Thanks to Rainbow Username for the review, I lovett too :)

Chapter 7


"Mr. T…" Nellie sighed as she looked at the barber still sitting motionless on the weedy grass. She kneeled next to him, studying his features. Now that she could see him in the light, he looked angrier then ever before. Though he must of cleaned since that night, which was good, for Mrs. Lovett figured that the site of blood would be all to much to take right now. He was his usual, light skinned, sunken eyed self. Well mostly. All except for the thin line of red across his throat.

And even out of the corner of his eye, Sweeney could see the baker too. She also, had seemed to return to normal, all except for one thing. One thing she hadn't even noticed… Her hair was noticeable shorter, and charred at the ends.

But she no longer smelt of smoke, and he no longer smelt of blood.

After looking him over and concluding that there was nothing wrong and he was just being his regular Sweeney Todd brooding self, Mrs. Lovett shifted and sat right next to him, her legs out and crossed at the ankles, and her arms stretched out behind her.

He didn't yell at or threaten her. And she didn't nag or gawk at him.

In the moment, it seemed like perhaps things could return to normal, which is all Nellie really wanted.

"You used to come here with Lucy." broke the pond's still water silence.

"I figured it only so…"

An awkward stillness filled the cool morning air around the two. Mrs. Lovett's eyes drifted over to the barber again, and she couldn't help but note, "Mr. T…your cut…it hasn't healed at all…not in the least bit…" Her forehead wrinkled with the mystery. No cut like that can just stay raw for that long. At least, not in any healthy way.

He flashed an angry glare at her, wishing she really didn't care. He didn't really care. If he died from some horrible infection or something, perhaps it would be right. Perhaps it would be right since the cut couldn't kill him the first time.

"Mr. T…" Mrs. Lovett said, barely parting her lips as she struggled to catch Sweeney's distant gaze. "What's the real reason you came out here?"

Silence followed her question, not even a blink from the barber, no sign of the gears turning in his mind at all. No sign that he even heard her.

"We're you frightened by something?" she whispered with a smile, almost asking mockingly. Sweeney responded this time, if only with a glare out of the corner of his eyes, not even bothering to turn his head to respond to the baker. Then, he shook his head ever so slightly, a quick jerk to the left, then back in place. When was Sweeney Todd ever scared? He couldn't be scared, he didn't have room in his mind for things like fear.

The early morning wind flowed through the trees, making the leaves quiver and a few began to float toward the ground. Nellie let the smile slide off her face as she whispered to the man, ignoring the fact that he seemed to care less. "Well I was…" She let empty air follow her words as they floated to the dirt between them. "Mr. T," she began again, "I still don't know if you believe in this spirit thing…but… I don't believe there's any more reason to deny that we are…haunted."

Again, she let a few beats flow by before going on. It was as if she felt she was breaking great news to a small child, who needed lots of time and explanations to fully comprehend the situation. "And I think I know who's doing this haunting."

Sweeney had been hearing the words this whole time. Goodness, how was it not possible? Just the way Mrs. Lovett talked in her ever-so bothersome voice, it couldn't be ignored. Even by Sweeney Todd, who had been listening to it every single day for nearly a year. So instead of blocking the words out, he just learned how to not respond, and eventually she would give up. And besides, every once in a while, her mindless blabbering was useful. Like it had been just then.

He already knew who was haunting them. He already knew why the words had read the name of his dead self and why that picture had been sent smashing to the ground.

One person - Lucy.

So that's why he really became interested when Mrs. Lovett whispered a different name, "Judge Turpin."

Sweeney couldn't help but send a glace of disproval in the baker's direction. She noticed it, like she noticed every move he made, and went on to defend her thought. "Who else would want us dead?"

This time the barber even went as far as narrowing his eyebrows in confusion - No message he had seen related to wishing death upon the two.

Nellie noticed this slight movement too, "Mr. T…after you left, this ghost, well it got into Toby somehow…I'm not sure how. But it threw him off a chair! He could have been seriously hurt! And he was only up on that chair because the spirit that was controlling him made him write on the wall… 'you deserve to be dead'."

You deserve to be dead? Now why in the world would his Lucy write that? Surly she must be a little angry about what happened, who wouldn't be? But the Lucy that Sweeney remembered was forgiving and loving and...simply didn't wish those kinds of things.

"Another thing, Mr. T. Toby and I…we keep hearing this sound…like a judges gavel it sounds like," Nellie whispered.

A judges gavel…Now the gears were really turning in the barbers mind. There was no possible reason why Lucy would use that. So…it couldn't be her then, he concluded. As much as it pained him to think it, he was wrong, the baker was right. The evidence simply didn't add up. He actually kind of found himself relaxing internally. Perhaps its better that his Lucy was at peace. But still…then why would the judge write Leave this all behind?

Why?

Mrs. Lovett simply sat and watched Mr. Todd as his eyes darted around. She knew he must be thinking something, and she was prepared to wait for him to make light of his thoughts all on his own, even if it took all day.

It wouldn't take that long though because he had figured it all out. The judge was simply acting like he was Lucy. He knew the barbers weakness - his wife. He wanted to make him vulnerable and get him out of his home. His home where he had all the power. By making him weak, he could get to him easier. Because the judge was back. That bugger was back from the grave to get revenge on the man who got revenge on him. Sweeney cringed, it was a never ending cycle for the two. But he would find a way to come out on top. He has too. For the sake of himself, and fully avenging his wife and daughter.

"We have to go back," Sweeney finally murmured, barely opening his mouth as he muttered the words.

A flood of relief flushed through the baker as she saw Mr. Todd come back to her. But even as she sat there, finally completing what she had set out to do, she couldn't help but wonder, "And do what?"

At that the barber stood up, towering over Mrs. Lovett as if to show his dominance. She looked up at him as he continued to look out into the distance, the reflection of the sun on the pond playing on his pale face.

"Show we have no weakness. Not give into temptation. That's what he did, and that killed him."

Mrs. Lovett softened her face, still a hint of questioning in it. Letting her eyes float across the pond in hopes that she could see the same thing that he saw she muttered back, "But how can we get rid of him? I can't live the rest of my life knowing the judge is in my home."

"We show our dominance. Show that this is where we dwell and we want it back. Command that the Judge does not belong there. The only place he belongs is Hell." Sweeney's voice was hard and demanding. Powerful and encouraging. He knew what he was going to do, and as soon as Sweeney Todd knew what he was going to do, he was going to go through with it, no matter what.

Mrs. Lovett couldn't help but let a sly smile spread across her face-she had gotten her Mr. T back. Her plotting, dark, vengeful, Mr. T.

And with that, he started his way back to the shop, not about to let Judge Turpin get the upper hand. Toby, who sat silently across the pond, playing with a stick in the mud spotted the movement out of the corner of his eye. He glanced up and saw Mr. Todd begin to leave and the smile on his mum's face. Through it all, he still hated the way that Mr. Sweeney Todd, despite ever bad thing he has done, had the privilege to be loved by his mum. In Toby's eyes, he simply didn't deserve it.

The walk back was silent. Despite the London streets beginning to bustle with people, the group walked through all of them as if the other individuals didn't exist. Sweeney only wanted to get home and confront the judge…show that he had no weakness. Mrs. Lovett just wanted to try and get things back to normal. Perhaps that could all happen now. And Toby walked in front of the two, his hands shoved in his pockets and his expression hard, wishing different things from the both of them.

The way back to Fleet Street was a long walk, and a three of them were relieved when they could see the small arched tunnel that was built across the way from the shop in the distance.

As they grew closer, Nellie was suddenly flooded with the abrupt smell of smoke yet again. She wouldn't have bothered to mention it this time, figuring that no one else could smell it, but the bitter smell quickly grew into a bitter taste in her mouth, and it didn't go away. "Mr. T?" She mumbled, the first thing she had said on their walk home. "Do you smell smoke?"

He wouldn't have answered back to the babbling women even though he did smell the aroma of smoke drifting through the air, but the bitterness was growing stronger and stronger. He nodded his head only slightly.

And as the three began their way through the tunnel even Sweeney was shook from his thoughts by the orange and yellow colors that played off of the top and sides of the stone. But it wasn't until Toby screamed, "MUM!" that the two rushed forward.

The smell grew, the lights brightened, the air became foggy, and they could almost feel the heat on their noses and cheeks. When they finally turned the last corner to Fleet Street, it became all too clear what Toby was shouting about.

There, in front of their eyes, the top half of Mrs. Lovett's meat pies was engulfed in flames.


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