This chapter is kind of out there, but I've written it weeks ago and decided to post it regardless of all the negativity.

I have also decided to not post any new chapters for a while after this. I really believe in this story, and I really, really love writing it, so instead of being discouraged, I am just going to write it in peace and then post the next 5-10 chapters all at once.

Anyways, whether you like it or not, I'll be back with more "The Escort" in a couple of weeks =)

Disclaimer: There is some drug use/ self-harm in this chapter.

Las Vegas

The room around him was filled with cigarette smoke, he couldn't remember how long he had been playing.

He couldn't remember how long he'd been in Vegas either. Ever since he had gotten that horrible call, however long ago that was.

He couldn't even remember how much money he had lost.

He knew that he was over $50,000 in debt at this very moment, in this very game.

The door was opened, and suddenly Robin was standing in the room.

He figured that he was hallucinating, probably a side effect of the drugs.

"Who are you?" Rick, the organizer of this illegal round of poker asked.

"It doesn't matter, I am here to get Barney." Robin replied.

Barney couldn't quite figure out why Rick was talking to the Robin he had hallucinated.

"We are in the middle of a game baby." Rick replied.

Robin walked over to them, and placed her hand on Barney's shoulder. He could feel it, and he slowly realized that he wasn't hallucinating this after all.

Somehow, Robin was here.

"He's folding."

Rick got up, walked around the table, and up to Robin, "no he isn't."

Barney wished he hadn't drank as much, or taken as much. He knew that he wasn't really in control of his body at this moment.

He really, really wished Robin wouldn't be here right now.

What was she even doing here?

"And why not?" Robin asked, still unfazed by Ricks tries to intimidate her.

"Well for starters he owes me $54,000."

"Please, I am sure everyone here already made a lot of money off of him, and can't complain."

"He's in debt, and I am not letting him go without getting my money." Rick clarified.

Barney tried to speak up, but he couldn't. It seemed as if he had lost all control over his body.

"Guess you should have checked whether or not he was solvent before letting him play with you then." Robin replied.

Barney was afraid what Rick would do next, but to his surprise he just laughed.

"Quite foxy your girlfriend Barney." He turned back to Robin, "you want to take him home, huh?"

"I am taking him home," Robin corrected him.

"After he has paid his debt."

"He doesn't have the money."

"Of course he does, and if he doesn't then you do. I'll get it, one way or another." Rick grinned.

"Come on, you clearly had your fun with him, just let us leave." Robin tried once more.

"You want a deal, I make you a deal." Rick grinned, "I cut $10,000 off for a nice blowjob?"

"No." Barney finally managed to get a word out, he tried to get up, but failed miserably, and ended up on the floor.

Rick just laughed, while Robin looked worried.

She turned back to Rick, and answered, "absolutely not."

"Do you want to take him home, or not?" Rick asked.

"There's got to be another way."

"Lapdance? $15,000." Rick offered.

"No, leave her…" Barney tried to get up, but Rick pushed him back down.

"Can we talk somewhere else?" Robin asked him.

"No." Barney tried once more to get up.

"Sure."

Rick walked towards a door that lead to another room, while Robin quickly kneeled down next to Barney, "stay down, and don't do anything stupid, okay?"

Barney tried to grab her hand, but his grip was so weak that she probably didn't even notice it.

"Make sure he doesn't hurt himself," Rick said, while holding the door for Robin.

…

He wasn't sure how long they were gone, it seemed like an eternity, but eventually Robin and Rick came back.

Robin helped him up, "come on, let's get out of here."

Barney tried to look her in the eyes, but she averted her gaze.

Rick and the others watched them as they left the room, and they were back in the main Casino within minutes.

"What…happened?" Barney finally asked.

Robin ignored the question, "how do we get to your room?" She asked instead.

He couldn't remember. He couldn't even say for sure that he had ever checked in, and whether they were in the right hotel.

Robin must have read his thoughts because she turned to one of the groupies and asked for directions to room 10-354.

His legs gave away two more times on the way there and it took them another fifteen minutes before they were finally inside.

Robin maneuvered him into the shower with her, and turned the faucet on. The cold water had a somewhat awakening affect, but he still felt as if he was surrounded by heavy fog.

"What the hell did you take Barney?" he heard Robin hiss.

She had started to undress him, the water soaking them both.

He had so many questions himself, but formulating them seemed impossible. Instead he just stood there, leaning against the wall of the shower, trying his hardest not to collapse.

Robin got him into bed, tucking him in.

"I'll take a quick shower too. Stay here, okay?" She asked.

He had closed his eyes, and she asked once again, "Barney, did you hear what I said? Don't go anywhere."

He nodded.

He could hear the shower running again, and realized that she had kept the door open, probably not trusting him to stay put.

…

He didn't feel as if he had slept, but he must have, because Robin was sitting in bed with him when he opened his eyes again.

His head was resting on her lap, and she was tapping his forehead with a wet washcloth. Everything was spinning.

"Are you okay?" Robin asked.

He nodded.

"You are burning up Barney."

He noticed that she looked as if she had been crying, and it made him feel a hundred times worse.

"I am fine." He managed to croak.

"I am scared…but…Barney if I call an ambulance right now, in how much trouble would you be?"

"I am fine." He repeated.

She took the washcloth away and started stroking his hair, "what the hell did you get yourself into?"

Barney closed his eyes again, and concentrated on the calming effect of her fingers.

…

"Barney?" Robin's voice woke him up.

Everything was still spinning.

"Barney, you gotta drink something." She helped him sit up, and he downed the glass of water.

"How are you feeling?" She asked.

"Horrible." He replied.

"You look really sick Barney."

He lay back down and she started stroking his hair again.

…

The lights were off when he woke up again, but he could still feel Robin stroke his hair.

He briefly wondered whether or not he was just imagining that.

He also realized how nauseated he felt.

How very nauseated he felt.

He pushed himself up, and barely made it to the toilet before starting to puke.

Robin came in and sat on the floor next to him, starting to rub circles on his back.

"Better?" She asked once he was done.

He shook his head, and she got up to get him a glass of water and towel.

The water didn't stay down for long.

"Why did you do this?" Robin whispered.

He didn't want to talk about it now. He really just wanted to vanish into thin air, never in his life had he felt so unawesome.

And what made things worse was that Robin was here to witness it.

She wrapped her arm around his shoulder, and leaned her head against him.

"We can talk later." He heard her whisper.

…

He couldn't say for sure how long they spend sitting on the cold tiles, it felt like hours.

The nausea finally seized and eventually everything stopped spinning too.

They got back into bed, and he found himself in her arms.

"I am so sorry." He whispered into the darkness.

"What for?" She replied.

"Everything, I didn't mean for you to get involved in this. What are you even doing here?"

"You weren't answering any of my messages, so I started to bug Ted about it but he didn't know where you were either. I made him check your apartment, and call your office…I finally tracked down James' number and he told me that you had mentioned going to Vegas. I called the big hotels one by one until I got the one you were staying. I left you a message with an ultimatum, either call me back within 24 hours or I am coming."

Barney swallowed, "guess I didn't reply, huh?"

"No, you didn't. I took time off work, and flew out here. It took me half a day to finally track down that illegal poker round you were attending. Did you know that it really helps to have a CNN batch when you start intimidating people?"

"I am so sorry." He replied.

"It's okay Barney, you got me out of trouble when I needed someone to rescue me." She snuggled closer to him.

"This is so much worse…what happened in that other room with Rick?"

"Nothing, don't worry about any of that, okay?"

"Tell me, please."

"No, and it doesn't matter. So stop asking, okay?"

They were just lying there for a minute before Robin asked once again,

"what happened Barney? Why did you run off to Vegas and try to kill yourself?"

"I didn't try to kill myself." He replied.

"What were you trying then?" She asked.

"I don't know. I just wanted to escape from reality for a while."

"Why?" She asked again.

Barney swallowed, this was the moment of truth. He didn't want to tell anyone about this. He certainly wouldn't have mentioned it to the gang, not his real feelings. But this was Robin and laying in bed with her again made him feel safe.

"My mom has cancer." He whispered.

"What kind?" Robin asked.

"Lung."

"What is the prognosis?"

Barney couldn't help but realize that she was in reporter mode right now. Probably just as emotionally unequipped to deal with this whole situation as he was.

"I don't know, I bailed." He confessed.

"Tell me the whole story." She prompted him gently.

He sighed, "she went for a check-up and they found a spot, so I guess she had to go in for more tests. I didn't think much of it. I am pretty good at suppress things. But then last week…she called me, wanted to talk to me. She looked horrible Robin, I have never seen her like that. I mean…she's always been this strongest person I've known, all my life she was there for me. I grew up without a dad, so she was always all I had."

He started tearing up, and briefly wondered whether or not Robin would think he was a wuss.

"I panicked. All my life I have been constructing this alter reality where Bob Barker was my dad, and now…what if she dies Robin? She's always loved me, she was always there for me, what if she's gone soon? I don't want to face reality, especially not alone."

Robin was hugging him tighter now, "you aren't alone Barn. I am always going to be right beside you."

"It's not the same. Having a good friend isn't the same as having a mother who loves you no matter what you've done." He was really crying now.

"I know it isn't, but you aren't in this alone. I love you too, and I am going to help you through this." Robin whispered.

Barney closed his eyes, he didn't quite understand why but somehow her words calmed him down.

"We are both messed up…but at least we got each other, right?" Robin asked.

"I sometimes wish you weren't living abroad." He admitted.

"It won't matter Barney, I will be right by your side when you need me. I promise."

This time it was Barney who tightened his grip.

…

"Call me when you touch down?" Barney asked.

They were back at JFK airport and Robin would soon board her plane to Athens.

"Yes, and you are going to talk to your mom, right?" She asked.

He simply nodded.

"It might not be as bad as you think." She said while taking his hand and continued, "we'll never mention Las Vegas to anyone, right?"

"No."

Robin swung her arms around his neck and hugged him tightly, "promise me you'll never gamble or take drugs again Barney."

"I promise." And he really meant it. He would never, ever put her in a situation like this again. And he never wanted her to see him this low again either.

"Call me day or night if you want to talk. Okay? I know we aren't good at the whole "sharing feelings thing" but we have to at least try it, okay?"

He nodded once more.

"And I can always hop on a plane and come if you need me."

"It'll be fine." He whispered.

Robin nodded, and they let go of each other.

He watched her disappear, and even though he wasn't sure he could have sworn that she had tears in her eyes when she turned around to wave at him one last time.

…

"Hey, there you are!" Lily exclaimed as he approached the booth.

He had decided to get a scotch and calm down before heading over to his moms house.

"Dude where were you?" Ted asked.

"Work."

"No, I called, they said you had taken time off."

"I didn't take time off, I was on a business trip. A top secret business trip."

"You really need to call Robin, she was worried sick about you." Lily said.

"Robin?" Barney tried his best to act surprised.

"Yeah, she was terrorizing all of us, wanting to know where you were. I am surprised she didn't get on a plane and tracked you down herself." Ted added.

"Overreacting much?" Barney asked to keep up appearances.

Marshall entered the bar and Lily got up, "well, just call her."

Barney watched Marshall and Lily pass each other, barely even greeting one another. He'd honestly thought they be back together by now.

"Hey, you are back man." Marshall said as he sat down.

Barney rolled his eyes, "can a bro not take a few days off?"