Interesting Times, by GirlX2

Chapter Two

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"Reports are pouring in all over New York about people shrunken to various scales. The smallest so far is a two and a half inch homemaker." The newsman Ted and Barney were watching was going on excitedly. "It doesn't appear to be spreading, but the police urge you to check on any friends or neighbors who haven't been seen. The President says…"

Ted muted the TV. "So, you're not alone in this."

Barney didn't look at him. "I feel awful."

"It…it'll be…"

"No, I mean, awful." Barney clutched his stomach. "Something's wrong."

Ted reached out to his stricken friend, catching him as he fell. "Barney!"

"Feel…sick. Totally un-awesome. " Barney moaned.

The moan turned into a scream as Barney shrank some more. Ted's eyes bugged out as his friend dwindled in his palm. The news hadn't mentioned this.

The scream dwindled with Barney. At a hair over three inches, Ted discerned with his architect eye for scale, he stopped.

"Oh, my God." He whispered. "Barney? Talk to me, bro."

Barney curled into a ball, barely visible under the handkerchief. "That…really hurt."

There were no words. How could there be? In lieu of talking, Ted stroked Barney's back with his finger. He tried not to notice that the digit was longer than his friend.

Barney shuddered under the larger man's touch. "What if that's not it? What if I just keep shrinking until I'm gone?"

"That's not gonna happen. The news said the smallest person was only a little smaller than you."

"So what? If people shrunk to nothing overnight, no one would know."

Ted had no answer for this.

"How small am I, anyway?"

"Right now you're-" Ted calculated "1/24th scale."

"What's that mean?" Barney's shuddering lessened.

"An inch is two feet to you."

"That means I'm barely over three inches tall." Barney sat up, clutching the handkerchief to his chest.

"Yeah."

They sat quietly for a few minutes.

"Ted?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm hungry."

o0o0o0o

Marshall flew up the flight of stairs. Ted had called him half an hour ago, freaking out about Barney. Marshall hadn't seen the news today. He assumed it was some kind of prank.

Or, he would have if it weren't for the fear in Ted's voice.

"He's tiny, Marshall. I saw him shrink! And now, I…I don't know what to do. Please, come over."

What choice did the young lawyer have?

He didn't bother knocking, but just went inside. "Ted? Barney?"

Ted's head poked out the bedroom. "In here. But keep it down—that's way too loud for him."

Marshall walked slowly, not wanting to see. Either it was a massive prank and he was the must gullible man in the universe, or…

Barney, wrapped in a scrap of cloth, was sitting on Ted's pillow. He managed a weak smile. "Hi Marshall."

Marshall clapped a hand to his mouth in amazement. "B-Barney?"

"Yeah." His voice was higher, and hard to hear, but it was definitely Barney.

Marshall reached out and picked him up, tweezing him between his index finger and thumb. The grin dropped off Barney's face, replaced with a look of pure terror. He began to tremble.

"Marshall, don't! He doesn't like that." Ted hissed.

"I'm not gonna hurt him." Marshall insisted, bringing Barney to eye level. "I just wanna see."

"M-M-Marshall, the Br-bro code prohibits t-t-errifying a bro for n-no good reason." Barney stuttered. Arms pinned to his sides, he felt even more helpless. "Y-you're hurting me!"

The curiosity dropped off Marshall's face, and he quickly lowered Barney towards the bed.

"Don't!" Barney let out as a gasp as Marshall dropped him the last few inches into the bedspread—a fall of six feet, or more as far as he was concerned. He hit the soft surface hard, knocking the wind out of his lungs.

"Marshall, what the hell!" Ted shoved him away from the bed. "You can't do that to him!"

Marshall looked a bit confused. "I thought—"

"You didn't think! Barney's too small to be tossed around like that." Ted growled. "You could have killed him Marshall! And it's not okay to just pick him up, especially like that. He's not a toy."

Shame flamed in Marshall's face. "I'm…I'm sorry, Ted."

"Apologise to him. Quietly." Ted's face was stony.

Marshall got onto his knees. Barney looked at him, frightened.

"I'm sorry, man. I didn't mean to scare you, or hurt you. I…I'm a big idiot." Marshall swallowed. He'd never seen Barney look that way at him before; like he was a monster.

He reached a hand out to his friend, stopping when he saw Barney flinch.

He dropped his hand.

Barney dropped his eyes to the bedspread. He was still shivering. He'd never felt so helpless…so terrified. Ted's hands had been gentle, only touching him when he said it was okay. Not grabbing him, not squeezing him, and definitely not dropping him.

The world wasn't full of Teds, though.

'Marshall's my friend. He wouldn't hurt me.' Barney looked at the giant, stricken face.

'Not on purpose, anyway.'

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A/N Remember, I feed on reviews! :)