this is set after the team saves Toby in 2x24, but before the proposal and the train wreck that follows. I have literally no idea why I decided to write this but I guess when an idea strikes it's best to follow it

Happy strode up the stairs, focusing on her set intent and not her heavy chest. Right now, she wanted to be with Toby instead. She wanted to sit with him and make sure he was okay after his kidnapping. Not that she totally knew how, but as his girlfriend, she wanted to try.

There was just something she had to do first. And she couldn't tell him everything she wanted, including the part about being in love with him, without walking away in success.

"Walt?"

Her boss glanced up from the papers he was shuffling. She noticed Mark Collins' name on several. It wasn't a surprise, considering the day they'd had. She didn't waste time on it, though.

"Happy." She exactly didn't know how to read his expression, or his tone, but she could tell there was surprise mixed in somewhere. It made sense. He was hiding up in his loft from Paige and Tim, which everyone realized, except for Paige and Tim. He told the others he had work to do and would rather not be bothered for hours. So he wasn't expecting to be disturbed. Cabe said Walter just needed space away from the mess he made.

But Happy had her own mess to clean up. One she never thought she'd need to prevent from seeping into her romantic future. "We need to talk."

Walter furrowed his brows. "Why? Is everything alright?"

The words rattled around her brain like loose bolts. She didn't know how to start. She wasn't good at communication. That was the whole reason for this conversation in the first place. Because she never communicated the problem to Toby. "No."

Walter moved the papers aside, tucking them into a yellow folder. His eyes anywhere but her, he hesitated. Though uncomfortable, she let him take the pause. "Is this about Toby's-"

"Yeah. That."

"What would you like me to say?"

Happy swallowed hard. "I want a divorce."

Raising his line of sight, he tilted his head. "Happy-"

"I need a divorce."

Walter ran a tense hand over his scrunched forehead. "I can't do that."

Happy stepped forward. "Why the hell not?"

"It's only been six years," he said. "My visa-"

"You can marry someone else."

She closed more distance, but he kept his ground, voice firm. "That's not an option."

"Divorce me and shack up with Paige-" he flinched, "Or hell, marry Sylvester. I don't care. Just not me."

Walter brushed off Paige's name like a rogue tear that just got in his way. "Happy, even if I wanted to, it would look too suspicious."

"People get divorced all the time."

"Not while they're seeking to stay in the country," he opposed. "I'd be investigated and we might get someone scrutinizing our case who wasn't as lenient as last time."

Happy clenched her jaw, standing on the opposite side of the table from him. Though physically shorter, her intensity loomed over him like a cloud prepared for thunder.

"Between the two of us, our IQ is almost 400. We can come up with something else."

Walter shook his head. "There's no other way."

"C'mon, Walt. We both know things have changed since then. It wasn't a mistake, cause I didn't even know Toby yet. But I really need to bail."

They held each other's gaze, both firmly determined, although for very different reasons. "We've kept our charade for six years, Happy. What's two more?"

She leaned her head in. "Toby is gonna propose. We both heard it. It's gonna happen sooner than later. And I wanna say yes."

Walter heaved a sigh. A guilty one. "I'm sorry. I can't. You have to tell him the truth."

"This isn't fair to him."

"We made a decision then. I need you to follow through on it now." He frowned at her expression, deepening his forehead wrinkles.

Her voice thinned in a way she usually only let it around Toby. "Walter, please."

"I'm sorry."

Happy dropped her bottom lip. "Fine," she muttered. And she turned on her heel faster than he could blink, leaving the air behind her set with a fierce fire.

He tried for an apology of sorts, in his own, weird way. "I can try speaking with Toby. Ask him to hold off on his proposal, without revealing our marriage to him. If you'd like."

Happy didn't bother turning around to answer. "No," she said. "You've done enough."