TITLE: Chaos!, or, Why Lex Hasn't Finished "The Hunted"

AUTHOR: Lex, who is being hunted by irate fic readers

E-MAIL: lex@bitchenvy.com

RATING: PG

SYNOPSIS: The characters in my fic, "The Hunted", try to figure out why they haven't been doing much of anything lately.

DISCLAIMER: Joss' characters, my universe. He treats them very badly, so I smother them with love and kisses.

NOTE: I apologize for the delay in finishing the story, but life stepped on me in a major way.

The whole dejected bunch was sitting in the library. Faith was slumped over the table, listlessly watching Oz practicing with his guitar. Tanya was reading an old leather covered book, with Daniel playing at her feet. Giles was leaning against his office door, angrily watching Angel and Buffy coo to each other. The couple was up in the stacks, wrapped around each other, just enjoying the quiet.

Everything was quiet.

Mind-numbingly quiet.

At least, until Cordelia arrived.

"Oh, just when you thought it couldn't get worse..." Giles murmured.

"...In walks Cordelia," Oz finished for him.

"Okay, people...and...non-people, what is the deal?" Cordelia demanded,hands on hips, stamping her feet. "Everything was going good for two weeks and then...nothing! What's up with that? We have all this story, all this building up of blood and sex and violence...and then nothing for weeks!"

"Maybe Lex is just busy," Oz offered, unwilling to believe that they had been abandoned in this universe.

"She gets that way sometimes," Tanya confirmed. "I should know, she created me."

Cordelia scoffed. "Busy, busy, busy. When was the last time she had a date? Was Clinton even in office then?"

"I don't think it's been quite that long, Cordelia," Giles admonished, trying to ignore the sight of her in a leather miniskirt.

"Yeah, well, all I know is, I'm *bored*," Cordelia snarled.

At the sound of Cordy's complaints, Angel and Buffy wandered out of the stacks. "Lex wouldn't leave us," Buffy said firmly. "She's just doing something else right now." The blonde shared a secret smile with her lover.

"Oh, fine, you get to get laid repeatedly by Angel, in every imaginable position, but what to I get? A big fat nothing!"

"Do you think it's easy, going through all the angst she puts us through? She can't let us have mindless sex. Oh, no, we have to angst first. And cry, and wail, and bemoan our fates. Then, and only then, can we go near each other," Angel said, hands balling into fists.

"TIME OUT!" Faith shrieked, standing on top of the table. "We are not getting anything done by arguing with each other. Lex is in charge. We just need to get her attention."

"What, so we can angst some more?" Buffy moaned, "I don't think I can handle more angst. It may send me over the edge."

Oz looked up from his guitar. "Lex is on hiatus. She's really tired, her life sucks dead bunnies through a straw, Tamara's offline, which makes her majorly cranky, and she can't get rid of those damn headaches. So, until her life eases off, we're just going to have to sit here and look pretty."

Long faces filled the room.

Giles sighed. "Oz is right. The more annoying we are, the less likely she is to do anything with us. She's contrary that way. But seneca's been whispering in her ear about plot ideas, so maybe, just maybe, something will happen this weekend."

Tanya nodded. "Good plan."

"So, what? We just go back to doing nothing? Our job sucks!"

THE END