Chapter 1- Groggy

A/N: This idea came to me back in the summer, and has mostly been written since then. I didn't publish it because it is in the same universe as YDSI, and I didn't want to give anything away. I think I can safely publish this now, and since it probably my favorite story that I've posted so far, I didn't want to wait any longer to share it.

Robin can't sleep. It is 2:30 in the morning, and she has been woken up again by a dream. Just about every dream she has lately includes Barney, and most of the time the dreams are of a sexual nature. It is really getting hard to ignore. Every time, he rocks her world. She wonders what it would be like to be with him, because to say that she hasn't been attracted to him from the get go would be an utter and complete lie. Lately, it seems that things just keep happening to put him on her radar. Like the other day, for instance, when he whispered that story to her when they were trying to catch his stalker. She almost considered asking him back to her place that night, as many times before, but she knew that she had to control herself. She knows that no good can come from her hooking up with Barney Stinson, ladies' man extraordinaire, no matter how amazing it might end up being. The payoff just isn't great enough to risk the consequences.

Unfortunately, it's now the third time tonight she has woken up to him having been a part of her dream. It's left her hot and bothered, yet again. She wills herself to go back to sleep, knowing that tomorrow is going to be a particularly long day, hoping that she can just sleep peacefully and have a dream that for once, is not about the two of them hooking up.

She drifts back to sleep, but a few minutes later, she wakes up again, feeling like she had just barely been asleep. There is something different about this time, and she can't quite put her finger on what it is. She starts to feel a throbbing headache, which she is certain wasn't there before. The baby crying just makes it worse. She starts to think about it. A baby crying? Why would there be a baby crying in her apartment? She can't quite place what is going on. She hadn't had any pregnant neighbors, did she? Did she leave the TV on and there was a baby crying on there? She groggily hears groaning coming from the other side of the bed. Now she is extremely confused, because hearing someone groaning would mean someone is in bed with her. She swears that she was alone the last time she fell asleep, but she finds herself completely unsure. No, she's sure of it. She had been dreaming about Barney. She had been alone. The unexplained baby keeps crying, and the person whom she is now sure is there beside her, gets out of bed, and leaves the room. The baby quiets shortly thereafter. She has no idea why this other person is here in bed with her. None of it makes any sense.

She is half tempted to go back to sleep, because she hadn't gotten to a dream yet and as much as she doesn't want to have them, the dreams are so good, and it's certainly better than whatever this is. She wants to be back on the receiving end of Barney, because it is the only place that she can allow herself to have him. But there is a larger part of her needs to know what exactly is going on in whatever crazy reality she seems to have woken up in.

She lifts her heavy eyelids and looks around, and instantly, she is startled awake. She is not at home, not even close. Actually, it almost looks like Barney's apartment, Barney's bedroom, which makes absolutely no sense. Why would she be in Barney's apartment? She starts to panic. Maybe she slept with him. Oh God. She somehow got over here and actually slept with him. The last thing she needs right now is to mess up the group. Even though there is a part of her that really wants Barney in more than just her dreams, there is no way she can ever, ever, go down that road. It just has the potential to mess everything up. At that moment, she realizes that she is clothed, thank god, but it isn't what she was wearing earlier. In fact, as she looks around what she now knows with all certainty is Barney's bedroom, after all, she was just in there a few days ago looking at his scrapbook of women, and she notices some things that seem out of place.

The first thing she notices is that she has a pillow and there is one in the spot that he must have just vacated. In fact, there are actually four pillows on the bed. She knows that Barney only has one pillow on his bed, to scare away any girls from spending the night. The bedding is also completely different from what it was a few days ago. There is more than just the one blanket, and the whole bedding set looks a little more grown up, and a bit more feminine. There are also other tiny things different about the room than what she saw a few days ago. Things in different places, slightly different art on the walls, but one detail completely scares the crap out of her. Her Canadian flag mug is sitting on the table next to her. She is at a complete loss as to why that would be next to her in Barney's apartment. That mug never leaves her bedside, and hasn't left her apartment since she moved there in 2005.

Now she is completely awake, adrenaline pumping, completely unsure of what to do next. Part of her wants to scream and part of her wants to try to go back to sleep, to see if she can get out of this situation, but at this point, there is no way she is going to go back to sleep. The adrenaline is already coursing through her, and while it is helping tremendously with the killer headache, there is no way she is going to be able to calm herself down.

"Hey! You're awake!" Barney exclaims sweetly, but quietly as he enters the bedroom. "How you feeling? You gave us all quite a scare earlier."

"What?" Robin asks confused, hoping that maybe he can explain how she got here.

"You tripped and hit your head on the counter at Ted and Tracy's remember?" She has no idea what he could be talking about.

"Who's Tracy? And Ted lives with Marshall and Lily, Barney. You know that," she speaks with an edgy tone. She is really scared of what is going on right now. This has to be some sort of big practical joke.

"Robin? Are you sure you're ok?" he asks. He looks at her in a way that she has never seen before, except when he is trying to pick up a bimbo at the bar, but it is missing the sexual undertone. He looks like he is completely worried about her and nothing else in the world matters to him but her. It seems so strange to see that look come out of him. She didn't know he was capable of that look.

"I am fine Barney. You seem to be the crazy one right now. I mean, why didn't you take me back to my apartment? Why bring me here? Why put me in your bed?" she berates. She just wants answers at this point. None of this is making any sense, and frankly it is making her head hurt worse.

"Robin." Barney says firmly as he grabs her hands. She stares down at the gesture in shock. "Look at me." She looks up at him. "Robin," he says trying to stay as calm as possible, "you live here."

"WHAT? NO!" she screams before she can even think. "NO!" The baby starts screaming again from the next room. "No." She can't possibly live here. "No, no." No, that's impossible. "No, no." she says, slowly getting quieter. "No." This must be some sort of horrible dream. "No." She can't, and why is she hearing a baby?

"Damn it, I just got her back to sleep," Barney mutters under his breath.

"No."

"Take a few deep breaths and I'll be right back," He tells her before walking out of the room.

"No."