A/N: Welcome back to part 2 of Take My Husband, Please

Disclaimer: I don't own Chuck

The car ride was quiet… not uncomfortably quiet, but something hung there between them. Chuck just shook his head, knowing he was going to have to answer for his transgressions. "It's like I don't even know you," she said, trying to fight down the grin on her face.

"You do know me," Chuck insisted.

"You shot him, Chuck," Sarah said, making the turn gently. "You shot an unarmed robot."

"Okay, first off, I'm gonna blame Prime on this one. Because if I hadn't seen all the Fallout TV stuff, I wouldn't have picked up Fallout 3 again," Chuck began to explain.

"So a TV show made you a cold-blooded murder?"

Chuck groaned at that and began to chuckle, knowing she was messing with him.

"All because… what? You didn't want to go back through another tunnel to find what the robot wanted?"

"The robot was crazy!" Chuck insisted.

"I thought we didn't say things like that because of… Skynet?" Chuck was silent. "Did I say something wrong?"

"You're discussing Skynet and Fallout with me – correctly, I might add – instead of making fun of them, and… I'm a little turned on," Chuck admitted.

"Buddy, when I'm around you're always a little turned on," Sarah reminded him, smiling at him.

"Ma'am, it's usually more than a little," Chuck admitted, making her laugh. "But back to the point."

"That you're a robot murderer?" Sarah inquired.

"The robot thought he was Button Gwinnett," Chuck continued, ignoring her little dig. "Button is long dead."

"Are you and he close enough to refer to him as Button?" Sarah asked.

"I just wanted to say Button," Chuck admitted. Sarah nodded, understanding. "He wanted me to go back and do all this insane stuff, when what I was after was right there…"

"So you shot him?" Sarah asked.

"Yes!" Chuck replied. "Yes, I was tired of walking through tunnels."

"So some voice-actor, who put in all that time, thinking he was going to have an important role in the game… you just shot his character, literally killing any chance of hearing his work… because he annoyed you?" Sarah asked. Chuck hung his head, chuckling. Sarah continued, trying to keep a straight face. "What if that had been you that had been the voice actor? Huh? How would you feel?"

"If I was a voice actor, it would probably be for an offshoot game. It wouldn't be Fallout 3 or Fallout 4, it would be like… Fallout: New Barstow, and not the main title."

"New Barstow?" Sarah asked. "Who the hell would want to go to Barstow?"

"Sarah, there's been a nuclear war, who knows why anyone would do anything. Besides… there's something about Barstow," Chuck answered. Sarah shook her head. "Anyway, it would be made by another company, not the company that is publishing the main game. So some other gaming company like… oh, say Orion, or, I don't know, Obsidian… would make the actual game, but Bethesda published it." Sarah gave him a confused look. "I'd probably be a doctor, possibly even gay. I think I'd be a possible companion as well."

"That's very… specific," Sarah said. Chuck shrugged. "But back to the robot-"

"I killed the robot because he was fucking annoying and I wanted to get through that quest before we left," Chuck blurted out. Sarah pulled into the parking spot, put the car in park, and fell forward, in hysterics the entire time. "Fine, I'll admit it. I was an asshole to the robot, and if the robots come and look into my Fallout 3 history, they might not be happy with me."

"Jesus, I love you," she said, shaking her head, still laughing.

"I love you," Chuck told her. "And thank you for looking past my shortcomings with robots."

"Well, it's something I've had to work on," she began. She laughed even harder as he opened the door, got out of the car, and walked off, giggling where he couldn't see her.

}o{

They found Mr. Cline outside, eating lunch, and introduced themselves. Within a few moments, neither Chuck nor Sarah liked him very much.

"So you see, Mr. Bartowski, there is no way that Mr. Jameson can be missing," the bureaucrat said, with a look that indicated the conversation was over. Chuck glanced at Sarah and grinned. Chuck had told Mr. Cline that Sarah was his partner, but so far, the man had yet to address Sarah. Some things never changed.

"So you have no problem dismissing Claudia's claims, Mr. Cline?" Sarah asked. She knew Chuck could have asked this question, but she also knew by her asking it, it was going to get to Robert. And she was right. He drew himself up.

"That's because I have the whole story, and you don't," Robert replied, quite smugly. Chuck really hoped Sarah didn't deck Robert. He deserved it, but Chuck didn't want Sarah to go to jail for this piece of work.

"Well, how about you share that with us, Bob?" Chuck asked as folksy as he could. Chuck was no body language expert, didn't play one on TV, and hadn't stayed at a Holiday Inn Express. But even he could tell that Robert did not appreciate being called Bob one little bit. Chuck had to suppress a grin. It was clear that Robert found himself quite important. The man was smug and arrogant, and by calling him Bob, Chuck hoped that Robert's temper would cause him to reveal something he didn't mean to.

"Please do not call me, 'Bob,'" Robert said tersely. Chuck held up his hands as if to say, "My bad." Robert straightened and began. Chuck had to hide his grin again. Robert turned toward Sarah, clearly agitated with Chuck.

"Claudia has been very unfaithful to Stewart," Robert explained as if talking to a three-year-old. "Claudia has probably been practicing infidelity again." Sarah raised an eyebrow. She wondered how he could be so confident in his statement.

"If this infidelity happens as often as you are indicating, why would Stewart stick around, being treated like that?" Sarah asked. Robert looked at her as if she were nuts.

"Have you seen her?" Robert asked, in a condescending tone that had Chuck reminding himself that violence was never the answer. Had it been, he would gladly hold Robert while Sarah beat the ever-living bejeezus out of him. Sarah nodded, confused.

"Yeah," she said, wondering what she had missed. Robert rolled his eyes. Chuck was positioned where Robert couldn't see Chuck grab Sarah's hand. Chuck figured he had just saved Robert a black eye at the least. Robert turned to Chuck.

"You understand, right?" Robert asked. Chuck shrugged.

"I'll take a stab," Chuck said. "Stewart is a bit of a nerd," Chuck began. Robert looked offended. Chuck stopped, confused. "Stewart is an expert in his technical field, correct?" Chuck asked. Robert nodded. Sarah bit her lip so as not to laugh. "That is the definition," Chuck said. Robert looked uncomfortable.

"That word just has a negative connotation," Robert said. Chuck nodded.

"Gotcha," Chuck replied, finding the reaction by Robert interesting. He had no idea what it meant. Robert didn't seem necessarily offended. It seemed more that Robert knew he should be offended, and acted as he was expected to act. "OK. Stewart is very good at what he does, has a little trouble relating to others, and is married to a lady who is way out of his league?" Robert closed his eyes, and blew out a slow breath. When he opened them, Chuck was wondering how Robert was going to control his anger.

"Are we speaking from experience?" Robert asked. Chuck smiled inwardly. He had Robert on the defensive, and he knew the role he needed to play. He just didn't expect Sarah to help.

"You can say that again," Sarah said, in a voice that was meant to be low, but was heard by everyone. She looked at Chuck. "What?" she said defensively. "The first two points are pretty close, and the third… well, we both know you reached."

"You should teach a class in humility," Chuck said.

"Right," Sarah said, agreeing. Robert was not enjoying the banter nearly as much as Chuck and Sarah.

"Anyway," Robert said, trying to get the two investigators back on track. "He stayed because he thought he couldn't do any better." Chuck nodded.

"He had no backbone," Chuck added. Robert put his hand on his face, groaning at Chuck's lack of tact. Sarah nodded reluctantly that Chuck was right.

"To wrap it up," Robert said tersely. "I'm sure he'd had enough and left. He keeps responding by email, so he's taking care of his duties. Stewart wants away from her, so I'm sure when he's ready, he'll return."

"Run it by me again how you know it's him sending the emails," Chuck said. Robert sighed.

"He has to use his thumbprint to get onto his phone," Robert said. "The emails must come from that phone. I could use a lot of fancy words, but you wouldn't understand."

"Thank you," Chuck said, ignoring the insult, and knowing that he probably understood the technology better than Robert. Robert closed his eyes again, praying for strength to deal with this idiot.

"The only way to program in a new thumbprint is to connect to the server here, and there is no record of that happening," Robert said. huck nodded. "So, are you satisfied?"

"No," Chuck said, turning to leave. Robert was nearly sputtering.

"How can you think anything untoward has happened to him?" Robert asked. Chuck turned toward Robert.

"Could someone make a copy of his thumbprint?" Chuck asked.

"Those kind of things only happen in those low-brow movies," Robert said.

"So you don't know?" Chuck asked. Robert started to answer several times but gave up. "I'll take that as a you don't know." Chuck started to turn and leave, stopped, and turned back to face Robert. "You do realize someone could simply have his thumb." The color drained from Robert's face.

"That's not possible," Robert said, looking like he might vomit.

"All someone would have to do is cut off the thumb, put it in formaldehyde or some other chemical used for embalming, and use it whenever it's needed," Chuck said. "For all I know, Stewart is dead." Chuck paused, smiled, and tipped his hat. "Have a nice day." Chuck left with Sarah following him. When they reached the door, Sarah stopped Chuck.

"Can formaldehyde really do that?"

"I have no idea," Chuck said. Sarah shut her eyes, fighting back laughter.

"You idiot!" she exclaimed. "You could have blown the whole case!" Chuck grinned, shrugged, and started out the door.

"Nah," he replied. "I knew if I didn't know, then Robert didn't either."

Sarah couldn't help but laugh.

}o{

Sometime later, Sarah walked into Chuck's office. She closed the door behind her and faced him with her arms crossed, irritation on her face. "One question: Is it my fault you look like that? Have I not performed my husbandly duties adequately?" Chuck asked, worry on his face.

Sarah shook her head. "No, it's not you." He let out a sigh of relief. "Can I ask you a question?"

"You mean other than that question you just asked me?" Chuck asked. She raised an eyebrow… and not in the manner Chuck liked. "I withdraw that question, based on my brain being goo because I have spent too much time away from you, and you walking in here just does that to me."

"I could walk out the door, and walk back in, and your brain would turn to goo," Sarah retorted.

"That's a fair and accurate point," Chuck conceded. "But enough about my gooiness." Sarah made an ick face. "You know what, it sounded better in my head."

Sarah shook her head. "Anyway, am I not a detective?"

"It says you are on the door. Plus, I've admired the license in your office on a constant basis," Chuck replied.

"That's not all you've admired in my office on a constant basis," she said in a low tone. "I'm sorry, you don't have time for this, you're obviously working," she said, gesturing toward the keyboard he was typing on.

Chuck picked up the keyboard, went to toss it, and stopped. "Sorry, these break easily, and while you are loaded, that's an unnecessary cost." He opened a desk drawer and put the wireless keyboard in there, shut it, turned to her. He clasped his hands in front of him on the desk, his attention on her. "I'm all yours."

"I'm aware," she said, grinning at him. She put her hands on the edge of his desk and leaned toward him. "Can I say, I like this whole married, working together thing?"

"Yes… yes you may," Chuck said, a grin on his face, slowly leaning toward her.

"I mean, you'd think we'd calm down the ridiculousness of us," Sarah continued.

"Common misconception in media," Chuck replied, moving even closer. "Writers believe there must be tension between the two characters to keep peoples' interest. Happens all the time in comics, movies, tv shows… especially those dramadies that are either on The CW, or should be."

"I mean, two people, working together on a case, with all of that tension…" Sarah replied. "Who needs strife between the couple?"

"Who indeed?" Chuck asked. His lips were an inch from her, when she raised up, a smile on her face. "Well. Played."

"Thank you," she mouthed. She took a deep breath. "We are detectives."

"We are," Chuck said, nodding. "And so much more." She sat on the edge of his desk. "So much more," he said in a strained voice.

"I don't think I'm overly dramatic," she continued. "I believe people can ask me anything, or tell me anything."

"Anything?" Chuck asked.

"Anything," Sarah replied. Chuck opened his desk drawer and pulled out a legal pad. He flipped it for a moment, coming to a page that was covered in writing. "What's that?"

"Things I've always wondered about you, but never asked," Chuck said. He stared at the list. "Oh, I know that one," he muttered, crossing it off. She leaned over to look at it.

"You know number six as well. You found that out on the honeymoon," she told him.

"Good God, did I," Chuck replied, nodding and crossing it off.

"Chuck," she said in shocked voice, but a smile on her face. "Of course I do." Chuck looked at her, confused. "Number twelve."

"I suspected as much," Chuck answered. "Now for the big one: number sixteen." Sarah looked at it, and then at him. "We are married."

"Doesn't a girl deserve some secrets?" she asked. "Besides, you might judge me."

"Sarah… why would you think I'd judge you?" Chuck asked.

"Bradly," she answered with one word, giving him a knowing look.

"Listen, that wasn't judging," Chuck said, defending himself. "That was a friend, making fun of you for poor life choices."

"Like you and Nickleback?"

"I don't find Nickleback to be a poor life choice," Chuck said, sitting back and crossing his arms.

"You really wanna die on that hill?" Sarah asked, honestly intrigued.

"God, no," Chuck said, laughing.

"Fine," Sarah said. "I think once you make something a planet, it is cruel to rescind that classification."

"So, your position is Pluto should still be a planet?" Chuck asked. Sarah nodded. "Okay." With that, he crossed it off the list.

"These really are some interesting questions you have on there," Sarah said, looking at them. Chuck grinned at her. "Thank you."

"For what?" Chuck asked.

She gave him a look and, standing, walked around the desk to push his chair back, and gently sat down in his lap. "For calming me down."

"You didn't seem mad to me," Chuck said. She gave him a look. "Okay, fine. Might this have been the beginning of the Sarah irritated phase? Probably. But we both know what they're doing."

"We do?" Sarah asked.

"I mean, you do, right?" Chuck asked. She shrugged. "Fine, there's something they've been dealing with that they don't want us to know about. They want us to enjoy our honeymoon and post-honeymoon."

"To be clear, is post-honeymoon just the honeymoon, but we're back at our regular lives?"

"Pretty sure there ain't nothin' regular about our life," Chuck told her. She smiled at him, putting her head on his shoulder. "My guess it's something to do with Roark and, for now, who cares? Also, they know we're the best one for the case we're on. I mean… can you see Casey working this?"

"God, no," Sarah said, shaking her head. She was silent for a moment. "Do you think she's lying to us?"

"I don't," Chuck said. "I think Robert is the kind of guy who believes there are two types of women. One who thinks there are good housewives, and the others all have hysteria and howl at the moon."

"Awwhooooo," Sarah mocked. "It bothers me how certain he was about her infidelity."

"There's no telling what he finds to be infidelity," Chuck replied. "She could be talking to a friend, and he saw it and thinks that's infidelity." He started to say something else, but stopped.

"What?" Sarah asked.

"Hmmm?"

"Chuck, don't. Not with me. You're thinking something."

"He could be a liar, and gave us that entire story to throw us off the trail," Chuck said.

"That would mean he might have something to do with it," Sarah said. Chuck said nothing, just slowly nodded. "You think he has something to do with it?"

Chuck said nothing, instead reaching down to open his drawer. Pulling out his keyboard, he clicked a few keys, and showed Sarah the screen.

"Chuck, how does a middle manager afford all of this?" Sarah asked. "Does his wife make money?"

"Stay at home mom," Chuck replied.

"Why does that not surprise me," Sarah groused. She arose from his lap, making him pout. "Not now, we have to go talk to the client."

"I know," Chuck replied. "It's just… I was comfy."

She pulled him out of the chair, and they stood, an inch apart. "And later, when we solve this case, I'll give you a reward."

"You'll answer number twenty?" he asked, following her out the door.

"No," she said, shaking her head.

A/N: Zach was a voice actor in Fallout: New Vegas. Hmmm? What's number twenty and all those others? You think I know? They haven't told me, no matter how many times I ask, they tell me I'm too young to know.

Next time:

"Boy, you sure do know how to punish a guy," Chuck muttered.

"Shh," Sarah said. "You have lost your speaking privileges." He moved forward and kissed her gently, her arms seemed to automatically wrap around his neck and pull him in closer. He gently pulled away.

"Maybe I shouldn't have done that, you know having lost my privileges and all," Chuck said.

"I said you lost your speaking privileges, not my mouth privileges," Sarah reminded him.

"God, you get randy now that your married," Chuck said, grinning at her.