A/N: You all probably don't care, but guess what? I got a job and start working tomorrow! I'm really really really excited!!!!! Okay, now on with the story.

Disclaimer: Yep, you guessed it. None of this belongs to me.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------

It was dark. Voices grew louder, and then faded away, babbling unintelligibly. Mrs. Lovett turned round and round, trying to see where they were coming from. She was upstairs in the barber shop, and there, in the corner, was Lucy Barker, raising a bottle to her thin lips.

Mrs. Lovett tried to stop her, but as hard and as loud as she tried, she couldn't hear herself speak. Lucy swallowed the bottle's contents and the scene faded. She found herself clutching a bundle tightly. Looking down, she saw the face of baby Johanna, but the child was ripped from her grasp. She pleaded and begged for the child back from the dark figure who had taken the bundle, but he turned and left, leaving Mrs. Lovett to.... the other bundle. She picked it up and found it to be her long dead child, the one who hadn't survived the birth. But she was gurgling happily now, and reaching her arms out to her mother. Mrs. Lovett held the baby close until Albert came. "Nell," he said, "Let go. She's gone."

Mrs. Lovett looked down to find the blankets empty, and she cried out in anguish. Albert's face morphed from one of sorrow to one of malice. "Sorry Nell." his voice mocked, echoing in her head. Mrs. Lovett crumpled to the ground and buried her face in her hands.

"Mum, it's all a dream." a voice said in the distance, "S'not real."

Other voices soon filled the air, fading to an unbearable whisper and then shouting piercingly, invading her mind and clouding all else.

"I'm so sorry Mrs. Lovett..."

"What's wrong with you, useless creature?.."

"Benjamin's been taken!..."

"I'll be taking care of her from now on..."

"No, not Barker..."

"Used to give it to us in the workhouse...."

"He will have his revenge..."

"She's a sad girl, and lonely too...."

"Alms, alms..."

"How I've lived without you all these years I'll never know..."

The voiced combined into one deafening uproar, shouting over and over, overwhelming Mrs. Lovett, till she could barely take it. Faces grew bigger and shrank. She didn't recognize any of the faces, but each one plagued her with their terrible expressions. She was about to succumb to madness when something cool touched her forehead.

Whatever the thing was, it continued to caress her face. Gradually, the faces disappeared, and the voices faded for the last time. Mrs. Lovett gratefully sank into blessed darkness....

- - -

Mr. Todd leaned back in the chair he had brought into Mrs. Lovett's bedroom with a sigh. It was almost dawn and he had gotten no sleep. Mrs. Lovett had been delirious throughout the night, crying out the strangest things. Her fever still had not broken, and he was exhausted. Several times he had almost gotten Toby up, but the boy would not have been much help without him there to direct him in what to do.

When the sun was just barely peeping in through the window, Toby walked in sleepily. "How is she doing?" he asked.

"No better," Mr. Todd answered, "I need you to fetch a doctor."

Toby was instantly awake. "Yes sir!" he said, fleeing the room. He was back within the hour, with a rather young-looking man carrying a large black bag. He immediately introduced himself to Mr. Todd.

"Hanson," he said extending his hand, " Doctor Edmund Hanson."

Mr. Todd nodded. "Todd," he grunted in reply. Hanson walked over to where Mrs. Lovett was laying. After examining her, he asked Mr. Todd, "How long has she been like this?"

"Since yesterday." Mr. Todd answered.

"Hmm." the doctor said, "Has she been doing any hard labor?"

"I'd say so." Toby piped up.

Hanson turned back to Mrs. Lovett and examined her again. "I think she's been working too hard, making her body vulnerable to disease," he said at length, "All she has is a fever, but because she's so weak, she can't fight it." He dug out a small bottle from his back. "Give this to her twice a day." he said, "Give her lots of water and under no circumstances let her take a warm bath. If it raises her temperature, it could be fatal. In fact, I'd recommend cool baths, to lower it." With that, he shook Mr. Todd's hand.

"Please let me know when she gets better, and call on me if she gets worse." he said.

Mr. Todd nodded. "Let me just run up to my shop so I can pay you." he said.

Doctor Hanson was soon gone (and no, I don't mean dead ) and Mr. Todd came back down to Mrs. Lovett's room, where Toby was about to administer the medicine to the sleeping Mrs. Lovett.

"Wait," he said, "Don't do it that way, she could-" But Toby had already poured the liquid into Mrs. Lovett's mouth. "choke." finished Mr. Todd. Mrs. Lovett started to cough, but then, her breath came in strange gasps. "Dammit!" shouted Mr. Todd, rushing over to the bed. He lifted her up and whacked her back solidly several times, until the passage cleared and she was breathing regularly.

"Don't, ever do that again." he said gravely, turning to Toby. The boy's eyes had filled with tears, and he nodded. "Yes sir." he quivered.

Mr. Todd sighed with relief and laid Mrs. Lovett back down. Then he realized that the baker's clothes were damp with sweat, and now stained with the medicine she just hacked up. "Shit." he said.

Those clothes were going to have to come off.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------

Review please!