Title: How we met Barney
Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to the show "How I Met Your Mother" or to any of its characters. But I did make this story.
Summary: AU. After Ted finishes telling the tale of how he met their mom, they wonder how Barney's doing.
Character: The entire gang of course as well as a few others; offsprings who are introduced and some OFC and OMC. later on.
Pairing: I want to point out that I am a solid BRotp fan. However, this story involves Ted/Robin, Barney/Robin, and etc.
Setting: Two timelines, one in the year 2030 - where Ted has just finished telling his kids how he met their mom - and the other around the year 2019, and onwards, where the story of how they got to where they are in 2030 is explained. The sections in the past - with respect to the year 2030 - (2019 and onwards) is italized.

Beta: roland44, ROLAND is awesome.
A/N: I actually have an ending! No waiting months for an update, yay!

"And that, kids, is how I married your mother," Ted finished off his tale. His kids seemed relieved, his daughter Linda smiled while his son David gazed away.

"Well," David said, "it's always nice to hear that story; the full version..." He mumbled disgruntedly.

"Yeah," Linda agreed. Her smile vanished and she sat back, into the couch, letting her body lean into the comforting fabric. She felt a lump building in her throat, she swallowed. "I miss mom..."

"Me too."

Ted knew it was a hard story to hear. Their mother had passed away almost 10 years ago, but it still hurt.

"That uh..." Linda thought, changing the topic, "Uncle Barney? He sounded funny... Have we met him?"

"He did sound kind of familiar..."

"You did, when you were smaller." Ted winced, that's the question he didn't want to answer.

"Did he die?" Linda asked concerned. The man did seem to love life on the edge...

--

Ted looked like a mess. His hair wasn't done, his eyes were red with bags under them and, of course, he wasn't wearing a suit. But that was understandable, because Ted was still in mourning. It wouldn't be right if he was wearing a suit.

That didn't excuse him, though.

"Robin told me," Barney said. He was standing in the living room, Ted's living room, and he too was a wreck. Not as bad as Ted but still. His eyes seemed blood shot and his hair a disarray from having his hand run through it on the way here.

He had left Robin in the hotel room.

"Ted..." Barney tried to say. His lips trembled, he shut his mouth and he blinked in an attempt to stop the moisture. "Ted," he tried again, his voice hiking, its tone wasn't in his control anymore. "Ted, why? Whu – How could you?..."

--

There was a sudden noise, the front door opened up.

"Hello?" A familiar voice called out. "I got a few bags if any of you care to lend a hand!"

Linda and David got up to go help her out. Ted stayed behind, taking a deep breath and turning back to his papers.

"Hey Aunt Robin, d'you buy some cookies?" David asked, picking up a bag.

"Yeah, they're in there, somewhere..." She grinned. "So what did you guys do all day?"

"Dad told us a story." Linda explained, putting a can of beans away.

"Did he bore you two to death?" She joked, knowing full well that Ted could get carried away with details.

"Hmm, I feel okay so..." David mocked.

"It was the story of how he met our mom." Linda saw the effect it had on her Aunt. She froze, a quick intake of air, something twitched – something buried inside... She caught herself.

"Really?"

The kids glanced at each other before settling their eyes back on Robin. David was sitting at the counter, munching on a few cookies; Linda was folding a few bags.

"Well," she said, her tone regained, "did he finish it?"

"Yup."

"Good."

"Aunt Robin?" Linda began.

"Hmm?"

"Who's Barney?"