Guys thank you for your patience and thank you for your compliments. I won't rectify the eye colour mistake in the first chapter, as there's not really that much difference between Hazel and brown. In this chapter however I've done it as brown. Thanks Wispr for pointing that out.

I am the Architect. I created the Matrix. I've been waiting for you. You have many questions, and although the process has altered your consciousness, you remain irrevocably human. Ergo, some of my answers you will understand, and some of them you will not. Concordantly, while your first question may be the most pertinent, you may or may not realize it is also the most irrelevant.

- Matrix – The Architect

Twice Lucky

Boca Del Inferno

Chapter 1:

A Tale of two Xanders

……………………………….

"The first thing I'm going to do is modify your body; when that's completed, you will be ready for the spell to send you back in time."

Xander blinked in surprise and ran his hand through his brown hair. It was longer than it used to be, being as they didn't actually have a hairdresser in the middle of Africa.

"What would you need to change?"

The redhead sat down and smiled. "You'll be going back in time to help us fight against the First and the other bumpies; what we need is a fighter and a leader."

"And not a Zeppo," Xander finished with a scowl.

"Sad, but true. Yes," Willow reluctantly agreed. "If we'd allowed you to fight early on, instead of letting Buffy always push you aside, you could've been more useful."

He felt hurt by that comment, even though it was the truth.

"I know what you're thinking and, yes, you did your part," Willow said before he opened his mouth. "But you could've done more. I learned magic, Buffy got stronger and more slayers."

"And I stayed Zeppo," he said again.

"Always and forever."

"Thanks, I think."

Willow chuckled. "Look on the bright side: at least you didn't try and destroy the world."

"So what do we do?"

"Well," the redhead said whilst leaning back and thinking - he knew her well enough by then to know that she'd already thought through every single possibility three times over. "We use what's already there, the soldier boy to give you military knowledge, the fish man to help you swim better and the hyena to give improved senses and strength."

"What do I need to do?"

"Strip," Willow said with a very large grin.

……………………………….

Before…

"Xander, I wanted a word with you in private." Xander sighed, nodded and ran his hand through his hair as he followed Giles into the Watcher's office. It had a large oak desk in front of a round window, the sun shining through, illuminating it in a strange aurora.

"Sure."

"There are a lot of elements that we shouldn't have had to deal with." Xander looked at the older man curiously, "The human side of evil."

Xander sat back and nodded. "Caleb," he said simply and both men winced.

"Yes, but not just him. I'm also talking about the swim teacher, the cook and myriad of other students and teachers that should not have been doing what they were doing."

"Okay, I'll deal with them."

"Good," Giles closed the book he had, got up and grabbed two tumblers and poured whisky in each. He then handed one to Xander and they clinked glasses together. "To the Slayer."

Xander smiled. "To kicking ass and taking names."

Giles chuckled. "Amen."

……………………………….

"Xander?" He was getting used to this; requests every five seconds. Andrew was dressed in trousers and a white shirt, his blonde curly hair shorter than before, due to it having been cut recently.

"Yes, Andrew?"

The younger man looked tired. According to the rumour he'd heard, the younger Watcher–in-training had been having some bad nights, his conscious catching up to him.

"I know you don't like me much, never have really, but I need you to do this for me," Andrew started sniffling. "We were the smartest kids in school, it shouldn't have ended like this, please don't let me kill Jon, he was my best friend and I stabbed him to death."

Xander sighed, nodded and listened, and then patted the man on the back.

……………………………….

He'd had lots of personal requests from various individuals around the house, but surprisingly, none from Buffy. The blonde haired slayer hadn't even so much as sought him out. Now, as he stood on the pentagram, he felt a sudden twinge; he was letting go of the people he knew, loved and cared for.

But he'd be able to make it all okay. He had strength, speed and guile. He was older and wiser and had his memory improved, he would remember the faces of those who would seek to do evil. He would know what lay in their hearts.

And then he would deal with them…

Buffy, he promised, wouldn't suffer what she had the last seven years they were there. Angelus would be dealt with, as would Spike and Drusilla; and if The Powers That Be really had plans, they would find ways to bring them back.

"Xander…"

Willow was dressed in a long, white flowing gown, that didn't hide any of her curves. He smiled and took off his eye patch, throwing it on the ground.

"Ready?"

Xander opened his mouth and let Willow smear the blood around it, on his teeth, and even his tongue.

"Seek out thy body in the past to help change what once went wrong, to help those in need. I wed thee to thy younger self, heart to heart and soul to soul, 'tween he and thee. Thou art bound as one to the other now, the power to the spirit."

Willow stopped and smiled, asking shyly, "What do you think?"

Xander looked at her with tearful eyes. "I love you, Willow. I always will."

"I know, Xander. I know," she sighed shakily. "That was the hard part. When I nod, untie the ribbon and drop the sticks." Xander smiled sadly and took the bundle of sticks from her.

"With the blessings of light and darkness, of earth and air, in the name of the goddess, send thy soul back in time, through the veil." Willow nodded and Xander untied the ribbon and let them fall to the ground.

As he watched them fall, the world around them faded out…

……………………………….

It was white, all white; that was all he could see. He could, in a sense, feel his body, even though he knew it wasn't there. It was only after several years that Spike confessed to him that Buffy hadn't been in a hell dimension. She'd been in heaven when they'd ripped her out.

An image started appearing in front of him. The best way to describe would be as a long wooden pole that ran both infinitely up and down. At certain points all over the pole, little twigs would run off in other directions.

The most notable that Xander could, in a sense, 'see,' was Halloween; so many things broke off into their own little twigs. There were different costumes, different spells being used, different consequences. What if Buffy had died? What if Spike had been killed? What if he'd gone as a Jedi instead of a military man? What if he'd gone as the Emperor? There was even one break-off where he went as Vader.

It was difficult to pinpoint exactly where he wanted to go in time; he could go forward to when Caleb had ripped out his eye, or forward to the final battle.

No, he needed to create an army, set foundations.

He looked, saw the blinking light and went for it. A year before Buffy arrived, that should be enough time.

The tendrils of energy snuck out and gripped hold of his younger self.

He was pulled in.

Xander smiled as he saw his body rushing closer.

But something happened, something that none of them had expected…

……………………………….

The two men faced each other; the younger Alexander Harris and the older, more war-torn, Alexander Harris. It was disconcerting.

"Hello."

The younger version was wearing jeans and a T-shirt; his face smoother and rounder, his brown eyes brighter and his hair longer and unkempt.

The older one was wearing a black, expensive-looking suit, his hair short and spiky and his face scarred. His eye blinked rapidly as he stared at himself.

"Who are you?"

The younger 'Xander' already knew the answer to that question, but felt as though he needed confirmation.

"I'm you."

"I thought so…" Alexander paused and stared at himself. "Why are you here and what do you want?"

"Two very good questions." They were in a room that looked old and used; there was a mirror to one side and two red leather chairs. The curtains flapped as breeze blew through the room and lightning cracked outside. "Take a seat."

"Okay…"

They both sat down and the older man started talking. "I imagine that, right now, you're feeling a bit like Alice. Tumbling down the rabbit hole?"

Alexander chuckled. "You could say that."

The older version of himself was dead serious. "I see it in your eyes. You have the look of a man who accepts what he sees because he is expecting to wake up. Ironically, that's not far from the truth. Do you believe in fate, Xander?

"No."

"Why not?"

"Because I don't like the idea that I'm not in control of my life."

The older the version of Xander nodded…

"I know exactly what you mean. Let me tell you why you're here. You're here because you know something. What you know, you can't explain, but you feel it. You've felt it your entire life, that there's something wrong with the world. You don't know what it is, but it's there, like a splinter in your mind, driving you mad. It's this feeling that has brought you to me. Do you know what I'm talking about?"

"Yes," Alexander whispered quietly.

"There's a saying: You will know the truth and it will set you free."

Alexander blinked both his eyes and looked up. "The truth?"

Xander, the older version, opened up both his palms. It was a cliché, hell, he knew that; this whole setup was, but he couldn't resist, and it was funny.

"Yes, take the red pill and wake up a different person. Your, our, body will be different, but good different, stronger faster more agile. You will have memories of things that haven't happened yet, you will be able to control your own destiny, you won't be the same man at all. You will, in essence, be me."

Alexander looked at the blue pill. "And if I pick this one?"

"Pick it, wake up and you will remember nothing. Fate will continue on course and you'll end up as I am now."

Alex looked at both pills and smiled, he'd already made his mind up. "No offence Xander, but screw fate."