"NELLIE!" James wasted no time dashing for the stairs, his footsteps echoing through his ears as he did so. He threw up the door and ran into the parlor. He quickly spotted Kagome sitting on the settee, hands sitting idly in her lap, her head bowed in a patient pose, her eyes unseeing in a daze as she stared at her feet.
He ran up to the girl and grabbed her by the shoulders in a vice-like grip. "WHERES NELLIE?" he shouted in her face, making her jump and gasped in fright. "I-I-I don't-", "ANSWER HE GODDAMMIT!" James screamed, not caring if he frightened her, There were far more important things to attend to. "WHERE THE BLODY HELL IS SHE!" He squeezed her shoulders tighter, making her wince in pain but he didn't notice.
"I-I-I T-Think...S-Shes...!" she stuttered as she trembled in fear. "TELL ME!" he continued to scream. Kagome didn't answer, but quickly pointed a shaky pale finger toward the narrow hallway that lead to the baker's bedroom. He threw down that way, leaving a very frightened and hurt Kagome shaking in fear in her seat.
"NELLIE!" James shouted as he burst through the door, making Sweeney and her to jump in fright. "James! Wot the bloody 'ell do you think your doin'?" she shouted at her husband, but he didn't acknowledge her. Instead, he swept her up in his arms bridle style and rushed to the door.
"JAMES! PUT ME DOWN RIGH' THIS INSTANCE!" Nellie screamed, pounding her fists in his chest, which obviously had no effect.
"Put her down now, Stewart." a low, grim voice snarled from behind the pair. James slowly turned his head to meet Sweeney's glare. He practically dropped his wife on the floor and charged at him.
"YOU SICK, TWISTED FUCK!" he screamed, his hands clasped around his pale neck very tightly, cutting off his air. Sweeney went to pry his hands off him, but he was losing oxygen too fast, his strength failing him along with his eyes sight. He was about to lose conscious when Nellie stepped in and pulled James off him. He dropped to the floor, rubbing his sore throat and gasping for air.
"JAMES WOT THE BLOODY HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU!"She screamed in his face. He only stared at her like she was crazy. "Nellie, Listen! I was right! That damned man is out of 'is fucking MIND!" He pointed to the barber frantically, a huge triumphant grin slapped on his face.
Nellie stared at him like he'd gone out of his own mind before shaking her head and rushing over to help Sweeney onto the bed. "you alright', love?" she asked worriedly. He nodded and she felt herself sigh in relief She got him onto the bed then turned to James, her eyes a flame with anger.
He stared at her for a moment, liking her crazy, then he shook his head. No, shes NOT on his side. She doesn't know. Doesn't know...
"Nellie, please I know this looks bad, but you don't know!", "DON'T BLOODY KNOW WOT?" she shouted angrily. James swallowed loudly before continuing. "Hes a murder, Nellie! Hes a damned killed! I saw the body! That barber! I saw 'im down in the bake house!" he smiled happily as if it were the best news in the world.
Her face fell, shocked, as did Sweeney's. James stared at the two with his smile, expecting any second for his wife to scream bloody murder before running into his arms and begging him to call the law on the bastard.
But it never came.
Nellie looked to Sweeney and their eyes met. There was a long, almost awkward silence before the baker brought her gaze to her husband, her eyes almost sad. She slowly walked up to him and cupped his face softly in her petite hands.
"James...please try an' understand...why Mr. T done wot 'e did..." she begged sadly and James' face fell blank. He looked at her like she was a whole different woman, a whole different person from far away. Like she was not his wife, but a mere stranger whom he'd never seen before.
And she was.
"Nellie...what are you-", "'E tried to black mail 'im, he did," she began softly and he back away, his eyes wide in shock and disbelief "No..." James whispered desperately
"'E said 'e knew who he was," Nellie kept going slowly, but he wanted to hear no more of the nightmare. He covered his ears tightly. "-'E threatened to go to the Judge," he shut his eyes so tight he thought his eye ids were going to rip. "We couldn't let 'im get away with tha'," he fell to his knees. "So we 'ad to...get rid of 'im.", "NO!"
He shot up and pointed an accusing finger at Sweeney who lay tiredly on the bed. "YOU!" James shouted angrily, his eyes on fire. "YOU'VE CONDEMED HER!" He made move to strangle him again, but felt his wife;s arms grabbed his shoulders, holding him back. He had to admit, she was very strong for a woman.
"James! Calm down, Please!" she yelled, but he didn't hear her. He could only hear her screams of pain, of what was to come to her because of that demon...
"YOU DAMNED, FUCKING BASTARD! BECAUSE OF YOU, SHE'LL BURN IN HELL!" James roared with rage and hatred. "BECAUSE OF YOU, SHE'LL ROT IN HELL! SHE;LL BE FORCED TO SHARE YOUR WELL DESERVED FATE BECAUSE YOU'VE FORCED HER TO HELP YOU! SHE'LL BE FORCED TO BURN WITH YOU BECAUSE OF THE BLOOD YOU'VE SPILLED!"He felt his heart ready to burst, his chest heaving with heavy breaths as he felt tears slide down the side of his face. He had cried.
There was a long silence, Sweeney stared at the apothecary like he was crazy, which by now he was sure he was. Nellie looked at him with sad, pitiful eyes. Of course he'd be more worried about me than anything.
She grabbed his arm and gently pulled him from the room, which he didn't protest to. James let his wife lead him away, his outburst taken more of him than he had thought. He felt her stop in her tracks when they came to the parlor and looked up, wishing he hadn't.
Kagome sat on the settee, her head in her hands with her knees drawn up to her chest, her little body shaking with sobs. Nellie gasped silently and rushed to her side, leaving James to stand and stare at them with alarm.
"Love, whats wrong?" she asked her, wrapping an arm around her shoulders The girl instantly jumped and yelped in surprise and fear, throwing her hands over her head. Nellie slowly took her hands in her own. "There there, dear, 'M not gonna 'urt ya." she cooed softly, wrapping both arms around her small frame.
She felt Kagome relax a little and lean into her, her head resting in the crook of her neck. "Now whats all this cryin' about, hmm?" she asked gently, sure not to frighten or upset her.
She sat there in her arms, silent for a moment. Then, she whispered quietly, "M-Mr. S-Stewart yelled at m-me and grabbed my s-shoulders really hard."
Nellie gasped and pulled back, staring into her red, puffy eyes. She pulled the sleeve puff on her shoulder down and gasped in shock to see finger shaped bruise on her pale skin. She glare angrily at her husband, his mouth hanging open and his eyes wide with shcok. Had he really been hurting her and not know it?
She shot up and grabbed his arm tightly and dragged him to the bake house stairs in the hall. "Be righ' back, love." she hissed through clenched teeth to Kagome, who nodded in reply and sat on the settee and let her tears run down her face.
"WOT IN GOD'S NAME IS WRONG WITH YOU, JAMES STEWART!" Nellie screamed in his face once they were at the end of the stairs and on the stone floor of the bake house. He didn't look at her, his face to the ground in guilt. "I...I Don't know-" ,"WELL NEITHER DO I!" She yelled, not missing a beat.
James didn't take his eyes off the ground. "I so sorry-", "I'M NOT THE ONE YOU NEED TO BE APOLOGIZING TO!" She shouted, making him flinch.
"I mean, 'ere you are, screamin' your bloody 'ead off at e an' Mr. T for murdering some bloke-" he made to say how the two situations were completely different, but she beat him to it. "Which, by the way, was justified, you go and beat a poor, defenseless, already physically and emotionally scarred little girl!"
"I did NOT beat her. " James tried to defend himself. She gave him a dirty look, "You left bruises. Tha's beatin'." she snarled, her face twisted in rage.
He looked to his feet again, neither one speaking for some time. Then, his eyes slowly slid to the corpse just a few feet away. He brought head up, never taking his eyes off the body. "What you expect to do with it?" he asked.
Nellie looked at him angrily, then followed his gaze, her face turned blank. "We're gonna be practical people an' use it for meat for me pies." she didn't react when she saw him gag. Her eyes then softened and she took his face in her hands once more.
"Please, love, lease see to reason," he didn't say anything, only stared at her with that shock in his eyes, but didn't say anything. She continued, "Times is hard, my love-" she smiled little when she saw that tiny smile on his face when she'd said 'my love'.
"-People do what they need to survive in this dark, cruel world." Nellie whispered almost pleadingly in his ear.
"Is that was this is about?" James suddenly asked. "You feel like you 'ave to kill to live because I can't provide for you," he ignored the tears gathering in his eyes were he to find that true. "Because I'm not a good husband to you?" his voice cracked on the word 'husband'.
Sure, his job as an apothecary wasn't the most glamorous job in the world. Most of the times he wouldn't come home until the moon was high in the sky. It was rare where he'd come home to enough a bite of dinner with his wife. Maybe that was why she seemed to fancy the barber, maybe she was tired of being all by herself most of the time.
Nor was his job the highest in pay. Oh, how he'd wish every night to get a job that enough money to give his dearest Nellie everything that she deserved: Her house by the sea, all those fancy dresses he'd caught her eye balling every time they went to the market, all the finest delicacies she'd ever dream of sampling, everything she'd ever wanted.
No, his job was nothing like what they'd wished for, but it was enough to get them through the hard times.
Or so he thought.
James watched her face for any indication of truth. She only smiled sadly and shook her head, caressing his pale skin and running her finger gently through his chestnut brown locks.
"No, my love, that couldn't be it. It could never be that," she whispered softly, staring right into his green eyes, sparkling with unshed tears. "No' with how good you are to me." she sighed happily, resting her head on his chest, inhaling his scent of clean. She couldn't put a word to how he smelt. It wasn't the best perfume fragrance she'd ever smelled, but it was far better than her own, she was sure. All the filth and grime of London had left him untouched, so She could only call it clean.
James let out a content sigh, wrapping his arms tightly around shoulders, pulling her tightly against his. He nuzzled his face in her Auburn curls and inhaled her enticing scent of cinnamon and flour, a smell he'd come to love because it reminded him of her.
They stood there for what felt like forever on the apothecary's but was really only ten minuets. Nellie pulled back and smiled up at her husband, her eyes shining with loving affection. He stared down at her with devotion in his own.
"So... are you...alrigh' with...'ow We've chosen to deal with 'im?" The baker asked meekly, biting her lower lip. James looked at her with indifference for a moment.
"We?"
"Me an' Mr. T." she bit out with a sad sigh, knowing how he felt about him. She looked at her feet shyly when she felt hi stiffen against her. A long pause came afterward, then, "Will this be...a regular thing?" James asked, almost afraid of the answer.
"I believe so, love." she sighed, expect him to push her away and run out to eh law.
But he didn't.
Instead, he pulled her against him once again and held her tightly, so much so that she thought he would crush a rib. But she wouldn't have cared if he did when she heard him whisper in her ear haughtily:
"Anything for you, my love."
A/N: Ok, I had to cut James some slack, I actually love the idea of Nellie and an OC, I think Sweeney treats her bad enough as it is, SHe should be with someone who really loves her. James: LIKE ME! Me: No, James, all the readers hate you. James: WHY? WHAT DO THEY HAVE AGAINST TRUE LOVE? Me: *shrug* I guess they think Sweenett is true love. James: :'C
