(A/N: And now we've gotten to the part where Lady ends up at the pound. Obviously things are going to be a little different since she's a human. We will be getting some new characters popping up, but I once again had to take a few liberties with them since they too are humans instead of dogs. You'll also notice a few name changes, once again because we're dealing with humans instead of dogs, but I tried to keep their names as close to their original ones as possible. I'm working with what I got, ok.)

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Chapter 7: He's A Tramp

Lady's heart pounded in her chest the whole time she was in the cop car. The ride was especially long since there was road work being done near the police station, forcing them to take a rather lengthy detour that took them the long way.

Arriving at the station wasn't any better. If anything, it made her all the more anxious as she wondered what would become of her. Was she going to be sent to juvie? No, she couldn't go there!

Apparently, she wasn't the only one who had been caught. Along with her, five others had been picked up, four boys and another girl. And as the police ushered them into another room, Lady desperately called out to them.

"Please, I don't belong here!" she cried. "I'm not an orphan! My name is Lulu Brown! I have a family!"

She quickly told the police her address and gave them her phone number, begging them to call her aunt. She was still placed in the room with the others, but was told that they would call the number she gave them.

With nothing she could do but wait, she turned to the five orphans. They were all about her age, give or take a year or two, with the oldest being about 19, and they were all looking at her curiously.

"Haven't seen you around before," one of the boys said with interest. "You new in town?"

Lady shook her head. "No, I got lost. I was having, um… a friend bring me home when we got caught up in all that."

The boy who spoke nodded. "Got it. Wrong place, wrong time. Well, welcome to the big house. I'm Tony. This is Pedro, Boris, Peggy, and Bill."

The blonde girl flipped her hair back. "Call me Peg."

Lady offered them a small smile. "I'm Lulu. People call me Lady."

Tony raised an eyebrow. "Lady? Interesting nickname."

Bill chuckled. "Well, yeah, just look at what she's wearing. That dress has certainly seen better days, but it definitely came from the upper-class." He nodded at her. "You snatch that from some rich family's clothes line?"

Lady looked down at her dress. While it was torn up, disheveled, very dirty, and was clearly meant to have more to it to complete the outfit, there was no doubt that it belonged to a rich girl. Still, she felt insulted at the insinuation that she had stolen it.

"I did not!" she objected. "My parents bought it for me."

Tony, Boris, and Bill laughed. "So you're actually from the upper-class then?" Tony teased. "Then what were you doing hanging with us street folks? You decide to get down and dirty for today or something? Just want to see how the lower-class lived?"

"Looks like she got more than she bargained," Bill joked.

Lady turned red with embarrassment as the three older boys laughed at her while the younger one seemed disinterested. Peg, however, became annoyed and gave them each a shove.

"Alright, you guys, that's enough, cool it, will you!" she snapped at them. Making her way over to Lady, she wrapped a comforting arm around her. "Can't you see the poor kid is scared enough as it is."

Lady wasn't sure about this girl referring to her as 'kid' since they both seemed to be the same age, but it caused Bill to hold up his hands in surrender. "Hey, sorry, Peg, we were just having some fun. We didn't mean anything by it."

"Yeah, you gotta laugh at situations like this," Tony added. "Things don't seem as bad when you do."

Lady frowned. "I don't see what's good about being sent to juvenile hall."

This time, all five of them laughed. Boris made his way over to her and clapped her on the shoulder.

"Don't you worry about that," he told her. "They're not sending us to juvie. They haven't caught us doing anything wrong."

"Yeah," Tony replied as he stretched. "They just want to get us off the streets. They'll end up sending to some foster home or orphanage."

Bill nodded. "Which isn't so bad. And who knows, we might like it. And if we don't," he shrugged, "then we can just run away."

Pedro glared at them before speaking for the first time. "The problem with that is that we don't know where they're sending us. It could be several towns away. That'll make it hard to return if we need to get back to anyone."

While feeling relieved that she wouldn't be going to juvenile hall, Lady panicked at the thought of being sent to some other far-off town. "But they can't send me away! I need to get home to my parents and brother!"

Peg gave her a kind smile. "Relax, girl. I heard you talking to the cops. If you really have a home to go back to, they'll call and have your folks come pick you up. You'll be out of here in no time."

Lady let out a sigh of relief. That was good news at least. However, she dreaded what Aunt Sarah would do to her once she came down to pick her up.

It was as if Bill read her mind, because he let out a chuckle. "And then she'll probably be sent to her room for the rest of her life." He shrugged. "But that's what happens when you get caught."

Tony pointed at him. "But, hey, we know one person who'll never get caught. The Tramp."

Lady's head snapped towards him at the mention of Tramp's name. She supposed she shouldn't be surprised that they knew him; he did seem to get around. She certainly hoped he was ok. But if he wasn't here, then it was safe to assume that he had gotten away.

But then her eyes narrowed and she became irritated. He may have gotten away, but she hadn't. He had just abandoned her! Well, ok, that wasn't true. He hadn't abandoned her, they had just lost track of each other when the train had cut them off from each other. It wasn't fair to blame him for that.

But she couldn't help but put some of the blame on him though. He had said that he would take care of her. He should have made sure that she had made it as well, or at least realized that she wouldn't be able to keep up with him.

As she silently fumed, Bill let out a bark of laughter at what Tony had said. "Oh, you know that's true. Ain't no one can catch the Tramp. He can get himself out of anything."

"I can certainly believe that," Lady grumbled. Even though her tone was irritable, there was also a bit of pride in her voice at the thought that her Tramp was so crafty.

Tony glanced at her. "Oh, you know him. Pfft. Of course you do, what am I say. Everyone knows the Tramp."

Bill nodded in agreement. "Yeah, but I hope you have no expectations. When we say no one can catch the Tramp, we mean no one. That goes for cops and the ladies."

"Yeah, Tramp certainly likes the ladies," Tony added. "And the ladies certainly love him. Ain't that right, Peg?"

Looking somewhat flustered, Peg smiled as she dramatically fanned herself. "What a man."

This made Lady frown. Tramp was a player? That was… something she hadn't considered. She supposed she should have. He did have a life before he met her after all, a few girlfriends should be expected. She couldn't exactly hold any past relationships he had before meeting her against him. But still, she couldn't help the feeling of jealousy that ran through her.

She internally shook her head and pushed the feeling aside. She didn't have the right to be jealous, it wasn't fair to him, especially since she had basically turned down his request to be with him. Besides, just how many girlfriends could he have had?

Once again seemingly reading her mind, Tony said, "Let's see, who's fallen victim to his charms? There was Luna."

"And that girl Fiona," Bill added. "You know, Fifi."

Tiny nodded. "And Trixie."

Pedro chuckled. "He even hooked up with my sister Rosita Chiquita Juanita… I think."

"What a man!" Peg repeated dreamily. "He really is a tramp. A total scoundrel. I'm not kidding, he breaks a new heart every day. All the girls know, but we still love him. Even I got it pretty bad."

Lady stared, her mouth hanging open. Including Peg, they had just casually named off five girls Tramp had hooked up with, and there were apparently several others. Was it true? Was Tramp really that much of a player? She tried to associate the boy she knew with the one they were talking about, but she just couldn't see it. But why would they lie? They didn't know her, and they had no idea that the two of them were involved with each other.

Or were they? Had she misread the situation? Or worse, had he played her? She was incredibly naïve and completely inexperienced in the romance department. Was she really just another girl to help him pass the time? Did he perhaps see seducing the rich girl as some sort of conquest?

Jealousy, anger, hurt, and embarrassment began bubbling up inside her. Had she really been that ignorant to let herself be so deceived? A cute boy saves her from some hoodlums, says some sweet words to her, then takes her to dinner, and she had been putty in his hands. As much as she hated to admit it, that's exactly what had happened, whether Trap had been sincere or not. It spoke volumes of her ignorance.

The thought that she could be so easily fooled was humiliating, and the possibility that she had been played hurt, it hurt more than anything. She didn't want to believe it, but she couldn't deny the truth of the situation. Tramp was a player, and she had been an easy target who hadn't stood a chance against his charms. And the more she thought about it, the more sense it made that she had just been another passing fancy for him. After all, what could a player like him possibly see in an inexperienced girl like her other than as something to brag about to all his friends for having seduced the naïve, rich girl?

"Yeah," Bill wobbled his head. "I don't know about that. I think that if he meets the right girl that she'll be able to tie him down, so to speak."

Tony chuckled and nodded at Lady "You mean like the new girl here? I doubt it, but if she wants to get her heart broken, she can go for it. She certainly won't be the first."

Lady wasn't sure how much more of this she could take. She could already feel her heart breaking with what they were saying. She didn't want to end up as one of those love sick girls stuck pining for some womanizer who didn't return her feelings and was only using her to pass the time. She wouldn't let herself.

Just then one of the cops walked into the room. He informed Lady that they had called her home and that Aunt Sarah was on her way to pick her up. But with everything else Lady was feeling right now, she couldn't bring herself to care how much trouble she was going to be in when she got home.

(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)

Gossip traveled fast, especially amongst the upper-class. Especially amongst women. And it seemed that by the end of the day, everyone Lady knew, and even those she didn't, was aware of what had happened to her.

Normally, gossip about the truth was bad enough, but gossip became rumors, and rumors were embellished and exaggerated, sometimes becoming so distorted that they were practically completely different stories from what actually happened. And while Lady had engaged in minor gossip herself, she had never been the topic of it.

She still didn't know how whoever started the gossip had even found out. Her best guess was that she had been seen wondering through town with Tramp by someone who knew her. But how it had been discovered that she had been taken to the police station with a group of orphans and had been picked up by her aunt was a complete mystery.

And speaking of Aunt Sarah, just as Lady predicted, the woman had been absolutely furious when she had picked her up. A sore backside was the result of the punishment that she had received, which was also followed by her being confined to her room until her parents came home, where she was only allowed out to eat and use the bathroom. Aunt Sarah had declared that until she learned how to act like a proper lady when she went out, then she would not be allowed out at all.

"And I'll be having words with your parents about your behavior," she told her. "I can't believe they raised you to be such a shameless, unruly, floozy. Hopefully this will teach them to be a little more strict with you. And for little Jim's sake, I hope they raise him to be better."

Of course, when Jacque and Trusty had heard about what happened the next day, they tried to go see her, but Aunt Sarah refused and turned them away at the door. She wouldn't even let Lady talk to them on the phone, claiming that it was part of her punishment. She was to remain in her room and think about what she did until her parents returned home later tonight to deal with her behavior.

But being the good friends that they were, Jacque and Trusty didn't let Aunt Sarah keep them away. So they had simply waited until after dark when the old woman went to sleep, which was relatively early. They had been lingering behind Lady's house until the light went out in Aunt Sarah's room and the rest of the house. After waiting 15 minutes more, just in case, they finally snuck into the backyard.

"You know what to do, right?" Jacque asked her brother.

He nodded, but looked nervous and uncertain. "Yes, but I'm still not sure about this. She's like a sister to me."

"Me too, and that's why we're doing this. And all you're doing is putting the offer on the table, she'll decided whether to accept or not."

Standing in the backyard, Jacque began gathering up stones and tossing them up against Lady's window. After throwing several stones, the light finally turned on and Lady appeared at the window.

Opening the window, Lady called down to the two of them. "What are you doing here?"

"Checking up on you," Jacque called back. "Your aunt wouldn't let us see you, so we tried this."

"Shh," Trusty shushed her. "You don't want to wake her up."

Lady looked to her left. Several feet away was another window that led to the room Aunt Sarah was staying in. "It's fine. She can barely hear anything without her ear trumpet. She won't wake up."

Jacque nodded. "Good, then can you let us in?"

Sighing, Lady shook her head. "I can't. Aunt Sarah locked me in, and she has the key. I'm stuck in here until my parents come back." Her shoulders slumped. "Look, I really appreciate you guys coming over, but it's late, and I really don't want to see anyone right now."

"We understand," Trusty replied. "We just wanted to see how you were doing after everything that happened."

Jacque crossed her arms. "There's a lot of nasty rumors going around about you. Some of them even say that you were whoring yourself for that Tramp guy."

"Jacque!" Trusty scolded.

"What? She needs to know. There are even some people saying that she's already pregnant with his kid."

A miserable groan escaped Lady. She really hated when rumors were embellished, especially the mean-spirited ones. "It's not true. We only kissed, that's it. Then we feel asleep next to each other on a bench in the park. That's all that happened, I swear."

"Of course," Jacque declared. "We would never believe the nonsense people are saying." She paused for a few moments. "But others do."

Trusty sighed. "I'm sorry to say this, Miss Lady, but your reputation isn't looking too good right now."

"Soooo, Trusty has something he wants to ask you. Don't you, Trusty?"

Her brother shifted uncomfortably, and Jacque nudged him and nodded up at Lady. Clearing his throat, he got down on one knee and looked up at her. "Lulu Brown, I've known you your whole life. There's nothing that I wouldn't do for you. And I know that you're still young, but we both know how important one's reputation is in this society. So, if you would have me, once you're of age, I would be honored to take you as my–"

"Trusty," Lady interrupted, feeling her face fill with heat as she realized what he was doing, and why he was doing it. "I…. That is…" She shook her head. "Look, you guys, I love you both, and I really appreciate what you're trying to do, but it's really not necessary. Trusty, you should save your proposal for someone you really want to marry. I know my reputation is a mess right now, and it will make courting difficult, but you don't have to worry about me, I'll be fine."

"We're just looking out for you, girl," Jacque told her. "Anything you need, we're here for you."

Lady gave them an appreciative smile. "Thanks, you guys, you really are the best, but do you mind if we talk tomorrow? I'd rather not talk about things shouting them down from the window."

Trusty looked somewhat bashful. "Oh, yes, of course, Miss Lady. We do apologize for coming over so late, we just wanted to, you know, offer, so you wouldn't need to worry about your future in light of what everyone's been saying about you."

Despite her misery, Lady couldn't help but smile. They really were the greatest friends anyone could ask for. "You're the best friends ever. I promise we'll talk tomorrow." She glanced at the cloudy, night sky, not seeing any stars. "You better hurry home, it looks it's going to rain soon."

Jacque smiled. "Ok, but you better tell us everything tomorrow."

Lady nodded. "I will. Have a good night."

"You as well, Miss Lady," Trusty replied. "Come on, Jacque."

They turned to leave, heading for the gate. They were just about to walk through it when a figure came climbing over further down. Jacque and Trusty froze and stared in surprise at Tramp as he dropped down into the backyard. Noticing them, he looked back in equal surprise, holding a rose in his hand.

Tramp's surprise gave way to awkwardness as he raised a hand in greeting. "Oh, um, hi, guys."

Jacque's eyes burned with anger as she stormed over to Tramp and gave him a shove. "What are you doing here!? Haven't you done enough to her!?"

Tramp winced, but not because of the shove. "It's that bad?"

"That bad!?" Jacque raged. "You ruined her! People basically think she's a harlot! Her reputation is in shreds!"

She made to shove him again, but Trusty grabbed her from behind to hold her back. He too, though, was glaring at Tramp with anger and dislike.

"Lulu," he called up to her, dropping her nickname to show how serious he was, "if this young man is unwanted here, just say the word and I'll be happy to see him off."

Up at the window, Lady gripped the window sill so tightly her knuckles were white. She was completely unprepared for Tramp's sudden arrival and didn't know how to deal with it. All the anger and resentment of what happened the other day came rushing back to her in spades, and she attempted to harden her heart in response to the onslaught of emotions.

"Thank you," she said sternly, keeping her voice as neutral as possible, "but that won't be necessary."

Trusty reluctantly nodded and gave his sister's arm a tug as he headed towards the gate. Jacque pulled her arm free and stormed up to Tramp, looking as if she wanted to slap him.

"You…" she seethed, seemingly at a loss for words, "you… mongrel!"

She clearly wanted to call him something far worse, but held her tongue. Instead, she spat at his feet and then stormed past her brother, who gave Tramp one last shameful look before shaking his head and following after her.

Tramp sighed as the gate door slammed shut behind them. It looked like he was in even deeper trouble than he thought. He still couldn't believe things had gone so wrong this morning. Despite Lady's decision to return home, he still had hope that they could still somehow make a relationship work, or at least give it a try.

He wanted to fight for her, despite knowing that society would be against them. That's why he had come here now. Not just to check on her and apologize, but because they had never actually discussed what would become of the two of them.

But was there a "them" anymore? After what had happened, he wouldn't be surprised if she didn't want to have anything more to do with him. He had let her down after all, and after he had just promised to take care of her. But he had to try, because she was worth fighting for. So, he steeled his nerves and walked up to the house, looking up at her window.

"Hey, Pidge," he said, hating the lack of confidence he heard in his own voice.

Lady crossed her arms. "What are you doing here?"

He internally winced at the harshness of her tone. She was angry alright, and rightly so. "I wanted to see you. And I wanted to check on how you were."

Lady harrumphed. "As you can see, I'm perfectly fine. Home safe and sound."

He sighed. "I'm so sorry about what happened, Pidge. Can… Can you please just come down so we can talk?"

She shook her head. "I can't. My aunt locked me in my room until my parents come back. So just say whatever it is you have to say. She's asleep and won't hear you since she's practically deaf. Just don't wake up my brother, or else he'll cry all night. So hurry up and tell me what you want to say so you can go run off again."

He almost winced again. Her words were harsh, but he knew he deserved them. It seemed that there was no point in beating around the bush, so he gave her a pleading look.

"Oh, come on, Pidge," he practically begged. "It wasn't my fault. I thought you were right behind me, honest."

Lady slammed her hands down on the window sill. "And you couldn't even bother to check? Is that how little I mean to you? Just how long was it before you even realized that I wasn't there?"

"That's not fair."

"I don't even know why you created a situation where we could be separated in the first place," she continued as if he hadn't spoken. "What were you thinking running out in front of a train like that, and expecting me to do it too? We could have been killed! After you had just promised to take care of me too. And then you just abandoned me!"

"I didn't abandon you!" he argued back. "I never would have gone on if I had known you weren't there. As soon as I realized that you were gone, I went looking for you. And when I heard that you were caught and taken to the station–"

"Stop!" Lady cried, covering her ears as she let out a sob. She knew that what he was saying was true, but she was feeling too distraught to care, and didn't want to hear him explain himself. She just wanted to stay angry with him, she needed to stay angry with him, for her own sake. "Don't even mention that place. I was so embarrassed and frightened. I actually thought that I was going to be sent away to juvie."

More guilt hit Tramp. Why would she think that she of all people would be sent to juvie? Because of what he had said? He hadn't meant to scare her. He had been referring to himself, who was a known pick-pocket who constantly gave the police trouble. If anyone would have been sent to juvie, it was him.

"Hey, hey, come on," he told her consolingly, "how could anyone want to send away a cute little trick like you?"

"Trick?" she repeated, finding his choice of words peculiar. "Trick?"

For some reason, the word struck something in her, name. A moment later, she remembered, and it brough forth a bout of jealousy. She recalled what she had learned down at the station about Tramp and his playboy ways, and the prospect of her being just one more of his lady friends that he never took seriously. It made it easy for her anger to resurface and to hold onto it.

"That reminds me," she said coldly as she glared down at him, "who is Trixie?"

Tramp blinked, caught off guard by the random question and change of topic. "Trixie?"

"And Luna," she continued, "and Fifi, and Rosita Chiquita wh… Whatever her name is!"

The last name was familiar in its uniqueness, and suddenly her seemingly random prattle of names made sense. She was talking about his past girlfriends. Well, he wouldn't call them girlfriends since he had never actually been in an official relationship with any of them. But based on her anger and the jealousy he heard in her voice, the situation was about to get much worse for him.

"O-Oh, those," he stammered, trying to think of a way to defend himself without sounding like a scumbag. "Well, I–"

"No," she interrupted, not wanting to hear what he had to say, choosing to hold onto her anger, and suddenly went off on a rant, "you know what, I don't care. As far as I'm concerned, you don't need to worry about me getting in your way. If you want to live your life as a thief who hops from one girl to another, then that's your choice, but I'm not going to be another notch on your bedpost. I'd wish you luck with that lifestyle, but quite frankly, I don't care what happens to you anymore. I don't even care if you end up getting sent to juvie. So, goodbye!"

With tears in her eyes, she reached for the window, not wanting him to see her cry; she needed to be strong. "And take that flower with you. Give it to the next girl you plan to seduce for your amusement."

She slammed the window shut and closed the curtains, then curled up into a fetal position and let the tears fall. This was for the best, she told herself. Things could never work out between her and Tramp. Excluding the fact that society would frown on their relationship, she didn't know how much she could trust him. He was a player, his reaction to her naming his exes, or whatever they were, confirmed that what she had learned about him was true. How could she trust a player to be sincere? For all she knew, he could just be telling her whatever she wanted to hear.

But even if he was sincere, he had still abandoned her. True, it hadn't been intentional on his part, but that's still what happened. He'd been so focused on escaping the police that he hadn't even thought to look back to make sure she was still behind him. And that wasn't even including how he had put them both in danger with that crazy stunt of his with the train.

No, a relationship like this could never work out. It would be better to sever all ties with him now, and this provided the perfect excuse and opportunity. So that was what she had done, even though it felt like her heart had been ripped out. Now all she could do was sit here and wallow in her misery.

As she wept, Tramp stood outside, looking up at her window as he hoped she would open it again and talk to him. But it didn't look like that was going to happen. There had been such… finality in what she had said, leaving no room for doubt. She really wanted him to leave. And what more could he do but respect her wishes?

With a heartbroken look on his face, he glanced at the rose he held. He wondered if she would have given him a chance to explain if she hadn't learned about his past relationships; if one could even call them that. He would have told her about his past history eventually, but it seemed his reputation had proceeded him, making him untrustworthy in her eyes, and having left her behind the way he did had only solidified that belief.

It was true that he was a player, he wouldn't deny that. But those had all been casual and meaningless hookups, nothing serious. There had been nothing real or special about them, nor was he in a relationship with any of them. He'd never found anything with anyone that he had wanted to make permanent. Not until Lulu Brown.

But it looked like he blew it. He'd failed to keep her safe, and then had his playboy side exposed in perhaps the worst possible way. It was no wonder she didn't trust him. And if she didn't trust him, then nothing he said or did would change anything.

Thunder rumbled overhead. It seemed almost like a cruel irony. The last time he had felt this miserable, the day he had been kicked out of his home, it had been storming then as well.

Hanging his head, he let the rose fall from his hand and began walking to the gate. Lightning lit up the night sky as the first few drops of rain began to fall. It quickly turned into a downpour and Tramp was soaked in seconds. He didn't care though, nothing seemed to matter anymore. And as the gate shut behind him, he felt as if the door had slammed shut on his heart as well.

He was so lost in his misery that he didn't even notice the shadowy figure nearby duck out of sight.

(A/N: Ok, so, we made it through the pound scene and the break-up, for lack of a better term. You know, I actually heard an interesting theory, that in the original movie, that Lady had been in heat, which had been what attracted those junkyard dogs after her, and that she and Tramp had mated and she was pregnant, which is why Jock and Trusty had attempted to propose to her. I mean, it's a pretty sound theory, especially if you consider how fast she and Tramp ended up with puppies. In any case, we'll be getting to the climax next time, so that's going to be fun to do. Wait until you see how I adapt that. I'll see you then.)