A/N: Sorry for the delay, more soon. Also a new community on LJ has sprung up from this fic. It's basically HIMYM AU style, in case anyone is interested (delete spacing): http : // community .livejournal .com / au_hbmr

5 – Signal

Barney walked Robin to her door, telling the cab driver to wait. At the door, Robin turned to say goodnight.

"Goodnight, Barney", she said sweetly.

"Goodnight", he said taking a step forward, "Robin." He paused a moment to allow their closeness to take effect. The intimacy of the moment, he knew, was important; it was almost as important as what would come next. "I had a nice time tonight." Call it the drum roll to 'la pièce de résistance', it can be as or more important than the kiss itself. A bad kiss was easy to spot even before lips met.

"Me too", she grinned back, looking him over. He leaned in, she smelled good, lavender. The corners of his mouth tightened into a small smile. She filled the gap between them, pressing her lips against his and closing her eyes. He reciprocated; she was a really good kisser. 'Course he was as well, and together...

Finally he pulled away, taking a quick breath. "I had a lovely evening, Miss Robin Scherbatsky." She nodded, just as stunned as he, though they both played it cool.

"Uh huh..."

"So, we still on for next week?" She was going to Orlando for a week to cover some giant pancake, it was a world record.

"Definitely." They both remained, neither wanted to move away. "You know, I just got a new juicer, maybe you want to come upstairs and try it out."

"I love juice."

"Totally! So do you want to-" A loud honk interrupted her.

"Robin! We've been looking all over for you", one of Robin's co-workers from Metro News 1 called out. "There's a guy who might jump off the bridge and you're covering it. Come on!"

"Right now?"

"Yeah come on!"

"Alright, I'll be right there. I'm sorry Barney, I got to go. Raincheck?"

"No, yeah, totally I get it. I'll call you tomorrow." He was slightly disappointed when she smiled apologetically before running into the Metro News 1 van, leaving him at her door step. He smiled back as the van drove out of sight before walking back to the waiting cab.

Barney sat back, smiling contently; this was going to be easy. He could totally stick to just one girl for two weeks.

"You're girlfriend's very pretty," the cab driver commented.

"Yeah, she's hot, even if she isn't part Lebanese... You know what I'm talking about though, right, Ranjit?" He said, looking at the drivers ID.

"Actually I'm from Bangladesh."

"Oh, are the girls there hot?" Barney leaned forward.

"Here's a picture of my wife." He pulled out a picture when they came to a red light.

"Oh, she's lovely."

"Not bad, but not great either." Ted said elaborating on his date with Yasmine. "But, I don't think it's going to work out."

"How come?"

"Because she said she had a nice time but that we should stay friends. And that it wouldn't work out."

"Ouch." Lily winced empathetically.

"Yeah..."

"Well, better luck next time right?"

"I'm just sick of this whole game." Ted said, ignoring Lily's optimism. She was engaged, what did she know of the woes of dating? He sank into his couch as Marshall came back from the kitchen and handed him a beer.

"The dating game?" Marshall asked. "Played and won, observe my prize."

"Did you just call me a prize?"

"Yes I did. You, my dear, are going to be a trophy wife."

"Aww!" The two kissed. Ted smiled with admiration before focussing again on his dilemma.

"Why can't I just meet someone and be like 'that's the girl I'm gonna marry'."

"So you see, Ranjit, it's like a game."

"Does that girl know it is a game?"

"Robin? No."

"So you are pretending to date her and she does not know?"

"Yup." Barney grinned, proud of his latest scheme; after a short silence the cabbie spoke again.

"Why would you do that to such a lovely woman?"

"It's not like she's expecting me to get down on one knee. I mean really, I'm sure she knows a quality suit when she sees one." He tugged at his sleeves, smoothing out any wrinkles. "She's a smart woman."

"You shouldn't lie to her," the cabbie persisted, almost warning him. "Lying will only lead to trouble."

"Don't cause any trouble Ted", Lily warned.

"What? I'm just saying! Barney isn't really dating Robin. And from your description she sounds really great. I'm just saying, maybe I should meet her and if we hit it off, Barney wouldn't mind..."

"Besides, it's not like she'd really be interested in anything more," barney noted; he felt oddly at ease with this cabbie. "I mean, you heard her. Keep it casual, which is fine with me. I don't want to get tied down or anything."

"Because let's face facts," Ted continued, "Barney is a womanizer who's only goal, when it comes to woman, is to get them in bed with him. And not in a romantic way, in a slutty, sexual, dirty way."

"She's beautiful, funny, intelligent and pretty damn awesome. But you know, it's a little early to tell how awesome."

"I think you might like her." Ranjit responded.

"Please", Barney replied. "I haven't even slept with her yet."