Chapter Seven – The Price of Magic

Olivia was driving back to the Foundation with Xander and Alex. She was in the back seat watching Xander drive. Xander glimpsed at her in the rear view mirror.

"Relax Olivia," Xander said. "The DMV makes me take a test every year to prove I can still drive. I took the last one about two months ago. Passed with flying colors."

"Sorry," Olivia said. "I didn't mean to stare."

"You haven't asked the question yet," Xander said.

"What question?" Olivia replied.

"How I lost my eye," Xander said. "People either ask immediately or they choose to ignore it."

"Ok," Olivia said. "How did you lose your eye?"

"Homicidal preacher gouged it out," Xander answered. "It happened a couple of days before Sunnydale went boom."

"Buffy and Dawn gave me a short version of what happened," Olivia said. "Evil thing wanted to overrun the world. You guys sealed the Hellmouth to stop it."

"That's the abbreviated short version," Xander said. "It was a bad few months."

"Losing your eye," Olivia said. "I understand."

"I got off easy," Xander said. "A lot good people didn't make it out at all."

Alex reached over and started rubbing Xander's shoulder. "You guys did the best you could," she said.

"We never would have needed to if we hadn't screwed things up so bad to begin with," Xander said.

"What happened?" Olivia asked. Xander had suddenly gotten very quiet.

"One thing you need to remember Olivia," Xander said. "Magic comes with a price. Something we should have remembered. Something we forgot. More precisely we didn't care. We did something very stupid and a lot of people paid the price. Losing an eye. That's nothing."

"You changed the world Xander," Alex said. "And you're building something better than was here before."

"We're trying," Xander said. "We broke it. We need to fix it."

They car turned unto the street for the Foundation. Olivia saw the entrance up front. Two vans pulled out followed by the SUV Dawn had picked her up in at the airport.

"Evening patrol is going out," Xander said.

"Those girls I saw this afternoon are going out to fight vampires?" Olivia said.

"Probably not," Alex answered. "They're here for training. One or two of them might be working with some of the older Slayers tonight."

"We try to minimize the Slayers under eighteen doing that much patrolling or fighting," Xander explained.

"But they do some," Olivia said.

"There isn't much choice," Xander replied. "Slayers are born warriors. They can sense the demons and are naturally drawn to them. Trying to contain one is like trying to box up a tornado. None of likes it Olivia. Buffy started patrolling alone when she was fifteen. Now days the girls go out supported by experienced Slayers and they all have extended training before they face their first real demon."

"But they're still kids," Olivia said. "How can you put them in danger?"

"I told you," Xander said. "They'll go out anyway. A Slayer is drawn to demons. That's what they hunt. Trying to stop them isn't an option. We're not talking about ordinary girls Olivia. One of them could crush your skull with a single punch. I would love to give each of those girls a normal life. The life they should have had. But that's just not going to happen. The power comes with price. The price is the loss of a normal life. So we do what we can to make their lives easier, to prepare them as much as possible."

Olivia had to blink. She hadn't thought about it in those terms. She remembered the sparing session she watched that afternoon. She remembered the way the girls moved. She also remembered the feeling she got from Buffy. She felt like a predator.

"It just doesn't seem fair," Olivia said. The car came to a stop at the Foundation's entrance. Xander lowered his window to deal with the security system.

"It's not," Alex replied. "But you've been in the SVU long enough to know the world isn't fair. The Slayers were created at a time when most people didn't live to see their thirtieth birthday. When girls were considered adults as soon as they could have children."

The car came to a stop in one of the parking spaces. The three got out.

"Come on," Alex said. "We'll walk you back to your room. You've got a lot to think about."

----

A few minutes later the three entered the apartment Olivia was sharing with Dawn and Buffy.

"Hey guys," Dawn said looking up from her computer. "How was dinner?"

"It was fine," Olivia answered. "Where's Buffy?"

"Out on patrol," Dawn answered. "She won't be back until around 2 or 3 AM."

"Doesn't leave a lot of time for sleep," Olivia noted.

"Slayers can usually get by with only a couple of hours sleep a day," Dawn said.

Yet another reminder that Slayers are not normal people, Olivia thought. She shook her head.

"So what are you working on?" Olivia asked.

"Just reviewing the e-mail from Indonesia and Taipei," Dawn answered. "It's almost morning there. Checking if anything big came up overnight."

"Are you going to be ok here with Dawn Olivia?" Alex asked. "I've got an early day tomorrow. I need to make sure the office is in order before Xander and I disappear for a couple of days."

"That's fine Alex," Olivia replied. "I really need to get some sleep."

"Feel free to call me tonight if you need to talk," Alex said.

"Just make sure the phone rings quietly," Xander said. "I need my beauty sleep."

Olivia smiled. "I'll be fine Alex," she said. "You two go home."

"Ok," Alex said, giving her friend a hug. "I'll see you tomorrow."

Xander shook her hand. "Thank you for wonderful evening Olivia."

After Xander and Alex left Dawn turned off her computer and looked at Olivia.

"You're still in the deer the headlights mode," Dawn said.

"Excuse me."

"You accept the supernatural stuff is real," Dawn explained. "But you have no idea what to do about it, so you're frozen in place just staring at it."

Olivia sat down on one of the chairs. "I just can't wrap my head around it yet. The world should not work like this."

"They universe didn't consult us before setting itself up," Dawn replied. "We deal with it as best we can. What's that old phrase again? Lord grant me the strength to change what I can, the patience to accept what cannot be changed and the wisdom to know the difference."

"So that's how you guys work," Olivia said.

"Well, we have strength. Not as much as we'd like. And not as much as need. Come to think of it our patience and wisdom are very debatable too," Dawn answered.

"Good to know one's limitations," Olivia said. "One question. As we were driving back, Xander talked like you guys were responsible for what happened to make the First arise at Sunnydale. Something about magic always having a price."

Dawn paused and got a strange look on her face. "Yea, magic always comes with a price. And the harder you try and avoid paying it, the higher it gets. That's something we've been reminded of rather harshly over the last few months."

"What happened in Sunnydale?" Olivia asked.

"You really don't need the whole story," Dawn said. She paused again then took a breath. "Xander, Willow, Tara and Anya tried to fix something that wasn't broken. In the process they broke something else."

"And that something else gave the First it's opening," Olivia said.

"In a manner of speaking yes," Dawn answered. "It's a lot more complicated than that."

"Why didn't Buffy stop them?" Olivia asked. She watched Dawn sort of freeze.

"Let's just say she couldn't at the time," Dawn said. "That was the problem the others were trying to fix."

"I don't understand," Olivia replied.

"You don't want to," Dawn said. "Just leave it at magic has a price."

"Sounds like a lot of painful memories," Olivia observed. "It helps to talk to someone."

"It's been a long time," Dawn replied. "The pain will always be there. But it's manageable. I have my work and I have a lot of people to talk to. Trust me Olivia, there are some parts of our world you don't want to know anything about."

Olivia spent a few seconds studying Dawn. "Fine," she said. "I'll drop it."

"Olivia."

"Yes."

"I know you're not going to drop this. Just do me one favor," Dawn said.

"What?"

"Don't ask Buffy about why she didn't stop them. If you're very unlucky she might actually tell you."

"Magic has a price," Olivia said.

"You don't know the half of it."