#Thank you so, so much for all the lovely reviews to part 7. You're all smashing! I'd love to hear what you think about this part.

Barney pushes the plate of nachos across the table towards Marshall. With a heavy sigh, the big guy takes a chip and pops it into his mouth, swirling a string of melted cheese around one finger. Barney never realized that anybody could chew balefully before.

"Better?" Barney asks, after half of the chips have been demolished.

Dabbing his lips with a napkin, Marshall nods. "So, Washington," he says with a sigh. "Why Washington?"

Barney smirks but doesn't answer. Marshall likes puzzles and this one isn't too hard to figure out.

"Oh, right," Marshall drawls, after a few seconds. "The job."

"Yeah, the job."

Barney could have hardly missed the job advertisments that have saturated all GNB office communications in recent weeks. The top brass call them "transfer opportunities" but basically they want to move some of their New York VPs into other cities where the recession has hit the company real hard. Trouble is, nobody in the Manhattan office wants to make the first move, no matter how many sweeteners they get in the package. One of the most high profile transfers is to the Washington office and it seems pretty clear that if nobody actually volunteers, someone will be pushed.

GNB don't mess around. Barney knows it can get pretty brutal in the boardroom. He came this close to losing his job before, after all.

"But I don't get it," Marshall says. "I mean, I know you're not exactly popular right now-"

"C'mon. Joe Donovan hates me," Barney interrupts, raising an eyebrow.

"Well maybe. But Washington? And that job sounds so sketchy." Marshall tries to out-stare him across the table but blinks first and looks away. "Admittedly, no more sketchy than what you currently do."

"Please!" Barney scoffs. "And it's a six month trial. I can see how I like it, and I've got a safety net if I need it. As if I need it. They should thank me for increasing Washington's awesome factor."

"Still, six months?" Marshall flashes him that worried-papa look. "Barney, you're a New Yorker. You've practically got the city in your blood. Your Mom's here. All your friends are here." Marshall pauses to take a swig of beer. "Robin's here."

Barney mutters a curse under his breath. "Low blow, dude."

"Look, I know how you still feel about her, man," Marshall says with a sad smile. "That kind of ache doesn't go away. And with Don out of the picture..?"

Barney shakes his head and slams his tumbler on the table. "No! If anything, Robin's just one more reason for me to go." He knows he's right. It really is time for a change. And he's got some money squirreled away so he can set himself up with a nice apartment. It'll be sweet. He just needs to keep psyching himself into this. And for that, he really needs Marshall's support.

Marshall studies him for a moment, then nods. "You know what, man? I'm not going to try and argue you out of this. I actually think it'll be a good move for you. But there is one thing I do want to know."

"What's that?"

"When are you going to tell Robin and Ted?"

When Robin catches a glimpse of Barney standing at the Bar, she feels that weird spiral-feeling again, that heady mixture of revertigo and longing. MacLaren's is jam packed tonight. Their usual booth is full of a group of hipsters that make Robin feel old, and Doug's not around to intimidate the crowd out of their spot. So she heads in the general direction of Marshall's head, clearly visible across the bar. It's just lucky that her friend is so tall.

"Can we get out of here?" She says, tugging Barney on the arm. "It's horrible in here."

Later, she realizes those are the first words she's said to him since the kiss. Maybe in retrospect they weren't the most tactful she could come up with.

Barney's eyes narrow momentarily, but then his expression softens so quickly that she tells herself she imagined his look of annoyance. "Cool you're boots, Scherbatsky. We're waiting for Lily."

"Where's Ted?" Robin asks, standing on tiptoes and trying to spot her roomie.

"He's out on a date with a grad student," Marshall smirks. "So wrong."

Robin laughs a dirty laugh. "I thought that wasn't allowed?"

"When has that ever stopped Ted?" Barney quips.

They fist bump. Everything seems normal. Everything is normal. Except that Robin doesn't feel normal. Her laughter is too loud and when she reaches for her drink, she knocks Barney's clean off the bar, smashing his glass on the floor and splattering his suit pants with Gin and tonic.

"Damn, wow, I'm so sorry!" Robin bends down to gather the glass shards off the floor before somebody hurts themselves, but she's pushed out of the way by Wendy, who has a washcloth and a look of amused distain.

Damn it! In trying not to over-react to Barney, Robin feels like she's turned into Miss Klutz from Klutzville. Luckily for her, Lily chooses that moment to walk into the bar. Robin pushes a stack of napkins into Barney's hands and rushes over to greet her, frantically steering her friend towards the bathroom.

"I need to talk to you," Robin hisses, practically dragging Lily into the restroom with her.

Lily looks worried. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong," Robin says, and she begins to pace up and down in front of the stalls. "Nothing's wrong exactly. I just need to get all this straight in my head."

"All what straight in your head?"

"Lily. I think I'm going insane and you're the only one who can help." Robin feels on the verge of tears, which is utterly ridiculous! Lily's looking at her with this odd expression and it just makes everything worse. "It's complicated," she says with ragged exasperation. "It's about Barney."

She tries to ignore Lily's hopeful grin.