A week and a half later, Robin flipped open her cel phone. "Hey Barney, what's up?"

"Suit up, Scherbatsky!"

"For real? What's the occasion?"

"I'm expected to make an appearance at a little shindig for work tonight, and I think you might enjoy it. Catering by Peter Luger's."

"Yow, that is some steak! What time?"

"I'll be by to get you at 6:30."

Two hours later, Robin was wearing the new suit she'd bought for auditions - deep purple, perfectly tailored, and since this wasn't an audition, paired with a matching corset top instead of a button-down shirt. Laced on the loose side, of course - had to save room for that steak.

Her phone buzzed and she glanced at the one-word text message - "Downstairs" - before heading for the door. Ted had already gone over to Marshall and Lily's to watch Star Wars.

When she got to the street, she was surprised to find Barney holding open the door to a limo.

"Nice ride," she said appreciatively as she slid in. "Work's springing for all this?"

He climbed in after her. "You know it. This is a very important engagement, and they need to make a good - an excellent - impression. So of course they're sending me."

"So tonight is mostly work? No time for a little fun if I manage to find you a cutie at the bar?" she grinned.

"Actually, as much as it pains me to say it, I won't be taking any girls home tonight. This soiree is only the first installment - I get on a flight to London at 5AM tomorrow to finish things up. My bag's already packed, and this limo will be taking me right to the airport at 2:30."

"Holy crap. How long will you be in London?"

"Oh, if what I've got to do there isn't done in the first eight hours, it won't be happening at all. My flight back is Sunday morning."

"Wow, crazy weekend. So what is it, like, a sales meeting? Do you need to go close a deal?"

"Sales? Robin, please. You really think I'm a salesman?"

"Barney, I have absolutely no clue what you might or might not be."

"Besides awesome, you mean?"

"Besides awesome."

He pulled a bottle of wine from the mini-bar and poured them each a small glass. As Robin sat sipping it and watching the city pass by the window, she decided that Ted was probably right, and that now was as good a time as any to swallow her pride. If it didn't taste good, well, at least there would be steak soon to cover it up.

She leaned back in the seat and looked over at him. He grinned at her over his glass of wine, and she realized that he was a really, really good friend and she did owe him. "Thanks, Barney."

"Don't thank me yet, you haven't even had dinner!"

"Not for tonight. I mean, yeah, thanks for inviting me out tonight, definitely, it sounds like it'll be great. But back when... y'know... the night Simon dumped me? Thanks for that."

"Wow. I don't think I've ever actually had a woman thank me for sex before... How good do you think it would have to be to get someone to write me an actual thank-you note? Because that would be crazy awesome."

She laughed. "Not for the sex. I mean, yes, for the sex, but not because it was sex. Because... you were there for me, Barney. You gave me what I needed -"

"Hells to the yeah I did, what up!"

She giggled again as she gave him a high five. She was half curled up in the seat now, fully facing him, feeling good and comfortable and happy to be talking to him. "You know what I mean, Barney. You didn't have sex with me just because I was a hot, half-drunk, desperate girl. You had sex with me because you were my friend and you knew it would make me happy. And I was a hot, half-drunk, desperate girl. Big difference. Thanks."

He had a distinctly goofy grin on his face by this time. "Anytime, Scherbatsky. And I mean that for both the being there for you thing and the sex thing. Seriously, anytime you wanna get that on again, you just give me a call -"

She laughed and pushed his face away from her. "Would it be weird if I said you were my best friend?"

"Weird? That would be awesome!"

"You're my best friend, Barney." She reached over and gave his thigh a short squeeze, the quickly pulled her hand away and blushed a little. What was that? That's not what you do to your best friend. Best friends get squeezed on the shoulder, maybe on the knee, but her hand had been quite a bit higher than the knee. She hadn't finished half a glass of wine yet, maybe she needed to be careful.

Barney didn't seem to have noticed. His gaze hadn't left her face. Maybe she was overthinking this? "You know what? Don't tell Ted this, but you're my best friend, too."

With perfect timing, the limo stopped outside a lavishly landscaped building, and they made their way toward a legendary steak dinner.

. . . .

Several hours later, they were full of absolutely excellent food and, in Robin's case, quite a bit of scotch and champagne. Barney had gone lightly on the open bar - alcohol and airplanes didn't quite agree with him. After dinner, Barney had gone into a back room for a half hour with two men who spoke only Mandarin - actually, basically everyone at this event was either a middle-aged Chinese businessman or the 20-year-old blonde floozy he'd brought with him. Robin felt a little out of place, but didn't let that slow down her awesome. When Barney got back, he assured her that the business had gone well and they set out for the dance floor.

Now it was 1:30 and she was just a little unsteady in her heels as they headed toward the door.

"You are a great dancer, Barney. I am so worn out. Are you worn out?"

"I'm a little tired, but I've got a long flight to nap on. Let's get you home, Scherbatsky."

As they stood waiting for the limo to get back from the parking garage, she shivered a bit. He put his arm around her to keep her warm, and she grinned up at him mischievously. Without warning, she grabbed his lapels and pulled him down into a kiss.

Barney was definitely not prepared for this. Unprepared enough that he let the kiss go on for quite a while, even pulling her closer, before he finally came to his senses and broke away.

"Robin, I have a plane to catch -"

"Not for another hour! C'mon, that's plenty of time." She lowered her voice to a very loud stage whisper. "Barney, not many people know this, but I get really horny when I'm drunk." She slid her arms around his waist, "And I am so drunk right now."

Exactly, Barney thought. This was just painful. The one thing he'd really, really, really been wanting, but like this? If she were just tipsy, sure, but he had a feeling she wasn't even going to remember any of this. She wasn't drunk, she was wasted. He realized his hands had wandered to her ass on their own accord, and he quickly jerked them up to her shoulders. Luckily, the limo pulled up just then.

He helped her in, then slid in next to her - and her hands immediately went to places he really wished they wouldn't go right then. He carefully extracted them. "Scherbatsky, come on. Don't tempt me like this. You know I'm weak. And let's be honest here, you are so far gone you'd probably pass out in the middle-" He realized that already, her head was on his shoulder and she was dozing off. He sighed and put his arm around her.

He gazed down at her face, brushing her hair back for a better view. After a minute, she shifted and snuggled close in to his chest. "Love you, Barney," she mumbled, wrapping her arm around him, "You're my bestestest friend."

He smiled. Dear God he wished she wasn't so drunk. "Love you too, Scherbatsky," he whispered. He knew she wouldn't even remember it in the morning, and she hadn't meant it the same way he did anyhow, but he felt a little thrill inside at getting to say it, anyhow. Maybe especially since he knew she wouldn't remember in the morning - it was like getting a no-risk trial run.