Today is the 80th anniversary of VE (Victory in Europe) Day.
I thought it would be fitting to hear the reading Matthew Goode did on the 75th anniversary at the request of Bletchley Park*, the principal allied code-breaking centre during WWII.
Matthew reads a memo from Bletchely Park's Director General on VE Day 1945 thanking the codebreakers and staff for their contribution in helping to win the war. He states that he wants the staff to know of his "unbounded admiration in the way in which they have carried out their allotted tasks". The memo ends with the sentence "This is your finest hour".
Matthew's reading is truly beautiful and a fitting tribute.
He then reads another letter - I recommend listening to the whole thing, link below.
* Note: The codebreakers of Bletchley made a massive contribution to the war effort, but, sworn to secrecy, they were forbidden to talk about their incredible work. This was chronicled in the film The Imitation Game, which told the story of Alan Turing, who created a machine that helped break the enigma code. This had a profound impact on the outcome of the war, saving millions of lifes. Sadly, Alan Turing was subsequently persecuted for being gay and it took years for his legacy to be recognised. Matthew portrayed Turing's colleague Hugh Alexander.
📷 My edit from @bletchleyparkuk YouTube video VE Day 75 - Imitation Game Matthew Goode reads a special message (8 May 2020)
Summary: While (Y/N) is torn between supporting Peggy and her upcoming wedding and voicing her disapproval of the life she was forcing herself to live, a life-changing offer is extended to her friend. Will she accept it, or will she allow societal pressures to crush her adventurous spirit forever?
Pairing: Peggy Carter X Reader (Platonic)
Word Count: 3.5k
Warnings/Disclaimers: Descriptions of destruction-filled war zones and the aftermath of airstrikes, the Blitz
A/N: Hello and Happy New Year! I'm starting the new year off with a familiar and pivotal moment in Peggy Carter's life and how our dear Specs fits into it; as expected, it's a sad one but I promise it won't be entirely angsty! Thank you for reading, I hope you all enjoy!
Separate Ways
September 1940
Bletchley Park, Buckinghamshire
(Previous One-Shot)
Taking a sip of her tea, (Y/N) set her cup down onto its saucer and continued to carefully wrap her satin scarf around her freshly fastened pin curls, humming along to the Billie Holliday record softly playing throughout her shared room as she tied off the ends of the scarf and reached for her face cream. “Christ, training these new recruits sure is wrecking hell on your face…” She winced a little at the sight of her distressed skin, the darkened circles under her eyes and the near-permanent line etched deep between her eyebrows.
While it wasn’t easy training recruits by herself while the other women at Bletchley worked on decoding the messages handed to them by the British Armed Forces, it wasn’t what was causing her now-constant worrying; on September 7th, the Luftwaffe launched its first bombing campaign on London and for every night since Black Saturday, German planes flew over London and continued to mercilessly bomb the populous city; thousands of civilians were confirmed to be dead and the damage to both public buildings and residential neighborhoods was widespread. The codebreakers of Bletchley Park were all nestled safely away in the countryside and under an impenetrable blanket of secrecy, but that didn’t prevent (Y/N) from agonizing over the rapid escalation of the war and the uncertain future of her own country.
(Y/N) shook her head to rid herself of her anxiety and went about applying her evening face cream; she was just finishing up when the dormitory door opened and Peggy walked in, the overly-cheerful expression on the younger woman’s face causing her to frown in concern. “You’re pretty chipper for someone who’s only running on five hours of sleep. Did Laurence Olivier and Vivien Leigh announce their divorce already?”
Peggy chuckled and shook her head, toeing off her brown oxfords and changing out of her sensible dress while she spoke. “You’re incorrigible, (Y/N). I was actually on the telephone with Fred, and we were going over some last-minute details for our engagement party next week.”
“Oh. That’s nice,” (Y/N) replied, masking her disdain with an exaggerated smile of her own. The more she’d gotten to know her roommate and friend, the more she’d grown to dislike her significant other; Fred Wells, a handsome Lieutenant in the British Army who worked a cushy desk job at the Home Office, was polite and ever the gentleman according to Peggy’s descriptions and while (Y/N) believed he was a decent man, she despised the way her friend was stifling her vivacious personality to better suit her prim and proper fiancé. It had only gotten worse since he’d asked her to marry him and in the two weeks since, (Y/N) watched with growing concern as Peggy’s behavior aligned less with the fiercely independent woman she’d come to think of as a sister and more with society’s rigid expectations for a young bride. But while the situation troubled (Y/N) to no end and likely contributed to her chronic fatigue, she resolved to hold her tongue and keep her opinions to herself, too fearful of ruining her one and only friendship at Bletchley Park. If Freddie were here, he’d say you were being chicken-shit, she thought to herself as she swallowed the lump of regret in her throat and continued. “Speaking of your engagement party, I stopped by Mr. Edwards’ office just after my shift ended and asked for the day off, but he said that he couldn’t afford to lose two codebreakers from the same section on the same day.”
“Oh no!” Peggy momentarily stopped buttoning up the collar of her cotton nightgown and frowned in disappointment. “I was hoping you would finally meet Michael; Mum wrote to tell me he’d been granted leave and is set to arrive from the front just in time for the party.”
While she tucked her jar of face cream away, she shot the younger woman a regretful smile. “I was looking forward to meeting him, but you know how Mr. Edwards gets sometimes. This place is crawling with every kind of codebreaker imaginable, but for some reason he thinks the world’ll end if any gal in our section needs a personal day.”
“I suppose I can see his reasoning; we are one of the highest-performing sections at Bletchley, after all, and you’re undoubtedly our section’s finest codebreaker,” Peggy reasoned; when (Y/N) rolled her eyes at her friend’s familiar compliment as she changed out the Billie Holliday record for one of Glenn Miller’s, she planted her hands on her hips and fixed her with an assertive look. “You possess exceptional lateral thinking skills and an I.Q. north of one hundred and forty, Supervisor (Y/L/N), so to call you anything less than our finest codebreaker would simply be incorrect.”
(Y/N) chuckled. “Well, when you put it that way…” After setting up their ironing board and plugging in their old iron, she retrieved her cream-colored blouse and spread it over the length of the board. “As I was leaving the dining room, I overheard Alice and Daphne talking and they mentioned that Mr. Edwards called you into his office. He didn’t find out about your secret whiskey stash, did he?”
“No, of course not. Mr. Edwards was simply informing me that I’d been recruited to be a spy.”
(Y/N)’s head snapped up from her ironing as her eyes widened in surprise. “Excuse me?”
“There’s a new covert war division called the Special Operations Executive, spearheaded by Winston Churchill himself.” Peggy sat on the edge of her bed and started brushing her hair. “According to Mr. Edwards, the SOE specializes in…irregular warfare; espionage, sabotage, guerilla tactics and the like. Apparently, they’re interested in recruiting women and someone at the SOE believes that I have what it takes to be a spy.”
Holding her iron away from the delicate fabric of her blouse to prevent any burns, (Y/N) beamed at the younger woman and exclaimed, “Holy Toledo, Peg, that’s amazing! I never thought I’d see the day that they’d start recruiting women for field work behind enemy lines, but you can’t deny that it’s such a simplistic yet genius idea; I mean, what misogynistic asshat’s really going to suspect a woman of being a highly-trained enemy spy?”
Peggy returned her smile with one of her own, albeit one that didn’t quite reach her warm brown eyes. “It’s remarkable, of course, but I’ve already decided to turn them down.” (Y/N)’s smile faltered and while Peggy continued to brush her hair, her new engagement ring sparkled as it caught the light of their room’s overhead light and (Y/N) felt her heart plummet into her stomach before her friend had even begun her explanation. “I discussed it with Fred and we both agreed that I’m not the sort of person who’s meant for the field. It’s an incredible opportunity, of course, but it’s simply not what we envisioned for our future.”
“I understand that, but Peg…” She flicked some water onto her blouse and began to iron the wrinkled garment, carefully keeping her gaze trained on her task to avoid meeting her friend’s eyes and risk speaking her entire mind. “Look, I’ve only known you for a couple of months, but even I know that you’ve got what it takes to be an incredible spy; not only are you one helluva codebreaker, you’ve got strength and determination and those aren’t things that you can just teach someone. I think…” (Y/N) hesitated for a moment before looking up at Peggy, who was braiding her hair with deliberate slowness. “No, I know, I know that there’s more you can offer the war effort than just codebreaking.”
An uncomfortable silence fell over them both, a silence only permeated by the Glenn Miller song softly playing on the turntable. (Y/N) closely watched Peggy tie off the end of her braid and when she was finished, she glanced up and gave her a forced smile, a glint of sorrow flashing in her eyes before vanishing moments later behind a carefully constructed wall of contentment. “In another life, perhaps, but I’m perfectly satisfied continuing to serve my country here at Bletchley.” With another tight-lipped smile, Peggy reached for her purse and rifled through its contents. “Would you like to see a photograph of the wedding dress? Mum’s been working on it day and night, and she wrote to tell me that it should be ready for my first fitting when I come home for the engagement party.”
“Peg, I-” (Y/N) began, just moments away from admonishing her friend for allowing the expectations of others to dictate her life and insisting that she wasn’t meant for anything but a life of adventure, but her head caught up with her heart and forced her to swallow her words in favor of a supportive smile. “…I’d love to.”
The tension dissipated from the room as Peggy excitedly showed (Y/N) the photographs her mother had mailed her while she finished ironing her next day’s clothes, all the while unaware of the inner turmoil that her roommate was grappling with. (Y/N) and Peggy, for all intents and purposes, came from entirely different worlds. Whereas (Y/N) was forced to grow up and care for her younger brother while their self-absorbed parents virtually ignored them, Peggy had grown up as the only daughter of an esteemed family with countless expectations placed upon her shoulders from the moment she’d been born; it was assumed that she would marry a well-respected gentleman and happily stay home to raise their children while her husband worked, and (Y/N) couldn’t imagine what it must’ve been like growing up constantly being told what sort of life you were supposed to live.
But as difficult as it was for her to accept, (Y/N) knew that there was nothing she could say or do to convince Peggy to call off her wedding and enlist in the SOE. That’s something she has to decide on her own, (Y/N) thought as she swallowed the lump in her throat and listened to her friend chatter on about her half-finished wedding dress, fully aware of the subtle edge to her voice and unable to ignore the artificial expression of happiness plastered onto her face.
(Y/N) scanned the bustling crowd and tightly clutched the handle of Peggy’s suitcase as she stepped off the train and onto the station platform, her brow creasing with worry when she spotted the sizable hole in the Great Hall’s ceiling caused by the previous night’s Luftwaffe airstrike. Her heart clenching at the nearby sight of so many uniformed soldiers saying their tearful goodbyes to their families and significant others; it was one thing listening to the BBC and hearing the daily reporting of the destruction leveled against England by the Luftwaffe, but it was another thing entirely to witness the devastation firsthand. In that moment, she thanked her lucky stars that she hadn’t arrived in London during the mandatory children’s evacuation; the heartbreaking sight of frightened children being separated from their inconsolable mothers would’ve been too much for her to bear. Squaring her shoulders, (Y/N) exhaled and started down the platform towards the footbridge. Her eyes scanned the throng of travelers as she walked past station janitors sweeping up piles of rubble and she promptly ignored the catcalls of several rowdy privates as she ascended the footbridge’s steps and crossed the walkway to the other side of the platform.
“(Y/N)!”
Several sergeants shouldering standard-issue rucksacks walked in front of (Y/N) as she craned her neck in search of her friend, but it wasn’t until they walked past that she finally spotted her standing by the bottom of the footbridge. At first glance, Peggy looked the same as she always had, dressed smartly in a baby blue coat with her hair pinned into a sensible chignon and wearing a demure shade of pink lipstick on her lips, but while (Y/N) hurried down the steps towards her, she could read the grief and pain written across the younger woman’s face and the tears beginning to well up in her sunken brown eyes. “Oh Peg…” (Y/N) stopped in front of her and set the suitcase down before reaching for one of her hands and giving it a sympathetic squeeze. “I’m so sorry, Peggy.”
“Thank you, (Y/N).” Peggy tearfully replied, giving her the barest of smiles and squeezing her hand in return before releasing it. “I can’t believe he’s gone. I woke up this morning and for a moment, I thought I heard his voice downstairs but then…that’s when I remembered that Michael…”
A lump formed in (Y/N)’s throat at the sound of Peggy’s normally self-assured voice cracking when she uttered her deceased brother’s name. A day earlier, (Y/N) had been summoned to Mr. Edwards’ office, where she was informed of Michael Carter’s death while fighting on the front and Peggy’s voluntary withdrawal from Bletchley Park; she’d been granted a rare day off to hand-deliver the younger woman’s possessions and for the duration of her trip to London, she’d ruminated on her friend’s heartbreaking loss. Peggy adored her older brother, often citing him as the only other person besides (Y/N) who truly understood her, and because of (Y/N)’s own close bond with her little brother Freddie, she could easily imagine the overwhelming anguish of such a loss and prayed that the war would end before she too would lose one of the only people on Earth who loved her. Unfortunately, (Y/N) was a Bletchley Park codebreaker tasked with handling top secret intelligence, and she knew all too well that with every passing day, America’s involvement in the war drew ever closer; hundreds of thousands more soldiers and civilians will die before the Axis Powers are defeated, (Y/N) thought to herself as she studied the pain that engulfed Peggy’s gaze, and hundreds of thousands of their loved ones will be left to grieve their losses.
Shaking herself out of her reverie, (Y/N) reached into her pocket and offered Peggy her handkerchief, but the sight of another suitcase sitting at the younger woman’s black oxfords made her frown and interrupt her murmured word of thanks. “Are you going somewhere?”
Peggy stopped dabbing at the corner of her eye and tilted her head to the side in confusion. “Mr. Edwards didn’t tell you?”
“Tell me what?”
The younger woman cast a furtive glance at their surroundings and lowered her voice before replying, “I’ve accepted the SOE’s offer; I’m to report to their headquarters at fourteen-hundred hours for check-in, and my training begins tomorrow at oh-six-hundred.”
(Y/N)’s jaw dropped in stunned disbelief. “Wait, you did? But you told me that you and Fred talked it over and agreed that it wasn’t what either of you envisioned for your life together…”
“Fred Wells and I are no longer engaged, so any opinion of his is a rather moot point now.” Raising her hand, Peggy wriggled her fingers and true to her word, the diamond engagement ring he’d given her was notably absent. “Michael…Michael told me that he was the one who recommended me to the SOE, during the engagement party. He told me that I was destined to live a life of adventure, and I lashed out at him because I was too scared to admit that he was right.” Peggy’s voice wavered but her expression remained resolute, with her lips pressed into a firm line and her eyes filled with a fiery determination. “By taking a position within the SOE, I’m honoring my brother’s memory and I’m doing what a part of me always knew I should’ve been doing with my life.”
A smile slowly spread across (Y/N)’s face as she fully processed her friend’s words and after a moment of silence, she shrugged her shoulders in feigned indifference. “I always did think that Agent Carter had a much nicer ring to it than Mrs. Fred Wells.” They both burst into peals of laughter, drawing disapproving looks from an older couple walking past, but neither of them cared; when their laughter died down and their brief moment of levity ended, (Y/N)’s smile softened and she willed herself not to cry as she spotted the tears in Peggy’s eyes. “I’m so proud of you, Peg, and I still believe with all my heart that you’re going to be a fantastic spy. I just…I’m really going to miss you, that’s all.”
Nodding rapidly, Peggy surged forward and wrapped her arms around her in a fierce hug that (Y/N) didn’t hesitate to return. “I’m going to miss you too, (Y/N).” A couple of tears rolled down her cheeks as she squeezed her eyes closed and held her friend tighter. “Thank you for showing me that I needn’t be afraid to be myself.”
(Y/N) smiled despite herself and tearfully replied, “Thank you for making me feel less alone.”
“Now boarding Train Number Four on Track Three, London to Glasgow and Edinburgh!”
The whistle that followed the station master’s call echoed throughout the Great Hall, forcing (Y/N) to pull away from Peggy with a sigh. “Dammit, that’s my train-oh, wait!” An idea struck her and she scrambled to withdraw her clutch from her coat’s pocket, pulling out her tube of red lipstick and presenting it to Peggy with a grin. “A parting gift from me to you. If you’re going to be England’s top spy, then you’d sure as hell better look the part.”
Peggy bit her bottom lip as she hesitated to accept the gold-toned tube. “No, no, I couldn’t possibly-”
“Sure you can, I’ve got plenty more where that came from.” Without waiting for a reply, (Y/N) placed the tube of lipstick in Peggy’s hand and wrapped her fingers around it. “And who knows? Maybe it’ll bring you luck out there.”
The corner of Peggy’s mouth curved upwards into her trademark grin of confidence as she handed her handkerchief back and nodded in agreement. “I know it will. Win this war for us, Supervisor (Y/L/N).”
(Y/N) beamed. “Not if you win it for us first, Agent Carter.”
“Now boarding Train Number Four on Track Three, London to Glasgow and Edinburgh! All aboard!”
Another signal shrilled from the station master’s whistle was accompanied by the telltale sound of the train’s wheels lurching forward, and (Y/N) knew that their time was up. “Stay safe out there, Peg, and don’t forget to write; you’re going to go on so many adventures, and I can’t wait to read about every single one of ‘em!” (Y/N) pressed a chaste kiss onto Peggy’s cheek and flashed her one final grin before turning and hurrying across the empty platform towards the slow-moving train; after pulling the nearest door open and hopping onto the train, she leaned out the open window and waved at Peggy.
The younger woman, with her two suitcases sitting on the ground at her feet, wiped a wayward tear away with one hand while waving to (Y/N) with the other, smiling ear to ear despite the sorrow of their parting as she called out, “Per aspera ad astra!”
“Through hardship to the stars…” (Y/N) whispered the English translation of one of Virgil’s better-known turns of phrase, her smile widening as she recalled the evening Peggy first arrived at Bletchley Park; it was an evening spent indulging in contraband whiskey and an impromptu Latin lesson from Peggy and while it resulted in one of (Y/N)’s more intense hangovers of her life, she wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world and she was pleased to know that her friend felt the same. While steam steadily engulfed the platform and they gradually picked up speed, (Y/N) gave Peggy a jaunty salute and was pleased to see her friend laugh one final time before disappearing from view. She didn’t lower her hand until the train departed Euston Station and embarked on their journey north and when she did, she lingered for a moment at the door’s open window; she took a deep breath of fresh air and exhaled, her tears beginning to dry on her cheeks while a sense of calm slowly but surely began to wash over her. “Per aspera ad astra, Agent Carter.”
The world was overflowing with uncertainty as the war between the Allied Powers of Great Britain and France and the Axis Powers of Nazi Germany, Italy and Japan raged on with no end in sight, and a fear that hadn’t been felt for an entire generation was beginning to take hold in its most defenseless inhabitants. But along with that fear came a spark of resistance, one that was starting to grow and spread across the globe, taking hold of the hearts and minds of those best equipped to rise up and defy the forces of evil that were threatening to destroy them. (Y/N) and Peggy, while their contributions to that spark of resistance differed, were doing their part to defeat the Hitler and his allies and although (Y/N)’s anxiety and constant vigilance remained, the knowledge that her friend would soon be out there in the middle of the action filled her with hope and for the first time in weeks, she felt rejuvenated. I’m going to help you end this war, Peg, (Y/N) thought to herself as a she took one final look at the city that stubbornly refused to be broken, and I promise that we’ll meet again someday.
A/N: Little do they know that they're both gonna be kick-ass spies lol thank you all so much for reading and commenting! I've created a Spotify playlist inspired by this series, and I'll be updating it every time I upload a new one-shot. Enjoy!
Wrens played a major part in the planning and organisation of naval operations, serving at Bletchley Park and its out-stations, operating machines used in code-breaking.
"Normal Women: 900 Years of Making History" - Philippa Gregory
