AN: Cursing ahead!

CH 9: Jarvis from Ironman

Double Trouble : a Dawn and Xander Special

"Oh dear lord."

"Since when do you imitate Giles?"

"Since I hear this nutty idea."

"Come on! It'll be fun!"

Xander treated Dawn to a look.

"Seriously, your outfit is simple but recognizable. And it's more fun if you get friends to join in."

Dawn held up her own outfit that included black shorts, a Hawaiian print mini-tank and a huge shuriken. He briefly wondered if Buffy would get weapon envy.

He looked again to the pile of material off to the side, old worn out shirt, some blonde hair dye (thanks Dawnie), a fake cigarette and a huge spear.

"If I get compensation jokes thrown my way you owe me a box of Twinkies per insult."

With an ear shattering squeal he found himself on the receiving end of one of Dawnie's super-hugs.

He was really starting to wonder about that 'One Girl' thing with her ability to squeeze the air right out of him.

"Bloody, fucking damnit!"

The air captain spun, knocking another little hellion into a tree and out of the fight.

"Come on, old man, keep up!"

"Shut it you klepto ninja!"

Snarling around his cigarette he started making a path through the terrors. Probably the results of another geyser or something nearby. He wasn't sure if he should kill them and didn't want to until he knew for sure they were corrupted creatures without a hope of cure. Recent years had seen some great advancements in treatment and he wasn't going to kill an innocent if he could help it.

At least the brat didn't rag on him for being a soft touch. Not in public anyway.

"You're starting to act like Blondie! Move it!"

"SHUT IT PRINCESS!"

He grinned at her indignant squawk that carried a good two blocks over the din.

"No worries, Giles. We've got it covered."

Giles looked at the two children in his charge. Well, he supposed they weren't really children now, were they? They'd been forced to grow up young, younger still by where they lived and what had possessed them.

"What, pray tell, are you going to do?"

"Remember that blueprint you found?"

"Yes, but there wasn't funding for it."

"Well, yeah at the time, but it seems Dick has been awfully lax in his home security."

Giles turned to see Dawn playing with a set of wallets that hadn't been there a moment ago.

"Oh dear lord." The glasses were whipped off his face for a thorough polishing on his sweater.

"I told you it was a sign of the apocalypse."

"Near-apocalypse. Hasn't ended yet."

"Point."

The look of shock on the face of the giant snake demon when the battle-ready air ship crested the hill was priceless.