Disclaimer: No. I don't own Sweeney Todd or Benjamin Barker…just my original gals and guys. But I really want that badass doll of him, so if you are so inclined…

Authors Note: Yes you're right, this does have a little nod to Public Enemies just cause I can. Mwahahaha…

And yes there is ANGST in this chapter. Lots of it…why? Cause I love angst and it can't all be easy peasy for everyone. Duality of nature is part of the reason I love Sweeney. He loves and he hates…. And God help you if you come between either of the objects for those sort of affections.

Chapter 2

Fly away…

Diana's eyes opened to find streaks of sunlight criss-crossing the room through the blinds. Her tongue felt thick in her mouth, but the pain she'd been feeling was now only a dull throb. There was a coppery taste on her lips she realized, licking them. Turning her head she saw she was alone in the room, and there was no trace of Benjamin anywhere. "Maybe I did dream it." She thought to herself. Then she turned to look at the bedside table and found a piece of paper folded with her name on it.

She decided to try and set up and found that she could with a little effort. The fact that she shouldn't have been able to even do that without help should have concerned her…but it didn't. Leaning back on the pillows she picked up the note and unfolded it. In a rather fluid hand it was written:

"My sleeping beauty,

I watched over you till the dawn rose over this new London. By nights fall you should be healed, and I will be with you again. The damnable sun as you know is not a friend of mine any longer. I will find my rest somewhere the shadows will serve me well.

I know you have questions for me, as you are still as curious as ever my Diana. And I have just as many for you I'm sure. But all will be answered and all will be ours.

We will leave this place together for I know your hearts true desire, as well as I know my own. And you shall have it my darling girl. After you've tasted vengeance you will be mine. Truly, completely, and forever mine Diana.

Till the darkness brings me to your side.

Benjamin"

Diana stared wide eyed at the letter. It was his blood on her lips that she tasted. It was his eyes that she saw when she closed her own. Her hands shook slightly. She felt overwhelmed and wondered for a moment if she'd be smart to leave now, and run before he could stop her..

As soon as the thought entered her head she could have swore she heard a growl somewhere close to her, and a chill went up her spine. She shook the sensation off. Now that she didn't feel like she'd…well…fell two stories to a floor, she could think a bit more clearly.

The truth was she was losing herself to him, completely. He was taking over and his influence was growing…especially with the fact she'd drank his blood. The thought made her feel woozy. God what the hell was happening to her? Just as he'd done in the past, he had her torn in two. And Diana knew that if she gave into him, she'd be lost to the darkness. Part of her was already wanting it; anxious for him to be with her. But there was that small voice that told her if she gave into him, her soul was lost and she'd never see the sun again.

"But remember what it felt like in his arms? What his touch did to you? Remember the way he said your name and made you know you were all that he craved?" That voice was getting louder in her head and it was starting to win.

Diana's instincts were telling her this was dangerous, and not in the old "he's a bad boy" sense. This was a creature of legend and no one would believe her if she decided to tell them about him.

"T'was your love that brought me back." She remembered him saying the night before. She did love him. And that's what scared her now, when his influence wasn't so strong and could cloud her judgment. She loved him and she knew if he was around she wouldn't be able to say no.

Steeling herself she pulled the blankets off her legs and with a grunt of pain swung them over the side of the bed. Diana's head spun at the quick movement, but she was determined, and she figured she didn't have much time before sundown. Tentatively she placed her bare feet on the floor, and holding onto the bed she stood up. It hurt, but she could bear it. Grasping hold of the IV pole, she started making her way slowly to the waiting room. She figured that's where Tracy would be. The memories of the night before came back, and she remembered Tracy heading off to sleep there.

As she slowly made her way down the hall, Diana heard the growl once more. She could almost feel cold fingers grasping at the back of her neck, trying to stop her. In fact, the shadows in the hallway looked like they were trying to snatch at her legs, to hold her fast. But she ignored it…she wouldn't let them stop her.

She entered the waiting room and found Tracy still asleep. She reached out and shook her roughly. "Tracy! Trace wake up!"

Tracy's eyes opened with some effort and finally focused on her friend. "Diana? What the hell are you doing out of bed?" She felt like someone had shoved cotton in her brain.

Diana shook her head. "I'm better. We need to leave." The growl got more ferocious, and she was amazed that Tracy didn't hear it.

"Uhm…what?" Tracy was still trying to figure out how she was walking. "Di, there's no way you can be moving around and traveling. For God's sake, you just landed on your head from a second story."

"And yet here I am, up and about." Di pulled her friend to her feet. "I need you to get our tickets changed to a flight this afternoon. We need out of England right away."

Tracy finally was coherent enough to realize her friend was freaked out good and proper. She narrowed her eyes at Diana. "Does this have anything to do with Creepy Sexy Cop?"

Diana's mouth fell open. "With who?"

"Creepy Sexy Cop...the guy who came to visit you last night." Tracy rubbed her eyes trying to figure out how quickly she could make this happen, and sort of relieved that Diana wanted to get the hell out of town.

"Yeah, Creepy Sexy Cop…sort of." Diana looked around, feeling eyes watching her. Dark, onyx eyes burning with anger.

"Alright…I'll get the tickets changed but they are going to cost us an arm and a leg." Tracy pulled her bag over her shoulder.

"Tell them it's a family emergency or something. I'll pay it…whatever. Just…just do it." Diana didn't know if she could fight the pull that was starting to come over her. That voice was getting louder in her head, telling her she couldn't do what she was planning. She needed him, just as much as he needed her it said. And maybe it was right…but that didn't mean it was the right choice for her to make.

"How the hell are you even walking?" Tracy asked her before leaving.

"Good drugs. Now go, I'm going to check out of here." Diana made her way to the nurse's station, much to the amazement of most of the staff there.

It took nearly two hours to get them to let her leave against medical advice. But eventually they let the crazy American have her way. Diana nervously looked outside and saw that the sun by that point had started getting pretty low in the sky. It was four o'clock and she was running out of time.

Tracy appeared with their bags and two plane tickets scheduled for six thirty that evening. "They were the soonest I could get, and yes…YOU are paying for the changes." Her friend told her with a glare.

Diana pulled on her jacket, and tried to remember what time sunset was. God, it was going to be close. The growling had stopped, but she could still feel it…that presence which was radiating anger like a furnace. Diana figured they should get to the airport as quickly as possible. He wouldn't try something in public would he? No…security would be all over that place…people all around…that was where she needed to be.

"Let's get going." She picked up her bag, wincing as it pulled at her still sore shoulder.

As they walked to the cab stand, Tracy wondered what had happened between Diana and the constable to make her want to leave so quickly. They'd seemed so chummy the night before… Well, it didn't matter she supposed, they were getting out of the country and she couldn't wait to be back in the nice normalcy of their boring house.

Diana kept glancing out the cab window, her thoughts troubled. Those two voices were screaming at each other inside her head. Each mile the cab drove towards the airport she felt more miserable and torn. She swallowed the lump in her throat and pulled her jacket tighter around herself. The sun was nearly set, and they weren't quite at the airport yet.

Just as the Heathrow exit came into view, the sun dipped under the horizon, and Diana knew the moment he came fully awake. She let out a little cry, and grabbed the arm rest in a death grip. It scared the driver so much that he nearly ran them off the road.

"Diana! Jesus, are you okay?" Tracy asked her, putting a hand on her shoulder.

She caught her breath and shook her head. "Yeah, I'm fine....fine." She nearly jumped out the door when their terminal entrance came into view. "Let's hurry okay?"

On the other side of London at that same moment, a howl of mournful anger ripped through the now dark streets. The brittle brick and mortar of an abandoned warehouse wall exploded out into an alley and Benjamin Barker stood in the moonlight a heartbeat later. His eyes were wide, and his teeth bared. Pain was lacing through him, pain that she would leave and pain at the distance that was now between them.

"You think to leave me behind my pet." He spoke to the darkness, the shadows slinking in around him like tendrils of a great beast, his to command. His voice was harsh, raw. "You will not…you cannot leave me. Tis time you learned that lesson love. And it will be a harsh one, but you will not forget again."

In the next instant he was gone from the alleyway as were all the shadows that it had once held.

Diana and Tracy stood in the crowded gate waiting for their flight. Diana's eyes kept looking out into the night, behind the large bay of windows. It had gotten dark very quickly and she knew he was out there, and he wasn't pleased.

"Di, you need to relax. Seriously…you are freaking me out." Tracy said from the chair she'd managed to find. She was typing away at her laptop. She looked up at her friend with a sigh. "The guy won't be able to get to you here anyway, security will nab him."

Diana wished she could explain Benjamin Barker to Tracy and have her believe it. But there was no way she would. Diana slid down the glass to sit on the floor, wincing slightly. Benjamin's blood had done wonders as he had promised. She was nearly healed. But her heart was broken. She was broken. He'd torn her in two and now Diana was having to figure out which was the real her.

"Jesus H. Christ would you look at that." An elderly man sitting next to them said, pointing out beyond the window. His exclamation was followed by murmurs from nearly everyone sitting around them.

Diana felt a familiar creeping sensation along her back as she turned to see just what was causing the commotion. Fog…large, thick and dense was pouring onto the runways of Heathrow. It was nearly opaque, and it was surrounding the terminals and the jets quickly and with a precision that left little doubt as to who was controlling it.

"Holy shit…" Tracy muttered putting her laptop down and looking out towards the planes. "That's the most intense fog I've ever seen."

Diana backed away from the window slowly. He knew…he was doing this. He was keeping her here, and there wasn't a damn thing she could do. In seconds the departure screens were flashing "DELAYED" on every flight number.

"Diana…" She heard his voice suddenly, through the chaos. "My little blackbird is trying to fly away." He wasn't there at least anywhere she could see him. Diana's head whipped left to right trying in vain to find him.

"But I won't let you go Diana. You should know that." The words came from everywhere and nowhere. She was the only one who heard them. "Your mine Diana, mine forever. And I will not lose you, even to your own doubting heart."

"Benjamin…" She whispered his name aloud. The planes, the people…if they were in the air when this hit they'd be in danger.

"I will lift this veil but only if you come outside to me. You will return to me Diana." He'd heard her thoughts of course…Diana sighed and looked over at Tracy who was completely oblivious to what her friend was dealing with.

She'd never see Tracy again, most likely. Diana took a deep breath and picked up her bag from the ground. Trace's face was pressed up to the glass, wonder and fear mixed in her eyes as she looked out at the fog. "Goodbye Trace." She whispered with a sad smile, and then headed towards the exit doors.

The night was cold, but the fog parted in front of her the minute she stepped outside like a curtain on a stage. This was a side exit that was probably used at one time for smokers to go out and feed their addictions. It was still a place for addictions to be met it would seem as Diana walked through the swirling white.

She saw him at the end of the walkway then, as the fog faded to nothing, he stood beneath the glow of the security lights. His face was as pale as the moon, and he was dressed in the long black coat and dark colors of the night before. She noticed he'd done away with the badge though, the charade over with.

Benjamin Barker's dark eyes were a heavy weight upon her as she stepped closer to him. His face was turned down, staring with a hunger that nearly made her falter. He wasn't pleased, but she still couldn't deny the fact her heart raced at the sight of him from something other than fear.

When she came to stand in front of him, he didn't move…merely studied her, his head cocking to the side slightly. "You ran from me." His voice was deceptively soft when he spoke.

"I was afraid…" Diana's voice on the other hand was shaky. She wished the fear wasn't so obvious…but he'd know it was there anyway.

"Of me?" He asked her, taking a step closer then.

She shook her head, and took a step back. He paused, eyes narrowing.

"Of myself." She told him, and he knew it was the truth.

He smiled at her, a smile that would send a jolt of terror through most that would witness it, but not her. She merely looked up into his onyx eyes, ready to accept whatever he decided to met out as punishment for this attempted escape.

"My scared little blackbird…trying to fly away from your own dark heart." He lifted his hand and let his fingers run along her soft hair in a caress. "You can't escape who you are Diana, no matter how you try. The real you will show through eventually. And I know the real you. Like knows like Diana." His voice grew huskier as he moved closer, till the edges of his coat were billowing around her legs in the chill night air.

Inside the airport, Tracy had turned a few seconds too late to hear Diana's goodbye. But not too late to see her walk through the exit doors across from where she stood. She'd called out to her, but Diana wasn't stopping.

"Where are you going?" She wondered aloud, and then decided to follow her.

When she got out to the walkway, she saw the fog doing something very weird. It was moving on its own, like it had a purpose. Her eyes were drawn to it, but then she realized she needed to find Diana and get her inside in case the crazy guy showed up again.

But after a few moments Tracy realized she was too late for that. She looked up ahead and saw Diana and the crazy guy in question standing so close they could have been kissing.

"Hey! Diana!!" Tracy called out, starting to run towards her friend.

At her voice Diana turned slightly and the crazy cop guy looked up at her. He was smiling, his eyes looking very, very black and his teeth looking very white. She was reminded of a skull for one terrifying second. He had his arms around Diana, and what was weird was Diana didn't seem to mind. In fact, Tracy saw that Di's arms were around his waist too. This made her stop mid run and just stare.

She would swear later that he winked at her again, and Diana gave her a smile…one that looked far too much like his. Then a chill breeze cut through the darkness, making his coat swirl around them like wings of some kind…and then they were gone, leaving only the fading fog behind.