Brooklyn, February 1943

Dot and Lucy stood outside Brooklyn Antiques. They were nervous about what awaited them inside. Hopefully, they would continue their work on the music cipher or something equally as interesting.

"Are you ready," Lucy asked. Dot looked straight ahead. She had not said a word to Lucy since the previous night, incredibly upset about the secrets that had been kept from her. Dot opened the door and the pair of codebreakers stepped through the door. The shop was more organized than Lucy had expected. All the items neatly on display. An older woman with gray hair stood behind the counter. Her green dress was several years out of fashion as were the finger waves in her hair.

"Lovely weather this morning," she said. Her voice was grave with a hint of a British accent.

"Yes, it is. We were looking for a Napoleonic snuff box," Dot said, "my father's birthday is coming up, and he would love one for his collection." The woman relaxed, her shoulders rounding and her face softening.

"A Napoleonic snuff box ya say. I believe we have several specimens in the backroom you might be interested in," the woman said looking around the shop. It was empty except for the three women. An audible click echoed through the room and the back wall of the shop slid open.

"Take the elevator down to sub-level 3. Agent Carter is waiting for you there. Once you ladies are settled in, come back up and I'll explain how to get in the back way. Can have the Huns seeing you come in and out of the shop every day," the woman said.

Dot and Lucy nodded and walked into the elevator. Lucy hit the 3 button and released a breath as the door closed.

"Can we talk about this," Lucy asked Dot as the elevator moved at a snail's pace.

"About what? About my best friend, roommate, and collaborator lying to me," Dot asked harshly.

"I didn't lie to you Dot," Lucy said exasperated.

"Not telling me is a lie by omission Lucy," Dot said.

The door to the elevator slid open on S-3. The pair stepped out onto a small landing that led to the tight grey corridor. The corridor was lined with doors. Each door was of the style with a large frosted glass window. Something also seemed to be written on each in large black block letters.

Dot and Lucy made their way slowly down the hallway looking for a door that properly described their role. They passed what felt like a hundred doors with labels like Engineering, Electrical, and Medical Director. Eventually, which in reality was only the fifth door down, they found a door labeled Enigma. The pair could just make out a human shape through the window. Dot reached down for the knob. She turned it and opened the door slowly.

Sure enough, Agent Carter was waiting for them at a wooden table in the middle of the room. A gramophone was on its own table in one corner and an upright piano lined the wall opposite the door.

"Good Morning Ladies," Agent Carter said smiling, "Shall we just crack on with it?" Lucy and Dot nodded, each taking a seat at the table.

"First, I'd like to thank you for being prompt today. There's a lot to do, and I'm needed back in New Jersey as soon as possible. Welcome to the Strategic Scientific Reserve." Agent Carter took a breath allowing the codebreakers to speak. Neither Dot nor Lucy said a word.

"The Strategic Scientific Reserve, or SSR, is a multinational effort to get us ahead of the Nazi scientists and hopefully shorten the length of this terrible conflict. Our primary focus is on HYDRA, the Nazi's' deep science division headed by one Johann Schmidt. We believe the dispatches you two decoded were from HYDRA agents. We requested you two be transferred to us in the hopes you'd be able to break more of the codes and give us some insight into what Schmidt is planning." Agent Carter explained.

"So we're working for a top-secret organization that is working to take down a part of the Nazi war machine," Dot asked. Agent Carter nodded. "You'll be compensated of course. We determined that a 50% pay raise over your Navy pay was more than sufficient. We did also try to promote you both, however, the Navy refused that request. In return, you will be on call 24/7 and have a three day turn around on any codes that arrive in this office."

Dot and Lucy paled. The fastest they'd managed to decode one of the dispatches so far was three days and that was after having determined the key.

"Thank you, Agent Carter. We'll do our best," Dot said.

"Oh please, call me Peggy. Us women in service have to stick together. Now, I believe Mrs. McCall has some things to discuss with you ladies in the shop. I'll see you ladies later," Peggy said standing up and heading for the door. "Please make sure she has your phone number and approximate address. Call for me if you need anything."

Peggy left the pair in silence staring at each other. Dot got up to examine the gramophone and piano. The upright was a little beat up and slightly out of tune, but it would serve its purpose. Lucy just sat at the table examining her fingernails.

"Before we go upstairs, can we talk this out," she asked quietly. Dot whirled around to glare at her friend.

"Sure we can talk. You can start with an explanation regarding why you would keep a marriage from me," Dot sneered. Lucy sat back in her chair trying to put physical distance between her and Dot.

"I was worried that if anyone knew I'd lose my job," Lucy said, "You saw how the Commander treated anyone who got married. They were pressured to quit immediately to follow their husband and keep house. I didn't want that to happen. I love my job, and if I was forced to quit…."

Dot's face softened, "Lu, I would never have put your job in danger. I'm just hurt you kept something that big from me. Hell, I'm upset with Bucky for not telling me. There are so many secrets that we're having to keep, I don't want to keep any more than absolutely necessary."

"I understand, Dot. It kills me every day that I can't tell Steve what I do, but I did what I thought I had to keep my job and the love of my life," Lucy said, tears welling in her eyes. Dot enveloped her friend in a hug.

"I can't forgive you, not yet anyway, but you are still my best friend," Dot said in Lucy's ear, "Now let's get upstairs to talk with Mrs. McCall."

Lucy straightened up, wiping the tears from her eyes. Dot pulled a small compact from her purse and passed it to Lucy. With a small smile, Lucy extracted the small puff and applied a light dusting of powder to her under eyes and nose. Examining herself in the mirror, Lucy was thankful for the waterproof mascara Dot had convinced her to splurge on. The black had not budged from her eyelashes.

Upstairs, Mrs. McCall explained the general procedures for the area. There was an entrance off the alleyway for their use and a small canteen on the second level. In addition, they provided the phone number for Steve and Bucky's apartment and the address for contact.

Returning to their office, Dot and Lucy set about organizing the space and making it theirs.

"Where should we put all the scores," Dot asked, her arms full of books.

"On top of the piano," Lucy suggested. The small bookshelf they'd been furnished with, was barely big enough to hold the records they'd been furnished.

"Sure, but I'm arranging them by composer," Dot said over her shoulder. Lucy shook her head and went back to arranging the records.

"Lucy," Dot asked, not looking up from her work.

"Yeah Dot," Lucy asked, looking over her shoulder at her blonde friend.

"Promise me, you'll never lie to me again," Dot said, "about anything."

"I promise Dot," Lucy replied.


It took a few days for their first dispatch to arrive. Dot was cooking dinner when the phone rang. Lucy picked up the phone, "Rogers's residence, how may I help you?"
May I speak to Lucy please?

Speaking.

Lucy, its Agent Carter. A dispatch was just sent over, we need you to decode it.

Yes ma'am. Dot and I will be over as soon as possible.

Lucy hung up and looked at Dot. "Duty Calls."

Dot sighed, turning off the stove and looking for her shoes.

"What's cooking ladies? It smells delicious," Bucky called as he and Steve walked through the door.

"Where are you going," Steve asked as the girls moved towards the door.

"Work called. There's stew on the stove for you. Don't wait up," Dot said, throwing on her coat. Lucy stopped to give Steve a hug and kiss before chasing Dot out the door.

Bucky and Steve stood dumbstruck as the door slammed closed by Lucy. "Do you ever wonder what they do for a living," Bucky asked. He'd beelined for the stove and was examining the stew. Steve shook his head.

"As long as Lucy's happy, it doesn't bother me," Steve said. Bucky lifted the spoon to his mouth and tasted the stew. "Mmmmm, this is almost as good as mom makes," he said, turning to find a bowl.

Dot and Lucy made their way as quickly as possible to Brooklyn Antiques... They entered through the alleyway as instructed and made their way to the small office. A dispatch was waiting as promised, and the pair set to work decoding it.

After several hours of trying to identify the musical key, the pair broke for coffee and a trip to the bathroom.

Lucy sat in the canteen, quietly sipping her coffee and people watching. Dot had gone back to the office a few minutes earlier. She wanted to try a different composer's work, and see if she could identify the 16 bars. Dozens of men in white coats passed without so much as glancing her way. One of whom she could have sworn was the infamous Howard Stark.

"May I sit with you," a voice asked from behind her.

"Please," Lucy said motioning to the empty seats around her. An older man in a white coat sat down in the chair opposite her.

"I'm Dr. Erskine," the man said.

"Lucy Bryne. It's nice to make your acquaintance," she replied, offering her hand to shake. The doctor took it.

"Are you new to the SSR," he asked. Lucy nodded.

"My partner and I started just a few days ago," she said.

"And can I ask where you two are from," he asked.

"Originally Virginia, currently Brooklyn," Lucy said, "You?"

"Germany, then Queens," Dr. Erskine said. Lucy's brow furrowed.

"Is my background a problem, Ms. Bryne," he asked. She shook her head.

"I was just thinking about an assignment from a few weeks ago," she said, "speaking of which, I really should get back. I've got a deadline." Lucy stood from the table and smoothed her skirt.

"It was lovely to meet you Dr. Erskine. I hope we get to talk soon," Lucy said.

"Of course," Dr. Erskine agreed. Lucy turned and hurried back to the office, where Dot was combing through the records for the opera she thought might be the key.

"Lu, I had the craziest idea during our break," Dot said, she fingers crawling over the record spines.

"Do tell," Lucy said, sitting at the piano. Her fingers found the keys and began plunking out the 16 notes of the dispatch.

"We theorized with the last set of messages that the writer was using Wagner's work exclusively right," Dot said.

"Uh huh," Lucy acknowledged, playing the 16 notes on a loop.

"What if the composer is an indicator? A way for the receiver to triage the messages. Ensure they get to the right recipients," Dot suggested, finding the record she wanted.

"So Wagner would indicate messages for whom," Lucy asked.

"I'm not sure. Perhaps a leader in the organization. Maybe even Schmidt himself," Dot said.

"Without the Wagner lead, looking for a message key would be a needle in a haystack. There are so many composters, and thousands of Operas they could pull from," Lucy said. She stopped playing and turned to Lucy at the gramophone.

"Not exactly. HYDRA, even if it's run by Schmidt, is still part of Hitler's German. So it would stand to reason we'd be looking at German composers," Dot said. She carefully removed the record from its sleeve and placed it on the gramophone.

"That's still hundreds of works," Lucy said in despair. Even with all the time in the world, there were too many pieces to go through for a short message.

"Right, but think of it this way. There are only so many composers, and we know that Wagner goes to one of them. A lot of the composers didn't compose for the voice, or if they did, few of the pieces are of the length needed to make a successful code.

A piece unfamiliar to Lucy began to play. It was dark, brooding. The pair sat in silence until a male voice entered.

"Stop the record," Lucy said, pitching forward. She hummed the lines they'd heard, then looked at the 16 notes on the piano.

"How," she asked.

"Lucky guess," Dot said shrugging, "It's not an opera. It's an oratorio. Schumann's Scenes from Goethe's Faust. Probably meant for a lead scientist."

"Faust, I've heard of that before," Lucy said. She thought back to college and the classes she'd taken. She could have sworn some mention of the name had been made. Or at least Goethe had been mentioned.

"It's considered a masterpiece, and one of the greatest pieces of German literature. Its about a scholar who sells his soul to the Devil," Dot explained. Lucy's eyes widened. It had been mentioned in her literature classes, but only in passing.

"Dot, you are a genius," Lucy said, jumping up to hug her friend. The two jumped a little as they celebrated the breakthrough.

"Now let's crack some ciphers," Dot said. Lucy returned to the piano in search of the score. Dot meanwhile, returned the needle to record, enveloping the room in brooding music.

Now the real work had started.


A/N: I thought this wouldn't take so long to write, but it did. Have no fear, the next chapter is already written. I just need to edit/polish it. Also a warning- the rating will be going up with the next chapter. Regardless, I hope you enjoyed this installment, and I look forward to you reading the next installments.