Interesting Times, Chapter 25

By GirlX2

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Six months of living with Lilliputian syndrome, and things had almost never been better. He was living with his best bro, dating the woman he loved, and plagued by nightmares nightly.

It was almost worth it.

He was seeing a therapist like they wanted. It helped. A little. He and Ted were waiting patiently for the trial; it'd been mercilessly hyped by the media, and so finding an impartial jury was difficult. Marshal assured him that it wouldn't matter; there was no way the guy would get away with what he'd done.

And now here he lay, afraid to go to sleep, to exhausted to stay awake, hoping that thoughts of Robin would shield him from the nightmares.

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"Ted, you are so wrong. Clearly, Loki is the hero of The Avengers."

"How?"

"The story of a man, rejected by his adopted father, seeking love from his brother, and trying to change the world for the better? How is it not?"

"It was a little weird seeing Tony Stark with Lilliputian syndrome, though." Lily said.

"Hey, it was the residual effect of the Pym particle not Lilliputian Syndrome." Marshall argued. "Totally makes sense."

"Yeah, that makes much more sense than Robert Downey Jr. getting the syndrome, and them being unable to replace him." Ted smirked.

"Still better than the Hulk movies." Barney pointed out.

"Agreed." The others clinked glasses over his head. They'd been staying having their nightly get-togethers in Ted's apartment since the ordeal, rather than McLarens. It was easier for Barney and Ted; they'd both become minor celebrities for a few weeks following their ordeal.

"It's actually a good thing: RJD has been raising money to fund the scientists working on a cure." Ted pointed out.

"Yeah, down from twenty years to ten." Barney mumbled. "If it works at all."

There was an awkward pause as the four normal friends tried to find something reassuring to say.

"They could be in human testing by the end of the year." Lily said meekly.

Barney gave her a sad smile. "I know. Thanks for trying, Lil."

"You know, we're all looking at this the wrong way." Marshall was struck by inspiration. "There are plenty of super cool things Barney can do now that he's small that we can't."

"Like what?" Barney asked, amused.

"You could be a spy."

"James Bond, international man of smurfyness." Barney laughed. "Thanks, but no."

"You could be a super hero. Ant Man is even smaller than you and he kicks major butt."

"Yeah, he also has the strength of a full-grown man, and the ability to get back to normal on command." Ted pointed out. "Not to mention being fictional."

"Fine, Mr. negativity. Barney could be a movie star: they're desperate for Lilliputian performers."

"That one I like!"

"Oh no you don't." Robin said in a mock-stern tone.

"I don't? Why?"

"Because then thousands of women will be drooling over you, and I'll have to beat them all up."

"Ahh, you'd kick their asses, Scherbatsky."

"Damn right I would."

"Okay, so no movies. You could be an inspector for micro technologies, a tester for remote control race cars, a master thief…"

Marshall continued to tick off new jobs and identities for Barney amid gales of laughter.

"See? It's not so bad." He grinned as things quieted down.

"You are waaay to much of an optimist." Barney said, but he was still smiling.

"It's what I do."

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A/N Fluffy stuff! It's been far too long.