A/N: This is my first fic so please review and let me know what you think. Thank you in advance to all who read. Reviews will make me update!

Too cold for Angels to fly

Chapter 1

Mrs. Lovett glanced up at the window from scrubbing the flour from the counter. The rain whipped the glass violently as it came down in torrents, being blown in different directions by the howling wind screeching as it slammed into the slide of the shop. She gasped as a sharp gust of wind blew her front door open. Dropping her scrubbing brush, she battled her way over to the now flapping door and wrestled it closed. Winter had only just set in, but it had started with a vengeance. She'd shut the shop early that evening; no one was venturing out into the storm meaning not only did she have no customers, but neither did Mr. Todd. She sighed heavily, rubbing her aching neck and hoping the weather picked up tomorrow; they were running dangerously low on meat. However, as she glanced up at the grumbling sky, her hopes quickly faded. It was turning a dangerous shade of grey and the rain was lashing down impossibly hard. Slowly, she bent down to retrieve her discarded brush, placing her free hand on her lower back as she did so and groaning as a searing pain shot through her. God she was tired. Wondering back over to the counter once again, she continued scrubbing absentmindedly.

He was pacing again, she could hear him. The constant rhythmic beat of his feet marching from one side to the other of the big window that looked out across the whole of London. She glanced up at the ceiling. How she wished she could help ease his troubled mind. No matter how hard she tried however, he would never open up to her; never reveal his feelings and thoughts. Mrs. Lovett knew why. He was cold and unfeeling now. Didn't 'do' feelings. But most importantly, she could never live up to his precious Lucy.

Sweeney Todd was angry. It seemed to him as if he spent all of his time angry now. Either angry of plotting the Judge's death. He paced up and down the window several times before stopping in the centre and staring out over London. The dark twisted place he hated so much, the place that had taken his family, his life, away from him. His thoughts slowly slipped to his Joanna. She was what kept him here. What kept him fighting for the revenge he longed for so much. How he wanted to rescue her from the clutches of the beast who kept her locked away from the world. He could imagine her, beautiful golden hair cascading over her shoulders and down her back like her mother. Her deep blue eyes glistening. Her flawless pale skin so soft. He was completely lost in his thoughts when he heard the door open and the cheery jingle of the bell above.

"We're closed." He growled menacingly, not even bothering to turn his head to see who had ruined his thoughts of his perfect girl.

"It's only me Mr. T." The thick cockney accent of his landlady said, a false cheeriness creeping into her voice as she heard the danger in his voice, "I brough' up ya dinner early tonigh', with the weather and tha'" She added, closing the door behind her to lock out the wind and the rain. She turned to face him, her soaked clothes leaving a little puddle around her feet.

He snapped his head round to look at her. There she was, stood in the doorway of his shop, soaked from head to foot, her old work dress clinging to her full curves. Her wet curls plastered round her face, framing it. His dark eyes bored into her hazel ones. She looked up at him, holding his gaze. He never looked at her when she brought her dinner up, usually just grunted or ignored her completely from his spot near the window. Cautiously, she took a couple of tentative steps further into the room towards the table where she placed the tray, still holding his steely gaze.

He looked deep into her hazel pools, as if trying to find the answers to his questions. She always looked after him and he knew he treated her like shit. He couldn't help it. He was Sweeney Todd. The stone hearted Demon Barber of Fleet Street. Although over the past few days, he had felt something. Not love, no that was reserved for his wonderful wife and precious daughter. It was more … jealously? No, protectiveness. As he stood outside his door during the lunch rush a couple of days ago, one of the customers, a fat, greasy old man, had grabbed her backside, laughing and gripping her waist tightly with his other hand, pulling her roughly down onto his lap. She'd batted his hand off and freed herself but he still felt mad at that old man. She was his. Not in a caring way, but his none the less, and he hated people touching his things. He'd had to grip the banister, knuckles turning whiter than usual to stop himself storming down there and slitting his throat in front of everyone. She hadn't seen him, he'd taken himself back into his shop quickly before she could. It would do no good for her to think he cared, for her to get her hopes up.

For her it felt like an eternity, although in real life, it was probably only a few seconds. The way he looked at her, piercing deep into her body, his dark eyes glinting. Suddenly, as quickly as he turned to look at her, his body snapped back round to the window, hands resting on the window frame, braced as if to pounce.

"Don't you have some work you should be doing?" He hissed quietly. The room stayed silent; there was no sign of her leaving. He'd had enough of her hanging around him, pushing him for his attention. In that moment he snapped, whirling around to face her again. "Leave!" He roared deeply.

Mrs. Lovett, wide eyed and scared took the hint and dashed from the room. She didn't want to be asked again, because with him in his current mood, the next time he asked, he'd probably be accompanied by his razors. Usually, she would have stayed, pushed it a little longer, if only to stay in his company as long as possible. But hearing the menace in his voice tonight, she decided if she wanted to see tomorrow unharmed, leaving would be her safest option.

She almost threw herself through her front door as she reached the bottom of the steps, soaked to the bone and shivering violently. Her journey up to the barber's shop had soaked her and the way back down had only succeeded in freezing her as the biting wind tore through her clothes. Quickly, she made her way through the shop, barely noticing Toby wiping the tables down. She swept into her parlour, leaving a trail of water behind her, and quickly made her way into her bedroom, closing the door and locking it behind her, shutting out the outside world.

Quickly, she threw several logs onto the dying fire she had lit earlier, watching as it cracked to life again, spreading light and warmth into the cold dark room. Moving closer to its beckoning heat, she began unlacing her soaked dress. The freshly warmed air caressed each inch of newly exposed skin. Eventually, the laces were untied and she could drop the heavy garment to the floor, the wet fabric brushing over her stomach and down her legs, making her shiver and causing a trail of goose bumps in its wake. Sighing, she imagined it was Mr. Todd's hands running up her legs, not the dripping fabric of an old dress, causing her to sigh again, but this time, not because of the cold.

She stepped out of her dress that had pooled around her ankles and in one swift movement, kicked it in to the corner of her room. Wincing, she reached round to undo her corset, her aching shoulders protesting. After a few moments of struggling, she won the battle and was finally able to relieve herself of the restricting garment, throwing it in the same direction as her dress had just gone.

Slowly, she lowered herself to the floor, sitting in front of the now roaring flames, letting the warmth slowly dry her hair and remaining clothes. She closed her eyes sleepily, tilting her head back and enjoying the soft touches of the heat on her cold skin. Lazily, she stretched her legs out towards the flames, resting back on her palms.

A small voice in the back of her head was yelling at her, telling her to stop being so lazy and get out into the shop to help Toby, but her body ignored it, surrendering to the feelings of relaxation and calmness she had not felt in months. "I deserve it. I work bloody 'ard for tha' man. Slavin' away, gettin' rid of 'is evidence." She reasoned with herself, leaning back further onto her elbows, "Jus' this one time, I'm goin' ta think o' me, no' 'im. I know e's in a mood but e's broodin', 'e won't come down an' find me. I'll be alrigh' for a few minutes." She decided, the thought pleasing her. A small smile graced her plump lips as she drifted slowly off into a dreamless sleep, something she'd not experienced in the months he'd been back.

-x-

The sun shone cheerily through the lace curtains, casting pretty patterns across the walls of the shop. Mrs. Lovett wiped her arm across her forehead, the unusually hot day making her sweat as she kneaded the dough. She didn't mind though. She was looking forward to getting everything done ready for the shop to open tomorrow so she could go for a walk in the park to make the most of the sun.

Just as she started to imagine her walking through the park hand in hand with Mr. Todd, the jingle of the bell above the shop door brought her reluctantly out of her reverie. Looking up however, she was pleasantly surprised as the man she was previously thinking about walked into her shop, an uncharacteristically cheery smile on his lips.

"Mr. T! Wha' you doin' down 'ere?" She questioned, stepping out from behind the counter.

Silently, he strode over to her, not speaking a word, simply sweeping an arm around her dainty waist and pulling her body flush against his. He looked deep into her eyes, an emotion there that she had not seen since Lucy had been around. Refusing to get her hopes up, she simply started back, wrapping her arms slowly around his neck as his other arm found her lower back, rubbing small circles through the fabric of her dress. She shivered slightly; overwhelmed by the feelings he was creating just by his hands. She watched a smirk form on his lips as she shivered again in his arms.

Slowly, almost nervously, he lowered his head to hers, reducing the gap that kept the separate. Unprepared to break the moment, Mrs. Lovett simply stayed still, letting Mr. Todd take it at his own pace. Finally, he closed the gap, their lips brushing gently against each other. Mr. Todd drew back, looking once again into her eyes, almost as if he was asking for permission.

Mrs. Lovett, shocked by what had just happened, all her dreams and fantasies coming together at last, simply smiled. This was all the encouragement he needed however and instantly his lips were on hers again, starting gently, moving slowly against hers, his arms wrapping tighter around her. Her hands moved up and tangled themselves into his mass of hair as the kiss deepened, his lips growing hungry and desperate for her.

Moments later, she found herself backed up against the shop wall, his body pressed hard against hers, trapping her. She moaned quietly into his mouth as he ran his hands slowly up and down her sides, making her legs feel even less stable than they had previously. Slowly, her hands trailed down from his hair, over his broad shoulders and down his muscular chest, loving the feel of his toned body under her fingers. At last, she reached her goal, grabbing handfuls of his shirt and tugging it from his trousers, never once breaking the kiss. Suddenly, his hands left her sides and covered her hands, stopping them in their path. Pulling them up, he pinned them next to her head, pressing his body closer to hers and breaking the kiss. She moaned quietly in annoyance at the loss of contact. He smirked again, moving his head to her ear and whispering seductively, "Patience, my dear." His warm breath tickling her neck and making her shiver once again. She heard a deep rumble emanate from his chest that sounded vaguely like a laugh, but before she had time to contemplate it, his lips were on her neck sucking and kissing gently. Throwing her head back, she closed her eyes, reaching for his shoulders to support herself only to find that they were still pinned next to her head. Realising she was now struggling to stand, he released her hands and wrapped his arms tightly around her waist, supporting her as she moaned quietly.

Just as his lips reached her pulse point and started nibbling, there was a loud knock at the door. She vaguely registered it but ignored it, surrendering her body to the man that was making her feel like she never had in her life. However, the knocking was persistent and getting louder. Growing frustrated, she tried to mumble something to Mr. Todd, only to find that she was so over taken by the feelings he was created she could hardly make a coherent sentence, "Wai'…I'll go…you wai' in my bedroom." She sighed. Slowly, she opened her eyes, trying to push Mr. Todd of her as he failed to stop his sucking of her neck, "Mr. T." She whispered as the knocking got louder. However, when she felt the lips leave her neck and the man pressed against her moved away, she saw it was no longer her barber, but Judge Turpin. The man had his hands on her hips, pressing her hard against the wall, trapping her. He had an evil smirk on his lips as he leaned in towards her again, going to kiss her. She whimpered as his fingers pressed painfully into her sides and his lips crashed hard against hers. This was no longer her gentle Mr. T, but the evil judge, and Mrs. Lovett was scared. The knocking was growing impossibly loud, making the whole door shake, but she could no longer think of this as one of the judge's arms was now pressed across her upper body, pinning her against the wall as his other hand travelling down further from her waist.

Squirming and whimpering she tried to push him off her but he was too strong, his lips and arm hurting her. She tried screaming against his mouth but it only came out as a quiet sob.

Suddenly, the knocking came to a halt only to be replaced by a loud crash and the sound of splintering wood as her front door was knocked in. The judge's lips left hers to look across at the door enabling her to let out a terrified scream, drowning out the sound of the man calling her name from the doorway.

"Mrs. Lovett. Mrs. Lovett." It called, gently but firmly. Her screams died down, comforted slightly by the familiar voice. She was still sobbing quietly though, whimpering as she felt a hand on her arm. He shied away from it, finding she was no longer trapped by the judge's weight.

"Mrs. Lovett." The voice spoke again, gently, increasing the pressure on her arm. Cautiously, she opened her eyes, taking in the scene around her. She was no longer in the shop but in her bedroom, lying on the floor. She looked up at the figure hovering above her. It was Mr. Todd. There was a look of panic and worry in his eyes she noticed. However, he quickly looked away and when his eyes met hers again, it was his normal, emotionless gaze. Snapping his hand back from her arm, he stood up. "You were dreaming. I heard you screaming. Toby couldn't get into your room; you locked the door so I had to kick it in." He said, avoiding looking at her in her state of dress.

She noticed this and grabbed the throw off the end of her bed, wrapping it round her. "Thanks." She said, grabbing the bed and using it to help her stand.

Unsure of what to say, Mr. Todd, simply turned and swept out the room, not glancing back once.

Mrs. Lovett simply stood there shaking, partly because of the dream but also from something else. Was that concern she'd seen in Mr. Todd's eyes as she came round. With that thought in her mind, she dropped the throw and wondered over to her wardrobe, looking for a dress to change into.

Thanks for getting to the bottom. Review if you like it and please let me know if you think I could improve it.