"But you guys!" Barney whined, "It's important business stuff that I have to do by myself!"

The five of them were sitting in their usual spot at the bar. Ted Mosby brought up the wonderful idea of 'hey, Barney's going on a trip, let's go with him!' and, of course, everyone agreed instantaneously.
Barney did not want them along. It would be a waste of space, time and energy- not to mention highly dangerous because of the ELE.

Barney had left the Evil League of Evil a year after Penny died (he still couldn't bear to think about it) saying he was going on vacation. Barney Stinson was, in fact, Dr Horrible, with the PhD in Horribleness! The most evil man ever because he killed what's-her-face, Captain Hammer's girlfriend. The one with the red hair?

But yes, Barney Stinson was, in fact, Dr Horrible. He left said persona for a while because of the heartache it constantly brought with it and became womanizing-jerky-drunkard Barney. Measly Billy was long gone- so he hoped. But nooooo Bad Horse himself sent a letter to him (along with the Bad Horse Chorus, which Barney had stuck in his head for the rest of the day) resurfacing many unwanted memories. Mostly of Penny. Some of Moist. There was one of that one time at an ELE party with Fake Thomas Jefferson... You get the idea.

"But it's LA Barney! And we're your best friends..." Lily smiled a big, bright, totally fake smile at the blonde, who nonchalantly sipped his alcoholic beverage.

"Come on, dude." Ted insisted, "LA."

Robin nodded vigorously, "I've never been there! I want to see the Hollywood sign and the Sunset Strip..." She stared off dreamily.

Barney huffed, "Please. You so aren't coming."

"We figured asking wouldn't work." Marshall grinned evilly- much like Dr Horrible himself! Barney was SO PROUD.- "So we took liberty to have a little bribery on our hands..." he glanced at Lily, who coyly pulled out her phone.

"This phone," she said, "is minutes away from posting a very revealing video of you completely piss drunk on YouTube."

Barney's eyes widened, "You wouldn't dare."

"And this one..." she continued, "Isn't your regular drunk. It's the drunk as in we-ask-you-embarrassing-questions-and-you-answer-them-truthfully kind of drunk."

Barney put his head into his hands, "Aaahhhhck! Fine! You can come with me!"

The whole table cheered, causing some indignant looks from other bar patrons.

"Howard, a business trip?" Sheldon Cooper inquired skeptically, "We work together. I would know if you have a business trip."

Howard sighed and muttered something incomprehensible under his breath, "It's just a business trip."

Leonard lifted his eyebrows, "So you're going to Los Angeles 'just for a business trip'? Sounds like you're trying to get away from us for a while."

"Don't be coy, Leonard." Sheldon chastised, "We may as well come along, in case of Howard becoming inebriated and unable to take himself home. We need him for pizza night. He always picks up the pizza!"

Howard was really glad by now that Dr Horrible, his boss/best friend/villain partner- yes, villain partner. Howard Wolowitz was, and still is in some ways, Moist- found a way to reduce his moisture meter.

Howard was sweating up a storm.

"You guys, really. Just don't come along." Howard insisted. Damn ELE, damn Bad Horse. They had to send a letter now? Of all times? Howard left for Pasadena after he was accepted into college as not-Moist. Turns out he was pretty much just as smart as the Doc himself.

"I want to come along." Raj muttered.

"Seriously. I gotta go by myself." The League was watching.

"No I insist we come along." Sheldon exclaimed.

Howard knew there was really no possible way to argue with Sheldon Cooper, so he blatantly gave up and mustered, "Fine. You can come along." but what was he going to do with them once they got there? And, part of him wondered, was Doc going to be there?

That airplane ride, Barney thought, was probably the worst in the world. His friends wouldn't stop bugging him! Barney was trying to figured out how exactly to avoid his friends enough to become Dr Horrible again and go to the ELE meeting. He figured that the whole 'business trip' shpeal would work wonders.

But he couldn't be a business trip forever, could he?

Because what if the League requires him to stay in LA?

Barney shook his head and ignored the thoughts that, yes, kind of freaked him out. Bad Horse hated him, why would he invite him to stay?

While Ted, Lily, Marshal and Robin all rented hotel rooms, Barney told them that he had a place already booked to stay. His old apartment.

Opening the door gingerly, it was a shock to see everything was still in tact. Freeze Ray mounted on the wall, making him remember what happened at the Mayor's dedication ceremony, the stupid thing stopped working dammit. His 'Death Ray' pieces and shrapnel were strewn out on a table. He was trying to identify why, exactly, did it explode? His computer, old and dusty, still had the webcam on it from blogging...

Barney sat down and turned it on, the computer flickering a bit before booting up. Three minutes later, he typed his log in password and turned on his webcam to start filming his vlog.

"Hey guys..." Barney muttered, "It's me, Dr Horrible! I'm back. Yeah." he glanced around the room lamely, "Actually, the ELE invited me back to LA for some meeting or something. So if I had my choice I wouldn't be back and I would still be chilling in New York...

It's been five years since Penny died. Or since I killed her. The murder that got me accepted into the ELE..." Barney put his head in his hands, "Something I'm really not proud of. I should have just had no mercy on Captain Hammer! Seriously!"

Just then, a noise like a lock clicking open came from the front room. Barney looked up, "Just a sec guys. Someone might be breaking into my house."

He picked up the Freeze Ray and walked towards the door just as it opened. Barney pointed the machine at the man who walked in, "GET OUT!"

"Woah, woah!" The man yelled backing up, "Wait.. Doc?"

Barney glanced around the Freeze Ray, "Moist?"