Disclaimer: I don't own Scorpion much to my chagrin. No infringement intended – I'm just having a little fun with the characters.
So I don't like long author's notes but I have a few things I need to say.
I never thought I'd have two "Walter & Happy are married" stories going at the same time but it just happened. I know I'm in the middle of Married but this idea kept me up for two nights until I sat down and typed it out. It's a little different process for me. I usually have 80% or so of a story written before I post even the first chapter. I only have this one chapter finished for this story although I have it completely outlined from beginning to end - so I know exactly where I'm going and how I'm getting there. So I'm going to post as I write the chapters. The story won't be long – maybe a half a dozen chapters or so and will take place over five years. We'll see how it goes. Updates may be a little slow on this one too but I'll try not to keep you waiting too long.
I was very bothered by the ending of the last episode because while I obviously suspected Walter was going to be Happy's hubby – something didn't sit right with me about Happy's explanation of how things went down and I'm not sure where the writers are going to take it. So I decided to take it where I want it to go.
I am no expert on immigration law and regulations but I have tried to be as thorough as possible in my research and I have researched quite a bit. There is a chance that some things are not 100% accurate but I'm taking the creative license necessary to make the story work.
The story starts about a month after the end of episode 03x04. Yes there will be smut... lots of it.
Thanks in advance for reading and enjoy!
Because You Want To - Chapter 1
"Your N-400 Application for Naturalization has been denied."
Walter felt like someone punched him in the gut as he looked at his immigration lawyer, James Tedreau, sitting across from him. After all this time, the years of being married to a woman he didn't love, risking his life, and his teams, to assist the US government to keep the country safe from worldwide threats, and he was now going to be denied US citizenship.
"Why the hell was it denied?" Happy snapped from beside him as she slapped the hand Toby wasn't holding down on the table.
Walter sat stunned and silent, wracking his 5th highest IQ brain for a logical solution. As much as he didn't want to leave the country, as much as he didn't want to have to shutter Scorpion, all he could think about at that moment was that he was going to lose Paige and Ralph. And the thought paralyzed him.
"Happy, calm down," the woman in question murmured from her spot standing behind the two of them. Sly stood beside her wringing his hand anxiously while Cabe was a short distance away leaning against Proton Arnold.
"No, this is bullshit!" Happy snapped again and glared at the slightly paunch and balding man across from them. "I thought you're supposed to be the top immigration lawyer in LA."
"I am, Mrs. O'Brien," he replied calmly, clearly long used to the emotional outbursts of couples who were thrown into chaos by divorce before one of them were naturalized.
A low growl reverberated up Happy's throat. "My name is not Mrs. O'Brien. My name is Happy Quinn so call me Happy or Ms. Quinn or I will-"
"Or future Mrs. Curtis," Toby interrupted from his seat beside her but Happy smacked his arm.
"Shut it Doc," she growled.
Tedreau looked back at Walter. "Unfortunately your immigration case worker believes your marriage was fraudulent and not in good faith. That determination automatically cancels your application and initiates deportation proceedings."
"There's no basis for that determination," Happy scoffed angrily.
"Apparently the answers you gave in your separate interviews cast some doubts on the validity of the marriage from its inception."
"What answers?" Paige asked calmly even though she was feeling anything but.
Tedreau looked up at her as he answered. "The interview answers are confidential and can only be released with a petition to the immigration court."
"This is bullshit!" Happy said again.
"There has to be something that can be done," Paige said with a shaky breath. This couldn't be happening. "Cabe? Can't Homeland do anything?"
The agent shook his head with a frown. "Unfortunately not this time. Homeland has to step back on this because of Scorpion's position in the agency."
"But that's exactly why they should be involved," Paige insisted.
"Yeah, Walter is a high value government asset," Sly said as he gripped Paige's arm. Whenever his anxiety went into overdrive, he always reached out, needing some kind of human contact to keep him grounded.
"Only as long as I'm legal," Walter muttered his first words since his life came crashing down around him.
"Unless this can be resolved toot sweet Homeland is cancelling Scorpion's contract effective immediately."
"Oh, god," Paige said in a strangled tone.
At the pained and clearly worried sound Walter turned in his seat and looked at her. Paige sucked in a breath in response to the intensity of his gaze.
"You and Ralph will always be taken care of," he said with such conviction it silenced the entire room.
"Walter, that's not what I-" she started to say and he just shook his head.
He wanted to take her in his arms and protect her from all of this. But he couldn't even protect himself from the fallout at this point.
"I know," he murmured. "But I've made arrangements. You and Ralph will be fine after Scorpion. I promise."
Walter turned back around, unable to look at her any longer. It hurt too much.
He'd made arrangements for Paige and Ralph a long time ago in case something happened to him. Their lives were too fraught with danger and the risk of death, on a daily basis, that Walter wanted to make sure the two most important people in his world would be taken care of if he wasn't there any longer.
Who would have figured that it would be the USCIS, and not a terrorist, that would rip him from their lives?
And in that moment, Walter decided he wouldn't allow it.
"There has to be a logical solution here, Mr. Tedreau. Are you saying I am completely out of options?" Walter asked seriously as he pursed his lips.
Paige felt a hand on her lower back and, still stunned by Walter's words, she turned her head to see Tim standing next to her.
"Any resolution yet?" he whispered and Paige shook her head before she quietly led him toward the kitchen.
"Is everything alright?" she asked when they were out of earshot of everyone else. When the lawyer arrived she asked Tim to keep Ralph occupied on the other side of the garage. Her son was aware of what was going on and she knew the thought of Walter being deported scared him more than he let on.
But Ralph and Tim had been struggling lately. He was clearly not happy about her dating the former seal and he was acting out.
"Where's Ralph?" she asked as she looked toward the Airstream.
"He wasn't interested in hanging with me. He said he had homework to do and took his laptop up to the loft."
Paige sighed. "I'm sorry, Tim. I'll talk to him again."
"Hey, don't worry about it." Tim rubbed her arm gently as he smiled. "We'll find our balance. There's a lot going on right now and when it calms down I'm sure we'll figure it out." Tim motioned with his head toward the table of geniuses on the other side of the room. "Is this lawyer going to be able to help Walter?"
Paige's brow furrowed and she bit her bottom lip worriedly. "It doesn't sound like it. But I need to get back over there."
Tim nodded and followed as she turned and walked back toward the table.
"That is ludicrous," Walter said as Paige walked up again stopping a few feet behind his chair.
"I'm afraid the laws are quite strict on these matters, Mr. O'Brien. USCIS takes fraud very seriously."
"I told you it wasn't fraud," Walter insisted but it didn't sound very convincing to his own ears so he wondered how it sounded to his lawyer. "Happy and I entered this marriage with the intention of remaining in it."
"At least until you were a citizen," Toby muttered under his breath and Walter glared at him as Happy elbowed him in the side.
"Oomph."
"Be that at it may, Mr. O'Brien," Tedreau said in a tone that indicated he saw through all of their lies. "The USCIS doesn't believe it. They don't believe there was good faith exercised when you married." He looked over at Happy. "Your answer to their question of why you wanted a divorce didn't exactly help Mr. O'Brien's case."
"Wait a minute. I thought the answers were confidential," Happy said suspiciously as she narrowed her eyes.
Tedreau shrugged casually. "I may have seen a few of them and to be quite honest I don't necessarily disagree with the decision."
"You're their lawyer, aren't you supposed to be on their side?" Sly accused.
"It's not a matter of sides, Mr. Dodd. I choose to believe that the marriage was legitimate because that is what Mr. & Mrs. O'Brien have told me, but if I was the judge reviewing the case I would likely feel differently."
"We need a new lawyer," Happy growled as she shot a look at Walter.
"What did you say, Happy? How did you answer that question?" Paige asked sharply and Happy shot her a look before shrugging.
"I said he's emotionally inaccessible and always has been."
Walter sighed and shook his head. Tedreau might as well just drive him to the airport now.
"Happy," Paige scolded with a disappointed sigh.
"Can it Dineen," Happy muttered but Walter had known Happy long enough to know she felt guilty.
"So why did her answer hurt Walter's case." Paige asked as she unconsciously stepped closer to Walter's chair.
"Because they question why she'd originally want to marry someone who was so emotionally inaccessible," the lawyer emphasized her words and Happy scoffed.
"Maybe he was great in bed," Sly offered in what he thought was a helpful manner but Happy, Toby and Cabe all cringed and groaned simultaneously.
"Ewww."
Paige blanched suddenly wondering if Walter and Happy had ever been intimate. It hadn't even occurred to her until that moment and she was surprised by the intensity of the jealousy that shot through her. She hadn't felt that level of jealousy when Walter was dating Linda. But perhaps it was just the reality of everything finally setting in.
For a brief moment Paige wondered if her legs would continue to hold her up and she reached for the back of Walter's chair.
"Enough," Walter snapped as he noticed Paige's reaction in the reflection of the monitor tree behind his lawyer. He felt the backs of her fingers against his shoulders and just that light touch calmed him.
"I don't accept there isn't an option here, Tedreau," Walter said matter-of-factly. "You need to go back to your law books and look again."
The older man sighed and sat back in his chair.
"Well we can file an appeal with the Board of Immigration Appeals but that takes time. You will likely need to go back to Ireland and we can work to get you back into the US in six to twelve months, perhaps."
"Six to twelve months?" Paige gasped.
"Not an option," Cabe and Walter said simultaneously.
"You can stop this right now if you withdraw your petition for divorce. We can withdraw your I-751 Petition to Remove Conditions on Residence and N-400 and the two of you can remain married. There are only 14 months left before you would be able to apply to become a naturalized citizen."
"Not gonna happen," Toby said firmly. "Our child will be six months old by then. And their divorce will be final in two days. That train has long left the station."
"But if the USCIS believes the marriage is fraudulent won't they continue to pursue action against them?" Paige asked as she was overcome with visions of both Walter and Happy behind bars.
"Not necessarily," Tedreau replied. "They will be watched more closely and when Mr. O'Brien files an N-400 again, at the end of the fourteen months, the application will be heavily scrutinized."
Walter squeezed his fingers into a fist and slammed it down on to his thigh in frustration.
"I refuse to accept this outcome."
The older man shrugged. "Your options are extremely limited here, Mr. O'Brien, as you are essentially being kicked to the curb because of an unplanned pregnancy. It's not as if you were the one who fell in love with and wants to marry someone else."
Paige hiccupped softly behind him and Walter felt a shiver run through him as visions of Paige standing in front of him, wearing a wedding dress, pledging to love him forever, flooded his mind.
Unaware of the impact his words were having on two of the people in front of him Tedreau continued. "In that instance we could request an extension of the thirty day period for deportation to allow for another application to be filed by your new spouse. We could file another I-130 Petition for Alien Relative along with an I-485 Adjust Status. As it is right now your thirty day period is almost half over and they are going to absolutely deport you on the twenty second."
"That is if they don't throw him into immigration jail first," Sly said anxiously.
"Sly there is no such thing as immigration jail," Toby said soothingly. "It's just jail and it will only be for five years. We can hold down the fort at Scorpion while Walt's in the big house."
The behaviorist's attempt at lightening the moment with humor fell flat.
"I'll end up in jail with him jackass," Happy said as she slapped him on the shoulder.
"Toby, I swear if you don't shut your mouth so help me god," Paige growled at the same time as she slapped the back of his head.
"Damn, when did the women on this team become so violent?" Toby pouted as he rubbed the two spots he'd just been slapped.
"What good are you if you can't solve this for us?" Happy snapped and Paige saw the mechanic put her hand over her stomach. The liaison knew that instinct very well. This kind of stress was the last thing a woman carrying a child needed.
Paige felt her heart pounding in her chest as she knew what she had to do. The conclusion was instantaneous. It both frightened and excited her and it would either be the best or worst decision of her life.
"So if Walter marries someone else before the thirty days are up he'd be able to stay?" Paige asked evenly.
Walter stiffened in his chair in front of her wondering where she was going with her question. Exhilaration shot through him like lightening but he didn't dare hope. He wanted to turn and look at her but he found his muscles wouldn't obey his brain.
"What are you getting at Dineen?" "Where are you going with this Paige?" Happy and Toby asked simultaneously.
Tedreau looked at Paige for a moment before answering.
"In theory, yes," he said slowly. "Again, Walter would likely have to leave on a voluntary deportation for a short period of time. But we can probably get that down to only a few weeks while the application is in process and the marriage would have to take place before he left the US borders. However I can't advise or condone a fraudulent marriage."
Paige swallowed thickly and the next words out of her mouth were some of the hardest, yet truthful, she'd ever spoken.
"It wouldn't be fraudulent."
The entire room was painfully silent for what felt like forever.
"Why not?" Tedreau finally asked as he arched a skeptical brow.
Paige lifted a shaking hand, resting it on Walter's shoulder.
The genius inhaled a sharp breath as he froze. But then his body relaxed, her touch soothing him like always. He tipped his head back just as she looked down at him.
But before Paige could answer Ralph's voice rang out from stairs behind them.
"Because Walter and my mom love each other."
Thanks again for reading and if you are so inclined leave a review. Would love to hear what you all think.
