~a few months later~

"On the house, Mr Shelby." 

"Harry, what have I said about giving the Shelby's things on the bloody house?!" 

It hadn't been very long since the Shelby family had all been back together and already people were bending over backwards to try and make them happy. Penny was different though. She didn't have to care about making sure that she didn't piss them off because she'd grown up with them. She had always been invited to family meetings and she didn't have to pay the protection fee (not that she would ever tell Harry that). The Garrison was under payment free protection by the Peaky Blinders purely because it was her name on the deed. 

Penny and Tommy had decided to put their relationship on hold for awhile. It had all been decided by the both of them after they had woken up with Tommy holding a gun to her head after a particularly horrible nightmare. There weren't a lot of changes to their relationship. She was still by his side whenever he needed a drink or comforting. She was still the first person he went to when he needed to talk and vice versa. The only change was that there wasn't any physical intimacy between them anymore. That was the only change. 

"It's fine. I'll pay it back," Tommy told her as she made her way over. "And we have a family meeting tonight. Arthur's demanded it." 

"I take it out of his wages anyway," Penny said with a shrug of her shoulders. She then raised an eyebrow at Freddie and poured him the drink he asked for. "I'll give you two boys some privacy." 

"Thanks, gorgeous," Freddie commented with a wink, making Penny roll her eyes as she made her way down to the stock room to grab another bottle of whisky. 

That was probably one of the only things that Penny ever hated about working in a bar. The guys that she could hardly stand to talk to acting like they were better than her. Yes, in their eyes they probably were, but she was the one running a highly successful business that they all relied on so who was really better? Not that she would ever actually say anything. 

By the time she came back up, Harry was righting tables and Danny was making his way out of the bar. She sighed softly and set the bottle down, running a hand through her long red hair. 

"Mr. Shelby, you have to do something about him," Harry proclaimed. 

"Leave him be, Harry. Danny's been through a lot. You all have. You should be considerate of how it's effected all of you," Penny countered as she poured herself a drink. It was actually rarer to not see Penny pouring herself a drink behind the bar. It was stressful owning the Garrison. 

 "Harry's right, actually. He pays the Peaky Blinders a lot of money for protection," Freddie argued. 

"Harry doesn't pay shit because it's not his fucking bar." 

It had seemed that people kept forgetting that tiny bit of information. It wasn't even like this had been a change that had occurred during the war. Penny had always owned or worked in this bar. Her father had passed away a year before the war broke out and everyone was called away to action. The fact was, they'd all been okay with her owning the place until recently when they had all gotten back. Freddie was the one making the most issues about it and it was getting to the point where she would probably stab him if he said it again. It wasn't like anyone would actually stop her. If anything they would probably stop pushing her limits. 

"I'll see you at the meeting, Pen," Tommy told her, kissing her cheek in goodbye. "And send the bill to us. We'll handle it." 

"I was planning on that anyway." 

~~~~~~

"What have you been up to today, Finn?" Penny asked the youngest Shelby as she shrugged off her coat. She took the cigarette that he handed to her and leaned down for him while she waited for his answer. 

"I went down the Cut with some friends," Finn told her with a grin, lighting her cigarette for her. "Had John's gun with me as well." 

Penny froze and looked over at him. She had become severely  protective over Finn while she had raised him during the war. She'd spent most of her day making sure he was clean and that he'd eaten and that he was healthy. Finn would sit in the back room of the Garrison and sleep or do some of the homework that he had been set that day. Most of the time he would run around the pub, seeing what he could get out of any of the men left behind or trying to put a smile on to the women's faces. She had basically taken over the role of his mother during the war and that wasn't something that she could just turn off now. 

"Where's the gun now?" 

"Aunt Poll has it. She's gone to look for John." 

She nodded lightly and looked over at John as he came in. She raised an eyebrow and he could already tell that Penny was going to kill him. "A gun, John?" 

"What? Poll, you said you wouldn't tell anyone!" John complained as Polly made her way in to the betting room. "Finn you're a little traitor," he added to his brother before leading Penny in to the meeting. 

Penny rolled her eyes and sat down next to Polly, taking a drag of her cigarette and raising an eyebrow at Arthur. "What is it?" She eventually asked once everyone was there and Arthur still had not said a single word. It always bugged her when a meeting started and no one said a single word. The silence was just uncomfortable. Especially in a Shelby house. 

"There's a new copper coming," Arthur announced to the room. 

Penny had always loved the small comfort of the betting shop. It was a nice change from the Garrison where she felt like she needed to constantly be on alert and making sure her business was still going well and Harry wasn't giving away free drinks. It meant that she could actually be herself and not someone just trying to make sure she could continue to survive in the way she knew how. The only issue was that Arthur usually had bad news whenever he called a meeting. News that she already knew. 

"Yeah, I've 'eard. Some guy from Ireland, right?" Penny asked as she stubbed out her cigarette, glancing over at Arthur. 

"How the fuck do you know that?" John asked, causing Polly to kick him in the shin. He winced and looked over at Polly with a frown. 

"People talk when they're drunk, John. They talk a lot. Maybe when you're old enough to drink maybe you'll realise that," she teased. 

"People especially talk to barmaids," Tommy pointed out before he realised what he'd said and hastily added, "not that you're a barmaid. No one thinks that." 

There were a few moments of back and forth as everyone in the family tried to figure out why exactly the copper was coming down. Not just coming down, but coming down with his own crew as well which meant that they now had a bunch of new cops to try and buy out or just completely avoid. The conversation was quickly silenced as Finn came running in and stopped by Penny's side, out of breath and a cheeky look in his eye. 

"Can I come with you to watch you yell at him?" He asked her, an eager smile on his little face. 

"Yell at who, Finn?" Penny asked with a raised eyebrow, slightly confused. 

"Harry. He's trying to hire someone." 

Everyone in the room stopped and looked at Penny. Penny raised an eyebrow at Arthur who nodded, letting her know that it was okay to go, before she left the building, cursing under her breath. Tommy had a slight smirk on his face as he stubbed out his cigarette and watched Penny go. She didn't pay much attention to Finn running along beside her though which was why she didn't notice when he carefully and silently slid in to one of the chairs inside of the Garrison when she walked in. 

Penny had to admit, the girl that was cleaning and singing and was quite pretty. She had the usual blonde hair and was the perfect size that everyone expected all women to be. She would definitely start bringing in more customers but there was something that wouldn't work.  Yes, her singing voice was lovely but that wasn't the issue. The issue was that she looked too innocent. The men (and the women) in Small Heath would eat her alive. She probably wouldn't make it past a day. 

"In Ireland my singing made them cry and stopped them fighting," she announced to Harry, not even noticing Penny had come in. 

"And if Harry was the owner of this pub then he would probably hire you just off of that because we do get quite a bit of fighting. But he isn't so he won't be," Penny told her as she made her way over to the pair, finally making herself known  to both of them. Harry looked like he was going to shit himself when he realised that Penny was there. "What's your name?" She asked as she took the reference papers out of Harry's hand, not even looking at him. 

"Grace. And I apologise. I just assumed that he was the owner of this establishment," Grace explained. "It's a lovely pub." 

"Why do you want a job in Small Heath? And why in the Garrison? You aren't exactly the type to work in a place like this." 

"I need the money, and I've always liked working in pubs. It's a good way to meet people." 

Penny had to stop herself from rolling her eyes. That was the same thing that Harry had told her father when he'd been hired to work here. It was what everyone said when they wanted a job in a pub. She sighed softly and glanced over at Finn who nodded, a grin on his face. It was clear that he was becoming more focused on a girl's beauty since the boys had come back. That was one of the only reasons that she hated that the elder Shelby siblings were back. 

"Why did you assume that Harry was the owner?" Penny asked her with a raised eyebrow. 

Grace hesitated, trying to figure out the best way to answer. "He seemed like he was the one in charge. He took point on hiring me before I had the chance to ask him whether he was the owner." 

Penny raised an eyebrow and looked down at the papers that Grace had brought with her, detailing everything that she had done that made her qualified for this job. She let out a shaky breath, already knowing that she was going to do something she would probably regret. 

"Fine. You have a one week trial. If you still want the job by the end of next week, then you can keep it. If I think that you're worth it anyway. Which I can't promise that I will," Penny told her. 

"Thank you, Miss. You won't regret it. Not one bit." 

"I better not. And because Harry was so eager to hire you, you can have some of his pay check," Penny told her, holding her hand out to Finn who ran over and took it. She smiled innocently over at Harry. "Any complaints there?" She asked him. 

Harry cleared his throat and shook his head. "Not at all, Penny." 

Penny smiled innocently. "Perfect," she said softly before she turned her attention back to Grace. "Harry will tell you how things work before we open tonight. You will have your first shift then." 

She started to make her way out, smiling when Finn held the door open for her. That was when she remembered that one rule that Harry would most definitely not tell Grace. "Oh, and the Shelby's never get anything on the house. No matter what Harry tells you."