A/N: Hey, sorry I've been gone for a bit, work has been a bit crazy. So, here we are, episode 2. This ep, has three chapters and I think this one will make most of you very, VERY happy. I hope you enjoy International Relations.

Disclaimer: I don't own Chuck

"See, she sees the best in me. She encourages me to be my best self, and gives me the strength to do it," Chuck said, holding her hand, looking directly into her eyes. "So how could I do anything but ask her to spend the rest of my life with me? I love her more than I even know how to say, and trust me… I talk a lot." A wet giggle left Sarah's lips as she smiled at him, fighting back tears. "I love her and want to spend the rest of my life with her."

"I love you, Baby," she said softly. "And that's why I'm going to spend the rest of my life with you." With that, she leaned forward and kissed him, feeling complete.

}o{

You know how this works. That's later in the episode, this… this is earlier.

"Castle Securities, Chuck Bartowski speaking, how many I help you?" Chuck asked into the phone, as he was preparing the morning coffee.

"Hi, this is Jeff down at the coroner's office. I don't know if you know me," Jeff began.

"Jeff… it's Chuck… the guy you worked with at the Buy More," Chuck reminded him.

"Yeah, not ringing a bell," Jeff replied. "Is your boss, Sarah Walker, in?"

"She's not my boss," Chuck began.

"Now, now, this the twenty-first century, and there is absolutely nothing wrong with working for a woman," Jeff admonished. Chuck pulled the phone away from his face and stared at it. "Sarah Walker is the absolute best detective I've ever met, and you can learn a lot from her. If you'd put aside your misogynistic ways, you'd see that.

"My what?" Chuck asked, stunned.

"Just ask her to call me," Jeff finished.

"Jeff, I helped you get elected," Chuck protested. "I literally went door to door with Sarah to ask people to vote for you. I created fliers, I was literally your campaign crew, after Lester bolted on you."

"You need to quit taking credit for Sarah's work," Jeff told him. "Now, have your boss call me, and don't call me again." With that, Jeff hung up.

"You literally called me," Chuck said to the phone. The door opened and Chuck turned, shock still on his face, the phone in his hand.

"Uh-oh, did you get talked into a new long-distance plan?" Sarah asked, amusement on her face.

"I don't think that sort of thing has happened in ten years," Chuck said. "And it was only the one time… the deal sounded pretty good."

"Mmm-hmm," Sarah hummed, shaking her head and giggling. She walked over to her office to put her things away.

"And-and, I fixed it immediately," Chuck continued. Sarah picked up the cup of coffee he had prepared for her and watched him, clearly amused and enjoying this. It was the Monday after the steam room incident, and they hadn't seen each other since she left his apartment.

They both knew that was unusual, but neither reached out to the other over the weekend. Multiple times both had nearly texted the other, called the other; hell, Sarah stood in front of his door, her fist raised to knock, only to turn and leave. Had she stood there five seconds more, she would have seen Chuck, walking out to go to his car and drive to her apartment before changing his mind and going back inside.

"So, you're saying we don't have a new long-distance plan?" Sarah asked, teasing him.

"I haven't done anything with it. What you have done, God only knows," Chuck said. He crossed his arms, making her grin grow. "What I did do, however, was talk to Jeff."

"Ahh, now I get it," Sarah said. "You shouldn't let it bother you."

"Shouldn't let what bother me?" Chuck asked. Sarah just shook her head and started walking to her office, knowing Chuck was following her. God, she should be ashamed of herself. She knew he was going to follow her, to continue this inane conversation, but she needed it. It had been well over forty-eight hours since she talked to him, heard his voice, and she needed it badly.

"I mean, we are lucky he is as good as he is," Sarah continued, putting down her coffee mug, trying to keep the smile off her face. Grabbing the mail, she sorted through it, not looking at him. She was well aware what this was doing to him.

"Sarah, I ran his damn campaign to help him get re-elected," Chuck began.

"Mmm-hmm," Sarah hummed, continuing to sift through the mail.

"Annddd," he continued. She looked up at him. When he annddd like that, it was gonna be good. "He can't remember me, thinks I'm your assistant, and a misogynist for trying to correct him."

She dropped the mail, walked around to the front of her desk, and sat down on the edge. Unable to help herself, she looked up into his eyes and spoke. "Well, that's ridiculous. You and I both know you'd love being my assistant." Chuck fought the laughter, but was unable to restrain himself. She reached over and took his hand, quickly sobering him. "Chuck, what's really bothering you? We both know that Jeff breathing is a miracle, and you're not really upset about what he said."

He was silent for a second, and then just blurted it out. "Are we okay?"

She should have been surprised by the question, but she wasn't. "Yeah," she replied. "Yeah, we're okay." She sat there a second, trying to gather her thoughts. She had answered the question Chuck had asked, but she had worked with him for three years and she knew better than anyone that the question asked was rarely the question he wanted answered. She glanced down a second and then back up, locking eyes with him.

"I think you're pretty aware you're my best friend, my work partner, and my rock." Chuck ducked his head, blushing slightly. "I normally don't find myself in those situations we were in the other night, and here's the thing: I trusted you. And I know it's been over three years, but my trust was badly broken. Again, not by you, but…" She trailed off.

"Broken all the same," Chuck said softly. Sarah nodded.

"So, I did what I do, and took… what do you call it? Sarah time?" Chuck grinned and nodded. "Something I never did before I met you. I took Sarah time, and just thought about and processed what happened. And what happened was my partner had my back…" She couldn't help but grin as she said the next part. "And apparently wanted to see me naked while doing it."

Chuck burst out laughing. "Do you think it would have helped?" he asked, after a few seconds. "I mean the being able give us a few more minutes by taking off our clothes."

"I have no idea," Sarah admitted. She reached over and took his hand. "But at that moment, I trusted you. I knew whatever you were doing, it was what you thought was in our best interest." Chuck grinned. "What?" He shook his head. She lightly jiggled his arm. "Whaaatttt?" she softly whined.

"Jesus Christ, you don't play fair." She gave him her best angelic look. "Fine, what if I thought we were going to die and I…" He shook his head, chuckled, and looked away.

She stood, and when he looked back to her, he couldn't help but see the impish smile she gave him. "Like I said, what you thought was in our best interest." His mouth dropped as she laughed, letting go of his hand to walk over and sit down. She looked up at him. "I am the one that asked you if it was just a dream."

"Dream of me often?"

She sat forward in her chair, and looked him right in the eye. "As much as any healthy, non-sexually repressed woman dreams about any kind man she spends the majority of her day with, that treats her with respect and kindness."

"Well," Chuck said, clearing his throat and blushing furiously. "I do hope in your dreams I am respectful."

"Why?" Sarah asked, loving the way his eyes widened. "I mean, if we're gonna do something and take a chance to blow up what we have in our dream, we should really do something."

"Noted," he choked out, and she burst out laughing. "Speaking of blowing things up." Sarah began to laugh harder. "Jeff called, and wants to talk to my boss."

"I'm not your boss," she said softly. "I'm your partner."

"Oh, I bet on Friday nights, in your dreams, you are my boss," Chuck said as he walked out the door.

Sarah burst out laughing again.

}o{

"You don't have to pout," she told him as they drove over to the coroner's office. Sarah had called Jeff back, and Jeff had not only remembered who she was, but told her she ought to consider firing her misogynistic secretary.

"I'm not pouting," Chuck told her. "I'm thinking about something you said a few weeks ago; that we might need to expand." Sarah nodded. They were beginning to receive a lot of calls about possible cases. They could split the cases and work individually, or they could keep doing as they were, and hire someone to do the preliminary work for them. Sarah didn't really want to split the two of them up and, frankly, they were making enough to hire someone else.

"So, it has nothing to do with Jeff calling you my secretary?" Sarah asked, trying to keep her face neutral. The withering look Chuck gave her made her howl in laughter. He began to chuckle as well. "Casey has mentioned there is someone that wants to work for us, that can begin as an apprentice. He even said she might work for free."

"Wait, do we want someone who will work for free?" Chuck asked.

Sarah shrugged. "We could at least interview her and see where it goes?" Sarah offered. "At worst, we'd waste thirty- to forty-five minutes of our time figuring out if she'd work out. Plus, Casey said something about she has clearance to know everything we do."

Chuck was silent for a moment. "Do I have clearance?" Chuck looked over at Sarah, who was rubbing the back of her neck with her left hand, and driving with her right. "Before you answer that question, remember Nickleback."

"No, you do not get to play the Nickleback card," Sarah told him, giggling. "Fine, you do, but I never saw the point of telling you, since you literally find out things we need as the government turns a blind eye to how you sometimes operate."

"Sarah… you can't turn a blind eye if you don't know I'm there," Chuck told her. Chuck didn't say it in a boastful way, just a factual one. And good God, did she think she might melt hearing him say that. "But it's good to know I do have clearance." He turned towards her. "How high is my clearance?"

She pulled into the parking lot and parked. She was still a little worked up about what he had said earlier, so she decided to mess with him. "You have Sarah clearance," she told him, and got out of the car.

He sat there a second, trying to process that as she went inside. "Jesus, I don't know if it gets any higher than that," he muttered, and hurried in after her. He walked in and found Jeff talking to Sarah. As soon as Jeff saw Chuck, he made a beeline to him.

"Hello," Jeff said. "Jeff Barnes, Coroner. I do hope I can count on your vote in the upcoming election." Jeff reached out to shake Chuck's hand. In Jeff's other hand he had a button and a bumper sticker to give Chuck.

Chuck stared at Jeff. "I LITERALLY RAN YOUR CAMPAIGN!" Chuck bellowed. Sarah couldn't help but giggle. "Sarah and I went door to door. I used a program to find people who typically didn't vote, and we went and talked to them about how important it was to have you as coroner!"

Jeff studied Chuck, and then turned to Sarah. "Is he on drugs?" Chuck threw his hands up and walked off. Jeff shook his head and headed back to Sarah. "Now, I have something really important to show you."

Chuck came over behind the two, using his height to his advantage. "Uh, Jeff," he began spying something that he had to warn Jeff about, no matter how much the coroner irritated him. "Don't take a bite of your sandwich…it appears to have blood on it." Chuck paused. "Why in the hell would you be eating a sandwich near a dead body?"

"It's tuna fish," Jeff said with a shrug, as he reached over and took the sandwich that had the red liquid by it, taking a bite. Chuck tried not to throw up.

"Oh, quit being so damn dramatic, Bartowski," Casey said, walking in. "That's Jeff's Hi-C Fruit Punch I made him this morning, to go with his tuna sandwich."

"Thanks again, Casey," Jeff said, saluting him with the sandwich by way of thanks.

Chuck had spun around to face Casey. "When you say made…?" Chuck was trying to keep the amusement off of his face.

"Barnes is living with me," Casey said, unhappily. "After his roommate moved out-"

"That would be Lester, the snake in the grass," Jeff growled.

"Would he be a snake in the grass because of moving out, or by running against you as coroner?" Chuck asked. Sarah shook her head. She knew she should stop Chuck from stirring all of this up, but she was enjoying it.

"Can't it be both?" Jeff asked.

"It certainly can," Chuck agreed. "So, Jeff moved in?" he asked Casey, dying to hear the rest of this story.

"Barnes… Barnes didn't know that he rented that apartment," Casey began, wincing. Chuck looked from Casey to Jeff. Jeff was looking at a file, ignoring the ongoing conversation.

"Lester moved out over eight months ago," Chuck said in a hushed tone.

"They finally got around to evicting him last week," Casey said with a shrug. "I had to do something. He's our in. He's goofier than a pet coon, but he is good at what he does."

"Okay, so what has he found that has us here?" Sarah asked, pulling the conversation back to the case.

"Well," Jeff said, handing Sarah the folder he was working on. "If you will look at the picture of the deceased," he began.

"Wasn't that Amanda?" Chuck asked.

"Yes, it was Amanda. Yes, in this picture she has no clothes on. No, you don't have to look," Sarah told him, already knowing his concerns, and being prepared for him.

"Thank you," he said earnestly.

"You do know if a dude got shot in the junk, she would look, right?" Casey asked.

"Well, she's the professional," Chuck began, and then realized what he had said.

"I've been trying to tell her that for years," Casey muttered.

"Chuck has not had the experience with mutilated bodies like we have, Casey," Sarah said, glaring at him.

"You could have stopped after the word experience," Casey grumbled.

"So," Jeff said, trying to get on with his morning. He took a bite of his sandwich, making Chuck look at Casey.

"It's Hi-C Fruit punch," Casey reiterated. "Blood would be more viscous."

"The fact you know that…" Chuck trailed off and shook his head.

"If you'll notice on the picture, there are no burns on the body," Jeff said, pointing toward the entry wound. He then turned, and walked over to one of the freezers. Opening it, he pulled out a tray and threw back the sheet. Chuck spun.

"She's dead… she's okay with you seeing her boobies," Casey told Chuck.

Sarah had walked over to inspect the wound. "Casey, come look at this, and quit bullying Chuck."

"I'm not sure it's bullying," Chuck began.

"Oh, it is," Casey told him. Chuck just nodded. Casey walked over to Sarah and Jeff. "Stephanie swears up and down that as they were grappling for the gun, she turned it upside down and the gun went off."

"That seems," Chuck trailed off. He was taking his hands, gripping the bottom three fingers together to make his fingers and thumb into a gun. He turned his hands over to point, and then touch, his forefingers to his chest. "The wrists don't move that way very easily."

"Also, the bullet track had a downward angle," Jeff added.

Chuck continued to manipulate his hands. "I mean, it's doable. But if you're fighting with someone, isn't it more likely that if it went off, it would have an upward angle?"

"And there's no stippling," Jeff reminded them.

"What does the DA say to all of this?" Chuck asked.

"Not enough evidence," Casey said, looking over at Chuck. "It would be too hard to prove, especially since Amanda had just tried to kill you two. Even if Stephanie did stand there and shoot Amanda, it would be hard to find a jury to find her guilty of murder."

"So, we have a case?" Chuck asked. Casey shook his head. "Okay, then why are we here?"

"Because you were involved with this, and you need to keep your head on a swivel," Casey told them. "This is hinky. Unfortunately, I can't just lock up everyone I consider doing something hinky."

"I'd be one of the first ones you'd lock up if you could, right?" Chuck asked. Casey snorted laughter and walked out. "Is he saying I'm not suspect?"

"Chuck, he's just saying you aren't that dangerous," Sarah explained.

"I can be dangerous," Chuck said. Sarah shook her head and walked out.

"If you need therapy, I can recommend someone," Jeff told him. Chuck turned and followed Sarah.

}o{

He could be dangerous, Sarah thought to herself as she drove.

He could be so dangerous.

There had been thoughts of what they could be like together. There had been thoughts of a life with him, beyond being partners… being friends.

Chuck Bartowski had awoken things in her she didn't know she still possessed. He had awoken a caring, and a passion… he had awoken a need. She just couldn't be with guys because they were convenient. She wanted something real… just like he did. Something just… real.

She drove back on autopilot, listening to Chuck grumble about Jeff, and laughing about it. She parked the car and the two walked into the office, as she wondered what it would be like if the two of them went home together, each and every night.

As she sat at her desk and continued to wonder she was pulled out of such thoughts, rudely, by Chuck and a female voice arguing out in the lobby. She left her office and stood in the doorway.

"I'm telling you, I tailed you the entire way here," the woman said. She wasn't very tall, but she had a presence that almost made Chuck seem short.

"Impossible… no one tails Sarah Walker," Chuck argued. He saw her standing there, and turned to her. "Sarah, tell her that you knew we were being tailed."

"Who are you?" Sarah asked.

"Anna Wu," the woman said, walking over, holding out her hand. "Casey told me to prove to you that I could do the work by tailing you. I need a job… actually, I need this job. I cannot continue living with my parents. They want me to attend parties, and be… someone I am not."

"And who's that?" Sarah asked.

Anna made a face. "A… socialite."

"I don't see it," Chuck muttered. Anna turned to him and glared, making him step back. "And that look, that's why I do not see it."

"Listen, my parents are very wealthy people with connections," Anna said. "Because of them, I have certain clearances, that I probably don't deserve. I don't need to be paid. My parents will continue to pay for everything I do. But I must have employment. It's either here, or the Buy More."

"Where they'd obviously hire you as a greeter," Chuck muttered.

"That's exactly what they want me to do!" Anna told him. "Please, I'm begging you."

"Chuck?" Sarah said with a shrug. "It's your call, and if you say no, I'll protect you."

"You'd have to move in with me as protection, the way she keeps glaring at me," Chuck said before he thought.

"Like you'd hate that," Anna snarked. "Wait, let me take that back… you don't want to do that, because you like your freedom, and no one telling you what to do."

"Sarah doesn't tell me what to do," Chuck countered.

"Yeah, she does, and you like it," Anna said, giving him a look that she wasn't stupid.

"She's apparently a good detective," Sarah pointed out, making Chuck give her a look. Sarah couldn't help but laugh.

"Listen, I will answer phones, take notes, file, do all-night stakeouts-"

"Whatever you do, don't have food delivered to your car when you do that," Chuck muttered.

"Everyone knows that," Anna snarked.

"Yeah, everyone knows that, Chuck," Sarah said, trying to keep a straight face.

"Order sizzling shrimp once on Doordash," Chuck muttered. "Fine, you can work here. You're obviously a good detective, and very good at tailing people."

Sarah looked away. She was going to have to give Anna that one, because there was no way she could stand there and admit the reason she didn't know Anna was tailing them was because she was daydreaming about a life with Chuck.

A/N: Huh…seems like Chuck and Sarah are…*squints* flirting? Maybe? Let's see what is happening next time, shall we?

"If anyone ever asks about your Kryptonite, I'm going to tell them it's filing."

"I swear, I get one papercut-"

"You bled all over the file," Sarah cut in.

"Apparently it was a vein gone rogue," Chuck argued.

"Jesus, will you two just go in there, lock the door, and bang each other!" Anna yelled. Both Chuck and Sarah's eyebrows nearly shot off of their heads.

Welp….come on back next time, and if you could leave a review that would be amazing. Thanks for reading.