The year was 2016. Robin paced back and forth in her hotel room, conflicted. The phone had rung with the offer of a lifetime, but what was asked for in return was more than she was willing to gamble. She found herself reviewing the phone conversation she had, over and over, rather uselessly. It wasn't as if there was some missed detail that could make any difference. She had to make a choice, and her options were all too clear.

"He's my husband." She had tried to explain, fighting to keep the desperation from reaching her voice.

"I understand, but he's also a liability. It's risky enough to trust anyone, let alone an ex-criminal." Nick's voice was firm on the other end. It was clear that what he was saying was not up for discussion.

And so Robin sighed, knowing the argument was useless. There was no way Fury would even consider letting her onto the mission whilst she was married to the infamous, former Dr. Horrible.

"I'll give it some thought." She had said, hanging up the phone and leaning against the wall.

Her thoughts were interrupted by Barney, whose usual smile vanished as soon as he noticed his wife's pacing. "What is going on?" He asked, confused.

"I got a job offer." She replied, with what he thought to be an odd lack of enthusiasm. "It'd be on top of my work with World Wide News."

"That's awesome!" He grinned, "So, what's the problem?"

Robin took a shaky breath, answering him slowly and cautiously. "If I took the job, we would um, we'd have to get a divorce."

"You're divorcing me?" He raised his voice.

"No." Robin said quickly, "I mean, I don't think so. I don't think I'm going to take the job. And even if I did it would only be on paper." She explained, knowing she'd feel guilty either way. Barney had been unconditionally supportive of her career. He had dropped everything in order to travel with her without any hesitation. He had always put their marriage, being with her, above anything else, and she hated that she had reached a point where she couldn't do the same.

After a moment he considered what she had said, sitting down. "Robin, if taking this job is what you want to do, I don't want to be the one to stop you."

"What are you saying?"

"I think you should take it." It hurt him to say. He didn't want to get a divorce, it was difficult enough to spend even a day apart from her. But more than he wanted to be with her, he wanted her to be happy, even if it wasn't because of him.

Robin was surprised he was so willing. She'd expected him to despise her for this, as he had already given so much. "Are you sure about this?"

Barney nodded. "You're career is important to you, and that means it's important to me too. I love you too much to turn into the guy who holds you back from doing what you really want."

I love you so much." She smiled, leaning down to kiss him. "I just don't want to lose you over this." Her voice trembled in the way it always did when she admitted to her emotions.

Barney reached for her hands, "You're not going to lose me, Robin. Married or not, I'm always going to be in love with you. And when it's all over, I'm still going to be here." He knelt down after a moment, struggling to keep a straight face. "Robin Scherbatksy, will you unmarry me?"

She smiled, shaking her head, "You're an idiot."

"Is that a 'yes'"? He stood expectantly.

"Yes."

…

"So, this is goodbye?" Barney had forgotten that today was the day. A part of him wished Marshall had been there to slap him for not remembering. He had wanted–needed-to prepare for this goodbye, even though he knew it wouldn't last.

"Yeah," she forced a smile, despite how useless it was to fake anything with him. He saw right through her. "I guess it is."

"For now." He reassured himself for the millionth time.

"For now." Robin repeated. She took a step forward to kiss him, passionately pressing his lips against his, unsure of how long it would be before she had another chance to.

As genuinely okay with the situation he'd been, Barney hated to know how much he'd soon be missing her. He wanted her to be happy, whether or not she was him, but was sickened at the idea of spending even a single day without her. He pulled her in a little bit closer, one hand behind her neck and the other resting on the small of her back.

After a minute or so, she reluctantly pulled away. Both knew that if things became the slightest bit more heated she may never be able to leave.

"Look, um, I just want to say, since we're no longer technically married, it'd be fine if you wanted to sleep with other women." It pained Robin to say, but she felt guilty enough divorcing him for a job, especially one he knew nothing about. It seemed unfair to ask any more of him.

"Robin," he laughed, "I don't give a damn if we're married or not. I don't want anyone else."

She thought it seemed like a weird thing for him to say, even after years of marriage. Sometimes she forgot he had grown out of his womanizing ways. No matter how much time seemed to pass, the being-in-a-relationship thing still felt so new to the both of them. "For real?" She asked, "I mean it'd be totally okay if-"

He cut her off. "For real. I wouldn't even dream of it." Barney assured her with absolute honesty. He didn't miss the cheap hook-ups, the one night stands, the bimbos or the games, it all seemed so trivial now that he had her.

She smiled, "I love you." Even now, the words felt foreign as they escaped her lips, but they were too true to be left unsaid.

He kissed her and repeated her words back to her. "I'll call you, okay?" he added. "If that's even allowed at wherever this secret ninja porno place is."

"Of course it's allowed. And I didn't say anything about a ninja porno?" She responded, simultaneously annoyed and entertained.

"Oh, you just know it's a ninja porno thing." He smiled, seeming to enjoy he idea of it.

Robin rolled her eyes, wishing that she could be surprised by this. "Barney, for the last time, I don't do ninja porn. It's not a thing and certainly not something to waste hours upon hours searching for because you're convinced you'll find some secret, embarrassing footage of me."

"Oh, sure I won't." He replied sarcastically, "Robin Sparkles."

She shook her head, biting her lip, "You're such an idiot." She had wanted to protest after his Sparkles comment, but couldn't help herself.

"You've been reminding me of that a lot, lately." He observed, knowing exactly what she meant.

"Because it's true," Robin grinned, adjusting his tie, "I just love you so damn much."

They parted ways after another kiss. Robin closed the door behind her, taking a deep, heavy breath. Come on Scherbatksy, she thought. She was never one to have much trouble choosing her career over a man, but this was different, even though, as she had been reminding herself over and over, it was only temporary.