Short chapter this time around. Sorry about that.

Chapter 9: Patching The Pup Up

Ivan set Alfred's semi-naked body, wrapped in his tan overcoat, down upon the bed that the boy shared with Matthew. Reaching into his pocket, he set Alfred's glasses onto the night stand before he smirked down at the slumbering boy; his chest rose and fell quickly, heaving to breathe even in his current unconscious state. For a moment, he thought he may have been too hard on the boy until he remembered he was his property to do with as he pleased to begin with.

One-by-one, the Russian pulled off his bloodied gloves with his teeth before he caressed the boy's cheek with the back of his hand. He hummed when Alfred leaned into the touch, chuckling as he said, "He surely is a pretty one, that is for sure."

Alfred moaned in his sleep, his brow creased. "Mama..." he uttered with the voice of a child.

Running footsteps reached Ivan's ears, and he turned his head to the door, which he had left open upon entering. Surely enough, in came scampering a panicked and teary-eyed Matthew, who held onto his plush polar bear for dear life. As soon as he laid his eyes on his brother, he exclaimed, "Big Brother!"

Ivan stood up straight, keeping his expression stern as Matthew practically jumped onto the vacant side of the bed and scrambled over to the unconscious boy. He shook like a cold, wet leaf on a windy day as he placed his hands on Alfred's shoulders. "Big Brother..." he whimpered, his nose wrinkling as he lowered his head and began to cry into his twin's shoulder. "Master..." he whispered. "Master, why did you have to be so cruel?!..."

Ivan's eyebrows bolted up onto his forehead. "Keep in mind, Little Matvei, that you and Fredka are my property, da? I am free to do with you as I please. Your starshiy brat needs to learn his place; in a way, needs to be broken in. Do you understand, my Little Sunflower?" ("big brother")

Matthew picked his head up slightly, still crying and still unable to look at Ivan at all, before, with a hiccup, he said, "I could feel it, too..."

Ivan's eyebrow quirked at that. "Hm?"

Matthew then sat up, keeping his head down low. He lifted his trembling hands up to the collar of his frock, undoing the buttons at the top before he slipped it down his shoulders and to his elbows. When he turned around, Ivan laid his eyes on large, painful-looking bruises strewn carelessly across the boy's back; just as carelessly as he had given the lashes to Alfred. If Ivan weren't so in control of himself, surely he would have gasped at the sight upon the back of the more fragile twin; Matthew's pale, silky skin looked as delicate as porcelain and as white as milk.

"Big Brother... Big Brother and I have always been close... when we were babies, we could only sleep well if we were in the same crib... it's always been me and him against the world..." Matthew slipped his eyes closed, continuing to shake beneath Ivan's gaze, from his fright and exposing his body to the man. "Mother and Father never thought it was possible for twins to feel each others' pain until it happened to us. Most of the time we're able to only feel when our pain is great... so when you started to punish Big Brother, I could feel everything." He sniffled, holding back a sob in his gut. "Not nearly as badly as what he felt... but..." He then lifted his arms, pulling his garment back up and over his torso. "Keep this in mind the next time we do something wrong."

Ivan simply turned and walked around the bed. "Duely noted."

Matthew, somehow, was able to lift his head up, the curl hanging from his part bouncing lightly as he did. Ivan stopped at the doorway, resting his hand on the doorframe, before turning his eyes onto the shaking boy. "Matvei, you and Fredka are rather useless to us for the day. I'll allow you to take the day off, but you must return to your duties tomorrow."

"But... but what about-"

"Fredka will resume his duties when he is recovered." Ivan replied before he exited, his scarf fluttering behind him as he began his brisk walk down the hall.

Matthew turned around, giving his full attention to his slumbering-uneasily brother, and grasped Alfred's hand in his hands. He gave it gentle kisses before he leaned over and peppered kisses over his cheeks, nose, forehead... anywhere he could. He even dared to plant his lips onto Alfred's, not surprised when they didn't move in response. When he pulled away, he placed his forehead on Alfred's and whispered, "Big Brother... don't worry... I'll keep him away from you for the rest of the day... he won't hurt you again... I promise..."

Had he seen his brother's face at that moment, he would have seen a small smile twitch onto his lips for just a moment.

When Ivan entered his office, he was met with a stern, angry look on his dear sister's face. He simply smiled his sly smile and asked, "What is it, my Sestra?"

"Sometimes I swear I don't know you anymore, Little Brother." Katyusha replied in a harsh tone. "Why on Earth - he's just a child, it was an accident! We could hear him screaming for mercy from up here!" She crossed her arms across her jiggling breasts. "Matthew started having a panic attack! He tried to find his way downstairs and then he started hyper-ventilating! I had to hold him and rock him like a baby just to try to calm him down!"

"He probably took it as an excuse to coddle his way into your bosom, da?" Ivan questioned as he walked by his sister.

"Malen'kiy Brat!" ("Little Brother!") Katyusha exclaimed, turning as Ivan walked to his desk, upon where he sat down Princessa Pushka hopped onto the wooden surface. He patted Pushka atop of her head, resulting in her immediately starting to purr. "I, for one, think that the fact you purchased these boys is completely and utterly despicable! I hate the fact that our home country has become such a ruthless bully to their kind! The invasion was a bad idea from the start!" She placed her hands on her chest, over her heart. "Every time I heard reports about the invasion on the radio or on the news... I started to cry! Ivanya, we've lived in America before! How can you not remember-"

"I remember very clearly, da, and I always will." Ivan replied curtly, his hand ceasing to move on Pushka's head.

"Brother," Katyusha's voice was firmer now. "I don't care what your line of work makes you do. I never want to see you treat those boys so harshly again! Do you hear me?!"

"They are not on same level as us, da. They are lower than dogs in our land."

"I. Don't. Care!" Katyusha exclaimed, fisting her hands and making her boobs bounce again. "As far as I'm concerned, they're a part of the family! I will not let you toy with them until they've whittled away! I will treat them with the same love and respect that I give my own sons!"

"I don't care what you do, Sestra," Ivan began, reclining in his desk chair. "However, I will treat my pets the way I please, da."

Katyusha huffed out through her flaring nostrils before turning around and beginning to storm to the exit. "Just remember one thing, Brother." she said at the door. "Their kind gave you mercy once."

With that, she left, slamming the door, making the picture frames rattle on the wall.

"Hmmph," Ivan sighed as Puskha jumped into his lap. "Only once."

When Matthew heard the door open, he immediately snapped his eyes open and sat up, holding his arms out at his sides so as to block off Alfred from whoever was there.

"There, there, dear," Katyusha said with a gentle smile as she entered the room, holding a tray full of medical supplies. "There's nothing to be afraid of anymore."

Matthew relaxed slightly at the Russian woman's presence and kind voice, and adjusted himself to kneel on the bed. "Madame, bonjour." he said quietly, giving her a bow of respect.

Katyusha placed the tray down on the night stand, moving Alfred's glasses to the side of it. "None of that, now. I'm no mistress to anyone." she said, leaning one of her hands over and placing it atop of Matthew's soft, slightly wavy hair. She smiled sadly at the little whimper he let out at that, and gave him a few soothing caresses. "I'm just Katyusha to you, or any sort of variant that pleases you. Da?"

Matthew nodded when she took her hand away, uttering a quiet, "Oui."

Katyusha smiled at that before she leaned over and undid the top of her brother's overcoat. "I hope there isn't too much blood on this; it's Ivan's favorite coat." She pulled it apart and saw Alfred's chest, injured from the plate shards, and his blood-spattered bloomers. "We ought to give him a bath before we get him patched up..." Carefully, she wound one arm around Alfred's knees, lifting him off of Ivan's coat and against her shoulder. She held back a shudder, strongly, as she felt his open wounds against her arm. "Would you give me a hand, dear?" she asked, keeping her eyes on Matthew as she turned toward the bathroom.

Matthew then managed a small smile himself before he nodded, crawling over the edge of the bed and setting his feet down to follow after her, like a gosling to its mother goose.

Having Katyusha around, acting like a mother-figure, it helped to give him and Alfred a little sense of normalcy. She was nothing like her brother, and that's what they liked about her. She wasn't playing mind-games with them or trying to convince them they were more worthless than the ground dogs pooped on; she and her boys treated them as equals.

Matthew felt better, knowing that she was around.

Katyusha wasn't hesitant at all to fully undress Alfred, being the mother of three boys, and soon enough she was holding him up and carefully washing his body in the warm, bubbleless water, doing her best to keep herself composed at the sight of the unconscious teen's battered body. Matthew, too, tried not to cry too much at the sight of his injured brother, even going so far as to gently wash his hair and massage his scalp as he did so.

Alfred, throughout the whole ordeal, remained asleep. Even after being lifted nude out of the tub, wrapped in a towel and dried before he was brought back to the bed, where he was dressed in a clean pair of boxers before she cleaned his wounds and wrapped his torso up in bandages. After that, she dressed him in a fresh pair of pajamas, planted a tender kiss onto Alfred's forehead and told Matthew she would bring them both up some lunch in a little while, to which Matthew nodded.

With that, she left the boys be.

To Be Continued...

Again, I apologize for the shortness of this chapter. Every time I update I can't believe I'm close to running out of material... I'm going to work hard on chapter 16 later tonight, maybe start it over since I'm stuck, and hopefully be able to get more done so I won't need to lengthen the time between updates.

However, I have one request before I update next week. I would love to see my review count go up to 30 or 35; I keep receiving e-mail alerts telling me I have new followers and people who have favorited this, and so I want to see some more reviews as well. As of right now, I have somewhere over twenty followers and I love hearing from my readers, even if the review is just a few words long.

So, when I get 30 reviews, to sweeten the deal, I will update that very same day or the day after, depending on the amount of time I have for editing.

As usual, thank you all for reading, and now review!~ ;P Remember, 30 is the magic number!