"You're
a failure. You know that, Pryce? An utter failure."
"Coming
from you doesn't mean very much, Rupert. You're not exactly a
complete success yourself."
"Maybe not, but I've never
seen anyone screw up as badly as you have. Let's reminisce, shall
we? It started long ago, with you and Faith-"
"Shut
up."
"You and Faith, you were supposed to be her
mentor, but that failed spectacularly, due to your inexperience and
pure stupidity, and I'm told that she dropped by Los Angeles to
torture you a bit just to dig it in-"
"Shut up!"
"Oh
no, Pryce, I think someone needs to get it through your thick skull.
Does it hurt when I talk about her? I imagine it does."
"Whom
I choose to sleep with is none of your concern, Rupert."
"It's
my concern when it's a Slayer. And a Slayer and a Watcher having an
intimate relationship is far beyond what the rules allow. It's a
perversion of the Watcher-Slayer relationship. It's wrong."
"She
was an adult. She could do what she wanted. It was different."
"No,
it wasn't. You're a Watcher, you have higher standards. And now
she's dead, the result of another one of your mistakes, such as
releasing Angelus. How does that weigh on your conscience, Pryce, now
that your lover's dead?"
"How dare you bring her up. How
dare you just toss her around like that!"
"Get your hands
off my throat."
"Yes, it's strange and unheard of, and
especially bizarre due to our history, but it happened, and it wasn't
light or happy or just a casual affair."
"Let me guess,
you both thought you were going to die so passionately revealed your
hidden feelings towards each other and ended up in the sack, but at
the end, only she died."
"Only she died... Yes, only her.
It had to be her. Angelus wouldn't bother drinking from anyone
else... We could have had something, if we had had enough
time..."
"Time..."
"Rupert, I've heard some
rumors, pray tell me whether they're true or not. Apparently you
had your eye on Buffy. Apparently, it was more than mentor's eye.
I've heard that you cast your lustful eye on her youthful looks
and- Come now, tell me that I'm mistaken, that I must be wrong,
that the reputed Rupert Giles would never bed a woman young enough to
be his daughter-"
"Lies, all lies-"
"You're a
lousy liar. Tsk, tsk, Watchers have higher standards, Rupert. I mean,
I heard that she prefers older men, but this is just
ridiculous."
"Where the hell did you here this?"
"Why,
my dead lover told me. She said that Buffy had told her all the juicy
details. Quit sputtering already, your little act isn't fooling
anyone. But I want to hear you tell me again how wrong it is to sleep
with your Slayer. Please, tell me again."
"I won't be
interrogated like this."
"So was this just a little fling,
a chance to get cozy with the gorgeous young Slayer you were
mentoring?"
"It wasn't like that-"
"Oh,
really? How was it?"
"Damn you man, I loved her! I don't
know how it happened, it just did-"
"Watchers and Slayers,
a unique balance between fatherly concern and restraining yourself
from jumping into her bed, eh? And you dare to judge me? You,
radiating guilt and fear... Oh Father, please grant me penance for I
have sinned... I don't regret anything I did. We were a perfect
match, all that darkness and pent-up anger, horrible childhoods and
homicidal tendencies... We'd found a solid ground, and forgiveness...
What did you find?"
"An...equal. I understood her and she
understood me, we had a certain harmony- not the girl- we worked well
together, fit together well... Angel had left-"
"Why
do Slayers always have a thing for him?"
"-And she was
alone...we were alone at my place one day..."
"Did you
enjoy it? Did it feel wrong, but right?"
"I ended it
because it was wrong. Because she deserved something
normal."
"You're a complete failure, Rupert, but I'm
sure you knew that already."
"The mouth of Hell opens wide
for men like you."
"Men like us, you mean Rupert, and I
never doubted that for a moment. I've been damned for quite a
while. So what will you be thinking about when it comes to that
moment?"
"About her, of course."
"Of
course."
"And why it was worth it."
