pocket knife. She opened it with a CLICK. "I'm sorry for making you come out her at such a late hour…But," she looked up at the night sky. "It's pretty out tonight, da?"

She was too preoccupied in her thoughts to hear a car door open and shut about two hundred feet ahead of her. Footsteps echoed along the tall buildings that lined the left side of the sidewalk.

"Natalia, put the knife down." Alfred finally spoke.

Natalia didn't listen, however. She held it firmly in the grasp of her right hand as her arm rested along her side. Her left hand covered her face, but it couldn't hide the tears that slid down her face and glimmered in the dim light of the pale full moon outside.

"Why?" she asked aloud. "Why did Big Brother leave me?" she blurted between sobs. "What did I do wrong?"

"You didn't do anything wro-" Alfred replied after lightly sighing. He was cut off by Natalia screaming "Nyet!" though. Alfred stopped walking.

"He just left me!" she screamed, throwing off her hand that was covering her face. "He left me all alone!" She brought her hand to her chest, still holding the knife in her hand.

"Natalia-"

"Did he really never care?" the Belarusian's sobs became quiet. "But then again…why would he care about worthless scum?"

"Nat-"

"I don't want to…anymore," she hiccupped. Alfred narrowed his eyebrows at her, trying to hear better this time. She raised the knife in the air. His eyes widened as she was about to drive it into her abdomen.

"NAT!" he lunged forward, knocking the knife out of her hand and pulling her into his arms all in one swift motion. The girl's cellphone fell to the ground. It all happened in a blur, at least to the girl. "It's going to be alright, I promise," the American whispered into her hair.

She tried to struggle, tried to break out of his grip, but he was too strong…and part of her didn't want to leave him. "You're safe with me, okay?" he leaned back a bit and brushed the stray strands away from her face slowly, smiling gently with soft and caring eyes. Her eyes were still watery as she bit her lower lip. She nodded lightly once before wrapping her arms around the hero's back tightly as her sobbing started up again. He wrapped one arm around the small of her back while his other hand rested behind her head.

Alfred rocked her lightly in his arms, whispering words of promises that things would get better and that he would be there for her no matter what. "I'm scared," she whispered.

"Shhh," he whispered back, looking up at the night sky. "Just take in a breath and relax a bit." He was still swaying her lightly from side to side, and it seemed to work. She was slowly calming down. Natalia smiled tiredly. "Thank you."

Been a fan of this pairing for a long while and I've been dying to write something for them. This was loosely based of "Ring my Bells" by Enrique Iglesias. Hope you've enjoyed! :3

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BTW: Update schedule on my profile. Check it out if you get the chance!