Title: So Long
Rating: R
Disclaimer: Any recognizable characters or places do not belong to me, I am making no profit.

He sobbed on her cheek, noises he had never heard escaping his throat. He felt as though a sword had plunged through his insides. "Oh, Maddy…" Why had it taken so long to find her? Oh, how he damned the sheer size of this institution. If it had been smaller…but why didn't he look where she might be? It was only normal for Madeleine to lock herself away in the laundry chamber.

Her mother kept blindly poking the lye solution, crying silently. "It's my Maddy…why?"

Abbe didn't know how to answer her. Suddenly the limp form in his arms coughed up a watery lye solution. "Maddy!" He supported her against the edge of the large metal basin, tried to help her cough up more of the water. She grabbed his lapels and held onto him for support. "Abbe…" She whispered, as though uncertain of whether this was true or not.

"You're alive!" He pulled her skillfully out of the metal tub and leaned her up against the side of it. "Oh, but you're bleeding profusely. Let me take you to the infirmary, Maddy."

"No, it's a madhouse out there." She tried to brush a soggy lock of hair out of her eyes, but didn't have the energy, so Abbe did it for her. "Come to my room, then, Maddy. I have to take you somewhere to help you rest."

Her mother stood still, she had long ago stopped stirring the red water. Abbe looked up at her, and as though she could sense him asking her permission, she nodded, smiling, then stepped down from her stool, ran a shaking hand over her daughter's head and left the room.

Abbe picked Maddy up and carried her the long way to his room, through the crying women and crazy men. She clung to his neck, crying quietly. "We'll have to get you out of these." He spoke uncertainly. Maddy's need to be dry was much direr than his need not to look at his affection.

She looked at him hopefully; he said nothing but continued to move her swiftly towards their destination. He pushed the heavy, wooden door open with his back and shut it with his foot. He put her down on the green covered bed, propping her up against the pillows as he did so. So many times he had dreamed of this, so many times he had wanted this so bad, but he knew he couldn't have it.

He knew he still couldn't have it. Or shouldn't. She had shown him her back, granting him the acquiescence to open her dress. His fingers trembled as he undid the top knot, and then as he loosened the rest of the strings. The bodice fell open, exposing a back still covered in light pink scars from her earlier whipping.

He drew in a sharp breath and tried not to cry at the pain he saw. She arched her back inward, trying not to let him see the cuts. He put his hands on her shoulders and pulled her towards him. "It's ok…" He ran a still trembling finger over the marred skin. She flinched and then relaxed under his touch.

"You'll freeze in these, Maddy. Can you stand so I can take them off of you?"

"I think so." She was still coughing on the poison lye when she stood, and steadied herself by putting a hand on each of his shoulders. He pushed the bodice off of her, expose what was underneath. He couldn't help but stare. She slipped off her skirt and petticoat, then her bloomers.

She collapsed in towards him, choking on water that was still in her lungs. He wrapped warm arms around her and put her down on the bed. "Let me find you something to wear."

"No."

"What?" His voice cracked.

"I said no. Abbe, come here." Even in her near death experience, Maddy was still the pursuant. He was hesitant, but finally went over to her and sat on the bed next to her. She wrapped a naked arm around him, and leaned against his shoulder. He was shaking, crying, too. "Maddy." He looked away from her and she put a hand on his face. "Abbe." She pulled him towards her and kissed him lightly, through his half hearted protests. He was still crying.

She took his hand in her free one and put it on her waist. "You want to." She knew he wanted to do what she was asking him to do, she didn't even have to ask. It was written in his eyes. She laid back, pulling him on top of her as she did so. She unbuttoned his black cassock and pushed it off his shoulders, and it was then, that he noticed she was shaking, too.

His white shirt came off easy, no buttons, and along with the cassock, it fell to the stone floor. Straddling her bare legs, he sat up and unbuttoned his britches, then pushed them off. Now it was her turn to stare. All the reading in the world couldn't have readied her for seeing Abbe naked. She put thin hands on his hips and pulled him closer. He kissed her, all over her face. Then her neck and her shoulders.

"Maddy…I'm not sure…" He couldn't bring himself to tell her that he didn't knew what the hell he was doing.

"It's ok." She grabbed his hand, reached between them and put his hand on his own "pikestaff". He gasped, arched his back, and then lowered himself gently and slowly into her. He was scared he might hurt her, but the pain of waiting was more intense than it actually happening could be. He pushed a little harder the second time, her mouth opened and the noise that came out was that of a mouse. He leaned in and closed his mouth over hers.

Her fingernails clawed gently at his back, leaving light marks next to darker scars. Dribbles of blood ran down the smooth skin, down his ass. She wrapped muscular legs around him, he grasped them around his back, pulled them higher so his entry would be easier. He pushed a little harder, his breath now escaping in harsh breaths. "Oh, God, Maddy!" He was sobbing, he couldn't believe what he was doing. "Jesus Christ!" She grabbed harder at him, trying to find something to hold onto in her wave of over the top ecstasy.

He pushed harder into her, groaned one last time and fell on top of his lady. "I can't believe you're alive." He was crying into her shoulder, for the blessing God had given him, and the sin he had committed.