Now I'm even forgetting when I'm supposed to update. Was it today or yesterday...?

BUT THAT WAS YESTERDAY.

AND YESTERDAY'S GONE.

This chapter was written, edited and uploaded late at night. Sorry.

And I don't own the Avengers or the Doctor. Can I have lil!Steve, though?

~~O~~O~~O~~O~~O~~O~~

Tony, of course, intensely wanted to come. Partially because he wanted to experience time travel and partially so he could help with the mission of finding Loki. Nick eventually agreed to it. Bruce opted out, preferring to work on the Tesseract portal and make sure it remained stable.

Thor, Tony and the Doctor were gathered in front of the Tesseract within ten minutes of the portal opening, ready to charge into the past. One way or another, they were all dancing with impatience.

"Alright. You're cleared." Martin looked up at the three men. "Take care, guys."

"We shall, Blue," Thor said with a firm nod and a smile.

"In we go, then!" the Doctor stepped into the portal without further hesitation. Thor immediately shouldered his way in after him and Tony stepped in with a wave to those they were leaving behind.

~~O~~O~~O~~O`~O~~O~~

"Looks like it's a success," Tony said as they looked around. He smiled pleasantly at the gawking driver of a car.

"It does appear to be Midgard of an older time," Thor agreed. "Perhaps we should inquire as to when, exactly."

"No need." The Doctor waved off the suggestion and spun in a circle, his expression vague and thoughtful. He went to the corner of a building and stroked his hand down the bricks. "It's… late 1929."

"You can't accurately figure that out from poking a building," Tony scoffed.

"Oh, I can't, can't I? First of all, I recognize the age of the things around us, and I set the Tesseract carefully. It's 1929," the Doctor said a little petulantly.

"As long as we are in the same time as my brother. We must find him now," Thor said, turning to cross the street. He remembered just in time to wait for an opening in the traffic before dashing across.

The Doctor ran after him and Tony followed at a more comfortable pace. He was busy studying his surroundings.

They went across several alleys and streets under the Doctor's rather wobbly and whimsical guiding until they came to one particular alley. Thor and Tony watched in slight bemusement as the Doctor walked in an increasingly anxious circle, eventually stopping to stand on top of a large, square mark at one side of the alley.

"She was here," the Doctor said a little despairingly. "They must've moved her."

"Can you track them again?" Tony asked.

"No. Not this fast. Not with what's in the late 1920's." The Doctor slowly turned in a circle, running a hand through his hair and frowning.

"Right. What sort of radiation or energy distortion traces does it leave? Anything?" Tony set down his suitcase and entered in a key code, preparing it to deploy.

"Huon energy. Faint traces." The Doctor turned and raised an eyebrow. "What're you doing?"

"Going out looking. Tell me the structure of the traces and how they react to the molecules in the air."

The Doctor described huon energy to the best of his ability while Thor wandered and Tony suited up. Tony eventually announced that he had it down and then flew off, spiraling outward as he powered up JARVIS and had the AI search for what would match the described properties of the energy.

JARVIS observed that he was no longer capable of connecting to the tower's main-frame and Tony dismissed the observation. They talked for a while as Tony spent about thirty minutes traversing the city, searching for huon particles. The only traces were where the TARDIS had rested, where the Doctor had tracked her to.

He returned with a look of irritation, unseen under the faceplate of his suit. "I got nothing for miles around."

"Then we do not know where my brother has gotten to," Thor said grimly.

~~O~~O~~O~~O~~O~~O~~

Loki stood in silence, watching the Tesseract that sat before him in the Midgardian's strange machinery, powering it. Johann and his puffball-faced scientist stood nearby, watching him warily.

"Leave me," Loki said coldly.

"I do not think I will leave my enemy with such a power within arm's reach," Johann said dryly.

"Your machinery would destroy itself if anyone but you removed the Tesseract in a very specific way. I am not interested in an explosion. Leave me."

Johann walked to the doorway and stood next to it, making it clear he was not going to leave. But he did send the scientist out with an impatient gesture.

Loki shook his head slightly and banished the human's presence from his mind. He needed a quiet moment of thought.

He had the Tesseract and the TARDIS. His power was practically unlimited if he had any measure at all of the two objects.

Deep down, he didn't know where to go.

He was banished from Asgard as firmly as if there was an invisible barrier holding him away from it. But it had been his home, and home of his family. It was not something he could leave behind forever. Some part of him still craved to see the majestic cities and feel the sunlight—and the magic, thick and heady. He hated that part, hated its need for his home and people.

They were not his people. He was not even an Asgardian. He was a Jotun in disguise. Even if the Asgardians were his people, they had turned away from him, and his own kind was primitive and the stuff of his childhood tales and nightmares. He had no place among them.

He swore quietly, cursing the name of Odin and all that the Allfather had done.

Loki turned away from the Tesseract. He was left to find his own place.

"Your work has potential, Schmidt," Loki drawled, turning to face the human. "Tell me what you are trying to do with it. I sense a war."

~~O~~O~~O~~O~~O~~O~~

Steve gently pushed the TARDIS door open and peeked out. There'd been a racket and then the Ponds had disappeared.

Worry prickled through him as he saw a swastika banner on the other side of the room. He was alone. He looked around, unsure, and withdrew back into the TARDIS. There were Nazis around and the only safe place he had was the strange ship.

He restlessly went around the console room, frowning and trying to figure out what to do. A paper fell to the ground beside him and he stopped to pick it up.

There was messy writing burned into it, barely legible. A faint rumble shook the room and he clutched the paper close while he steadied himself. He glanced at the paper again.

Pull.

He looked at the console, puzzling out where the paper had fallen from. The only pull-able object was a small, round, bright yellow thing. He fiddled with it for a moment and then gave it a good tug.

~~O~~O~~O~~O~~O~~O~~

So. Yeah. There you go. Shorter chapter than usual, I think.

November's in five days, guys. I'll try to keep going, but...