Angel, Season 3

[Holtz is sitting at the table in the motel room. He folds a piece of paper and sticks it into an envelope.]

Holtz:
I can't recall. Would you require an invitation for a place like this?

[Angel is standing in the open door behind Holtz.]

Angel:
Public accommodation? [Steps across the threshold] No.

Holtz:
No. You'd think I'd remember something like that. It would have seemed important once. Details begin to escape me.

[Angel gives the door a push so it closes behind him then grabs Holtz by the throat and slams him up against the wall.]

Angel:
You stole my son.

Holtz:
I kept your son alive. You murdered mine.

[After a beat Angel slowly backs off and withdraws his hand from Holtz' throat.]

Angel:
I was different then.

Holtz:
Yes. So was I. You feel remorse. You feel remorse yet you can't express it.

Angel:
You want me to say I'm sorry? How can I? It wouldn't mean a thing.

Holtz:
It would mean a little. Not much, but it would be something.

Angel:
Then I'm sorry. For whatever little it might mean. It's all I've got.

[Angel stands still, looking straight ahead, not at Holtz.]

Holtz:
Not all. You had a son. So there it is. I thought by depriving you of that son it would allow me some measure of justice. I was wrong.

Angel:
Taking Connor from me was never justice. It was vengeance.

Holtz:
Or maybe vengeance is what I do now. Give back what I took.

Angel:
What?

Holtz:
I'm an old man now. I have nothing to offer the boy. You can give him what I can't: his purpose. But every time you look upon his face every time he calls you 'father' you will be reminded of that which you took and can never give back. And if that is vengeance, I find I have no taste for it. [He picks up the letter and holds it out to Angel.] All I ask is that you give him this. It's not sealed. I expect you'll examine it. You should.

Angel:
Why are you doing this?

Holtz:
I thought I'd made that plain. I love my son. [Angel closes his eyes for a moment] And this is the only way I know to ensure that he will go on loving me.

[Angel takes a hold of the letter and turns to look at Holtz. After a moment he pulls the letter out of Holtz' hand and turns to leave.]

Holtz:
He won't accept this at first. He'll try to find me. He never will.

[Angel opens the door and slowly walks out.]