Welcome back, everybody. Prepare for some limy lemons! ^_~ On with the show.

On Our Own

Larry all but vaulted over everyone to get to his wife. Lucy was sobbing, holding Joe in her arms and a crumpled up paper in one hand. The nurse came and took her nephew so that Larry could get at the distressed woman. Joe was crying; she'd never seen him cry before. And the people around them didn't look like they were faring much better. Stu was eventually able to restore order, but the meeting largely descended into chaos after that shocking announcement.

"Now, everyone just go on home," Stu said gravely as the crowd reluctantly started to disperse. "Let your newly elected committee handle this."

Nick passed her a note before heading off with the newly formed Free Zone Committee to see Mother Abigail's empty house.

Get Tom home and then lock yourself in our house, Yolanda

I don't want you out on the streets until we know more about this situation.

Landi took a shuddering breath and moved to get Tom home. It took a while to calm him down enough to sleep, but she managed it, mostly because she knew a ton of lullabies. When he finally went to sleep, she walked to Lucy and Larry's house to help deal with Joe. The boy was in shock, the security ripped right out of his world for likely the second time in his life. Between the two women, they were able to coax the child to sleep at last.

"You're pretty good at this," Lucy said late that night. Larry still hadn't returned from the committee meeting and the girl could tell that Lucy didn't want to be alone right now.

"You did the heavy lifting 'mom','' Landi teased to get a laugh out of her. It worked and the jittery woman managed a watery laugh for her. "He responds to your energies. You should try to get some sleep, hon. I'll keep a lookout for Larry." The woman was already shaking her head.

"I couldn't sleep at a time like this. Besides, I kinda want to see my husband tonight. Things just feel a little bit colder without her around, you know?"

Landi looked around the luxurious house that neither Larry nor Lucy would have had the money to afford back in the day and nodded shortly. Hell, Nick never would have had a chance to afford his house with its expensive, solid furniture, obviously imported oversized tub, and that custom fireplace. The world had certainly changed.

"Why aren't you crying, Landi? Mother Abigail is gone and you've hardly reacted to it."

"I'm used to being out in the cold when it comes to the Mother," Landi shrugged, finger-combing Joe's hair from her place on the couch with his head in her lap. "Plus, I think I'm in shock. I usually just kinda hunker down when there's work to be done like with Tom and Joe. I'll likely break down when I talk to Nick tonight."

Lucy looked her over in shock. She'd almost forgotten about the black woman's time before they got to Boulder. The girl had managed to keep it together in the most trying of circumstances. She hugged the girl warmly, seemingly out of the blue.

"We'll get through this somehow," Lucy sighed.

"I know," Landi responded automatically. She was thinking of the late hour and wondering what more the Committee might have found when a riff from Larry's guitar had the Iowa girl running for the door. Landi smiled at the move - wondering if she reacted so eagerly to her husband - when Lucy suddenly backed into the house looking devastated.

"Lucy, what's the matter?"

"There's a woman out there. I think she was his first love, the woman from New York," she said dully. "I think he's going to leave me for her."

"Nonsense," Landi said without a second thought. "Larry's smarter than that. That woman may have been his first love, but you're the wife of his heart." Lucy looked out the window. Whatever she saw there made her sob quietly. The girl gently placed Joe's head on the couch and came to her sister in law. Placing her hands on the taller woman's shoulders, she looked up into Lucy's pretty blue eyes.

"Lucy. Retain your trust in your husband. There's power in the broom-jumping ceremony you went through. Larry belongs to you. He will stay true."

The woman looked at her with such desperate hope in her eyes that Landi's heart broke for her. How many times had the Iowa native been relegated to second place in her life? Landi would have guessed 'not often' from the looks of her. It was obvious now that she would have been wrong in her guess. Lucy's eyes were filling with tears as time stretched on like melting taffy for the two women. Finally, Larry came into the house, put his guitar down, and closed the door. Lucy moved forward to greet him.

"Did you come back for your things?" she asked quietly, determined to keep it together and not make things harder on her lover than they had to be.

"No," the guitarist shook his head in disbelief. His hands caressed her face tenderly and he leaned into her boldly. "She's gone. I don't know what she wanted, but she's gone now." The tears leaked down Lucy's face at that. For the first time in her life, she'd won. She was the preferred one. "I love you, Lucy." Larry kissed her tenderly and picked her up to take her upstairs. He desperately wanted to soothe her with his body right now. Landi watched them go with a soft smile on her face. So… Men were capable of thinking with something besides their dicks from time to time. Her mom had told her time and again about the fickleness of man. She hadn't believed men capable of fidelity despite being married to one. Apparently, it just took the right kind of man. Smiling at that pleasant thought, she let herself out of the house silently and started for her home. If Larry was done with the meeting, Nick was likely crawling the walls waiting for her.

When she got home, Nick grabbed her and shook her violently.

Where the heck have you been? I told you to wait for me here!

"Yes'm Massa," she said in an old slave accent. "I's a do jus what you say, Massa." Nick frowned at that.

That's not fair. I was worried about you

"Not worried enough to skip or delay that all-important meeting of yours to make sure I made it home safely. No, just worried enough to be worried that your piece of ass was out wandering the streets at night! Mom was right; all men think with their dicks." Nick stared at her blankly, not knowing where this venom was coming from. "For your information, I was getting Tom and Joe to sleep, it took hours. Then Larry damn near ran off with some random woman, and…"

Yolanda, I'm not going to leave you. I thought that Flagg had gotten to you before I could protect you properly. I never would have forgiven myself if that had happened. I'm sorry that you felt abandoned by me tonight. You're right. I should have taken care of my business before running off to some silly meeting. I won't make that mistake again. We didn't even get much done. Mother Abigail is long gone and only her God knows where.

Landi sighed heavily, the wind taken out of her sails at his abject apology. He was right, she had felt discarded this evening. Abandoned for a shiny new exclusive club.

"Flagg only comes at me when he thinks I'm alone. Staying around people staves him off, Nick. I wasn't about to give him the opportunity to harass me tonight of all nights." She turned away, heading up the stairs.

Where are you headed now?

"I'm exhausted. Emotionally and physically. I'm going to get ready and go to bed. I figure I can take one of the empty rooms upstairs and you can plan your next steps for the committee in peace. Goodnight." The deafmute ran up the stairs around her, blocking her path and looking at her desperately.

Please don't go away from me, little one. I'm not planning anything with the committee right now.

I only want you.

"That's not fair," Landi smiled at the reference, thinking of the Boys to Men song she'd been singing the other day. The group was likely dead and gone now, but their music lived on in her. Nick, for his part, only smiled at her and held out his hand to his wife. She looked at it uncertainly for a moment, then took it, staring into his eyes. He led her back down the stairs and sat her on their bed before going to start a fire. Once the fire was blazing like normal, he turned to her and took his shirt off. The girl looked down as he'd expected her to. She really was a virginal little thing. He sat down next to her and lifted her face with an apprehensive smile on his face. She placed her hand over his mouth.

"I don't want to know your Committee business, Nick. I just don't want the Committee to drive you out of my life. You're kinda important to me." He smiled in relief and kissed her sweetly. "You're welcome," she said, turning away from him to lay on the bed in exhaustion. Nick looked at her in concern, but laid down with her, holding her close to him and caressing her stomach. Seems he wouldn't be getting laid tonight after all.

Landi woke early the next morning still feeling the distance between them. Was this how politician's wives felt? She started untangling herself from Nick's embrace. He was too important to the cause now to be wasted on some nurse from Philly.

His eyes opened as she tried to get away from him. She felt agitated to him and she looked miserable. God, he almost wished for a Flagg dream so that he could talk to her! He was desperate to know what was in that beautiful head of hers. But wishing didn't make it so. He tightened his embrace to let her know that she wasn't going to get away from him and stared her down until she turned fully in his arms to face him.

"Let me go, Nick," she demanded, pushing at his chest. He shook his head, knowing that she was waiting for him to write a note so that she could run away and lock herself in the bathroom. What was the matter with her?

"Nick, let me go," she tried again. Sighing gustily, he climbed atop of her, pinning her in with one hand and leg on either side of her. She tried to roll away and he held her down until she stopped in frustration. Feeling a little frustrated himself, he reached for his pad after holding up a warning finger to her. She huffed and glared daggers at him, but it was the tears in her beautiful brown eyes that had him trying to communicate with her.

Yolanda. Sweetheart… What's the matter? Why are you running away from me like this?

"You're… You're all important now," she finally said, looking at him as if it should be obvious. "You deserve someone better than some nobody nurse from Philly." She was crying now, those silent tears that told him of her torment and misery plainer than if she'd been wailing her pain to the world. Personally, he was fighting hard not to laugh in her face. That was the problem? That was what she was freaking out about right now? Controlling his laughter with a supreme effort, he started writing.

Yolanda Marigold Andros! I can't believe you would ever think that I would be willing to give you up for anything! You are my woman; plain and simple. I'd give up my position on the Committee before I walked away from you! Don't cry, baby. I'm not going anywhere.

"But…" he kissed her forcefully and she melted into his embrace. Her mind worked so strangely sometimes. Then again, maybe a shiny new job equaled a shiny new love in the world she came from.

You're too important, too precious to me for me to ever willingly give you up, little one. This isn't your old life where people were interchangeable. You are the only woman that has ever accepted me for me. I'm myself around you and it's easy. I won't lose you to this, understand?

He still wanted to laugh at her, but he stared at her sternly until she nodded with a sniffle. Then he claimed her lips just as energetically as before, using his hands to shape her head as he dominated her. He started undressing her and she smiled shyly up at him. Soon he was making sweet love to his hurting woman. Suddenly he realized that this was the first time she'd allowed him to touch her sexually since his appointment to the Committee. Rolling his eyes, he sped up his invasion of her. This woman was going to be the death of him.

Later that morning, he woke to the smells of Landi's good food. He threw on his pants and went to see what his bride was doing. She was preparing breakfast at the stove in only his shirt and singing, judging from the rhythmic bobbing of her body.

Got a little motto, always seen me through

When you're good to Mama she'll be good to you

There's a lot of favors I'm prepared to do

You do one for Mama, she'll do one for you

They say that life is tit for tat

And that's the way I live

So I deserve a lot of tat

For what I've got to give

Don't you know that this hand

Washes that one too

When you're good to Mama

Mama's good to you!

"You're good at that," Larry said, laughing as she jumped. "No music and you're still keeping up with the pauses."

"Larry, Jesus! You scared me," she gasped, turning off the stove as she finished up. "What are you doing here?"

"Well, I figured that if you can sneak in and out of my house without informing me that you're there, I might as well return the favor." Landi blushed hard but went on the offensive.

"Well, there wasn't exactly an opening for introductions without ruining the mood," she said at last. "And I've already told you that I'm not a marriage wrecker. I figured I'd just head home."

"It's not exactly safe in the streets at night." he insisted. "I could have driven you home."

"Not with Lucy's tongue in your mouth, you couldn't," she giggled. "I was perfectly safe. Jesus walks with me,"

"I'm sure he does," Larry smiled at her. Nick looked at him expectantly.

"What did you want, bro?" Landi asked, taking the hint from her husband. "As tempting as it likely is to burst into our house unannounced, I have a feeling that you had a reason for being here."

"Oh right, I did," the New Yorker said with a tap to his forehead. Landi rolled her eyes, then moaned when Nick came forward and kissed her hard on the lips. She smiled up at him shyly and he started writing on his pad for her.

"Stu called a meeting of the committee this afternoon," Larry said at last. "I was also hoping to grab some breakfast before the meeting."

There's no reason to feel shy, little love. You're still my insatiable little one. Something I intend to prove after the meeting this afternoon. I want you to writhe for me.

Landi blushed, coming over to wrap her arms around her man. He smirked down at her and licked his way into her mouth.

"Trouble in paradise?" Larry asked, reading the note she'd put on the table. She snatched the note away from him.

"No!" she blushed. "Let's eat. I really want to head out to the west side of town and explore the houses there."

"You know it's not safe to be exploring on your own, sis."

"That's why I was going to invite Nick to come with me," she said, putting the food on the table for the trio to eat. When they finished, Larry actually volunteered to go with them to the west side. As they were driving along Landi suddenly heard something strange.

"Hey, pull over, bro," she said. She was out of the car almost before it had stopped. She followed the weird noises coming from the back of the houses. What she found amazed her. There was a mountain lion scrabbling at a cage in the middle of the third backyard. The Mountain lion looked malnourished and bedraggled. Nick pulled his gun, but the lion saw them and took off.

"Holy shit, was that a mountain lion?" Larry yelled.

"Looked like," Landi shrugged, glad that she wasn't alone. She knelt down to see what they'd saved. In the cage was a sickly looking chicken and rooster. The much picked-over corpse of a child was laying closeby, a scattering of corn feed around its outstretched fist. The girl knelt down and immediately scooped some of the food, dumping it into the cage for the animals. They ate it quickly. She retrieved more of the feed and dropped it in for the two, who ate as if it would be their last meal. Landi wandered into the open back door and started dragging the big bag of feed out of the house and down the stairs. She fed the birds until their scrawny tummies looked full. She then went back into the house and got a bowl full of water for the poor animals.

"We can't just leave them like this," Landi said, at last, looking up at her husband with a pitiful look that would have won over children and small animals, much less two grown men. Nick tied off the feed bag and lifted it to the truck. Landi and Larry grabbed the cage with the two pathetic-looking birds in it and started in that direction as well.

"He's so strong," she said admiringly as they loaded the cage into the truck. The guitarist could only shake his head in fond disgust as she all but drooled over her man.

"You know, it's really disgusting how in love you two are," he scoffed.

"Yeah, but it doesn't matter anymore 'cause he'll be moving on, right?" she said dejectedly as she climbed into the cabin.

"What's that supposed to mean?

"Well, you two are big, important people now. Don't you need shiny new relations to go along with the job?" Larry gaped at her so long that she started to feel uncomfortable. Then he burst out laughing.

"Yolanda, that is the single most stupidest thing you have ever said to me. Nick, are you getting this?" The girl turned to her husband in embarrassment only to see him laughing as well. She looked indignant as she kicked him in the shin. He yelped but kept laughing.

"It's not like they have standard army-issue wives hidden somewhere for us, honey. And even if they did, I've already got the perfect woman for me. I'm not giving her up for anything." Nick pulled her face back towards him and kissed her open mouth wetly before she could respond. When she raised passion-glazed eyes to him, he handed her a note while massaging her neck muscles.

You see, my love? Even your brother thinks it's a ridiculous idea that I'm going to leave you just because I got a new job. I mean, are you going to leave me when you get back into the healthcare system?

"Of course not! But, wait- So, I get to keep him?" Larry looked at the innocent look of desperation on her face and sighed.

"Yes, little sister. You get to keep him." She squealed and hugged her husband as if she would never let him go. The men exchanged exasperated looks over her head and Larry set off for home. It was just after noon by now and the men had a meeting to get to.

"You gonna keep them birds?" Tom asked as he watched them peck at the ground in the backyard while Landi cleaned out their cage. She was keeping a close eye on the birds and the man, but none of them seemed inclined to stray far. She'd practically had to drag her new pets out of the cage to clean it.

"I am," she nodded. "I'll have to learn how to take care of them, but I'm gonna keep them. Once they're healthy, I'm thinking there'll be fresh eggs every morning for me! I used to love eggs in the morning. And eventually, I'll learn to raise the chicks for fresh chicken."

"Well, Tom Collin knows all about raising chickens! My mama taught me on the farm. I ain't never seen birds so scrawny before though."

"They just need proper feeding, that's all. They hadn't eaten in who knows how long. I'm amazed that they made it this long. I'm going to clear a space in the basement to store them at night. I know that chickens usually stay outside at night, but I don't trust the wildlife around here." She loaded her finds up into the cage and took them downstairs. The basement was surprisingly clutter-free. She set up space for her birds, brought down some feed and water in bowls, made sure that the windows were closed and secured, and left them to it. She and Tom watched them interact from the top of the steps for a while. They seemed alright with each other and with their new digs. After a while Tom got bored and they played hopscotch and jacks until Tom was ready to eat and go home. Landi was just about to start rustling up some grub for the man when Larry pulled up with Nick in tow. Landi barely noticed her brother's departure with the arrival of food. The deafmute had BBQ fare from their meeting and the two dug in happily.

Where are the chickens?

"I set them up in the basement. There's a surprising amount of space down there and I don't trust the local wildlife to leave them alone. Oh, and Tom knows a thing or two about chicken rearing. He's offered to help take care of them with us."

"Laws yes! Tom Collin will help with the chicken and rooster. It's a little weird to have them in the same cage, but they seem to like it."

"We'd really appreciate your help, Tom. But it's about time for you to go home, right?" Landi asked after she noticed the sun starting to set.

"That's right. Night Nick, Night Landi." He ran outside and jumped on his bike, pedaling home fast to beat the night.

"Maybe I'll give the birds to Tom since he knows so much about them," Landi smiled at her man. Her smile dimmed when she noticed Nick's sudden agitation. "What's the matter, Nick?"

It's nothing, love. Let's keep the chickens with us for now, okay?

"Sure," Landi shrugged. "Once they're healthy, I figure we'll have fresh eggs in the mornings. Won't that be nice?" He nodded, looking more interested in her dress at the moment. She undid the top couple of buttons on the front of her jean dress, showing off the silk of her pretty royal blue bra. The man leaned in and kissed her neck, then down into the valley of her breasts. The bra she was wearing was front-clasping, and he took advantage to mark her perfect breasts. She moaned as he pushed her down onto the sofa-bed, whimpering heartily as he undid the rest of the buttons of her dress. The girl was now completely bared to his hungry gaze except for a scrap of royal blue fabric covering her sex. Feeling much like a kid in a candy store, he leaned in to attack her other breast while massaging the first. Once he'd had his fill, he sat up from her and wrote on his notepad

Take off your clothes. You've been starving me since the meeting last night. I don't appreciate it.

"We… we did it this morning," she said timidly, removing her dress, bra, and panties as he'd commanded.

That timid little display of yours wasn't enough to feed me. I intend to punish you for thinking so lowly of yourself and then ride your excitable body to victory until the break of dawn. I'm going to empty every drop of my love into you and then maybe I'll consider letting you rest. Now get over my knee. You need a good spanking like the bad girl you've been, denying me your full love as you have.

She looked into his stern face and knew that he intended to beat her butt. Not sure what to expect, she climbed over his knees, her naked ass sticking up in the air. He spanked it and she jumped. He did it again and she moaned. He was hitting her hard, but she was more excited by it than pained. He soon fell into a rhythm and she started writhing and leaking onto his lap, yelling for him to spank her more. He noticed her arousal right away; he'd never intended to hurt her. Her squirming was quite stimulating to his large cock. He spanked her through two full-body orgasms, then stopped and wrote another note

Get down on your knees and clean up your mess, love

She read it, then wrote her own note

Spank me more, Daddy. Oh please

Unable to resist the simple command, he started spanking her harder and faster. He could feel her vibrations on his lap and it excited him more. He was rock hard and throbbing by the time he decided to stop. She'd come in his lap again.

Suck my dick

She didn't hesitate to take his quivering member into her mouth. Nick leaned back on his elbows and let her clean his phallus thoroughly. She licked and suckled him like a lollipop, he pushed her hair out of the way whenever it got in the way of his view of her. She seemed to know just what to do to make his dick shake. And those vibrations were extremely pleasant as well as stimulating. He let her keep at it until he felt his end approaching. Then he pulled her up into his lap and came inside of her. He then pushed her back down while she was recovering and pointed to his soaked dick. She started suckling him again and he let her until the next ejaculation approached. Once he'd come inside of her, he pushed her back down.

"I want to taste you," she whined up at him.

Later, love. Later if you continue to please me. Now suck me harder.

I want to feel you moaning on my hard dick.

She licked him thoroughly after that, sitting on his lap and squeezing him hard as he came inside of her. Then he did it again, this time allowing her to taste his semen as she wanted.

Get up here and serve me, darling. I am pleased

The horny girl grinned up at him and settled in his lap, ready for more loving. Nick didn't disappoint, pleasing his wife to the point of distraction. She screamed and writhed on his large cock, giving him all the stimulus he needed to continue pleasing her. The two rocked each other's worlds until dawn, her pumping against him as he shot his tremendous load into her body. After hours of letting him have his wicked way with her, she passed out from exhaustion. Nick smirked down at his sweating woman. How could such a submissive soul demand so much of him?

Her name was Yolanda Granton. And the man that had warned him off of her at the power plant was Nick Andros, a member of the newly formed Free Zone Committee. Tyr smiled lopsidedly as he stared into the river in the early morning light. It had been over a day since he'd seen that sweet smile of hers and it was still with him.

"You could kill him, you know," Randall Flagg said beside him. Tyr kept staring into the water, concentrating on not flinching. "You could kill him and take her for yourself."

"That would destroy her smile," he said matter-of-factly once his fear was under control.

"I'm sure you could give her that brilliant smile of hers back," the Dark Man said convincingly. "She's soiled now; she'll spread those supple little legs of hers for anyone. But you'd have to bring her to me afterward. They'd never let you stay in Boulder as a murderer. It would only be-"

"No," the man said flatly. "I've never had to resort to murder to get what I want," he said, not liking the idea of her tears. And she would cry if he took her man away from her. She'd cry and he'd lose her smile forever. Patience was the best course of action. All the best things came to those who waited. And a little voice in the back of his mind was whispering that all he had to do was wait and she would be his.

"I want him dead," Flagg screamed at his side.

Tyr jerked awake. He was next to a beautiful blond, but he was bored of her already. He'd taken his contraceptive shot a week before the world had ended, so he wasn't worried about having a child with her. It would be about two years until that was an issue. With everyone so baby obsessed, he was glad that he was out of the baby-making race for a while.

"You were thrashing in your sleep, baby. You need a little sleeping pill?" Karen stretched her lithe body sexily as she said it. Tyr looked over all that pale, gorgeous skin and simply wasn't interested. How had he even hooked up with this woman in the first place? He leaned over and grabbed his clothes from the foot of the bed, starting to dress. Karen blinked and sat up, her breasts implants jiggling enticingly. "What's the matter, baby?"

"I want to sleep in my own bed tonight," the man said simply, not wanting a fight so late at night.

"But we were just getting started," she said shrilly. Tyr sighed, tugging his belt into place. Seems he would be getting a fight no matter what now. That's what he got for screwing crazy.

"And now we're finished," he said flatly, standing up to go. "Don't make this complicated. We had some fun together. Now it's over."

"I don't want it to be over," she shrieked. "I want to be your woman."

"You can't. I already have someone else in mind for that. Goodnight, Karen."

"You can't just get rid of me," the woman said loudly. "I might be having your baby now."

"You aren't," he said flatly. "I took precautions before we ever even met. You can't trap me. Goodnight." He left the house in disgust, sickened that he'd done it with a gold-digging whore like her. 'Gold-digging' might mean something very different in this new world, but it still happened. Karen followed him, still naked as the day she was born.

"If you don't get back in here and please me, I'll tell everyone that you raped me. You'll be driven out of Boulder and have to go to Vegas with that-" He rounded on her furiously and she fell to the ground. He knelt in front of her menacingly.

"You would do that? You would lie like that?" he asked her in a dangerously smooth voice that made her pupils dilate.

"N-no," she admitted at last. "But I want you," she whined, longing plain on her face.

"You can't have me," he told her plainly. "Goodbye." With that, he stood up and walked away from her, eternally grateful for his hard and fast policy of not letting women into his lair. He'd settled into a mansion at the edge of town. It was lavish in a way that reminded him of his old life as a millionaire playboy. Still, that girl's smile wouldn't leave him alone. He stripped down and showered that vile woman's stench off of him once he got home. With Mother Abigail gone, there would likely be panic and maybe deserters. He needed sleep to deal with all of that tomorrow.

He stretched out on his silken sheets and knew no more.

A little spanking action for our naughty little Landi! I don't know, was that too much? Please let me know in the comments. In the meantime, we get to see more of their relationship. Then there's the reason I almost made this a Crossover fic. Tyr Anasazi from Gene Roddenberry's Andromeda is my obsession, and he may or may not turn up again in this little fever dream of a fiction. But nothing else about the Andromeda universe is in this fanfic. I could literally have named this character anything and he would still fit in this universe, so I decided to leave the fiction as is.

Looking forward to seeing you all next chapter. Thanks for sticking it out with me ^_^ Remember, I love reviews!