The next morning, there was a soft knock on her door. When she opened it, Tony was standing there, fully dressed. "Today's going to be a nice day," he said. "Thought it was nice enough for an outing in the park." Her entire face brightened and he grinned.

"Did you wake Loki up yet?" she whispered. He shook his head. "I'm going to do that then, okay?"

"By all means," he gave her a small, mocking bow, then retired to the bar area.

Catherine hurried across the hall and rapped lightly on her admirer's door. When he opened it, she was surprised to see him in his pajamas. Since she had first met him, she had never seen him with his night clothes on, he preferred to be fully dressed at most hours, even very early and late ones.

"Get dressed," she said secretively. "I've got a surprise for you."

He looked suspicious. "What is it?"

"I'm not going to tell you! You'll just have to wait and see."

He quirked an eyebrow, but closed his door again, assumedly to clothe himself for the day. Catherine gave a tiny, excited squeal, then dashed back to her own room to try and get ready before him.

A few minutes later, she zipped back out, pleased to find she was finished before her boyfriend. Tony was still at the bar, messing around on his phone. When Catherine started to get cereal out of the cupboard, he stopped her.

"Don't eat anything," he said. "We'll get something while we're out."

She spontaneously hugged him, startling the man. "Thank you, Tony. I really, really appreciate this."

"Please, don't mention it. Like, ever."

She giggled. "Will do."

Loki entered the room, half-smiling. "Now will you tell me what this is all about?"

"Nope! But you're gonna want to dress warmer."

"Are we going onto the rooftop?"

"Maybe. Just get your coat and boots." Catherine grabbed her own winter things, beginning to put them on. Tony and Loki followed suit, the billionaire shrugging when the mischief-maker sent him a questioning glance. They all crowded into the elevator where Tony pressed the button for the garage floor.

Loki raised an eyebrow. "Another trip to S.H.I.E.L.D.? Kate isn't usually allowed to come." The two siblings exchanged a look, but didn't say anything. When the elevator opened, Tony led the way to his white Cadillac, making Loki question him again. "And we usually take the reinforced Jeep thing."

Tony took the driver's seat, while Loki and Catherine slid into the back. When they pulled out of the garage, she took the man's hand, smiling reassuringly.

"First stop," announced her brother a few minutes later, parking in front of a cute little coffee shop. "Coffee and breakfast, the best way to start your day." He and the woman unbuckled, but Loki stayed still, prepared to remain in the car while they got victuals.

Catherine reached over and clicked his seatbelt open for him with a broad smile. "Come on." She opened her door, walking around to Loki's side when he still didn't move. She tugged his door wide open and reached in to pull him out. "Come on," she said a little more forcefully, but no less cheerfully.

His green eyes were wide, making them appear brighter than ever. "Really?"

"Really." The grin couldn't have been wiped off her face by anything in the world.

Loki stepped out slowly, taking in a deep breath of city air. When he released it, a cloud of mist materialized, evaporating a moment later. A smile spread across his face and his grabbed Catherine's hand to hold it tightly, conveying his gratefulness better than words ever could.

They let Tony lead the way into the cafe; Catherine was hoping that everyone would notice him and not Loki. Not to her surprise, that's what happened. People saw Tony Stark and rushed up to him, taking videos and asking for autographs while Catherine and Loki slid around him to order their drinks. Loki was at a loss of what to get, so his girlfriend ordered for him.

"Two egg sandwiches with cheese and two medium hot chocolates," she said to the amazed looking barista, who was watching Tony more than the cash register.

The billionaire slipped out of the crowd for a moment to order and pay, then returned to his adoring fans. Nobody seemed to really recognize Loki, they probably hadn't gotten a good look at him during the invasion anyways, and he was wearing jeans and a thick coat, that gave him a more modern look. There was one person who kept glancing at him, but the trio hurried out before he could bother them.

Once they were in the warm car, everyone dug into their food, groaning appreciatively at the fantastic tastes. Catherine nestled against Loki, relishing both her breakfast sandwich and his nearness.

"Well," said Tony, "the park's right around the corner. Shall we?"

Loki's dark eyebrows drew together. "What park?"

"Yes please!" The woman said without answering her beau. So her brother drove them over to Central Park, finding a spot to park by Sheep Meadow. "Let's go!" She was the first one out of the car, holding tight to her hot chocolate. She grabbed a fully-inflated soccer ball out of the trunk, making Loki smile quizzically.

There were a few people in the meadow. A redheaded lady was making a snowman with a brown-haired man; another man, blond, was reading a newspaper on a bench; a third man with dark hair was strolling the outskirts of the field; but everyone was spread out, so Catherine didn't think there would be any problems.

She gulped down some hot chocolate. "Okay, while we're drinking, I'm going to explain the game we'll play. It's very simple. I get a goal to protect in one spot, while you get another directly across with lots of space in between. We're going to kick the ball into the other person's goal and try to protect our own. No touching the ball with your hands, and no tackling me. Any questions?"

"Are we going to play soccer?"

"Essentially, yes. A simplified version without a referee. Unless you want Tony to call everything on you because he's very biased."

"No, no. By all means, a simplified version it is."

"Good, because I have no idea how to play actual soccer." Catherine giggled, then looked over her shoulder to see what Tony was up to. He had drifted over to the bench where the blond man was sitting and the two were talking. That was suspicious. Tony didn't often start conversations with strangers. "Um, I'll be right back." Catherine walked over to her brother. "Hey, Tony. Who's this?"

Tony's mouth opened, then closed hesitantly. "Uh... Steve."

The other man stood up, holding out his hand politely. "Hi, I'm Steve Rogers. You must be Catherine. Tony's told me a lot about you."

She shook his hand, glancing over at Tony with a frown. "Steve Rogers? You mean Captain America?" Her eyes widened. "You brought him here to watch Loki, didn't you?" Her gaze swept around the snow-covered meadow again. "You brought other people too! Seriously, Tony?"

"I had to do something, Kate! If Loki escaped, I would have been in a ridiculous amount of trouble and so would the world!"

Catherine crossed her arms. "He's not going to even try to escape. He's happy enough where he's at."

"How would you know? The man's a trickster, he'll do whatever it takes to get out of here. He tried to take over the world, who knows what else he'll try to do?"

Her eyebrows raised and she glanced over at Loki, who was trying to bounce the ball off his knees like a professional. The ball sprang off his knee and smacked him in the face, making him blink hard in surprise. When she turned back to Tony, one eyebrow was raised in a "really? That guy?" look. He shrugged.

"All due respect, Ma'am," Steve interjected, "I'm with Tony. Loki is a criminal and has to be dealt with as such."

She shook her head. "Fine. Whatever. You guys will see." She left her empty cup with Tony, then turned and crunched back through the snow to her boyfriend, who was now waiting expectantly for her, soccer ball in hand. "Are you ready to play?" she asked with a smile, taking the ball from his hands and tossing it up and down.

Loki glanced at Tony and Steve, who were watching, and nodded. "Of course."

They established goals, then flipped a coin (borrowed from Tony) to determine who started out with the ball. Catherine won. She placed the ball at her goal, then started off. She was not a very good soccer play, tripping over the ball nearly as many times as she kicked it. Luckily, Loki was just as terrible, or at least pretending to be. Several times he got over-confident and gave the ball a hard kick from halfway across their playing field in an attempt to strike inside the goal. He missed every time.

Regardless of their lack of experience, they both had fun, laughing nearly the entire game until Catherine's cheeks hurt from being so stretched. Finally, exhaustion overtook them and Loki was declared the winner. Leaving the soccer ball, they started slowly walking the perimeter of the meadow. Loki put his arm around Catherine, who leaned into his warmth. She looked up at him and smiled at how handsome he looked, his eyes were bright, his cheeks red from the cold and exercise, a happy grin tugging the corners of his mouth.

Loki glanced down, catching her gaze. "What?" he asked, still a little breathless from their game.

The woman blushed a little and looked away. "Nothing."

They walked in silence for a little while. Then Loki stopped and turned to face her. "Catherine, its been a long time since I've been so touched by someone's care for me. You've been my advocate and friend ever since you came to the Tower, eventually blooming into something more than that. I just want to thank you for getting me this privilege again, the privilege to walk practically free outside. And," his eyes were soft, "for the ability to love again."

There was something strange in the air between them, something that took Catherine's breath away. As Loki leaned closer, so did she, allowing him to press his lips against hers gently. She put her hands on his shoulders, feeling warm despite the coldness of the air. She felt strangely shaky, yet elevated when they parted, her heart beating at the speed of a train. She looked into Loki's eyes without letting him go, a gentle smile on her lips.

"Hey!" Tony's voice broke into the serene moment. He was running over to them, waving his hands angrily.

Catherine gave a small laugh. "I don't think he liked that."

"But I did," Loki said roguishly. He leaned down and captured her in another kiss quickly, before Tony could make his way over to stop them.

From the burning of her apartment, to now the burning of her heart. Catherine was grateful to whatever brought these events about, because it had led her to where she was.