A/N: Anything recognisable to Gotham belongs to it's rightful owners. I only own Penny and a few extra OC's who may be scattered along this fic.

I made some changes since first re-publishing and have split a few of the chapters because they were really long.

If you enjoy please do review =)

Harvey was just licking his fingers, as he finished up the last gingerbread man when he heard the commotion.

"Get your DAMN hands off me right now!" Harvey turned, there was something about that voice he recognised and he had to chuckle when he tilted his head to see the shop girl being brought in. There was a guy two steps behind her with some uni's, he was holding his hand up to his nose, the other was limp beside him.

"She's an animal! She came out of nowhere."

"I'm an animal! Are you freaking kidding me, maybe it'll stop you-" Penny shouted at the top of her lungs, lunging back towards the man with the bloody nose.

"Quiet down miss." One of the unis said.

"I will not quiet damn down I am not the damn criminal here!" Penny shouted, in the time they'd been back and forthing Harvey had meandered on over to the balcony to watch what was going on, Penny was putting up quite the fuss.

"She attacked me."

"Sir we'll get to you in due course." The officer said to the other man. The man with the bloodied nose was in his early twenties, bigger than Penny but a skinny little thing in a suit and tie.

"If you're gunna believe that asshole just charge me right now because this is bull-"

"MISS!" The officer shouted. "You brought this on yourself, I'll interview you after." A sound akin to a snarl rumbled in Penny's chest as she was thrust into a holding cell. Harvey watched the officer walk away and Penny slump slightly. He watched her for a minute before deciding to head on over and find out just what the ruckus was, besides she might be firey but she didn't exactly strike him as the kind of girl who'd just attack a guy for no reason, even more so she didn't strike him as the kind of girl who'd steal from a guy.

"I knew you liked me but there's better ways to get my attention." Harvey grinned into the bars trying to lighten the mood.

"Oh great," Penny sighed barely looking up at him. All she needed right now was Detective Sarcastaball and his wonderful wit.

"Well, if you don't want my help." Harvey whistled and Penny looked up at him. "Come on what happened?" He offered and that time he was serious, Penny watched him for a minute, why would he want to help her? It was probably some sort of trade-off, maybe he had a bet going with someone else, either way something smelt off. The GCPD was about as corrupt as everywhere else in this city and Penny knew as soon as her attacker slipped someone a twenty, he'd be set free. Still at least someone was willing to half listen to her story.

"I locked up, I was leaving and he comes out of nowhere. He starts catcalling me thinking he's something so I answer him back. Come on, I'm not going to keep my mouth shut. That's when he grabs me, forces me against the wall and you know, tries it on, tries to stick his tongue in my mouth and his hand up my skirt." Penny said leaning against the bars.

"So, you did that to him?" Harvey asked gesturing back towards where the attacker was still holding his nose.

"I wish." Penny snorted. "No, I kneed him so hard he fell into the wall and did that to himself, that's why he's walking with a limp." Harvey barked out a laugh when she admitted that and Penny's lip curled up into a smirk, before it disappeared again. "He went screaming out onto the street where there were waiting cops and said I mugged him, said I stole his wallet. I was about five seconds into telling my side when he started calling me names. My temper might have gotten the better of me there, but still. So now I'm here being treated like a criminal and he's over there telling your officer that I stole his wallet.'' Penny let out a defeated sigh and folded her arms across her chest.

"Oh really?" Harvey asked looking the guy over for a minute as his brain moved into action.

"Yeah really, now I'm gunna get charged and that animal is gunna get off scot free." Penny's voice was unimpressed. She had managed to calm herself down but if this went much further, she could see her temper getting the better of her once again. "Yeah I'm a little mouthy when I need to be but if a girl doesn't defend herself in this city, she'll end up on the wrong end of some guys knife, or worse, his dick." Penny added running her fingers through her hair.

"Give me a second, I'll see what I can do." Harvey said, pushing himself away from the bars and walking over to the uniformed officer, who not a second before had left the attacker to walk over to the file cabinet. "Everything alright Hauser?" Harvey asked him with a grin.

"Yeah. just a mugging." Hauser replied. "Nothing to worry about, especially not now she's shut up screaming." Hauser gestured over to where Penny was.

"He mugged her?" Harvey asked.

"Naw, he says she mugged him, broke his nose then took his wallet and cell. We haven't had chance to pat her down yet but she could have thrown them easily." Hauseer replied.

"You really think she mugged him?" Harvey asked disbelief written on his face. It wasn't that Hauser was stupid, it was more a case he'd do anything for a quiet life.

"You should have seen the fuss she made when we tried to talk to her, she took a swing at Daniels and he was only doing his job." Hauser admitted. "She's trouble."

"Walk with me." Harvey said putting his arm around Hauser's shoulders and walking him back towards the attacker. "What's your guy's name?" Harvey asked before they approached.

"Daneery." Haurser replied giving Harvey a look of curiosity.

"Mr Daneery, we ah- couldn't see your driver's licence a second, an admin thing." Harvey said and on reflex Daneery immediately reached for and pulled out his wallet without a second thought, his cell phone tumbling with it.

"I thought she'd stolen them?" Hauser asked him.

"I-I-I-" Daneery fumbled with an excuse as Harvey whistled and gestured for the guard to let Penny out.

"You son of a bitch, you assaulted me you son of a bitch!" Penny wasn't even two steps out of the cell when she lunged forward and Harvey had to grab her round the waist.

"Woah! Woah! Stop." Harvey said manoeuvring her out of the attacker's eye line.

"They should castrate you, you freaking animal! Let me go!" Penny said struggling against Harvey's grip. "I'll make sure you don't walk right forever you come near me again." She screamed across the station and Harvey had to physically lift her up and move her out of the way. Hauser was right she was trouble, the awful thing was Harvey quite liked trouble, especially when it had an ass and mouth like Penny's. "You just blew any chance of you pressing charges in front of a whole room of witnesses. C'mon, move up the stairs. Right now." Harvey pretty much ordered. Penny stared him down for a minute before turning on her heel and stalking up the stairs to his desk.

"Sit." Harvey gestured to the chair and when Penny sat down, which took more than a moment, he opened his bottom drawer and pulled out a bottle of whiskey and a glass, he poured some in and handed it over to her.

"Drink." He said firmly.

"And stay?" She asked glaring at him.

"Yes." Harvey said before taking back off down the stairs and towards Daneery, Hauser had disappeared for a form. "Now you don't wanna press charges, do you? I mean, you picked the wrong woman to try it on with and now you're hurt. You also lied to an officer and wasted police time. Now, if you want to go down that route, I'm sure we can get her statement and yours and we'll all be knee deep in a heavy law suit, where they'll pick over every mistake you ever made." Harvey said seriously. Daneery struggled with words for a moment, the easiest place to press on kids like these was bad press exposure.

"I mean I'm sure daddy won't mind the press coverage." He added before thinking a moment. "Or you can drop this and leave right now and if I ever catch you in here again, if I ever so much as get a sniff of your name in connection with a woman who's hurt I'll take you down to Blackgate and let the boys on G-wing have at you. Trust me that-" Harvey gestured down to the other man's crotch. "Will seem like a massage in comparison." He growled. Daneery yelped and shifted in his seat, with that he walked away.

Penny watched him closely eyes drifting between her attacker and Harvey. So maybe every cop in the GCPD wasn't completely useless. She watched Hauser return and Daneery mumble some apologises and get up to leave.

"He's not pressing charges." Harvey said sitting down opposite her, he watched her for a minute. She didn't seem too shook up, in fact she seemed fine apart from the anger that simmered just below the surface. They were silent for a moment as she downed the first glass and poured herself another. Harvey hadn't had a woman leave such an impression on him in a long time and it was refreshing. "I'll drop you home if you like." Harvey offered. "Or I can get one of the unis too."

"No, it's fine. I'll walk." Penny replied. "It just makes me mad."

"If you want to press charges-" Harvey started and Penny cut him off.

"I'm not stupid Detective. Like it would go anywhere? I'd press charges and he'd press them for assault. I can't afford a lawyer so he'd get off scot free anyway." Penny shrugged.

"Let me drive you home." Harvey offered. "Least I can do."

"Least you can do?" Penny asked raising a brow. "I think you've already done enough. I'd still be sat in a cell if you hadn't gotten me out. Thanks." Penny said giving him a smile. "Really I'll be fine, honestly." Penny said standing up and brushing herself off.

"Next time the twizzlers are on me though." She said with a wink and with that she left. Left Harvey to his drink and a stack of files he wasn't going to get through because his mind was too busy wandering over other things.

Penny Clarke had been chewed up and spat out by Gotham herself since birth. She'd never really had any aspirations beyond survival and happiness if she was honest. She'd flirted with the idea of being a nurse at one point, flirted with the idea of being an actress but had never taken either idea seriously. For a girl like her the idea was completely ridiculous, anything above shop keep was pretty ridiculous.

She was in her thirties now and had already had more than enough heartache dished out to her by the city of sin. She could, should have ended up like countless people in the city who turned to drugs and prostitution but she refused, she refused to let Gotham drag her completely down into its underbelly. She would work hard and if all she had was her crummy apartment at the end of it then so be it. She could cope with that, cope without fancy things if it meant she stayed out any sort of mobsters way and got to live a semi-quiet life.

So, after the excitement of the evening Penny Clarke settled down on her sofa with a glass of wine, the tv playing and a mind that was trying to stop itself thinking about how now she owed Detective Harvey Bullock one.