… I do not own Lilo and Stitch, or any of the characters or likenesses in this story…

There was an eerie silence about the ship as Reuben sank into the pilot's chair, pulling an oversized fedora down over his little head. There were rings around his eyes, so dark that they were visible even under a layer of tan and yellow fur. He was partied out for the fifth time that week. The streamers that lined the walls and stack of sandwich crusts were all that remained of his lonely, but entertaining vacations while Gantu was away, trying yet again to impress hamsterviel to no avail by hopelessly catching nothing.

Given the sound of footsteps he'd heard enter the ship an hour ago, the grunts of disgust and sighs of disappointment, Gantu was home with nothing to show for his efforts. Reuben grinned, baring his buck teeth condescendingly as he turned to catch the other in his peripheral vision.

"Welcome home, loser."

"Hush, abomination." He growled.

"Want a sandwhich? I just picked up a ton of albacore."

Gantu rolled his eyes. The last thing on earth he wanted was a sandwich, smothered in albacore (whatever that was). He kicked an empty can across the floor to the base of Reuben's chair and glared at him with venom. He opened his mouth to speak, but was cut off by the ring of the experiment computer, as if on cue to save 625 from a serious chew-out about the state in which he kept the ship when its owner was away. It glowed a dull green, the spherical shape on top becoming transparent to display a small picture of the experiment as it chimed its number and intended design.

"Experiment 129 has been activated. Primary use: Short term changes in personality."

Gasping, Gantu hovered over the computer as Reuben sank back into his chair lazily. The creature looked as cute and cuddly as the others, like a cross between a dog and some other animal with hooves. He knew better than to be fooled by its sweet looking exterior. That seemed to be Jumba's sense of humor: they look harmless, but are deceptively evil.

"It's a… personality changing experiment?"

Reuben shrugged. "Sure, why not?"

"Hamsterviel would be impressed if I managed to catch that one, for sure!"

"He'd be impressed if you caught a cold, fish face."

"Shut up, trog!"

Stretching, Reuben laughed out loud, "Go ahead. Go get it, Gantu. I could use another week of solace from your nagging! Not to mention, I'm running out of loser jokes, help me out here."

Gantu let out of hard sigh of defeat. The little beast was always waiting for him to walk right into a heckle of some sort. He slung the plasma cannon holster over his shoulder and lumbered toward the door without another word. For five days straight he'd been out after experiments, and lost five of them to the little earth girl and her seemingly invincible pet 'dog'. A feeling of discouragement settled into his stomach. Why bother? What was the point of always fighting if he could never win? One way or the other, he needed to catch something or lose his job. Leaning back inside the ship door, Gantu tried to fight the urge, but could not. He sucked in a breath.

"Goodbye, Reuben."

There was a sense of longing in his voice as though he wanted to stay and rest, like his lazy counterpart, whom he often missed (much to his dismay to admit). There was a silence, eerie and empty as ever. Suddenly, Reuben's chipper voice then rang down the steel hall.

"See ya' later, loser."

Lilo giggled childishly as she slammed a tiny toy soldier down on the kitchen table in front of Stitch's plastic green army, which rivaled her own.

"You're legion of brainwashed zombies can't defeat my werewolf empire!"

"Naga tacka!" He chuckled in response, knocking down the opposing force with a sweep of his clawed paw. He admired the fallen plastic warriors, as though he'd annihilated a real crowd of armed men.

"Hey, Stitch! That's not fair!"

He snorted and crossed his arms.

She began to set the toys upright again, hoping that for the ten-thousandth time she could try and teach Stitch the concept of playing pretend, but she paused as a deep rumbling voice rang from upstairs.

"Little girl!" Jumba called.

Lilo jumped down from the table, along with Stitch, and ventured to the bottom of the stairs in curiosity. She often went to bug Jumba when she needed help out of a bind, or after finding one of his many experiments, but he rarely called her (or anyone) from his make-shift lab in the guest bedroom. He valued his time alone. Leaning against the bottom step, she gazed up at the vacant hall.

"Yeah?"

"Experiment is loose again. Shouldn't you be going out and catching it?"

She jumped in surprise. It was always inconsistent and hard to predict when an experiment would get wet and come to be. Sometimes they popped out left and right, other times weeks went by with no signs of alien life. Lately, though, they had been appearing on the computer nearly one a day. Every day she caught a new creature, crushed Gantu's attempts to steal it, and found its one true place. She was beginning to feel rather accomplished.

Stitch growled excitedly, "Cousin!"

'That's right, thanks Jumba!"

Grabbing her backpack from the coat rack, she darted for the door with Stitch at her heels. A grin formed across her face as she flew down the stairs and off toward the beach in anticipation. She didn't ask what it could do, adding to the uncertain thrill of an adventure she and Stitch could experience together. He darted swiftly on all four feet, initiating a race game with his human friend.

Eventually they reached the sandy beach and she leaned against a palm tree, panting in exhaustion. Stitch, un-phased, began sniffing around for his new cousin. He ran up and down trees, over rocks, and as close to the lapping waves as he could dare. By the time Lilo finally caught up with him, he was pointing at a line of round tracks with his nose. She examined the trail closely.

"It must have come through here not too long ago, Stitch! I wonder if the little guy was headed for the city… Maybe it's drawn to people like you were."

"Igh!" Stitch grunted in agreement.

They followed the trail merrily, in no obvious hurry; it wouldn't go too far. The experiments always had a period of disorientation when first hydrated, before having a chance to apply themselves to their surroundings.

"I wonder what this one will do able to do. Remember how cool the last one was?"

"Igh!"

"Shush was so cute, and fun to play with. But he was bad too. We have to be more careful this time! Playing with the cousins can get us into trouble."

Stitch nodded with his ears down, remembering the ordeals with Myrtle and Nani. Eavesdropping was risky business, especially when the wrong thing was heard the wrong way (which occurred most of the time). Freezing in his tracks, Stitch looked toward the forested area above the sandy beach. His azure fur stood upright as he lowered his head into a reserved snarl. Stitch inched toward the vegetation, but with utmost reluctance.

"What is it? Is the cousin in there?"

A pair of yellow eyes drifted out from behind the trunk of a tree. Lilo dashed over to it with a broad smile, coming up on a strange creature with black fur and dull smoke gray stripes. It didn't run, or even budge, instead stared up at the little girl with emotionless eyes. The lack of interaction and chase left Lilo slightly unsure what to do. She wasn't used to the experiments just standing there waiting to be tossed into her backpack. Stitch seemed uneasy still, circling the cousin with raised fur and aggressive demeanor.

"Be nice, Stitch! It's a cousin!" Lilo scratched her head, "It's good at staring. What else does it do, though? I guess we'll have to ask Jumba when we get home. He always knows what they're for. He made them, after all."

Lilo scooped the little beast up in one arm and fit it snugly into her bag. The sharp red eyes stared up at her still, unblinking. It gave her chills as she stared back, so she closed the backpack flap quickly and rested it on her back. Stitch followed behind her, watching the bag untrustingly.

"I bet it does something cool like control the weather, or blow things up, or…"

She trailed off, lost in fantasy land as they made a circle back toward her house. There were six-hundred and twenty seven of them, it was impossible to guess what new wonders the small creature was capable of. Thinking for a moment, Lilo frowned and looked down at Stitch.

"That was really easy, wasn't it? I don't think we've ever caught an experiment so easily before. That's so boring! Gantu didn't even come after it this time. Oh well, I guess that means we'll find its true place faster than ever!"

A strange feeling washed over her as those words left her mouth. They suddenly seemed foreign, as though they were not her own. She paused for a moment, taking a breath. Stitch circled her in concern, but she shook it off and kept walking as though it was nothing. Her head felt heavy, different. The girl went quiet and didn't speak another word until she was standing on her porch, looking bored. As soon as the front door opened, Pleakley was there to greet them. He was wearing his usual orange dress, tied above his hips, and had a broom in hand. He'd been bouncing around the house all morning in his usual obsessive ritual to clean everything he could see.

"Where have you two been?"

Lilo stared at him before blinking her eyes in apparent boredom, "Hunting experiments. It was boring. I don't think I like running around outside; it's hot and dirty out there, not to mention swarming with tourists. I hate tourists."

Pleakley stared at her in surprise, along with a bewildered Stitch. Lilo dropped the backpack off of her shoulders onto the ground with a thud and dragged it across the living room. Stitch whimpered, following her up the stairs, watching the backpack (and his cousin) thump over each of the steps. As she predicted, Jumba was at his desk tinkering. He peered up as he heard them coming. Something wasn't right about Lilo, it was obvious immediately by her slumped shoulders and slack expression.

"Back already?" He asked, "129 is being easy catch this time?"

She shrugged and pulled the bag over to him, unlatching the top flap. Jumba nearly fell out of his chair when he saw the tiny red eyes. He jerked the little experiment from the bag, holding it out in front of him like a snake. Lilo gasped as the tendrils of boredom let lose and she suddenly felt like herself again. She stood straight, light headed.

"Yeah! It just stood still and let us catch it. What does 129 do Jumba?"

"Nevermind, little girl!" He hissed, "Needs to be dehydrated again. Now."

"No! I haven't even named him yet!"

Lilo clung to his thick, purple arm in protest. She was startled; it was unlike Jumba to volunteer that his creations be put back in their capsules, especially with her responsibility to find them a place in which they belong, as was given to her by the grand counsel woman.

Jumba swayed wearily, blinking his many eyes, "It has name already! I call it Crutch. This one has no true place. Must go back inside of capsule right now."

"Crutch? Why?"

He sighed in frustration, "This is evil personality changing experiment. It can cripple entire civilizations by turning cowards to brutes and brutes to cowards. It topples whole armies by turning them into whimpering chickens. Also turns excited little earth girls into bored ones. Can be very dangerous. Personality is crutch that causes big problem when kicked out from underneath people."

Lilo refused to heed the warning.

"This is good! It's one true place is to turn bad people good."

"Does not work that way!"

"How do you know?"

They were interrupted as Pleakley flew into the room to dusty Jumba's machines, and the various earth knick-knacks he himself had collected. He whipped around to make the beds, but was distracted by the beast in Jumba's hands. A look of irritation plagued his face as he put both hands on his hips.

"You guys brought home another little monster? Fantastic."

"It is no worry, little thing is going away now."

Lilo huffed angrily, "If it's so dangerous, than why hasn't it changed you yet?"

Jumba sat at his desk once more and placed the experiment in front of him. A narcissistic smile crossed his big mouth, "I made Crutch with own genetic material, so I am immune to his little spell. Was evil genius idea to stop Hamsterviel from turning on me with own experiment."

Pleakley hovered over him with curiosity of the strange little creature.

"This one is just… sitting still?" He said, "Not beeping or buzzing, or running around. Is it broken?"

Jumba shook his head, "It stays near person it wants to infect. Has no reason to run away, spell does not work at a distance."

Lilo had a thought. If she wanted to keep the cousin around, than she had to prove to Jumba it wasn't a threat. She intended to test herself and the lot of them in the room against Crutch's so called 'evil' personality changing spell. Folding her arms, she put on her best negotiating face and looked up at Jumba.

"I have an idea, Jumba. We'll let Crutch stay here in the house, where he can't get to anyone else. If he causes problems, then we'll dehydrate him back into the pod, ok? If not, then he can stay and we'll find him a place to belong here on the island."

Throwing his head back in a laugh, Jumba held out his hand, "Deal. Will take less than week before little girl is begging me to put monster back in pod."

Lilo shook it and smiled deviously.

Stitch seemed to be inching away from the both of them until he was nearly behind Pleakley, trying to hide himself from the staring red eyes. He feared them, in such a way that he was not used to, as though they would hurt him (despite the creature's constant state of being stationary). There was something tormenting about them, a physiological disturbance, like flies buzzing around in his head.

Swallowing uncomfortably, Pleakley interrupted them once again.

"You're really going to let that thing stay here? What if it messes up the house, and eats all the food, and breaks everything? Nani's going to throw a huge fit."

Jumba patted its black head, "Not to worry, my little one-eyed one. Crutch is most mellow of all experiments. He will sit still, or maybe follow us around house, but it does not expend unneeded energy. Is meant to be stealth weapon."

With that, Crutch leapt down from Jumba's desk, following Lilo as she left the room. The two ventured up the elevator to her tower bedroom, where she proceeded to gather similar accommodations to the ones she's provided for Stitch. She made a small bed for it, though this time from a laundry basket filled with a thick padding of extra blankets. Crutch stared at her, never removing its eyes from hers as it nestled into the warm bedding. She gave the creature a few good strokes and scratches behind the ear before curling up on her bed with the log book of cousins.

She began entering Crutch into a blank page between his other experiment cousins, though she resolved to take his picture only after she'd found him a place. Her and Stitch decided that was the best way to remember them, where they were the happiest, and though Crutch looked awfully content where he was currently situated it was hardly his one true place. His eyes followed her hand as she wrote, back and forth, until it eventually dozed off tiredly in its bed.

Nani sighed heavily as she locked the hinged window doors of the scuba rental shack. She was more than glad to finally be done with work. The job wasn't too taxing, aside from the tourists and lalos that swarmed around with know-it-all attitudes. The day was longer than anything else, especially considering the fact that on breaks from the rush, when things slowed down, she had nothing to do but watch as the customers enjoyed themselves outside.

Part of her wished that David would show up. He didn't always bug her on the job, but his infrequent visits were actually quite nice. Nani may have perfected the art of playing hard to get, but she still enjoyed his feeble attempts to woo her into a date. She kept him just close enough to retain his interest, but pushed him just far enough away that their union was unlikely to occur anytime soon. That, of course, didn't mean she wouldn't have liked to go on a non-date despite it all.

Shoving her wallet into the pocket of her jean shorts, Nani venture toward the parking lot and slid into her baby blue Volkswagen beetle. The engine turned over and purred like a kitten, despite it being circa 1970. She grinned; at least one thing her life was completely dependable, funny that it had to be a car. She backed out of the lot and headed tiredly for home, hoping that there wouldn't be too much commotion to deal with when she got there. It was part of her usual responsibilities to keep things running smoothly at home. Of course, the longer she left Pleakley and Jumba alone, the more likely it was that one of them would make a huge mess, create something menacing, or (in Pleakley's case) feed her sister dog food. This was assuming Lilo hadn't already snuck off somewhere she wasn't supposed to, without any regard to the darkness of sunset as it began to creep across the sky.

It was like the little girl felt invincible, and that nothing out there could hurt her. Nani admired her courage, and with Stitch alongside her sister it was nearly a reality, but even still she didn't want to take any chances. When Nani reached the house, everything seemed in tact. The jeep that Pleakley and Jumba frequently used was parked in the sheltered overhang beside the porch, and Lilo's hover craft wasn't far from it. Everyone was home. Nani ventured up the porch steps, feeling a bit closer to her mind being at ease. Just as she'd hoped, everything inside was quiet and tranquil. Jumba's large frame was resting lazily on the couch as he flipped through the channels, and Pleakley was draped over the top of him, nearly asleep. Closing the door, Nani opened her mouth to call for Lilo, but didn't get the chance.

Lilo was at her feet in seconds and thrust a dark, furry figure into her face.

"Look what Stitch and I found this time!"