human right ( finn shelby !)

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER TWO
Lord, What Fools These
Mortals Be!

( s5ep1&2 spoilers ! )

Peggy woke up, entangled in arms. She looked up at the peaceful looking boy. Peggy truly meant what she had told Finn last night. Everything was calm. Until Arthur came bouncing in. "First day as a married couple. Rise and shine, Tommy needs ya!" He beamed at the two. "Fuck off, Arthur. We're trying to sleep." Finn replied, groggily. "Well, Tommy's called a family meeting." Finn peeled himself off the bed, "you too, Peggy. You're a Shelby now! Tommy needs to ask you a few things." Arthur prompted.

•••

                Peggy played with the hem of her emerald green dress and focused her vision on her dainty, long fingers. Her attention was broke by Tommy's husky voice, "Peggy, are you listening?" Truth be told, she wasn't, but Tommy didn't have to know that. "Yes." She averted her gaze to the table the family was sat around. "What can you tell me about the Billy Boys?" He rested his elbows on the table. "If I'm correct they are a rival gang,"
                   "The Billy Boys? God," Peggy began, leaning back in her chair. "Ruthless. The lot of 'em. Killed my father and beat up my brothers in front of me 'n' my mum." She looked down at her lap.
                   Sometimes at night, when it was dark and she was alone, she would remember the moment when the bullet when through her father's chest. The scream that her mother had let out haunted her.
                    She felt a hand being placed on top of hers. She looked up and Finn smiled at her, reassuringly. "Don't know much about them. My brothers will. I know a few people- knew - a few people in the gang. Besides, what've the Billy Boys got to do with anything?"
                     "The Billy Boys' killed Aberama Gold's son, Bonnie." Peggy had never met Bonnie, but she met Aberema at the wedding. "Why? Why Aberema Gold's son?" Ada asked.
                      "Because they want me. They're here, in Birmingham, for me." Tommy sighed, leaning against the back of his chair. Peggy shifted in her chair, fixing her posture. "I may be able to help." All eyes turned to the redheaded girl. "Got a phone I could use?" She asked Tommy, he nodded towards the desk. Peggy pushed her chair out and walked over to the desk. She dialled a number and the phone rang. "Who's this?" a deep voice asked. "Hamish! It's me, Pegs." she smiled. Murmurs rose in the room. "Is she using this time to talk to family?" Linda sneered to Lizzie, although Peggy heard. "Pegs! How are ya?"
"I'm good, yeah. So I don't have a lot of time to chat, I've got a few questions." She looked out at everyone, who had now gone silent. "You know George? George Macintosh?" She asked, biting her nail. "Yeah." Hamish replied bluntly. "Is he still hanging about with The Billy Boys?" Eyes wandered around the room.
Who is George Macintosh and why does Peggy know him? Finn thought to himself. Perhaps a past lover? Although he erased that though from his mind.
"Yeah." Hamish replied, even more blunt than last time. "Right. Heard anything from them recently?"
"What's this about, Peggy?"
"Just answer the fucking question, Hamish."
"No. Things have been quiet recently. Rumours are going around they're headed to Birmingham. Be safe."
"Too late for that now," Peggy sighed, "They're already here. Look I've got to go. I'll chat later, yeah?" "Yeah, just be safe. You know what that George is like." Hamish said before hanging up. "I've got a name. I can't confirm he's in Birmingham but I can confirm that if he is, he'll visit me." Peggy returned to her seat in between Ada and Finn.
"Care to explain?" Arthur asked. "'Lord, what fools these mortals be.'" Peggy quoted Shakespeare. No one got the reference, so she dismissed it. "There was this boy, back home. He was my first love. George Macintosh." Peggy started down at the table and drew circles on the wood.
"Hamish and Will weren't fond if him, so they beat him up, in an attempt to get George to stay away from me. It worked. He joined The Billy Boys as revenge. He helped plot the death of my father." Peggy explained. "Before I left to come here, he came to see me. And told me he'd never stop loving me. I didn't care. He had killed my father. I hated him."
"If he's down in Birmingham, he'll want to see you, surely." Polly put a hand on Peggy's shoulder, "we can't let that happen."
"Ah, but Polly, that's where you're wrong." Peggy replied. All eyes returned to her. "I'll be bait. We can double-cross them." Peggy began to explain. "What do you mean?" Polly and Ada asked, at the same time. "Well-" Peggy was abruptly interrupted by Tommy. "She's young and delusional. The plan won't work. We need to lay low."
"All due respect, Tommy, but I know The Billy Boys better than you do. I grew up beside them, constantly fighting with 'em." Peggy tilted her head to the right. "Laying low doesn't work. Trust me."
"Hear her out, Tommy. She might have a good idea." Finn spoke for the first time in an hour. Tommy rolled his eyes, lifted his glass and downed the whiskey. "Go on." He prompted as he refilled his glass. "I can feed him false information. Tell him we're having a family picnic or something, that it would be a perfect opportunity to strike. And that yous would be unarmed. Except it's not a 'family picnic' and you are armed." Peggy told her plan. "We'd be outnumbered." Arthur shook his head. "If George is still in love with me, and in Birmingham, he'll do anything I tell him. I can make him think I still love him." Peggy retaliated. She had been kept away from family matters her whole life, this was her time to shine. "Won't he know about Finn?" Ada asked. "George would take the risk."
"What does that mean?" Finn asked. "It means, if he asks to meet, we can meet at a pub, with you," Peggy looked at Finn, "I introduce you, as my husband, and the you leave to 'get us drinks'," She used quotation marks around, get us drinks, "I tell him I still love him and whatnot, then he's putty in my hands." Peggy smiled. "I know George way too well."
"That plan is not half bad, Margaret." Polly nodded. "You two, stay behind. You as well, Tommy." Polly instructed. "You're all free to go now." Tommy shooed away his family.
Once their family had departed, Tommy stood behind his brother and Peggy, "turn around, you two."
"This is a risky move." Polly began, standing beside Tommy. "But it could work." Peggy felt herself grinning. Finn thought she should smile more, not in a rude way, he just thought the whole room lit up when she did. "As soon as George gets in contact, phone me." Tommy said, drinking his whiskey, and lighting a cigarette, offering one to Polly and Peggy, but not Finn. The two ladies took one, and Tommy lit them both. "So, where are we staying? Surely Polly's already fed up of me." Peggy nodded towards the tall woman, inhaling the smoke. "You'll be staying in Watery Lane. It's safest that way. You two can get a house once this whole thing is over." Tommy said. "We can discuss more later. You're dismissed." It was only once Peggy stood up, she realised how small she really was. Polly, Tommy and Finn towered over her. "Scotch is better." Peggy pointed to the glass Tommy held before leaving the room, followed by Polly and Finn.