Title: The Girl On Death Row

Author: Alan Hitchen

Email: darkmere2000@yahoo.co.uk

Disclaimer: BtVS belongs to Joss Whedon and others

Pairing: Buffy/Faith

Rating: R (swearing and death)

Dedication: To Sarah, aka Star, creator of Taz, who gave me the idea. This is for you.

Summary: As per 'This Year's Girl' Faith switched bodies with Buffy, the cops grabbed 'Faith' and she went on trial for murder. The verdict was - Guilty!

~ Monday ~

"Don't let them kill me on Wednesday. You've got to do something. Please!" Buffy implored her impassive public defender.

"I'm sorry, Faith," the young man replied flatly, "but there's nothing more I can do."

Buffy shrieked, thumping the table in sheer frustration. "How many more times! I'm not Faith McKenzie, I'm Buffy Summers! She switched bodies on me, that's why I'm here!"

The man's sympathetic expression hardened. "Look, Faith," he said sternly, "the tests were conclusive. You are not insane, so there's no need to continue this pretense. Let me repeat, you were convicted of the first-degree murder of Deputy Mayor Allan Finch. Miss Summers testified against you. Without her evidence I might have got you off, but she crucified you with her testimony."

"Yeah, yeah, she hates me, I hate her, and in a couple of days they're going to execute me. What are you going to do about it!"

"As I'm trying to explain. You were duly convicted of murdering a public official. The law is very clear, unless I can demonstrate extenuating circumstances, the death penalty applies. I can't find those circumstances. I'm sorry, Faith, I can do no more for you."

"Okay," Buffy groaned. "What about my friends, what are they doing?"

The man shifted uncomfortably in his seat. "I contacted them again as you requested. Mr Giles, Mr Finn, Mr Harris and Miss Rosenberg don't wish to see you, or help you in any way."

"What about Mom?"

He blushed. "She said you can rot in hell for all she cares."

"What!"

"Oh, you mean Mrs Summers don't you? She doesn't want to see you either, but Miss Summers does."

"Huh?"

"Miss Summers would like to visit you."

"Tell her to go fuck herself!" she blurted out before changing her mind. "No, wait, tell her she can come. I don't know what she's been up to, I guess she wants to tell me."

"Alright, I'll arrange the visit. Miss Summers will be here tomorrow." He stood up to leave the interview room. "I'm sorry I couldn't do more," he apologised.

"Yeah," Buffy replied dully, "me too."

~ Tuesday ~

Faith demurely sat down in front of the glass screen and picked up the handset from the wall, she looked into the hate filled eyes opposite and grinned.

"Hi, B, my my, orange is such a good look on you," she said mockingly, flicking her blonde locks like the girl in the Clairol commercial.

"Cut the crap you bitch!" Buffy interjected. "What do you want from me?"

Faith beamed at the furious brunette. "Nothing much. I just came to see you squirm and beg. Then tomorrow I'll see you choke on poison gas and die, I can't wait," she gloated.

"Faith, for God's sake, you can't..." Buffy began to say.

"Why not, B?" Faith cut in. "You tried to kill me remember? I'm just returning the favour. But why the sad face? Faith was bad news. No one is going to miss her, least of all me."

"But why, Faith? Why do you hate me so much?"

"Apart from the knife in the gut and the coma you mean? No, B, you've got it all wrong, I don't hate you." Faith leaned closer to the screen and just for a moment her mask of self-assurance slipped. "I love you," she confided to the astonished Buffy. "It's true," she continued softly, "I've loved you from the beginning. Why didn't I tell you?" she emitted a bitter chuckle. "I didn't have the guts, and besides, I wasn't good enough for you, was I?"

Buffy continued to look baffled, so Faith explained. "We are the Chosen Two. Sister Slayers and all that. I'm your equal. But what did you do? You treated me like shit! And when you weren't giving me attitude you were too busy fucking Deadboy to even give me the time of day!"

"That's not how it was," Buffy argued.

"Oh, yeah, that's right, you weren't getting any, so you blew out the 'love of your life' and got yourself a stud that would. Good choice, B, he's a real good fuck. And he's not the only one, Red is dynamite in the sack as well. She screams your name when she comes, but it's me who makes her scream, me who she says she loves," Faith said in triumph. She laughed. "You should have seen the face of her mousy would-be-girlfriend when she found out about us. It made my day."

Buffy bit back her all-consuming anger and just sat there, staring at the giggling blonde and wondering if she could smash the glass and kill Faith before the guards shot her dead.

"What's the matter, B? Fresh out of witty things to say? Let me sum it up for you. It's too late for you to fix the past. I can't have your love, I accept that, but I can have your life: your body, your family, your friends, your lover, your place in history. Sounds like a pretty good trade to me."

"Want. Take. Have," said Buffy, remembering Faith's credo.

"That's it, B. Now, what have you got?"

"I've nothing but my undying hatred for you," Buffy ground out through gritted teeth.

"You know, as last words go, that sounds pretty lame to me. I'd think of something better for tomorrow if I were you. Oh, but I am you aren't I?" Faith laughed again. "See ya!" she said and rose to leave the room without a backward glance.

~ Tuesday Night ~

Buffy returned to her cell after a final medical inspection had confirmed that she was fit to be executed at 8 am tomorrow.

"Hey, blondie, howya doin'?" the purple-haired girl called from across the way.

"I get to do the sit-down-dance in the gas chamber in ten hours from now. How do you think I'm doing, Taz?"

"Pretty bad, huh?"

"Yeah," Buffy sighed. "How are you? Any news?"

"Nah, looks like I'm gonna be next. Unless my defender can get a stay, I'm followin' you next week." She laughed. "I've been practisin' holdin' my breath. I can do two minutes."

Buffy laughed back. "Thanks, Taz," she said.

"What for?"

"For being a friend."

"Sure thing, blondie," Taz replied with a catch in her voice, as she tried hard not to cry. "You're not so bad a friend yourself."

~ Wednesday ~

"... and may God have mercy upon your soul," the priest concluded. "Any last words?" he asked Buffy.

"None that would make any sense. Except that Faith McKenzie deserves everything she gets." She looked up into his kindly face and forced a weak smile. "I'm ready now."

The guards took up their positions and the procession began the short walk to the green painted door that led to the gas chamber.

Inside, the grey steel door of the chamber stood open. The guards escorted Buffy to the steel chair within and waited as an elderly man strapped her to it with thick padded straps. Then they removed the leg and hand cuffs from her and withdrew into the hallway beyond the green door.

"Aren't you a little old for this?" she asked the man as he began to undo her shirt to allow the doctor to attach the stethescope tubes to her chest.

"Eighty-five this June," the man replied. "Brought out of retirement just for you. Albert Moss is the name, I'm sorry about this, Miss McKenzie."

Buffy shuddered at the name. Albert misunderstood what that meant. "No need to be frightened. Take my advice and all will be well. I'll explain everything before we start."

The doctor finished and withdrew from the chamber to test the stethescope.

"Now," Albert continued, "shortly I will close the door. At the signal I will pull the lever that drops the chloride pellets into the bowl of sulphuric acid that is under this chair, there is a rapid chemical reaction and hydrogen chloride gas is produced. Just continue to breathe slow and easy and it'll all be over in a few minutes. The doctor will monitor your heart and pronounce when life is extinct. Any questions?"

"Did anyone ever take your advice?"

"No," he said ruefully, "they all struggled for every last second of life. They all died just the same. At this point dignity is all you've got left. If I had the choice, I'd rather go out dignified."

"Thanks, I'll try to do as you say. What about the witnesses?"

"They're behind that window. The curtain will be drawn so they can see you. You don't have to see them. I have a mask you can wear."

"No, no mask. I want to see her face," Buffy snarled.

"Miss Summers?"

"That's the one. Is she here?"

"She is. Front row centre."

Faith's eyes were glued to the clock on the wall, only a few minutes to go. Then, at eight sharp, the curtain was drawn and Buffy was revealed to the witnesses, provoking a subdued gasp from the audience. Faith looked on with rapt attention, drinking in every detail, she was going to enjoy this. Buffy concentrated her attention on the mist green eyes she knew so well, they were returning a malevolent stare of pure evil, the only outward sign that 'Buffy' was not Buffy at all.

Then she heard the pellets drop and suppressed an urge to stop breathing. It would all be over soon and there wasn't a damn thing she could do about it.

A white flash suddenly obscured her vision. When it cleared she found herself looking at Faith from outside the chamber. The brunette's bulging brown eyes registered utter shock and disbelief just before they closed for the very last time.

The curtain closed again and a totally bemused Buffy stood up and shuffled out of the room with the other witnesses. What had happened? Why had she switched back to her own body? She felt a tap on her shoulder and she turned to find an unfamiliar dark-blonde figure looking at her hopefully.

"Do I know you?" Buffy asked the stranger.

"No," said the girl, her face lighting up with the knowledge that her spell had worked. She introduced herself with a smile. "My n-name is Tara."