A/N: Okay, I'm kind of back. Read the update on my profile for more details. If this story seems familiar, it should. This is the same story I posted previously; however, I have cleaned it up. I've removed the boring beginning, combined chapters together, and done a bit of editing and tweaking. I should have everything previously written re-posted by tomorrow and will hopefully be adding new material soon. Please, if you had the first verion on your favorites or alerts, add it again. Oh, and review. :)

Chapter One

It had not even been twenty-four hours since Mr. Sweeney Todd, previously Benjamin Barker, had arrived in the miserable town of London before he found himself challenging an "amazing" Italian barber at the prodding of his landlady, Mrs. Lovett.

The two men had just begun a competition to see who could provide the fastest, smoothest shave and the scam-artist called Pirelli was singing some ridiculous tune. So, trying to ignore his competitor, Mr. Todd let his eyes scan the crowd for a minute.

He suddenly came to a stop, eyes widening for a second, before continuing with his previous actions. It couldn't be. Quickly, the man glanced at the crowd again, only to find himself looking at a young man who closely resembled a young Benjamin Barker, only with Lucy's blond hair.

It is. Benjamin Barker, Jr. His son.

Continuing to sharpen his razor blade, Sweeney's eyes swept the crowd, hoping to see his Johanna as well. Sadly, she wasn't there. He finally moved on with the competition, putting the lather on the face of his "customer." However, the barber kept finding his gaze slide to the fine young man, who seemed to be eyeing some giggling girls in the back.

Mrs. Lovett noticed that the man who unknowingly owned her heart seemed a bit distracted. She followed his line of vision until she too spotted the young Barker. With a tiny grin on her lips, the baker gave a soft sigh. The boy really was the spitting image of his father.

The attention of anyone who was preoccupied elsewhere was suddenly brought back to the task at hand when Pirelli started belting out an impossibly high note. Using the distraction to his advantage, Mr. Todd quickly and effortlessly shaved the man in front of him and was declared the winner.

Sweeney ignored what Pirelli was saying as he collected his winnings, his eyes on only his son. He quickly gathered his stuff and handed it all off to Mrs. Lovett when suddenly the Beadle caught his eye and the barber went to "thank" the man for judging the competition.

Mrs. Lovett watched her neighbor wander off and walked up to Ben Barker, Jr., who was now chatting up the girls from earlier. To get the boy's attention, the woman gently touched his elbow, causing him to turn around. With a grin just like his father's in place, he greeted Mrs. Lovett kindly, as he had had the pleasure of speaking with her several times in the past.

"Benjamin Barker, how lovely it is to see you again!" she told him. "If you would excuse us, girls, there's someone I would like to introduce young Ben to." With that, Ben gave the still giggling girls a farewell and allowed himself be pulled away.

With the boy in tow, Mrs. Lovett scanned the crowd for Mr. Todd, finally spotting him watching the Beadle walk away. The two quickly approached the man. "Mr. T, there's someone I'd like you to meet," the baker said, feeling a bit giddy anticipating the barber's reaction.

With a sigh, Sweeney turned around and found himself face to face with one of the children he hadn't seen in fifteen years. Up close, he could easily tell that his son was practically a carbon copy of himself at that age, if he had blond hair that is.

Standing at 5'8" at the age of fifteen, it was easy to see why the younger Barker was the object of many girls' affections. "Hello, sir," young Ben said warmly in a smooth, deep voice, "Benjamin Barker, Jr." The boy held out his hand.

Mr. Todd slowly reached out and took it, unable to tear his eyes away from his child's face. "Todd. Sweeney Todd. It's…delightful to meet you, Mister Barker." He watched as his son gave a short, almost nervous, laugh. "Please, call me Ben. Just Ben." The barber couldn't help but give a very small, soft smile. "Alright, Ben."

Mr. Todd just couldn't believe it. He was actually speaking with one of his dear children! Unfortunately the wonderful moment was short-lived. "Ah, young Mr. Barker!" Everyone turned to see the Beadle approaching. Sweeney caught his son flinch out of the corner of his eye.

"So nice to see you out and about! Delivering some papers, are we?" the Beadle continued, drawing the slightly crazed man's attention back to him. "Yea-Yes, sir," Ben stammered, "I'd just finished delivering them when I-I saw the competition taking place. I was just congratulating Mr. Todd, here." The young man's eyes found their way to his feet.

Sweeney and Mrs. Lovett watched as the Judge's right hand smiled a twisted smile with a malicious gleam in his eyes. "Yes, well, the Judge must be waiting for you to report back. Come, I'll walk with you." Ben looked up and, with a glance at the two neighbors, softly said, "Goodbye, Mr. Todd, Mrs. Lovett," before following the slimy little man away from the marketplace.

Mr. Todd watched them retreat and took note of the subtle slumping of his son's tense shoulders and the slight dragging of his feet. Filled with anger at how his child was obviously terrified of that worm, he moved to follow them, only to be stopped by Mrs. Lovett. "Not now, dear," she told him quietly before pulling him in the direction of their home. With the two he was most concerned about out of sight, the man let her.


The young Barker's body tensed even more as soon as the bustling marketplace was out of sight. Within seconds, the blow he had been waiting for hit him on the back of his legs. The teenage boy stumbled, but managed to stay upright. He heard his companion snicker before feeling the cane come down on his back. This time he fell to the ground. Used to this treatment, Ben quickly picked himself up and hurried to catch up to the Beadle only to be knocked down again.

This routine continued for the entire journey to the Judge's home, stopping only when upper-class witnesses were around. When they finally reached the building, the boy sighed inwardly with relief. Once he checked in with Turpin he would be free to go and speak with his dear sister, Johanna.

Upon entering the Judge's library, Benjamin, Jr. approached the man himself slowly. The older man looked up from his book, his eyes immediately filling with hatred. "Yes, boy, what is it?" he snapped. Looking down at his hands, the lad replied, "The letter has been delivered, sir." "Very well, then. You may go," was Turpin's terse response.

With a "thank you, sir," the boy left, hastening towards Johanna's room. After knocking four times, to let her know who it was, he let himself in. The blonde-haired angel looked up from the window at which she was seated and a smile graced her face. "Oh, Ben! You're back!" She got up to embrace her twin. "How was town?"

Ben grimaced at the hug and was thankful when Johanna chose to ignore it. He shrugged. "It was, you know, London. Although, on my way back I was passing the marketplace and caught a competition between that fake, Pirelli, and another man." She suddenly looked at him with great interest. "Go on," she prodded. With a slight grin, he continued. "It was this man, Sweeney Todd of Fleet Street. He's sort of deranged-looking, but is actually quite nice from what I gathered."

"Deranged-looking?" his sister questioned, her brows drawn. "Well, he's pale with dark circles beneath his eyes, and his dark hair is in wild curls, flying everywhere with a single white stripe right about here," he pointed to his head. When Johanna's eyes widened, Ben let out a chuckle. "But, really, he seems like a decent fellow. Very good barber; very fast. What's odd is I feel as though I should know him from somewhere."

"Really? Why is that?" his sister asked eagerly. Frowning slightly, he replied that he wasn't sure. Johanna shrugged her petite shoulders and asked him to tell her more. "Well, there's not much more I can say." When he saw the look on her face, he went on. "Honestly, Johanna. Before I could even really talk to the gent, the Beadle offered to walk with me back here."

"Oh, you poor thing!" she exclaimed, frowning, before moving to examine her brother's injuries. "Me?" he asked, laughing as he moved away teasingly, "I should feel sorry for you, locked away up here day and night."

"Yes, that may be true, but at least I have you, Benjamin Barker Junior, to help keep me sane," she told him, grinning. "And I you, Miss Johanna Lucy Barker," he replied. Their smiles disappeared as they heard heavy footsteps approaching.

With bated breath, the two listened quietly as the footsteps paused outside the door before moving on down the hall. As soon as they could no longer hear anything, the siblings breathed easy, sharing a brief hug of relief before sitting down, Johanna at her window seat, Ben on the floor beneath her.

After a few minutes, Johanna's bird started tweeting, effectively breaking the silence. The male Barker leaned his head back against his sister's knees and closed his eyes, listening to her hum a gentle tune while returning to her needlework.