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Summary: The author gets a visit from...........

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Night of the Lepus by Lady Starblade

I plopped down in front of the computer and clicked on the Internet
connection. The clock read 11:33 pm. Now was my time, after
everyone else had gone off to bed, to check emails and prowl the 'Net.

I was scrolling through a list of messages when I felt a tap on my
foot. Oh no. Not already. I leaned closer to the screen. Maybe if
I ignored him, he'd go away. Whichever "he" it happened to be this
time.

The tap came again, harder. I started humming loudly and hit the
keys a little harder than necessary.

"Lady, ignoring me is not going to make me leave."

Now, I would've been just fine if he hadn't said anything. I sighed
and thumped back in my chair. Looking down, I saw the innocent
looking brown bunny with the padawan braid sitting at my feet. "You
do that on purpose, don't you?"

"Do what?" Obi-Wan flicked one of his long ears at me.

"You know I'm a sucker for that accent."

Was it possible for a bunny to grin? If so, I was pretty sure he
was. I rolled my eyes and put my hands on the floor. He hopped
serenely into them and I situated myself in my chair. Propping my
feet up this time, I settled Obi-Wan onto my lap.

Putting his front paws on the lip of the computer table, he looked up
at the screen. "What are you working on?"

Oh no. "Please Obi-Wan, I really need to finish some other things!"

He turned at my plaintive tone. "I'm sorry love, but it's my job."

I pinched the side of my nose. "I know." Obi-Wan was one of the
smoothest talking of all my bunnies...which was probably why he was
the boldest. He knew he could get away with it. I then fixed the
bunny with what I hoped was a serious glare. "You did come alone,
right?"

Before Obi-Wan had a chance to answer, I felt paws land on my
shoulder. I spun around just in time to keep a blond-furred bunny
wearing a camouflage helmet from falling off the back of the
chair. "Sarge? You too, huh?"

I glared again at Obi-Wan, who suddenly became fascinated with the
current e-mail on the screen. I turned back to Sergeant Saunders,
my "Combat!" bunny. "I haven't seen you recently."

Giving the bunny equivalent of a shrug, Sarge replied, "Figured it
was time to check in, and Obi-Wan was heading this way...."

"So you decided to gang up on me, eh?"

"Well, someone's got to get you going and keep you going!" The new
voice startled me enough that I sent Obi-Wan sliding out of my lap.
The quick grab to keep him from hitting the floor almost made me drop
Sarge at the same time. I snapped my head up, a bunny in each hand,
to see a white bunny with a garish tie and a blinking handlink around
its neck perched on top of my computer.

I could feel my eyes about to fall out of my head. "Al! I thought I
finally got rid of you!" The "Quantum Leap" bunny gave me a scathing
look.

"It took Ziggy a while to lock on, but I found you. Sam's upset that
you didn't finish that one story, you know."

I winced. "Al, I'm sorry, but I just got caught up in other
things..."

"Yeah, I can see that." He looked at Sarge and Obi-Wan. "She still
like this? I thought enough of us would be able to take care of that
problem."

"She's stubborn." Sarge met my dagger eyes calmly. He had no
problem standing up to me at all. After all, he had been here the
longest. Almost eight years of niggling at the same person would do
that to a bunny.

Obi-Wan took the safer route and remained silent. I sighed and
perched a bunny on each knee. This was getting out of
hand. "Alright, alright. I'll try to get some work done on it, okay
Al?"

Al made a harumphing sound.

A pinched British tone was the next to join in, peeking over the top
of my printer/scanner. "Hello, Lady!" was followed up quickly by "Uh
oh" as the newcomer saw my murderous expression.

"Jonathan, Jonathan, Jonathan." My newest bunny, from "The Mummy"
and "The Mummy Returns," hadn't quite grasped how crazy things could
get around here. He also hadn't learned that, despite my bluster, I'd
never really hurt my bunnies. I shifted forward, careful not to
spill Obi-Wan and Sarge, and pulled the dark brown, quaking bunny
with the small backpack from behind the printer.

I sighed again. "And you're here because....?"

The wild-eyed Jonathan stuttered, "I, I, I saw everyone heading this
way, and I thought I'd come along...."

I squeezed my eyes shut and set Jonathan down between the two already
on my lap. Obi-Wan glanced at him. "It's okay, she's not going to
hurt you."

"As much as I'd like to sometimes," I muttered. Obi-Wan gave me a
disapproving look while Sarge laughed and Al harumphed again.
Suddenly, something Jonathan said registered. "What did you
mean, "everyone"?"

"Wow, some party you're throwing here." I slowly counted to ten, and
then glanced down to the side, where Hawkeye, my resident "M*A*S*H"
bunny with black fur and a stethoscope sat.

Resisting the urge to hiss through my teeth, I replied, "Hello,
Hawk...." I then noticed yet another bunny hopping into my field of
vision. This one was dust colored and wearing a beatup
fedora. "....and Alan."

"Jurassic Park" Plot Bunny Alan Grant stopped and surveyed the
scene. "Hi, Lady. Is now a bad time?" he asked in a quiet voice.
He was one of my calmer bunnies....which made him all the more
devious.

"You could say that," I grunted in a pained tone. Hawkeye then chose
that moment to execute a flying leap to the desk, knocking over a
stack of computer disks. "Sorry," he singsonged. Sure, I'll bet.

The email screen was still on my computer monitor. "She's still on
this? You guys must be losing your touch," Hawkeye said.

Alan, hopping up where Hawkeye had been, called out, "Well, it looks
like she's been rather...distracted." I shot a look of gratitude his
way.

"Hey, I was just...."

"It's been a while...."

"A while? Try eight years...."

I pressed the heels of my hands to my eyes as the clamor rose around
me. Maybe it was time to start chucking some rabbits....

"Hold it! Hold it!" Blazing like a trumpet across the noise came a
voice of rescue. I dropped my hands to see the gray head of Michael
Garibaldi, representing the three "Babylon 5" stories I had underway,
stick out of one of the cubbyholes in the desk.

"Problems, Lady?" he inquired, cocking a floppy ear. I could hear
the repressed laughter in his voice.

It occurred to me that since I had made major progress on one of
those stories a couple of nights ago, maybe I could wrangle a favor.

"Oh, Michael," I cooed in my best coaxing tone, "could you give me a
hand...uh, paw here?" I batted my eyes, hoping I didn't look stupid
doing it.

His sigh sounded a lot like my own. "Okay, Lady, since I owe you
one...."

Turning his attention to the plethora of rabbits, he barked, "Okay,
all you guys. I know what you're tryin' to do, but she can only
write one at a time. What say we all clear out and let her get to
work."

In a stage whisper, Michael asked, "Who stays?"

Oh, I hated picking. I always wound up feeling guilty. Then I felt
a nose nudge my hand. Obi-Wan was giving me his best sorrowful
look. Ah, man....

"I'll keep Obi-Wan tonight. He was the first on the scene."

Michael bobbed his head. "Okay, you heard the Lady, let's go...."
He was almost knocked over by Jonathan's headlong flight. "The
newbie, huh?"

Everyone else filed out through the cubbyhole. I had long since
stopped wondering how they came and went. Michael gave me a knowing
look full of mirth before he disappeared.

Which left me and Obi-Wan. He looked up at me. "Sorry about that."

I grinned. "Liar. You enjoyed that, didn't you?"

He laughed and burrowed his head under my hand. I rubbed his silky
ears as I reached for the mouse with my other hand.

"I don't suppose you're finished with that yet?"

My hands froze and I shut my eyes again. Letting out one last, long
sigh, I gave up. "Alright, alright." I exited my e-mail,
disconnected from the 'Net, and brought up word processing.

"Thanks, love."

"Sure, sure."