Archived fic rec - Devil's Deal

[sakura_no_miko]

Title: Devil’s Deal

Author: Bagheera

Fandom: Smallville

Rating: NC-17

Pairing: Clark/Lex

Warnings: explicit sex (gay), mind manipulation (and some dubcon aspects related to that), discussion of character death,

Other notes: mythology, underworld, quest/challenge, memories

Length: 30k

Summary: Lex sells his soul to the devil to bring his son back from the dead. Can Clark get it back for him?

 

Re-reading this fic, I vividly remembered the second half–mostly because I’d figured out the twist early on, and I’d gone back to see how it read a second time–but somehow I’d sort of glazed over the first half, which is equally exciting.

I am running out of things to say about awesome Smallville fics. Well, this fic has a fierce!father Lex, which, as I’ve said before, is always great to read. The ease with which he makes a deal to sell his soul is just–it’s so simple, yet such an emotional moment.

There’s some great characterization:

Lex has never figured out why, even in the times of their fiercest enmity, it took only the slightest sign of vulnerability, the smallest injury, for Clark immediately forget everything but his concern for Lex’s safety. He would spend his every waking hour to bring Lex down, to ruin him, expose him, but as soon as Lex got hurt, all he did was protect him.

And, of course–oh, for the love of god, don’t read this next quote before you read the story, no, save this for yourself.

Okay, spoilers follow.

Good? Good.

He stares at Clark and feels nothing. The thing he has sold for his heart’s desire was his heart’s capacity for desire. And now he doesn’t even desire it back.

“I don’t love you anymore,” he says.

It feels peaceful.

You can feel the guillotine drop.

The structure of this story is amazing–how easily the plot points move together and build off one another. Kon’s death, Lex’s deal, how that deal draws him and Clark closer until they realize that everything has been far too easy–and the only way to rectify that is to make things very, very hard.

And, as always, it takes a look at all the problematic aspects of Lex and Clark’s relationship. I love a good rivals/enemies fall in love trope as much as the next person, but it’s good to remember that there was a reason they became enemies. Lex is always wholeheartedly involved in whatever he’s doing–good plans, evil plans, selling your soul plans. And Clark, when presented with something that works for him, is perfectly happy to accept it–happy to go along with everything being happy and uncomplicated. Actually, going back to that quote from yesterday’s rec, the Like a Villain series–both Lex and Clark are overly passionate, except that Clark likes hard categories (good/evil, light/dark), and Lex wants everything to be complex and grey.

Ah, I could keep going on, but read the fic.

If you enjoyed this fic–especially the second half–you might also enjoy The Throwback, which also involves a bit of Clark running through Lex’s memories.

 

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Originally posted on tumblr on 12/06/14