BUFFY: Giles?

GILES: Buffy.

BUFFY: Uh... I don't really know how to say this, so I'm- I'm... I'm just gonna say it. I know I've kept things from you before, but... (Faith emerges) But, um, but I-I've been blowing off my classes. You know, in-in the sense of not attending. And, uh...

FAITH: It's okay, Buffy. I told him.

BUFFY: (surprised) You told him?

FAITH: I had to. He had to know what you did.

BUFFY: What I did? Giles, no. Tha-That's just not what happened.

GILES: (upset) I don't want to hear it, Buffy.

BUFFY: No! It...

GILES: I don't want to hear any more lies.

BUFFY: (frantically to Faith) You can't be serious! You're setting me up?

GILES: Get in my office, now. Faith, I'll talk to you in the morning.

BUFFY: Giles, please, you have to...

GILES: (sternly) Now!

FAITH: Um... Sorry. (leaves)

BUFFY: Giles, I didn't do this. I swear. Look, I know that I messed up badly, but the murder, i-it... it was...

GILES: Faith. I know. She may have many talents, Buffy, but fortunately, lying is not one of them.

BUFFY: Oh. Oh, God. (sits) I thought...

GILES: I'm sorry. I needed her to think that I was on her side. I don't know how far she'll take this charade.

BUFFY: Try far. Like, all the way.

GILES: You should have come to me right off.

BUFFY: I know. Well, I, I wanted to.

GILES: But Faith wouldn't hear of it?

BUFFY: It's not all her fault, Giles. We both thought it was a vampire. I-I only realized it a second before.

GILES: Buffy, this is not the first time something like this has happened.

BUFFY: It's not?

GILES: The Slayer is on the front line of a nightly war. Now, it's, it's tragic, but accidents have happened.

BUFFY: W-what do you do?

GILES: Well, the Council investigates, um, metes out punishment if punishment is due. But I... I have no plans to involve them. I mean, it's the last thing Faith needs at the moment. She's unstable, Buffy. I mean, she's utterly unable to accept responsibility.

BUFFY: She's freaking. So, so then we just have to help her deal, right?

GILES: She's in denial. There *is* no help for her until she admits what happened.

BUFFY: I-I could talk to her.

GILES: Perhaps.

BUFFY: Or maybe I'm too close. Maybe, maybe one of the guys could.

GILES: We should meet. It-it may be that they're seeing a different side of her.

BUFFY: Okay.

GILES: In the meantime, no one else is to know. Understood?

BUFFY: Of course.

(we see that Wesley is listening)

GILES: I mean, this is... extremely delicate. If we scare her off now, we may lose her forever.

• Buffy & Giles
• Faith vs/& Buffy

written by: Marti Noxon; Transcribed by: AleXander Thompson. Full transcript at:
http://www.studiesinwords.de/49consequences.html