Disclaimer: Please, if I owned Sweeney Todd, Johnny would have lost that ridiculous white streak in his hair, but otherwise would have remained exactly the same
I'm sure Sweeney will just be thrilled with this news:
"Would no one have mercy on her?"
The palpable hurt in his voice was enough to make tears sting Mrs. Lovett's eyes. He stood with most of his back to her, but Mrs. Lovett could see the strain and utter exhaustion in his shoulders. She moved slightly to his side so that she could view his face. When she noticed the tears in his own deadened eyes, Mrs. Lovett's suspicions were confirmed.
"So it is you…Benjamin Barker," Mrs. Lovett breathed, hardly able to contain her awe at the sight of Mr. Barker, back from the dead it seemed.
"Where is she? Where is Lucy?" Barker responded, ignoring Mrs. Lovett's question. He whirled on her, eyes blazing, making him look demonic. "Tell me!"
Despite Barker's obvious fury, Mrs. Lovett paid him no mind. She was too occupied with his reappearance to think about all that he had lost. Her eyes took in his sunken face wildly, murmuring, "So changed…what they do to you in bloody Australia or wherever?"
"Where is she!?" Barker practically howled, more animalistic than human. He stalked towards her menacingly. "Tell me, or so help me…"
"She poisoned herself, sir," Mrs. Lovett quickly said, trying to remain calm and sympathetic while she hid the fear that he had stirred inside of her. "Arsenic, from the apothecary 'round the corner…" Mrs. Lovett's voice trailed off as she recalled the days leading up to Lucy's suicide. As Barker remained silent, Mrs. Lovett added, quietly, "I tried to stop her, but she wouldn't listen to me."
"And my daughter?" Barker managed to say, though it seemed like every word was a painful effort.
"He's got her," Mrs. Lovett replied, not wanting to endure Barker's wrath for divulging more awful information.
"He? Judge Turpin?" Barker's voice lost all of its misery; it now held a dangerous edge, one ominous and full of vengeful promise.
"Adopted her, like his own…then married her not two weeks ago," Mrs. Lovett continued. Searching desperately for something good to tell him, she adding in a cheerful tone, "You could say it was good luck for her…she'll not want for anything."
"No!" Barker screamed, his hands lurching forward to shove all of the contents of the nearby end table to the floor. For a few moments, he merely panted in anger, clenching his teeth, his shoulders taut. Finally, he straightened and removed his jacket in an eerily calm way. Though the action was perfectly domestic and normal, Mrs. Lovett was disturbed by his voice:
"Fifteen years…sweating in a living hell," Barker murmured darkly, tossing his jacket aside. "Fifteen years, dreaming that I might come home to wife and child." His tone was slightly mocking then, as if he could not believe how naïve and hopeful he had been.
Mrs. Lovett felt even more sympathy for the poor, destroyed man in front of her. She recalled the old days, when the Barkers had been a loving couple living in the apartment above her. And Mr. Barker…he had been so lovely, so attentive…and beautiful. But now, dear God, how changed he was. She hardly recognized him until he had been so interested in her story. His cheeks and eyes were sunken in, making him resemble a living corpse. Rather than keep these observations to herself, she spoke, "Well, I can't say the years have been particularly kind to you, Mr. Barker-"
"No," Barker cut her off harshly, whirling on her once again; this time, Mrs. Lovett stood her ground, not the slightest bit intimidated. "It's Todd, now. Sweeney Todd. And he will have his revenge."
"What, you?" To Todd's surprise, Mrs. Lovett began to laugh, not cruelly, but as if she were genuinely amused. "You, a nobody of a runaway of an ex-convict? How on earth do you think you're going to get men like the Judge or the Beadle?"
"I'll get them," Todd hissed, narrowing his eyes at the baker in front of him. "If I have to work and sweat in the sewers or the hospitals…I'll get them."
Mrs. Lovett believed him. There was something hypnotic and promising about his tone, as if one could not help but believe every word he said as true. Not to mention the fact that Mrs. Lovett had seen firsthand what tragedy and injustice could do to even the gentlest person. There was no saying what a human being was capable of if they reached their breaking point; or even worse, if they had nothing more to lose.
"It don't have to be the sewers or the hospitals, love," Mrs. Lovett told Todd as she opened up the loose floorboard in Todd's former apartment. Todd raised an eyebrow as Mrs. Lovett dug through the secret hole, but his dark eyes widened in surprise when he saw her remove a sleek black case. Mrs. Lovett smiled knowingly at the look on Todd's face. "You see? You can be a barber again…when they came for the little girl, I hid 'em." As she handed Todd the case, which he took and handled reverently, she added, "Times being as bad as they are, I could have got ten, maybe fifteen, quid for them any day now."
Todd only nodded vaguely. Glancing awkwardly about the room for a moment, Mrs. Lovett leaned over Todd's shoulder carefully as he opened the case. Mrs. Lovett's mouth widened into a sly grin once again as she observed the beautiful blades. "Them handles are silver, ain't they?"
"Silver…yes," Todd breathed, his voice alive at last. His tone could not be described as particularly happy, but for the first time since he had been back, his voice did not carry the dead weight of years in prison and misery.
The proud smile remained on Mrs. Lovett's face as she regarded Todd's immediate change in expression. She knew Mr. Barker – er, Todd – would have to warm to her the minute he saw that she'd kept his razors.
"You don't 'ave to worry about a thing, Mr. T," Mrs. Lovett breathed in his air as she leaned over his shoulder. "You can stay right 'ere…just like things used to be."
Todd nodded in an annoyed sort of way, but then turned his head a fraction of an inch and spoke, "Leave me."
Mrs. Lovett blinked in surprise and disappointment at the abrupt change in Mr. Todd's mood. Sighing, Mrs. Lovett nodded and slowly walked towards the door, but not before turning back for a final glance at her Mr. T. She felt a vague chill when she noticed the distinct, murderous look in his eyes, as if he were possessed by the devil himself.
Todd was only slightly aware of the door closing behind him. Resolved, he pocketed one razor, then stood to examine the rest of his room. It had clearly fallen into disrepair, to say the least. The wallpaper, which had once gleamed a bright cream color with violets, was now dingy and peeling off the walls. Cobwebs decorated the ceilings and large window in the ceiling. An old cot was laid off to one side, as well as Johanna's old crib. Todd blinked away the memories of the old days as he regarded his daughter's old sleeping place. Taking a shaky sigh, he started rummaging through the doors in the old dresser.
Todd's hands shook as he found a framed picture of Johanna and Lucy. He put a hand to his mouth, afraid he might cry out or vomit. His body lurched forward, and the picture flew out of his hands as he grasped the edge of the dresser for support. Inhaling and exhaling slowly a few times, Todd picked up the picture once more, dusted off the film in front of the faces, and stood it in the center of the dresser. Once he had set the picture to his satisfaction, Todd could not help but look up into the mirror in front of him.
"God," Todd swore unconsciously as he took in the sight of himself.
There had been no mirrors in Botany Bay. He could see parts of himself in the puddles and water occasionally, but this was the first time in years that he had really studied himself. His face, which had once been handsome and artfully sculpted, was wasted and sunken. He looked far too thin. His cheekbones stuck out like wings, and his eyes were so sunken into his skull that he looked more like a corpse. His eyes were the same vivid blue, but the shadows that ran across them made them look darker. As Todd looked into his own eyes, he thought of his daughter. When Johanna was born, he had admired his daughter's blue eyes, thinking that they were his. Lucy had teasingly told him that all baby's have blue eyes, but he had shrugged it off.
"I hope she has my eyes," Todd thought before his thoughts took a darker, more vicious turn. "I hope he thinks about me every time he even thinks about touching her. I hope his skin crawls when he looks into her eyes."
Without thinking, Todd's hand went for his razor and he viciously slashed across the air. He would positively bathe in the Judge's blood…for everything that he had done to Lucy, to Johanna…both innocents…for everything that the man had done, he deserved the most brutal, agonizing death possible. At the thought of his poor daughter, a young girl who was having her innocence stripped from her at that very moment, Todd's hand with the razor lurched forward into the mirror, shattering it. Todd welcomed the sting as blood bloomed from the wounds on his fingers. Pain was the only thing he felt anymore; it was the only sign he had that he was still alive.
He knew that he had to plan carefully. Vengeance could be easy; he could just walk up to the Judge and slit his throat in the middle of the street, consequences be damned. But Todd had waited too long, and too much was at stake. There was also Johanna to think about. It was a dream just beyond his grasp that he could perhaps get his daughter back. If there was to be any chance that he could have Johanna again, he needed to kill the Judge subtly and cleverly. He could not have the murder traced back to him, no matter how much he wished that he could be obvious and scream down to hell that he had killed the Judge.
Todd's eyes fell onto a shard of mirror still hanging in the frame. In the reflection, Todd could see his old barber chair. Todd's mouth twisted into a smile, a great effort. Turning his back on the mirror, Todd regarded the chair silently, a sinister smile growing on his deadened face.
Mostly recap from the movie, but necessary to the plot nonetheless; next up is some Johanna and Anthony…that should be fun insert evil laugh Now he's gendering at someone's wife