Disclaimer: I don't own Lilo and Stitch or anything that deals with it. But I still own 188 and own 189, until Disney decides to snatch them away for their stupid series.

So you 're leaving in the morning on the early train
I could say everything's alright
And I could pretend and say goodbye
But that would be lying

Cause I can't stop loving you
No I can't stop loving you
No I won't stop loving you
Why should I even try?
(Phil Collins, Can't Stop Loving You. My mom loves this song, so I promised her I'd use it.)

         All day and half of the night, 188 paced his cage. He would occasionally stop to look down the hall or nervously drum his claws on the glass before resuming his pacing. Although he would never admit it, he was terrified. Dreaming of escaping was one thing; going through with it was another. They had no real plan-and 188 knew if they were caught, their punishment would be too horrible for even his violent mind to imagine.

        Sometime near midnight, 189 snuck in. Luckily the touchpad was cheaply made and all she had to do was smack it hard enough.

        The experiments looked up at their only route to freedom--the air vents. Quickly and silently, 188 climbed the wall and wrenched the grate off. He tossed it down to 189, who set it down gently before following 188 up the wall and into the darkness of the vents. It was ironic that the hours of training Jumba had given his experiments was now working against him.

       It seemed there was nothing but a long, narrow corridor keeping 188 and 189 from freedom, happiness, and a new life together.

         Halfway through, with the scent of fresh air close ahead, they finally decided it was safe to talk.

        "So where are we going?" 188 asked.

        "I've been reading Jumba's atlas books. There's a planet called Keehar. It's 90% water, with small islands sprinkled around it. It's got a tropical climate and no one will ever find us."     

         "I can picture it, " 188 said with a smile. He wouldn't have minded if they end up at an exploding head planet, as long as they were together.

       Thinking back, he wished he'd told her that. It would have made their last happy moments worth it. Because the next instant, something ice cold had grabbed his upper right arm.

      And it wasn't 189.

     He whirled around, ready to face whatever it was. But he saw only the endless blackness that they'd just come out of.

      "What the-"

       Something else got his lower arms, wrenching them behind his back. Howling in agony, 188 threw himself against the vent walls, bucking and rolling like the trapped animal he was. He lashed out with his tail, but it wasn't a creature that had him. It was something tentacle-like, something that could best be described as mechanical ropes. Right now, there were about seven. Another caught his ankle and he tried to lash out with his free foot. He twisted his head about, snapping his jaws in a desperate attempt to bite them. But all biting did was send waves of pain through his entire head. If one did break, three more would take its place. They bound him tightly, cutting into him like cold metal snakes.

      'Why aren't they attacking 189?' he thought.

       His answer came in a deadly hiss. 189 came to his aid, a terrifying look on her face that he'd never seen before. Her fangs were bared and the fierce light of battle tinted her beautiful blue eyes with red. She ripped viciously at the wall where the ropes connected, ignoring the ones that coiled around her. She didn't notice that her attacks weren't helping. All she cared about was destroying this last obstacle keeping her and 188 trapped in the lab.

       188's mind raced. He knew she couldn't break them all and neither could he. It made matters worse that he ropes were sending powerful shocks through his body. A horrible feeling of hopelessness swept through him. Maybe he couldn't escape, but still 189 could. He knew what he had to do.

         He only hoped it wouldn't kill him.

        "Go." That one syllable took everything he had. "Leave me here, I'll get out later."

         "Don't be stupid. You know you're trapped," 189 said before closing her jaws around a rope.

         "189, I'm serious! If you lose this chance, you'll never get another!"

        189 ignored him. 188 was desperate.

         "If not for yourself, do it for the pup!"

         It finally struck something in 189. She relinquished the rope in her jaws and turned to her bound companion, the painful decision's weight evident in her face. " 188, I love you. I don't want to leave you here. What will Jumba do when he finds out we tried to escape?"       

        "I love you too, but…" he hesitated, trying to find the words that said how he felt and convinced her to save herself. "Look, I'll be fine. I'll come find you on Keehar. Just go before those things get you!" he commanded. 189 knew what she had to do.

        Tears beginning to spill from her eyes, 189 took his face in both paws and pulled him into their final kiss. For one bittersweet moment, all thoughts of their terrible predicament died.

       188 knew that this was their good-bye. He didn't want to say it--if he did, it would break the dam holding back his tears. And he wanted 189 to remember him this way, not helplessly wrapped up in ropes and bawling hysterically. He took the memory of her lips against his, the last time they'd touch, in that moment when time stood still and locked it away deep inside himself. It took another jolt of pain brought him back to reality.

       "Go," he told her again.

       189 nodded and stepped back, taking once last look at him. Then she turned and bolted. The last thing 188 ever saw of her was a flash of blue, her tail fins being swallowed by the darkness. He heard the smack of her paws against the steel floor as they carried her away with him unable to follow. Then the sound vanished and with it, all traces of the experiment he loved.

          His beloved 189, who he'd wanted more then anything the day he saw her. The only thing he ever wanted. The dreams of escaping and living freely by her side were gone, leaving him staring into the infinite blackness of the vent.

         Finally going slack in his bonds, 188 let the tears flow. He felt the ropes alternately shocking and cutting into him, but didn't care.

        The burning fire in his body was almost sweet compared to the breaking of his heart.

                                                                              *****************************

         Some hours later, the ropes dragged his limp form backwards and out of the vent, to where Jumba was waiting. He didn't seem angry at 188's escape attempt. In fact, he seemed eerily cheerful.

        "So, you've discovered new security system, eh? Is designed for to stop burglars. I KNEW you would be escapink through vents!"

        188 was only half conscious, but turned his head slowly towards his creator. The look in it frightened Jumba far more then if 188 had been trying to attack him. His eyes were normally full of bloodlust. Now they just stared blankly, void of any feeling. Where there'd once been dark purple was now red...like he'd been crying.

       'No. 188 does not cry. I designed him to have no emotions.'

       "Please, let me go. As my creator, free me or let me die," 188 said. His deep gravelly voice now a hoarse whisper, wounded from ropes and sorrow. Jumba ignored him. Instead he carefully moved forward to untie him.  "I should have known. You say I'm your greatest creation yet, but you won't give me the one thing I need most."

       Jumba didn't bother asking what that was. His full concentration was on releasing 188 without getting killed.

       "Don't be tryink anything funny. You're weak, it vill only take vone shock to knock you out," he warned as the last rope retracted with a snap back into the walls.

        188 shook his head. He didn't try to attack, just sat with his head hanging low. "I'm not going to kill you. But mark my words; I swear I'll escape some time. And when I do, you'll know what I felt."

         The tone of his voice was dripping with hate, but at the same time mocking him. Jumba found it too creepy for his liking. With one press of the button, the collar sizzled and 188 slid into the merciful depths of unconsciousness.

                                                                                                ***********************

          188 never really woke up. Oh sure, physically he had. But the cynical, rebellious part of him was dead. Only the vicious, bloodthirsty, hate-filled part remained.

         When he met 189, his life of boredom and testing suddenly became a lot brighter. When things were their worst, he could always look forward to her visits. The sight of her face had lifted his spirits.

        And now she was gone forever. Without her, 188's days seemed even longer and emptier then before. He lived with the constant knowledge that this misery would never end. Even the thought of 189 being safe and free in the warm oceans of Keehar brought him no consultation.

         At first he spent the days and nights curled up in the corner of his cage, replaying the scene in his mind over and over. Knowing he'd lost her forever, and that he'd never see his pup. It was like having deep wounds that never healed being repeatedly splashed with salt water.

       He wished for oblivion.

       Often, he cut and bit himself just to feel something besides loneliness. But inflicting pain on his own body wasn't enough. He wanted to inflict pain on others, to make them feel the agony he felt all the time.

        189 had been his life. And without her, there was none.

      To be continued...