Part three! Yay! More Zarter!

Quick summary: the battle with Apophis was nearing, and the magicians chickened out and basically put the Nomes in "lockdown", not allowing anyone in or out, but Carter and Sadie snuck out anyway—and left Zia behind. So this is them returning to the First Nome after kicking Apophis's scaly butt. And yes, in my imagination Carter and Zia have gotten together by now. Enjoy :)

O-o-O

I'm coming home, coming home,

Tell the world that I'm coming home,

Let the rain wash away

All the pain of yesterday

I know my kingdom awaits

And they've forgiven my mistakes

I'm coming home, coming home,

Tell the world I'm coming…

Carter had never been more exhausted in his life, and that included waking up after being bitten by the two-headed snake. He stumbled across the rope bridge spanning the chasm and nearly tumbled over the side, but Sadie grabbed him by the shirt collar. He shook his head and pressed on, his weary feet catching on the boards.

He didn't get it. He shouldn't be this tired; he and Sadie had taken an almost twenty-four-hour nap. This was a different kind of tired. He felt emotionally tired, like all feeling had been sucked out of him. He wanted to lay down right where he was and not move.

Sadie pushed him through the gates and onto the huge grand staircase descending into the First Nome's main marketplace. The stairs hadn't been used for a week now, due to the lockdown, so naturally they caught everyone's attention. The soft buzz of whispered conversation slowly died out as they staggered down. One by one, every magician's eyes fixed on them and all their sweaty, blood-soaked glory. A single clap echoed off the high ceilings. Then another. Then a roar of applause was filling the market, and people were dashing up the steps to greet them, yell in their ears, touch them, and Carter ducked out so that he could breathe while Sadie was surrounded by the crowd. He sank onto a step and sighed, rubbing his eyes. He would love nothing more than to close his eyes and make the world shut up. Sadly, he figured that wasn't going to happen.

Carter's eyes fixed on a black speck moving through the crowd at the base of the steps. Zia pushed through, eyes in some scroll, muttering to herself and looking extremely annoyed, and just as tired as Carter. Her linen robes were black—mourning clothes. She thought they had died. Her eyes were puffy and red, and she kept wrapping her arms around her chest like she was trying to hold herself together. He saw one of the younger magicians grab her arm and point to the steps. She sighed and glanced up, meeting Carter's eyes.

"Carter!"

Her scroll clattered to the ground as Zia sprinted up the stairs, two at a time. She reached him and tackled him, knocking him onto his back.

"Carter Julius Kane, don't you ever do that to me again!"

Her amber eyes sparkled, more awake than they had been seconds before. Carter felt more alert, like he had just gotten an adrenaline shock in his veins. He hugged Zia, agreeing, "Yes Ma'am. Not doing that again."

Zia ran a hand through his hair, looking worriedly over his bruised skin. "I know what happened to you…but what happened to you? You're a mess."

"There aren't any showers in the Duat."

"I get that, but you look like you got hit by a truck."

"Yeah, well, Apophis didn't feel like playing nicely. He was so stubborn about not dying. Who would've thought?"

"Idiot."

"Z, I'm glad to see you, but can you get up or scoot over or something? I can't breathe. And I bruised my ribs up."

She sat on the step next to him and watched while he stretched out his stiff joints. Then he fell back on the step, muttering "ow" when the corner dug into his spine.

"In case you wanted to know, I did get hit by a truck."

Zia raised an eyebrow. "Really?"

"Yeah, some demon got a hold of a taco truck and decided it didn't like me. Thank Ra it was too short to press the gas pedal down very far."

"That's just your luck, isn't it?"

"Pretty much."

She touched a bruise on his cheek and he winced, saying, "Can you tell my week hasn't been that great?"

"It looks like you have a lot of owies. Want me to make them better?" Without waiting for an answer, Zia pecked him on the cheek.

Carter smiled and took her hand. "I think my mouth is bleeding. Will you make that better?"

"Of course." They pressed their lips together.

Another magician who was lounging a few steps above them whistled and shouted, "Yeah, get some, Zia!"

A little crowd of onlookers started to gather, cheering and wolf whistling while Carter tucked Zia under his arm. Then Zia pulled back and grabbed Carter's wrist, smiling while she pulled him down the stairs and around a corner, which earned quite a few shouts.

Once they were out of sight, Zia sank to the ground and glared at Carter. "I really, really want to kill you right now."

He sat down opposite her and said, "I'm not confused at all. Thanks for asking."

"I mean it."

"Obviously. What did I do this time? And why did you feel the need to bring me here?"

"I brought you here because if I get any more sympathetic looks I'm going to decapitate someone. With a spoon."

"And you're not going to tell me what I did."

She glared at him, her eyes red and damp. "You went to go fight a war and you left me behind! No note, no message, no goodbye. I thought you had died, for Thoth's sake! And you know that I can fight, you don't have to protect me all the time!"

He cocked his head to the side and considered Zia's red face for a moment. Then he said, "You thought we left you behind to…protect you?"

"What other reason would you have?"

"How about time constraint? It was either drag you out of bed and get locked in or leave and save the world, and I'm sorry, but the world comes first. I didn't want to go—your magic could've made it a lot easier—but we didn't have a choice. I'm really, really sorry, Zia, but we just couldn't do it."

Zia rested her forehead on her knees. "Thanks for making me feel like an idiot."

He held his arms open. "Come here, Idiot."

She crawled across the floor and slid into his arms, stretching her legs out and resting her head on Carter's shoulder. "You going to take a nap?" he asked.

"Maybe. I haven't been getting much sleep."

"Me either, but that's partially the fact that I can't lay down."

"Do I want to know why?"

"Apophis kind of threw me against a wall and I threw my back out."

"Want me to fix it?"

Carter gave her a bemused look. "You can do that?"

"Sure. Roll over."

He stretched out on his stomach, saying, "Do I get a treat if I beg?"

"Shut up." She started slipping her shoes off.

"What are you doing?"

"This." She stood up and stepped on his spine, shifting her weight from side to side. His back started popping like an artillery gun.

"Holy Horus," he moaned, letting his head droop onto the floor. "You have magic feet."

Zia started laughing.

"Well, doesn't this look cozy?"

Walt leaned against the wall, smirking in their direction. "I always manage to walk in during the awkward moments."

Carter grinned. "How does this look awkward? It doesn't seem awkward to me."

"Sure. Your girlfriend standing on you and breaking your back isn't awkward at all."

Carter cracked up, which made Zia wobble and yell, "Hey now! Stop laughing, I'm going to fall over." She stepped off and pulled her shoes back on. Carter stretched and sat up, sighing with pleasure.

"Where did you learn that?" he asked.

"You pick up some weird stuff growing up here."

Walt ducked out as Zia pulled Carter to his feet. He grabbed her hands and pulled her closer, resting his chin on her head, and knew he was home.

O-o-O

AYGHAD I FORGOT THE DISCLAIMER!

I don't own anything that might need a copyright sign.

Tell me the truth: When Zia pulled Carter into the hall, how many of you were thinking dirty thoughts? You can tell me in a review. Really. I don't mind at all :)