Disclaimer: All the characters in this fic are the property of Cloud Nine and are not created by me. The lyrics to A Kiss Is A Terrible Thing To Waste belong to MeatLoaf and his writers and are not created by me. The fiction is loosely based on Series 1 of the Tribe.

A Kiss Is A Terrible Thing To Waste

If you listen to the night
You can hear the darkness call
I can barely stand to wait
I can barely stand at all

Lex blinked his eyes open. He saw the bleary image of the room around him. He groaned. He rolled over, crashing out of the bed in a flurry of arms, legs and bedsheets. Lex couldn't be bothered to move. He felt the cold hard floor underneath his nose and cheek. He groaned again, "Ugh!"

After a moment or two, he rubbed his eyes. The husky film of sleep was lifted and he took in his surroundings. His sheets were ruffled like waves, stopped in time and caught in a jar for later enjoyment. He licked his dry lips, tasting the saltiness of a silent tear he had allowed himself last night.

Lex sat up and stretched. He watched his strong forearms raise above his head, straining. As he yawned, the enormous pressure blocked out the noise of the mall, replacing it with a loud, rushing sound. Lex tested this again and again, locking his jaw and listening to the rush, the rush only he could hear.

He got up and sat on the bed, palms flat either side of his body, feet slightly apart, soles flat on the marble. He breathed in deeply. Downstairs Patsy and Paul could be heard chattering and playing, bouncing a ball. Every bounce thumped inside Lex's head, resounding against the walls of his skull, pump-pump-pumping. Lex tried the yawning thing again, but it couldn't block out real sounds, just the sound of emptiness. He breathed in again, Salene was cooking the last of the sausages. Lex's nostrils were filled with the meaty aroma.

He padded over to where his clothes lay, screwed up on the floor. He carefully picked up his outfit and slid into it. In his heavy boots he clumped over to the mirror. His hair stood up in tufts like long strands of wire or netting. Sighing, he picked up a hairbrush and began to drag it through his hair. He tightened the bobble on top of his head, smiling at the result. One of his 'clown's triangles' was smudged. He picked up a black eye pencil and touched it up. He was ready to go.

*****

Salene chopped mushrooms for the breakfast she was making. It was the last of things like sausages, mushrooms, and onions. It might have been more sensible to save them but they really were going rank. She hoped there would be enough to go around.

From the corner of her eye she could see Lex approaching. He sat on one of the chairs and watched her. She could feel his eyes scouring her body, taking her in. She felt uncomfortable. Without taking her eyes off the mushrooms, she began to speak.

"So, how was your first proper night?" she tried to smile.

Lex rolled a coin on the table between his thumb and forefinger. A snort of laughter escaped through his nose. "Better than the night before."

Salene tensed. She gripped either side of the large pot. She heaved it onto her knee and, from there, onto the stove.

Lex spoke again. "You people were *so* hospitable."

Salene's eyes caught his. "Well, you didn't exactly make yourselves approachable."

Lex shifted his eyebrows. "Well, it's all in the past now. New beginning. All for one and all that stuff."

Salene smiled tentatively. "Yeah," she agreed. There was silence as Salene carried on cooking food, preparing it. She listened to him rolling the penny, rolling and stopping and dropping and rolling and stopping . She turned nervously, holding on to the counter for support. Lex still sat watching her and rolling his coin. It was unnerving.

Suddenly, the silence was broken by Zandra and Ryan entering. Zandra was cheery and loud. She looked good. Ryan trailed her, he was more subdued.

"I woke up this morning and I just *knew* this place was gonna be good news. I mean, sausages for breakfast! We haven't tasted sausages for ages, have we Ryan?"

She looked at Ryan expectantly who replied, "Uh, no, no."

Salene smiled tensely. "Well, don't get too used to it. This is the last."

Zandra and Ryan sat around the corner of the table from Lex. Zandra rested her arm on the table and admired her hand, it was adorned with bracelets and rings and nail varnish.

Ryan sat between Lex and Zandra, he hung his hands between his knees and listened to the sounds of the mall. Lex scraped his chair back and walked over to sit next to Zandra. He leaned in towards her. She smiled a wry smile and turned her back to him, facing Salene. Lex looked shocked and disgusted, he turned to Salene also. Ryan eyed Lex nervously.

"So where is everyone?" Zandra asked, meaning 'Where's Bray?'

Salene breathed out through her nose. "Well, Amber is still sleeping, I think Jack and Dal are playing around with some electrical gadget. Cloe's exhausted, she's catching up with lost sleep."

"And . Bray?" Zandra ventured.

Lex tutted loudly and putting his arm up to rest his head on his hand he blocked Zandra. She looked at him like he was a spoilt child and then returned her gaze to Salene. Salene made some concerned noises and attempted to answer, opening her mouth a few times.

Lex stood up and putting his hands angrily on his hips he took control of the conversation. "He's gone hasn't he?!"

Salene struggled for words. "Well I - I."

Lex smirked and shook his head. "Fools."

He walked to the cupboard. Opening it, he counted four missing tins, half the chocolate gone and the last of the fresh fruit disappeared. He slammed the cupboard door. "What did I tell you? Didn't I tell you? Double- crossing swine! We let him in and he stabs us in the back. Well, I'm not gonna take it." Walking out of the kitchen he slapped Ryan's shoulder. "Come on Ry, let's go see what else the little snake in the grass has stolen."

Zandra shouted, "Lex, wait!"

Ryan got to his feet. He looked apologetically at the girls and followed Lex out of the café.

*****

Trudy sat in the dank, dripping tunnel. It was musty and cold and it smelt of rotting meat, death and stale, stagnant water. She held her legs into her body, resting her knees under her chin. She gripped one hand in the other, locking her body into a tight ball. She dropped her head down, her forehead landed in a crook between her thighs and her stomach. The feeling of empty hunger was so consuming. It felt as if her insides had been scraped out and in their place, a big black void sat under her ribs. The ache had long since been replaced with a sort of dead numbness, a shiver of intense heat sometimes rippled from her stomach and out to her extremities. She felt like a drug addict, denied that daily fix. Sweat poured from her forehead and she gnashed her teeth. A strangled cry escaped her clenched teeth. "Ow, ow, ow."

Trudy wiped her face roughly with the whole palm of her left hand. The dark, dusky eye make-up was smeared, dripping along with the sweat. Her hairline was soaked, making her soft waves of dark purple hair clump together around her tired face. Her earthy coloured clothes were stained and creased. As her body became accustomed to her position, the pain began to creep back again. She stretched her legs out and grabbed at great clumpfuls of her hair. Biting her tounge seemed to ease the pain for a while.

She looked expectantly at the lightened entrance to the tunnel but to no avail. "Come on Bray," she whispered angrily, "Hurry up."

Trudy was sick to the back teeth of moving from one place to another, trailing behind Bray; hearing the clock tick away another day. She felt lucky of course. She'd had lots of arguments with her boyfriend, Martin. Martin had become quite violent. He'd thrown punches but she'd been lucky, she'd got away in time and had made a run for it. One day longer and he would have got to her. He would have changed her mind. Things would have been so different. As it was, Bray took care of her. Trudy was heavily pregnant.

She put her hand out and rested it on her stomach. Lolling her tired head on her shoulders she looked again to the tunnel entrance. She smiled weakly and heaved her body into a sitting position, resting against the wall. The baby would soon be here. Trudy rested her hand on her bump and looked down, as if to check it was still there. "You hungry?" she asked it, "And ready for a look at the outside world pretty soon I think."

Trudy gazed in amazement at the place where a tiny body lay under her skin. "Any day now."

Trudy remembered Bray and his sacrifices for her. She mustn't let him know about the hunger pangs she'd been getting. She must be strong. She wished Bray would hurry up.

As if on cue, Bray's footsteps could be heard rounding the corner. His footfalls were even and rhythmic. As he came into sight, he smiled at Trudy. He took the bag he was carrying and bringing it to chest level he shook it. The cans clanged dimly and chocolate packets could be heard crackling.

Trudy's eyes widened and she heaved herself to her feet. Moving towards Bray she threw her arms around him. "O Bray!" she said, hooking her arms around his waist and planting a kiss on his cheek. He raised her feet off the ground slightly and squeezed her tightly. She found her feet and rested her head on his chest, listening to his heartbeat.

Trudy finally let Bray go, and sat eyeing the bag of treats greedily. Bray sat down with her. He delved into the sack with his hands. "I have." he produced two large tins, "Rice Pudding, chocolate and." another rummage, "crisps!"

Revealing a pocketknife, he scored the top of a rice pudding tin and popped out the lid. He did the same to the second tin and slid one to Trudy. Trudy's first thoughts were to gulp the sludgy substance in great globules.

"Easy, Trudy." Bray warned as if he had read her mind. "Your body's not used to so much rich food, pace yourself or you'll be sick."

Trudy held the can in both hands between her legs, like a drink and periodically took small, delicate sips. Turning to Bray she asked, "So, what did you get up to?"

Bray's face proved he was not eager to indulge any secrets. He avoided eye contact, "Well, I found a place for you to have your baby."

Trudy smiled. "That's a relief."

"And I - I - uh -" he rummaged on last time in his bag, "I found something you will be glad of."

He presented a small cardboard box. Trudy's eyes lit up, she opened her mouth in amazement. Trudy carefully took the package from Bray. She slid the flap from where it was tucked. Silence masked the pair. As if it were some Egyptian treasure, Trudy slipped the object from the box and slowly unwrapped the white tissue paper. Sitting on her palm was a smooth, pink bar of new, scented soap.