(Hesitance)

Everybody was out and about the next morning. They were still drowsy from a sleepless night. Well, except for Tito, of course.

He still had the same energy from last night. Everybody jumped into Fagin's tricycle, however Francis didn't get in right away.

Sure, the bulldog appreciated Fagin's hospitality by giving him food and gave him a roof under his head, but he wasn't sure about actually staying here permanently.

He didn't want to become another mangy street dog, searching through the many garbage cans just to find food.

"You coming, Francis?" Dodger asked, wedged between Rita and Rose with Tito sitting on Einstein's head.

After taking a deep breath, Francis struggled to get inside the cart to join the others. Riding in the back wasn't the most comfortable experience; being squished between five other dogs didn't really help either.

Fagin drove through the busy streets of New York City rather erratically. It was unusual to Francis. Tito was the opposite, having a great time in the back of the cart.

They made it to 1st Avenue and Fagin dropped the canines off in an alleyway. Francis was relieved to finally back on solid ground. He did feel a bit queasy from the rough ride through the city.

Dodger looked at his friends, excited to show their new members how they ran things in their gang. Although, managing a bigger group would be a bit harder. They faced each other, awaiting his instructions.

"What do we do, Dodger?" Rose asked, tail wagging from eagerness. "Let's split up to cover more ground. Rose, you and Rita take Francis out. Make sure he gets his share of food," Dodger instructed.

"You got it, Dodge," Rose said, remembering the rough night that they had the previous night. Rita was also apprehensive because they weren't sure how Francis was going to react to their initiation, since Dodger had to keep the feisty pup amused.

They went their separate ways for the time being. Needless to say, taking care of the new member was more of a chore than the she-dogs thought. Getting him to actually eat what they ate wouldn't be an easy task considering he came from a prestigious background.

The bulldog had a sulky walk to him, not to mention that he lacked the street-smarts if they were to get in a scrap with other street dogs. It might as well have been a handicap to have him in tow.

"Rita, over here!" Rose called over, spotting a trash can behind a restaurant. Rita and Francis turned the corner, seeing that Rose had knocked over the trash can. "Great find, Rose," Rita said, joining the shepherd mix, "You don't have to eat anything, Francis, but you gotta have a look at least,"

"If you don't find food, you can find something that can be worth anything to Fagin. You gotta earn your keep after all," Rose concurred, starting to dig through the garbage.

Francis raised a brow at the garbage that laid on the dirty concrete. "Anything could be in there," he said in a disgusted tone.

"Yeah, that's kinda the point- you never know what you'll find. Fagin's giving you a place to stay so you gotta make an effort to help him out," Rita said, finding this a bit frustrating.

Rose dug through a second trash can, finding an old wallet that had been thrown out. "Look whash I found!" Rose said, her voice muffled as she held the leather wallet in her jaws.

"Awesome, Rose. There's gotta be something good in here," Rita said with a grin. She set it aside to dig through the trash again. The smell was awful; consisting of old food, old diapers, and who knows what else; It repulsed the bulldog.

"Both of you don't have to work around me; I oughta be leaving around. Give my thanks to your companions for letting me spend the night. I don't belong as a street dog," Francis said, starting to turn away to leave. Anything else would be better than this.

Rose and Rita made no hesitation to block the bulldog's path. They couldn't say that they liked him, but they couldn't just let him go off on his own.

"Hold up? Where do you think you're going? You can't just go out there on your own," Rose said, raising her tail as a sign of dominance.

What's it to you two? You two can carry on, stealing and being a dark spot on this city," Francis said with an eye roll.

"Unlike you, we actually have a conscience," Rita growled, having enough of the bulldog's insults. Couldn't he see that they were just trying to help him?

Rose dropped her tail and let her hackles lower on her back. "Look, it's easier if you stick with us. It's easier that way compared to going alone. There's no place else you can go," she said more softly.

Rita looked at Rose, listening to what she was saying. "She's right. Fagin had to have seen something in you otherwise he wouldn't have taken you and Tito in. If you ask us, you got off lucky if you ask us," Rita concurred.

Francis wasn't listening to reason though. "So this is what my life has come to, living off of garbage and stealing like a delinquent? I didn't do anything to deserve this!" he exclaimed.

Rita felt pity for the rude bulldog. It was hard to cope with this new lifestyle. Rose had been out on the street since her birth so she understands the ins and outs of it.

"Most of us didn't either. But you gotta make the most of what you have. Stick with us a little bit longer. It's not as bad as you think it is," Rita said with a smile.

"Yeah, you're in the gang. And the gang means family. We've got your back now," Rose said with a confident tail wag.

Francis then gave in. All he had to do was to conquer the new world that he had been put into. "Alright, if you two insist, I'll stay for now. But I would like to go back to the barge. I'm feeling very tired," he said.

"Sounds good to me. Rit, why don't you take him back? I'm gonna find Dodger and them," Rose asked, looking over at her best friend.

"Sure. Be careful," Rita agreed, giving Rose a nuzzle. "You too, Rita. I'll see you later," Rose replied, nuzzling the saluki mix back.

Before she turned away to find Dodger, she turned to face the bulldog and asked, "Francis? How did you end up on the street?"

Francis paused and inhaled deeply before speaking, "I did have a home before all of this. My master was a professor of the arts; The things I saw! Neither of you will understand it since you two live in the gutter. It was something that I'll never get back. But… My master was very old and his family took him away and they couldn't take me. After I stepped out of their car, they left and never came back,"

The memory was painful to him because of his voice cracking at the end. "We're sorry to hear that," Rose said, feeling sympathy for him. "Yeah, seems like a painful memory," Rita agreed, nudging her head as a friendly gesture along with Rose.

"Thank you for your condolences," Francis said, beginning to trust the young hound and shepherd/collie mix, "What about yourselves? I gathered that you two were not born on the streets because of Tito's antics last night,"

Rose's ears dropped a bit. "Well, Rita wasn't. I was born on the streets," Rose admitted, dropping her head a bit with both ears dropped.

Rita told Francis of how she had ended up on the streets after being abandoned by her owners. Rose bid her goodbyes before turning around and disappearing around the corner.

Rose had found Dodger and they went back to the barge after finding some food and awaited for Rita and Francis.