Movement next to Loki on the bed caused him to jolt awake. Where was he? He stared at the beige ceiling, trying to make sense of his surroundings. Well, he certainly wasn't on Asgard. As the early morning fog cleared from his brain, memories from the night before flitted through his mind. Kat, the dinner, the sex, the most satisfying orgasm he could remember ever having. He must've fallen asleep at her apartment. Oops. Originally, he had intended to be back on Asgard by late yesterday evening. He breathed out a sigh as he considered how he would cover up his tryst. He would probably have to make up some excuse about visiting one of the other realms. Odin used to do that sort of thing all the time. Technically it wasn't a lie, and the best way to lie was always with the truth.

Turning his mind away from the problem of what to tell the citizens of Asgard when he returned, he brought himself back to the present. This was a far more pleasant place to be than some Asgardian council chamber. He felt Kat next to him, the heat of her back against his arm. Rolling from his back to his side, he pulled her still naked body to him, wrapping his arms around her. They fit perfectly together. He pressed a gentle kiss to her shoulder, causing her to stir.

"Larry? You're still here?" she mumbled sleepily. He could hear her smile through her raspy morning voice. Gods, that might even be sexier than her vixen voice.

"Of course, Darling. Do you really think after a night like that I would leave without saying anything?" He placed another kiss on her shoulder.

"That feels good," she murmured, her slurred words indicating she was still only half awake. Her body wiggled against his, snuggling herself against him. Loki bit back a moan as her ass rubbed against his morning wood.

"What time is it?" He could tell it was morning, but still relatively early. Pale sunlight streamed through the gap between her nearly closed curtains. With a small groan Kat reached for her alarm clock and turned it toward them.

"Seven thirty," she mumbled, punctuating that fact with another groan. She flopped her arm back onto the bed. "Too early. Saturday."

"How about I go get us some breakfast then, Kitten? I'll even bring you tea." He pitched his tone up at the end placatingly. He brushed her tangled mass of brown and blue hair back from her face, placing a kiss on her cheek. Her lips twitched up into a smile.

"Mmmm. Tea sounds good." She rolled over, her eyes still closed against the morning light. "You'll need the entrance code. 2597. I don't want to have to buzz you in again. Too tired." She yawned, wiggling into the mattress and pulling up the blanket. Loki chuckled.

"Alright, Pet. I'll be back shortly." He tipped her chin up so he could kiss her. Like all their kisses, this one got heated quickly. His hand trailed down her side to grab her hip, pulling her against him. Her hand went to the back of his head to tangle in his hair. After a moment though, Kat froze. Loki broke the kiss and pulled back slightly, confused at the sudden change in pace.

Kat's eyes were open wide with shock, her mouth slightly open. Her fingers were still tangled in his hair. His long black hair. Shit.

"You… you're…" she stuttered, clearly trying to make sense of what she was seeing.

Loki's spell had worn off in the night. He hadn't even registered that the tell-tale tingling of the spell wasn't there when he woke. Clearly, he was more enamored with her than he'd originally thought. He was so focused on her that he failed to notice that his disguise was no longer in place. His long black hair hung in disarray, ending around his shoulders. His face was slightly sharper angled than it had been the night before, his skin slightly paler. Loki pressed his lips together tightly and squeezed his eyes shut as a feeling of dread spread through him. Her finding this out while they were naked in bed together was not ideal. In fact, this was probably one of the worst possible ways she could have found out. At least he could hope that without all his ornamentation she may not recognize him as the being who destroyed New York.

"Kat, Darling, it's still me" he said after a moment had passed and she was still staring at him in shock. He pulled back from her and raised his hands in a pleading gesture. It felt like his heart was in his throat. He desperately wanted her to know that all of this had been real to him, even if his face hadn't been.

"Oh my god" she whispered, drawing her hand back from him suddenly as if she'd been burned. "You're him. You're Loki." So much for the hope that she wouldn't recognize him.

"Kat, I can explain…" Loki trailed off as emotions crossed Kat's face in quick succession. As the shock wore off, it gave way to anger, followed quickly by sadness, and then by a look of pure pain. Seeing her in pain and knowing he caused it made him feel a little sick to his stomach.

"I just… I need a minute." Kat stood briskly, almost robotically, wrapping a blanket from the bed around herself. "Just… I'll be right back."

"Kitten-" Loki started, but before he could get out another word, the door to the bathroom clicked shut. He squeezed his eyes shut again. Fuck. Fuck fuck. When she got her bearings, she was going to yell at him, he just knew it. She was going to yell and scream and kick him out and tell him to never come back. Of course she was. He was the being who destroyed New York, who had been responsible for the death of her family, no matter how horrible they'd been to her. He'd lied to her about his entire identity. She had absolutely every reason to never want to see him again. No matter how much it had seemed like she'd liked him, it was Larry that she liked, not Loki. And now that she knew he was actually Loki, she wasn't going to want him anymore. Nobody could possibly want him after everything that he'd done. That was how it always went for him. He was never good enough on his own. It would be easier for them both if he were gone by the time she emerged.

Hurriedly he began to dress, pulling on first his boxers, then his jeans. The button up took him a moment longer than he'd liked and he almost forgot his blazer, sitting on the arm of her reading chair. The last thing he did was make sure his disguise was fully in place before he left. One person finding out he was Loki was enough.

As he slipped out of her apartment and out of her building several feelings ran through him. The first was an uncomfortable ache in his chest. This feeling he recognized as loss, something he was only too familiar with. The next was sheer terror as the implications of being found out set in. Surely Kat was going to report him to the Avengers. Then his idiot brother Thor would come sniffing around Asgard and would surely discover his secret. Worse, the whole team of Avengers may come after him. He shuddered. Either option ended up with him dead or in prison once again. The last feeling that ran through him was not his own. It was then he remembered that Kat still had his ring. Kat was experiencing pure heartbreak. It was devastating, gut wrenching. After a moment she faded from his awareness, but the feeling didn't quite dissipate. As he walked back toward the place where the veil between worlds was thin, he didn't feel any more flashes from her. He felt his own heart break slightly. She had taken off the ring.

Note: I decided to break this bit into 2 shorter chapters. Normally, I like my chapters to be around 3000 words or so, but it felt awkward putting these two pieces together. The next section will be from Loki's perspective, but pretty much all in his head. After the next chapter we'll get back to Kat's perspective and work on resolving this big mess Loki made. The next shorter section will be up before the weekend.

As always, love reviews and comments, follows and favorites.

Much love,

Kitty