"Still not answering his cell, at his apartment, or any of the local strip clubs." Ted reported as he slipped into their group's booth at MacLaren's.

Marshall and Lily's hopeful faces fell.

Ever since Barney had ran out of Ted's apartment a few days ago – no one has seen him.

They've looked for him everywhere but nobody could find him.

Ted also told Marshall and Lily about what he had seen Barney doing before he locked himself in the bathroom. They had been shocked and had realized that it was probably all her fault. She probably did something to, unknowingly or not, break his heart again.

So far they'd left her in the dark about what happened to Barney which caused them to all act awkward around her. They would make up excuses for why Barney wasn't there (usually involving a young, gullible woman). She was getting suspicious, however, so they'd always quickly change the subject.

"Wherever the hell Barney is, he's doing a good job of hiding there…" Lily added sadly.

"But, when he left we saw all the…" Marshall trailed off as they all silently added, cuts. Self-inflicted cuts. "…I mean, he probably wasn't in a safe state-of-mind to go running around town and making decisions."

The others nodded their agreement in silence.

"I'm gonna go back to his apartment again to check." Ted blurted out.

"Ted, you just came back from there odds are, he's not there yet." Marshall tried to reason.

"I don't care! I mean, the longer he's missing, the more opportunity he has to do something to himself that he'll regret. He's our friend – our bro. You never leave a bro hanging. I think that's in the bro code…anyway, I have to find him. I gotta go." And with that, Ted quickly jogged out of their favorite bar and out into the cold New York streets in search of a cab.

By the time Ted got there, his former kind of adrenaline rush had worn off and he realized that Marshall was right. The odds of Barney being here yet were slim and he probably should have stayed at the bar. Ted sighed as he opened the apartment door for the second time that day with the key Barney had given him.

He'd said it was for "Emergencies, ONLY! 'Cause if you walk in and I'm bangin' some chick, she'll think I'm gay and storm out. Or ask for a devil's three-way, in which case-" Ted had lasted this long before cutting him off and just accepting the terms.

He hadn't thought that he'd ever had to use the key, but was now glad he had accepted it. Of course, why wouldn't he? They're bros.

Ted smiled. As much as Barney annoyed the hell out of them at times, they all knew that the group just wouldn't be the same without him.

Suddenly, halfway through opening the door, the door hit something. Ted carefully squeezed through the half-open doorway and his heart leapt at what he saw. Ted's initial elation was half-lived, however, and quickly turned into shocked silence.

There was Barney. He was alive. His condition, though. He looked like he could be dead – should be dead.

His body – usually covered by a full suit, was only wearing a ripped up dress shirt and his dress pants were ripped in several places and the knees were completely gone. Also, every part of skin visible was either bruised or cut.

Ted was torn between waking Barney, who at this point he wasn't sure was asleep or unconscious, or waking him up and taking him to a hospital. He appeared to need the sleep, though, if the dark bags under his eyes indicated anything. Ted sighed and with a twinge of regret, but with Barney's best interest in mind, began attempting to wake Barney.

After a few seconds of attempting to wake Barney, he remembered he needed to call Marshall and Lily.

The day that Barney went missing, the three of them had made an agreement. If they heard, saw, or even smelled Barney or a hint of where he was, they had to tell the other two.

Ted listened impatiently as the phone rang. After a few seconds (that to Ted seemed like an hour), Marshall picked up the phone. Ted immediately began talking as fast as he could and wasn't sure Marshall could even understand him. He must have though because fifteen minutes later, Marshall and Lily were at Barney's apartment. By that time, Ted had managed to half-carry, half-drag Barney's (still unconscious) body to his couch.

When the two entered the apartment they both ran straight over to Barney. Lily felt her mouth open and her sight began to blur slightly with tears. Marshall was shocked with what he saw and he immediately began mentally cataloguing Barney's injuries to try and gauge his health.

Lily was the first to break the silence.

"Should we take him to a hospital or call an ambulance, or something?" She whispered. she seemed afraid of talking loud enough that she might wake him.

Ted nodded his head as he took his cell phone back out to call for an ambulance.

Barney slowly woke up. When he looked around he noticed he was in his own apartment. He barely remembered coming back to his apartment, yet alone unlocking his door and laying down on his couch.

He couldn't help but think of what brought him here. More precisely: who.

Robin.