Beta: roland44
A/N: My cure to the "Barney's dead in the future" theory. =)
It was the year 2019.
Ted's wife had just passed away. He was left alone. It wasn't her fault, he knew that, she had fought back... the doctors told them there wasn't much chance that... but...
He locked himself in the bathroom.
Lily and Marshall had offered to take care of Linda and David for a while, they were staying over. Robin had rushed back from Greece and Barney was the first to arrive.
But he needed to be alone.
He let himself slide from the door to the ground and pulled his knees up close. His head dropped and his vision blurred.
She was gone...
-
"Where'd Ted go?" Robin asked Barney.
"He went to cry in the bathroom," Barney calmly answered. The two were getting ready for bed.
"What?!"
"Relax, Scherbatsky. The man just lost the love of his life. Let him cry a bit."
--
It was the year 2030.
Ted had just finished telling his kids the story of how he met their mother, from "watch it, buddy!" to "I do" – it was an impressive journey – and now the two were wondering why they don't know more about "Barney".
"Did something happen to him?"
"Uh... no, not exactly-"
"'Cause according to dad's ending you guys we're all still friends. You and he even had a thing going!" David continued.
"Did you just say 'a thing'?" Linda glared at him.
"What? That's what they called it back then." His sister shook her head in disapproval and shame. "You and he did, didn't you?"
"Yes, but that was a long time ago-"
"Yeah, yeah, it all happened a long, long time ago in a galaxy far, far away – we get it. That was before mom died, before you and dad got together, before all of that, but what happened to him?"
--
"Robin it's been 6 months." Barney sighed. "Ted's a big boy, I know you're worried but you have to let him get on with his life."
"I know, I just thought maybe I could do some shopping for them or-"
"Robin." Barney had stood up from his chair and closed the gap between them. He grabbed Robin's hand; she was packing her stuff away. "Robin, please. Please?" he gulped, his eyes were strained, collar open, jacket off, she hadn't noticed that he wasn't shaving... "Come sit down with me?"
--
"Ted, what did you tell them about Barney?" Robin had sent the two to fetch the laundry.
Ted took a while to answer; he purposely kept his concentration on his papers, trying hard not to make eye contact with his wife. "I told them the truth."
"Ted, we agreed not to talk about it." Her reply was cold, but then again how dare he bring the subject up? They hadn't talked to Barney in years and his contact with Marshall and Lily was either dwindling or strong, either way, Robin didn't know.
"We have photos of him all over the place, Robin," he responded as harshly. "It was gonna come up eventually."
She let her anger simmer, boiling down to a point. Ted was going to pay for that. She bit her lip; he was going to pay dearly. If not now then later, in bed? She'd make him bruise; have him take her to some fancy bed and breakfast, any excuse to 'suit up' as he would put it, and then call out his name...
"Alright, we got the laundry going."
Robin turned around and plastered on a smile. "Great! Let's get out of your dad's hair, eh? I'll take you out for lunch."
"Isn't it a little late for lunch?" Linda asked.
"We'll have an early supper then, how's that sound?"
"I'm okay with it, you?"
"Whatever." Linda shrugged.
"Ted, you okay with making something for yourself?" Robin called as they made their way to the door.
"Yeah, sure."
"Good," she said and closed the door.