Steps Singles - The One Shots

Heartbeat (Part 4)

I don't know for sure if Bletchley Park dealt with intelligence from the Danish, but I know the Danish did send us some during the war and I wanted an excuse to get in Faye knowing Danish. Also yes Charlotte and Michael are lovely little nods to Charlotte Gooch and Faye's husband.

Faye:
"Ah Miss Tozer wonderful timing. Captain Holloway would like you to attend his office." Our shift manager announced as Lisa, Claire and I arrived one rainy April afternoon.
I stared at her struggling to find any words. "Do you... what about? Do you know?" I eventually forced out.
Maria shook her head. "You know I'm not allowed to know." She replied sadly.
Lisa squeezed my hand. "Go on. We'll be here when you're back."
"What if I'm trouble?" I asked quietly.
"You haven't done anything wrong." Claire assured me firmly.
I took a deep breath and nodded before heading up to the mansion. I'd never been to the offices but I knew where they were from collecting parcels. What could one of the top people want with me? I hadn't done anything wrong, Claire was right there, but I wasn't fantastically talented so it wasn't like I was probably going to get a promotion. What if H had blabbed about something with his big mouth? No, Lisa would be in trouble too then. How would I tell Lee if I got told I had to leave Bletchley? What would he think?
I reached the desk by the offices and the lady on the desk smiled at me, politely asking if I had an appointment.
"I was told by my shift manager that Captain Holloway wanted to talk to me." I replied.
"Ah you must be Miss Tozer. Of course, come with me I'll take you to his office." She told me. "He has some funny other person there too. They were Danish I think."
Completely forgetting about the fact I'd been working on Danish translations part time for almost a year, my fear went through the roof. He couldn't have found me could he? Why else would someone Danish be here? My mouth went dry and even fiddling with my skirt didn't help calm me down for once. I just wanted to run as the woman knocked on the office door and declared my presence. As soon as I walked in the room it was clear it wasn't him, though I was still terrified what this could be about.
"Good afternoon Miss Tozer. Please do take a seat." The man behind the desk, I assumed Captain Holloway, said.
I was once again struggling to find my voice. "Good afternoon Captain."
"There's no need to be so nervous, you're not in trouble." He told me.
I didn't feel like explaining why I was scared would go down well with the Danish man sat next to me.
"We're putting together a team to work on Danish messages. It wouldn't be permanent, just for a while where we're getting so many messages across. It makes sense to group you together for now rather than split out how you have been." Captain Holloway said. I could barely take it in. "You're one of the best we have at translating Danish messages by all accounts, so it makes sense to ask you to be a part of this."
I nodded. "I'd still be here right? And able to be with my friends?"
"Of course, as I said it's just temporary, a few months at most I would have thought, then you can return to the work you currently do." Captain Holloway explained. "This kind gentleman will be overseeing the work. Your work in Intelligence will be of great importance to your country."
I didn't know what to say, so nodded shyly again.
"Come I'll show you to the hut and introduce you to the others." The other man said. He had a Danish accent and I found myself thrown back into my worries.
"Remember Miss Tozer you are not to speak of what we have discussed outside this room. Not even to tell your friends your new role." Captain Holloway said as I got up.
"Of course. Thank you." I replied before allowing the Danish man to led me to my new hut. Neither of us spoke on the walk round the park, I didn't even brave asking his name. I didn't want to. I still slightly wanted to run back and tell Lisa and Claire I was okay and just working somewhere else a while. I could only hope we'd cross paths at dinner.

The new hut wasn't as confined and draughty as what I was used to in Hut 3, though the lack of people made it feel just as cold. There were only 5 other people working in the room I'd been led into, and I got directed to a desk with a young man and another lady. I didn't like how silent it was, I already missed the quiet chatter which somewhat dulled the clacking of keys being pressed. The man who had led me here got the others' attention before glancing at a sheet of paper he was holding. Five people staring at me in silence when I didn't know what to say was very unnerving.
"This is Miss Tozer. She's very talented at Danish translation apparently so will likely be a great help to this little team. I trust you will all introduce yourselves." He said. "All the best." And with that he left.
The guy at my desk smiled. "What's your name? I mean other than Tozer." He said as I took off my coat. He had a thick English accent, I was unfamiliar with where it had come from, but it was unmistakably an English accent. I breathed a sigh of relief.
"Faye. What's your names?"
"I'm Charlotte." The girl said. She was also English I suspected possibly from London.
"My name's Michael." He added.
"Nice to meet you both. What's the arrangement for how we work?" I asked.
"So I decode the messages, they're just simple ciphers and you translate them I guess. Then Charlotte kinda does some funny paraphrasing and sends it off someplace else. I don't know, until today Charlotte's been translating, but she's not great." Michael explained.
"I already started on one today. Maybe you could teach me as you work?" Charlotte asked.
I laughed a little. "I can try. Not sure how good my teaching will be."
"Worth a try. If not I can just admin." Charlotte replied with a laugh too.
The near silence returned, just broken by the clacking of keys and scratching of pens. How I longed in those long hours between arriving and dinner that someone would start a casual conversation as we worked, but all we got was brief rushed exchanges to the point of "Are you sure this is decoded right?" Or "Did you mistranslate this? It doesn't read well." It was painful. But I found the translating Danish fun and after around an hour where I struggled with the change a little, I found they just flowed.
"Faye, you coming for dinner?" Charlotte asked me.
I glanced up, mid message, and took a glance at the clock. If we were quick down to the dining hall I might just catch Lisa and Claire as they finished eating. I nodded.
"Come on then, we all tend to sit together, but you can sit with your other friends if they're there." Michael added as we left the hut.
I blushed at his concern before realising. "How did you know I was worried about them?"
"Whenever I've seen you in the park there's always been the same girl with you, usually two. And often a pair of boys." He replied with a shrug.
"I work with the girls, I live with one of them, we... they're likely worried, me having been sent to meet Captain Holloway and not going back to the hut." I confessed. I bit my lip after the second bit slipped out. Was that a breach of Official Secrets? I doubted it and no-one said anything so I guessed not. Nothing had been given away.