A/N: Hey folks. I'm feeling really Christmas-y right now, so I decided to take a break from my other story to write this. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: No, I don't own Sweeney Todd. Do you want to give him to me for Christmas? I'd Lovett.
Mrs. Lovett scanned the market in search of the man she had heard about from one of her customers. Supposedly, he still had a few Christmas trees for sale. Mrs. Lovett could only imagine the state of them, but she wanted a tree nonetheless. Toby tugged at her sleeve. "There he is Mum!" he exclaimed, "Hurry, hurry!"
The boy dragged her halfway across the market to a stand, where one lonely Christmas tree was propped up against it. Mrs. Lovett could tell it was not the best tree out there, but it was tolerable, if she were to place the more scraggly side facing the wall. Toby ran over to it and was just about to drag it when a big, burly man stepped up.
"What'd ya think yer doin' with that boy?" he asked roughly. Toby shrank back.
"I-I-I wa-was just going t-to br-bring it to my-"
"S'what I thought," the man interrupted, "Now gimme that."
Toby was just about to let it go and walk away when Mrs. Lovett stormed over. "What the bloody hell are you doing, scaring a little child like that?" she shouted, "Get away from our tree!"
The man was not impressed. "Sorry little lady," he said mockingly, "But I want this one right here, and I'm going to take it"
Mrs. Lovett stomped her foot. "Absolutely not!"
The man was beginning to become impatient. "Look, just walk away. Do you really want to get in a fight?" he asked threateningly.
"Maybe I do," Mrs. Lovett said icily, "And you don't want that. So get out of my sight."
With a roll of his eyes, the man said, "Listen, I get what I want when I want it," here he smacked Toby for emphasis and the boy gave a little cry, "So you just..." But Mrs. Lovett was not listening. Her eyes had glazed over after he had smacked Toby and after a moment, she threw her fist in his face, hitting him hard in the nose. It started to bleed and the man blinked in surprise.
"Don't you dare hit my boy." Mrs. Lovett said darkly. The man glared and in an instant, the pair was on the ground wrestling and hurling insults at each other in the process. A crowd soon gathered and people were cheering mostly for Mrs. Lovett, the feisty pie maker from Fleet Street. Somewhere in the noise, she thought she heard Toby shout, "I'm getting-" but she couldn't be sure and she didn't hear the rest anyway.
- - -
Toby was running down the street, and was very grateful that the shop was so close to the market. He had told Mrs. Lovett that he was getting Mr. Todd, and he hoped she heard him. He pounded up the shop steps and burst in the door. "Mr. Todd!" Toby shouted, "Mr. Todd, you have to come quick. Mrs. Lovett's in a fight at the market!"
Mr. Todd glanced up from sharpening his razor. "What?" he asked in shock.
Toby gasped for breath. "Mrs. Lovett's in a fight. At the market and you have to come quick!"
Mr. Todd didn't have time to think as Toby grabbed his arm and practically dragged him out the door, down the street and into the market. There was a huge crowd, and Mr. Todd and Toby had to push and shove to get to Mrs. Lovett, who looked like she had the upper hand.
Sitting on top of the man, Mrs. Lovett was screaming at the top of her lungs as she threw punch after punch into the man's torso and face. "You bastard! You no good, bloody bastard. You arrogant, slime ridden-"
But she was cut off by the man's fist in her eye. With a howl of pain, she slammed her knee between the man's legs. The man cried out and slumped back to the ground "That should teach you to hurt children!" Mrs. Lovett said with a gasp as she stood up. She gingerly raised her hand to her eye and winced. "Bugger." she muttered.
Mr. Todd, mesmerized by the scene in front of him, suddenly snapped into action. He lunged forward, just as Mrs. Lovett was about to kick the man again, and pulled her back. "What on earth is going on Mrs. Lovett?" he asked.
With a sheepish look to the ground, Mrs. Lovett said very softly, "He hurt my boy."
Mr. Todd rolled his eyes. "The boy seems fine. What the hell possessed you to-"
"I told you. OW!" Mrs. Lovett pressed her fingers to her bleeding lip and looked over herself. She was a sorry mess. Her skirt was torn and her striped stocking were on display for all the world to see. Her sleeves were ripped and falling off her shoulders. A purple shiner was developing on her left eye and she had a long cut running down her cheek. With a shake of her head she sighed, "It's not very gentleman-like to hurt little boys."
"And I suppose it's lady-like to wrestle in the market?" Mr. Todd snapped. For some reason, he didn't like the idea of a man twice her size fighting with Mrs. Lovett, even if she did beat the living shit out of him, and he was very unhappy with the situation.
"No, it's not." Mrs. Lovett said impatiently, "Can I get my tree now? Someone else is bound to get it if I don't."
Mr. Todd was appalled. "Not in the condition you're in. Look at you!"
Mrs. Lovett snorted. "They just saw me-"
"Toby!" Mr. Todd interrupted, "Go get Mrs. Lovett's tree." The boy took the money from Mrs. Lovett's hand and hurried over to purchase the tree. Meanwhile, Mr. Todd took his coat off and handed it to Mrs. Lovett. "Just put this on." he said.
Mrs Lovett obliged and was soon wrapped in a leather coat far too big for her, thus almost covering her damaged dress. Silently, the trio walked back to the shop. Once there, Mrs. Lovett sheepishly retreated to her room where she cleaned up somewhat. Several minutes later, she returned, clothes changed and blood wiped from her face to find Mr. Todd in the kitchen with a bowl of meat that looked suspiciously like the meat she had ground in the bakehouse earlier that morning.
"Put this on your eye." Mr. Todd said, handing her a handful of meat. "It'll help it."
"Ew." Mrs. Lovett said. But she put it on anyway and sat down at a table. At length, Mr. Todd spoke up. "Next time," he said, "Don't hit him." Mrs. Lovett grinned. "I don't think that he'll even dream of a next time Mr. Todd." she said arrogantly.
Nope, I'm not done. Unless you all think I should keep it as it is. But I have more ideas for this so....
Review!