Disclaimer: I don't own How I met your mother!
It was a dark rainy night that made Molly look for refuge somewhere. The thunder and lightning scared her, and that pushed her to take desperate measures. For instance, clinging to an unknown human's shoelaces.
She had tried to take cover from the storm in a small hole in the wall, but it was snatched from her by a rat. She remained as close to the wall as she could. Every time she gathered enough courage to try and move, a gigantic shoe would scare her back to the safety of the wall.
She was about to give up and try to fight the rat when one of the human passerby stopped right in front of her. He seemed to be talking to other humans, she didn't particularly care. All she felt was the cover of the umbrella on top of her. It felt so good to not feel the rain falling on top of her. Without thinking, she approached the massive shoe. This was her chance and she wasn't going to waste it.
She climbed on top of it and snuggled in the shoelaces crisscrossing pattern. She had just gotten comfortable when suddenly the human started to walk away. She yelped when she was lifted very high up and then dropped to the ground, all in less than a second. When she turned her head to the right, she could see the other shoe rise beside her and then go back to the ground. Then it was her turn again.
This continued for a while and she grew accustomed to the giant's walking. She even giggled as she felt her hair flow with the shoe's movement. Each rise and drop distracted her from the storm and soothed her.
From above, Barney thought he heard giggling but dismissed it as another of the city's weird noises.
After some time, Molly slowly fell asleep. When she awoke, she and the human were in an elevator. Molly started to panic. Where was this human going? She hadn't intended to follow him for so long; she just wanted to be dry. The poor five year old borrower started to shake, either from fear or cold.
When the doors opened, the human stepped directly into some type of fancy living room. Molly had seen some like these on a lot of magazines and looked like the kind of thing rich humans could afford. But that didn't matter right now. She needed to get off his shoe before he decided to take it off.
She hurriedly got out of her nook in the shoe and started climbing down the shoelace. This was easier said than done, considering the human's constant moving. She waited for him to stop for a few seconds to get off. She didn't have to wait for long. She dropped to the ground and stumbled on her step a bit before regaining her footing. She didn't waste any time and rushed to a hiding place. It turned out to be under the couch.
From her new point of view she could only see the human's shoe. He was just sitting on the couch doing who knows what. Molly was really tired and just wanted to go back to sleep.
This was the best place at the moment to spend the night so she tried getting as comfortable as she could. She slung her small backpack (which was a coin purse) and used it as a pillow. As she tried to sleep, she couldn't stop shivering. The floor was hard and cold and she didn't have anything to use as a blanket. She felt the urge to sneeze at any moment. She was afraid to be heard and tried to hold it in, but it was useless.
Her sneeze was the only sound on the room. She desperately hoped the human hadn't noticed it. But when he started getting off the couch, she knew he heard her.
Barney had been on his laptop on the couch doing what he usually did at nights when not getting laid. Everything was silent, not a mouse could be heard. Then out of nowhere he heard someone sneeze. Considering he was alone in his apartment and that it came from underneath the couch made it even more suspicious.
When he kneeled down to look under the couch, he did not expect to see a tiny girl lying on the floor. Molly did expect him and was very afraid. She sat up and took out her safety pin. It didn't make much of a difference but it made her feel like she at least had a chance.
But when she saw the huge hand coming for her, she couldn't move. She could only stand there in amazement as it descended towards her. The thick fingers wrapped themselves around her. When they started pinning her, she panicked and stabbed the index.
Barney had only wanted to take a closer look at the tiny girl when he felt something prick his finger. He cried out and pulled out his hand. He could see the tiny dot of blood on his finger. How had that tiny chick managed to do that?
Molly took off running once she was free. She just wanted to get away from the giant and didn't notice when she left the safety of the couch. Barney did notice and went behind the couch to catch the fleeing borrower.
Fast as lightning, Barney grabbed an empty bowl and trapped the poor girl underneath it.
"Ha! Gotcha!"
Molly couldn't stop herself in time and smacked against the smooth wall of the bowl. She fell on her butt and was a little dazed for a moment. She shook her head and when she stood up, all she could see was the bowl around her. Thankfully, it was a clear blue so light filtered in. But it also meant that the human could see her.
Barney couldn't believe it. He had trapped a tiny person, possibly a fairy. He couldn't wait to tell the others and show off how awesome he was. Of course he was awesome every day but this bordered over legen(wait for it)dary. Legendary. But he wanted to see her first. He had only caught glimpses before and wanted to make sure it was actually a tiny chick.
"All right, I'm gonna lift the bowl but no running away or pinching me again, ok?"
Molly was too afraid to do either, so she just watched as the clear dome around her was whisked away. Before her, the human sat on his knees and placed the bowl beside him. She couldn't see his face since it was so high. She half expected him to try and grab her again but he just kept talking.
"So first things first. Are you a fairy?"
"I-I'm not a f-fairy." She stumbled on the words from fear of angering the giant. She started sniffling and could feel the tears threatening to fall.
Barney couldn't believe how young she sounded. She was just a kid, and he was scaring the crap out of her. He tried being more kid friendly like Lily with her kindergarten class. Only less Barney the dinosaur and more Barney Stinson.
"Ok, not a fairy but still a tiny chick. What's your name? I'm Barney."
Molly looked up teary eyed and sniffled again. "Mo-Molly."
"Ooh, Molly. I once met a Molly and damn was she…" Barney cut himself off because he remembered something about not mentioning things like that to little kids. Or was it dogs? He couldn't remember.
When Barney looked closer at little Molly, he could tell she was dripping, probably from the storm outside. He reached over to grab her when she squeaked.
The hand approached her again and she couldn't help but squeak. She didn't try anything this time and just let herself be grabbed. Two fingers pinned her and carried her upwards until she was eye level with the human. She kept shivering when he scanned her over with his big round eyes.
"Ple-please don't hu-hurt me!" She shielded herself with her arms and looked away, expecting anything from the human.
Barney blinked. "I just wanted to take a look. You're wet; you're going to need a towel."
Molly lowered her arms uncertainly. "You're going to help me?"
"Yeah. Come on, let's get you nice and dry."
Before she could say anything else, she was placed in his palm. Sitting in his palm was much better than in his shoe and she sat cross legged in it during the whole ride. It made her a little sleepy from the motion and warmth coming from his hand. He placed her in the bed while he rummaged for something in the closet. Finally he found a handkerchief that could pass for a towel.
But when he turned to the little girl, she was sound asleep. She had curled up and fallen asleep. Add to that the fact that she was gripping his sheets with one hand and she looked pretty darn cute.
"Oh crap, and in my bed!" It was like that scene in Monsters Inc. only there wasn't a chance in hell he was going to sleep sitting on bricks.
He carefully tweezed her intersection between his index and thumb. She refused to let go of his bed so he had to tug and pull her free. When he finally did it, she grabbed his thumb instead and curled up around it. Barney groaned; it was like watching a panda documentary.
He slid her like a ring and wrapped her in his handkerchief. Barney placed her in his nightstand and let her sleep. And that was how Barney met Molly.
I should have probably updated my other stories first, but this was unavoidable. It's inspired on "Interesting Times" (check it out, it's of GirlX2) and just couldn't get the idea out of my head. Barney makes the best fluffy/comedy/angst scenes!