crack_van | Smallville/Batman Begins (NC-17)

Title: Redemption by me-ya-ri
Pairing: Clark/Lex/Bruce
Length: Approx. 35,400
Author on LJ:

Why this must be read:

This story starts with the torture of Clark and Lex, but the main focus is the aftermath of the torture. In the first part of the story (there are 4 parts) she broke me right along with Clark and Lex. Her writing and the story itself were so powerful that passages such as the one below tore me apart emotionally:

“Is he a friend, or someone who hurts me, Lex?” Clark asked, pausing between bites to look at the dark haired man.

“That’s Bruce,” Lex said, “He’s a very good friend. He saved my life many times before I met you. He’s protecting us from the people who hurt you, Clark. Bruce is good. You can trust Bruce and Alfred.”

“Oh, OK,” Clark said, nodding. He went back to the food. Pretty soon it was all gone. Clark wiped his mouth the way Mom taught him, and smiled at Alfred when he took the tray. Lex was saying something to Bruce, Clark’s new friend, but Clark’s mind had drifted away again, thinking about Mom’s cooking so he wouldn’t think about the bad things crowding at the back of his mind.

Bruce is integral to the recovery of both Clark and Lex and the rest of the story is spent trying to repair the damage done to them, but especially Clark. All three help and support each of the others and their different needs, personalities, and strengths help to balance each other and their growing relationship. Be prepared for a multitude of emotions as it is a powerful and intense story; while the first part had me incoherent with sorrow the last part had me laughing and in between was amazement, disbelief, lust, relief, satisfaction, and so many more. I am afraid that my description is not doing this story justice. I hope that you will go read it and judge for yourself here. The other parts are linked at the end of the first part.