A/N: I'm not really sure about where I want this story to go, again, this wasn't a well-planned story, just a spur of the moment thing. I foresee a lot of angst in the future (I love me some good Barney angst), unresolved Barney/Robin issues (Hardcore BrOTP shipper here, sorry) and some fluff at the end, but if anyone has any ideas/preferences for what direction you want the story to take, just leave a review! Thanks again for everyone who read and reviewed the story!

I also changed the category of this story to purely HIMYM, because there's not going to be that much of a crossover, only partially in the later chapters, and I'm gonna focus more on the gang.

Enjoy!

The Company wasn't happy, that Barney knew for sure. They dropped by the day after he booked his tickets, another two men in suits; they all looked the same to him in the end. Well trained, blended in well, each one completing the other's sentences - designed to intimidate. But Barney knew their tricks; he had once been one of the men in the suits, after all.

"Why are you going back to New York? We were under the impression that your life here suited you well."

"You know the lengths to which we go to protect your previous identities. You are doing us no favours by trying to relive the past."

He knew that. He knew it all. He had no idea why he was going back, which was why he didn't answer, simply stood there, silent. Awesome-Barney would have had a witty comeback, but Billy was content with staying awkwardly quiet.

"The Company isn't pleased, but is willing to grant you this one opportunity."

"We have a… job for you. In New York. A temporary identity that will last two weeks, no more."

A rushing wave of relief. Why relief? Because he was being granted a chance to say his final goodbye, something he should have done two years ago?

"We found a potential candidate for the Company in a similar situation that we found you. We need an unfamiliar but experienced face to access him."

"Enter the field, observe him for a while, and then we'll set up the interview. When that's done, wrap up the paperwork and it's back to Billy Smith."

Barney nodded, wordless. One of the men set a suitcase on the plain table next to the door.

"Read through it carefully, then burn it. Your plane leaves tomorrow. Don't be late, Mr Lorenzo von Matterhorn," one said, standing up.

Barney looked up, surprised. He thought that the Company would have destroyed all trace of Awesome-Barney, for safety's sake.

The man chuckled, dark humour in his voice. "No doubt the candidate will research your name, and we're interested to see how he'll react. We'll be watching."

No doubt on that point, Barney thought as the men walked out of his house, disappearing down the road almost immediately.

He sighed as he sunk into his chair and opened the briefcase, staring at the single plane ticket to New York and wondered what he would do there? Follow them around, see how they were doing? Drop by MacLaren's in an elaborate disguise? Maybe they didn't even live there anymore.

Guess he was just gonna have wing it. Awesome-Barney style.

Kevin saying I love you I love you Iloveyou, why do you even like me? You're almost as messed up as I am maybe I want the trouble the clock striking midnight shaking head him leaving for the last time the urge to call him back I should have I made a mistake I made a horrible mistake come back.

Robin awoke, screaming into her pillow. The nightmare, the one she had on and off, the same exact sequence of flashbacks every time.

It haunted her, more than her fear of her father abandoning her, more than her fear of never making it as a reporter, more than anything else.

After she broke up with Kevin, she hadn't been very stable, and Kevin had offered her contacts to some of his friends who could help her with her problems.

But Robin didn't need them. She knew why dreams of him, his last moments with her, still plagued her.

Because Barney was the one person who understood what it felt like, what it meant to be abandoned, to have all hope wrenched from you.

And she had done that exact same thing to him.

And she would never forgive herself for that.

Barney and the Company went back a long, long way. He was 21, maybe 22 when it happened. He was walking down the streets at night, heading back after a shift at work with Shannon.

Someone grabbed him from behind, shoved him against the wall, his hands wrenched painfully behind his back.

A mugger. By the statistics of New York, it was a miracle he hadn't been mugged up till now. Barney knew what to do, even his mother had had the sense to teach him. Give the money and run the moment they let go of you. That's all that want, after all.

But Barney wasn't in the mood for this. Shannon's father had forced their trip with the Peace Corps to be delayed another two months, and two guys had started a fight in the coffee house earlier and broke some plates and it was late and frankly all he wanted was to go home and drink some fair-trade coffee.

Something inside him snapped, a raging anger (an emotion he hardly felt at that point in his life), about how he was not going to put up with this guy mugging him.

He felt his hands wrench themselves from the man's grasp with a surprising strength - strength he didn't know that he had. The man reached for his knife, the light of a nearby street lamp glinting off its edge, but his hands were already there, smacking the wrist deftly. The knife clattered the ground somewhere, and Barney found himself laying into the guy, an elbow to the windpipe, a knee to the groin.

It felt so good, so good to feel vindicated, to release all those feelings for once. He bathed in the glory for a second, before abruptly stopping.

What was he doing? What had he done?

The mugger groaned, slumped against the floor. There were a few splatters of blood on his shirt, on the wall, on Barney's hands. He backed away, breathing irregular, heart racing. What had he done?

He didn't know what to do. To run? To call for an ambulance?

He heard footsteps, a man rounding a corner. That's it, then. He was going to jail. How had this happened? What monster had been unleashed within him?

The man, dressed in a suit, was clapping, a smile on his face but a cold, sharp look in his eyes. "Impressive," he said.

Barney looked back at what he had done to the man, and 'impressive' was not one of the words that immediately jumped to mind. Unlike 'violent', 'psychotic' and 'what is wrong with me'.

"Nothing I'd expect from someone like you, I mean," the man clarified, and Barney backed up more, hitting the wall behind him. He frantically tried to wipe a drop of blood off of his shirt, tried to straighten it, to settle the ruffled long hair.

"You have potential," the man continued, and Barney decided that he was crazy, and wouldn't report him, and maybe he should just run away, find a telephone box and report it anonymously so that the mugger could receive medical attention.

"I'll help you take care of this," the man said abruptly, turning to him. It was obvious that he was referring to seemingly unconscious mugger in the background. "What's your name?"

"Barney Stinson," Barney replied immediately, before realising that that was an infinitely stupid thing to do.

"Aw, it's cute how simple you are. Unique enough name, I guess. I'll be keeping in touch with you, Barney Stinson. You run off now, I'll handle this." The man said with a cool air.

And for some reason, Barney listened. Perhaps because he had never been a confrontational, aggressive person. At least, until 5 minutes ago. So Barney took off, running down the street. He had a feeling that reporting the incident wasn't the smartest thing to do.

But he could have sworn that as he left, he heard the man cracking his knuckles.