WARNING! CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR CAPTAIN AMERICA: WINTER SOLDIER!

Loki was on a bridge in Central Park, throwing crumbs absently at some silly birds. After all, he had nothing better to do. Frankly, he was discouraged. Captain America kept evading him, he hadn't had a bath in months, his own clones were getting rebellious, and he was scared what Odin would tell him if he ever decided to go home. All that aside, Thanos probably wouldn't let him stop, and the Other would gloat something fierce.

Loki knew that his earlier plan of drawing Captain America to the concert was a solid one. It failed, but still, it was a valiant effort.

"Maybe," Loki mused, "I need some more appetizing bait. Surely, something as simple as food or money would not suffice. But what else is there?" Loki thought and thought, and even when the birds all flew off in boredom, Loki thought. Finally, a grin crept on his face.

Bucky Barnes, formerly the Winter Soldier, was keeping a low profile at some dusty museum. He visited once a day, sometimes more, to read about himself and Steve. He had already read everything at least five times, but he couldn't stop! Call it an obsession, but he had to come back each time. It's a good thing no one recognized him, or they would have called SHIELD or Steve or something.

Entering the building, Bucky nodded at the female receptionist, who gave him an annoyed, "not AGAIN" look. Whoops. Maybe someone did recognize him.

"Easy, Bucky. Just breathe, calm your nerves, and think of murder. HEY, no, wait, that's what Zola told me to do. Bad, Bucky, BAD!" Bucky slapped himself. The receptionist rolled her eyes.

Suddenly, an explosion rocked the room, and the front doors blew down. Bucky rolled behind a pillar, while the receptionist hid behind the counter. Grabbing an oversized rifle from his pockets (!), he peeked from behind the pillar, trying to get a visual at the target. If it was Steve, he wouldn't shoot. If it was a SHIELD goon….well, maybe he would.

Loki entered the museum, sneering at the paintings and murals hanging from the walls. Asgard was so much cooler looking. Humans were quaint, which was only one of the reasons they were so awful. Captain America was the worst of them, but the rest weren't much better. Hawkeye and Widow were annoying, Bruce Banner was a creep, and Nick Fury was a meanie bossy pants.

Deciding to move past the paintings, Loki started to walk around the lobby. With his luck, Bucky would be hiding downstairs or something. Before Loki could ponder this further, a bullet whizzed past his head, and entered one of the ugly paintings. Loki felt it was a just end for that painting. Still, whoever had fired at him would be in big trouble!

Loki teleported behind Bucky. Thinking fast, Bucky rolled aside, narrowly dodging Loki's staff. Getting to his feet, Bucky dashed towards the stairs. Loki sighed.

"Running will do you no good. I can teleport, I can make clones, and I can use magic to track you. How do you think you can escape? Honestly…"

Loki followed Bucky, yawning. This was too much trouble to catch Captain America, but the end result would be worth it.

Bucky headed to the basement, where there would be more places to hide and launch a sneak attack. Entering the dark room, Bucky let his eyes adjust…but there was nothing there. Everything was gone!

"Looking for things to scurry under like a rat? I took the liberty of removing all object beforehand," Loki explained, appearing behind Bucky. Bucky backed up.

"What do you want with me?" Bucky asked. "I haven't done anything to you, and I left HYDRA." Loki smirked.

"I could care less about HYDRA. I need you as bait for Captain America," Loki said slowly, as if explaining to a child. Bucky glared at Loki.

"Your plan won't work! Steve doesn't give in to terrorist threats! Besides, how will you tell him that you've captured me?" Loki paused. He supposed he could just put posters around. That didn't work for the concert, though…

"Besides, I'm a traitor. I bet Steve wants nothing to do with me," Bucky said bitterly. Loki patted him on the back.

"There, there. I know that feel, bro," Loki sobbed. Together, the two men went to get a drink.

At some hotel somewhere, Other was trying to stay calm. Loki still wasn't back yet, the bills were piling up, and Thanos was…missing. Other took his eyes off him for one second, and this happens!

TO BE CONTINUED

Author's Notes: Haha, in the end, Loki and Bucky were kindred spirits. I think Bucky is more repentant than Loki, but still!

And Thanos is missing! Ah!

To those who haven't seen Winter Soldier yet (WHAT), see it now! Its great!