Drabble | Black Widow
They figured it was only a matter of time, really, before Barney reached this point.
A nervous breakdown, they said.
Watch him in shifts, they said.
Ted, Lily and Marshall, obviously, would help, but they had work most of the day. Surely, Robin, with her more-or-less night job would care of Barney during the day. Of course she would help him.
But what no one realized was that this was an illness of her making.
It was easy with a guy like Barney, so full of anxieties and deep-set insecurities from the start. All it took to break him were little carefully veiled insults, and implied suggestions, and little rewards when he fell into her plan, and he was hers forever. And so Barney hardly left her side while it was her shift to take care of him
He followed her through the apartment, did what she said. It made Robin smile.
Barney really was the best of her pets.