The Boy Who Fell From The Sky

Chapter Twenty

Clark stumbled slightly as the sudden, but not unfamiliar, feeling of Apparation enveloped him and he breathed through the sensation while wondering which magic user was responsible for their extraction.

As they came out on the other side of their teleportation landing in a non descript looking alleyway far off in the distance he spotted the arc reactor facility still exploding, he turned around and recognized the long, silver blonde mane of their rescuer. Feeling that being surprised at her feat of magic was appropriate he started to adopt a look of astonishment before his ears caught the sound of Tony's heartbeat which was always in the periphery of his senses.

The weakness of the beats surprised him but when he looked down at the man he thought of as his brother, his own heart came to a stop.

Tony wasn't moving. Where his arc reactor was supposed to be was a gaping hole the size of a dinner plate!

"Fuck!" he yelped in panic looking frantically to Daphne who was looking up at the sky apparently sending green sparks to signal someone. "Daphne Tony's splinched!"

The woman spun around to look at the two men, Clark laying Tony slowly down on the ground even as his panic rose.

Daphne rushed over to their side. "How did this happen?" she asked, for once looking something other than put together. "I was very careful!" She muttered something under her breath and a silver streak flew out of her wand and out through the nearest wall. She quickly turned back to Tony, then she pulled up short. "Wait how do you know about splinching?!" She asked accusingly.

Clark shook his head. "Never mind that!" he said half afraid half angry. "It must have been his arc reactor. Electricity doesn't work well with magic." He looked up to meet the older womans cool grey eyes. "Can you help him?" he asked her imploringly.

Daphne looked anguished at the near adult farm boy, even as she waved her wand over the wound in Tony's chest. "I have some potions that could help," she answered hesitantly but she met his eyes with pain in her own. "But by the time I get back with them he could bleed out."

Clark himself was scanning Tony's body with his vision but even he knew that this wasn't something a simple cauterizing could fix.

To add to their trouble two pops announced the arrival of Susan with Kara in tow. By now Tony's eyes had closed and his breathing was becoming shallow.

Kara let out a gasp as she saw the chaos they had arrived into.

Clark looked around from one helpless individual in the alley to the other. He had no idea what Kara was doing here, but that didn't matter. Tony was dying and his powers weren't going to be any help. Without any further thought he grabbed his bracelet and pulled, watching as the small colorful beads Lily Marie had insisted on sewing on it scattered across the filthy asphalt even as, in a whirl of color, his parents arrived beside him.

Harry and Hermione had just settled down for dinner when the signal went off, with a thought Hermione sent off a Patronus to Andy, letting her know that Clark needed them. Then without further ado the couple clasped hands and Hermione tapped her wand to Harry's bracelet both feeling the tug behind their navel as they were yanked off to their obviously desperate son's location.

Upon arriving the first thing they spotted was Clark and the fallen man in the iron suit that was their other son in all the ways that counted.

Fortunately for the people present Harry and Hermione were well versed in dealing with high pressure situations and hadn't let their years of inaction render them incapable. Almost immediately Hermione, ignoring the rest of the people in the room, knelt down next to the side of Tony that wasn't occupied by a slightly hysterical Clark.

She pointed her wand at her belt and summoned two vials from a hidden pocket that had a bottomless charm on it. The first vial that she grabbed was a deep blood red, the other a clear one. She didn't bother making her unconscious patient drink them but instead she just switched the potions with his stomach contents. Vanishing the vials she stood up as Tony's breathing slowed down even more but the blood that was pouring out of his chest slowed.

Hermione turned around too look at Harry who had by now catalogued area for danger and identified all the people in the alley but had stayed silent watching his wife work.

"He's stable," she said finally allowing some anxiety to show as she wiped her brow with her sleeve. "I need to take him with me to the farm, the Blood Replenisher and the Draught of Living Death I gave him are fortunately some of the few potions that work on non magicals without side effects but anything else will need to be mostly wand work."

Harry who had already recognized the potions she had brought up, nodded at her decision and tossed her one of the emergency portkeys that took them straight to Hermione's potions lair where she had a full medical ward setup.

"I'll handle things here and bring them all over in a minute," he replied indicating the assembled women and their son.

Hermione grabbed the portkey nodding back her agreement of the plan and turned to her slightly shivering son. Pulling him in for a much needed embrace for the both of them, she whispered soft words of reassurance and encouragement before kneeling down next to the prone Ironman and with a hand on his chest plate, she tapped the portkey with her wand and they vanished with a blur of red and gold.

Once his wife was gone and the danger of Tony bleeding out had subsided, Harry turned to the rest of the room and let out a breath. "Well, anyone want to fill me in on what in the name of all that is holy happened to Tony?" he looked to Clark for an explanation but his eyes swept the room and landed on Kara Danvers, the one person in the room to whom magic wasn't known and he felt a headache come on as he realized that he might need to wipe her memory before all was said and done this night.

Kara on the other hand was going through so many emotions that she couldn't even settle on what to think. First she had exposed herself as something other than human, then she found out that magic was real, then she gets transported to safety but sees her boss almost at the brink of death, and then finally somehow Clark's parents pop out of nowhere and somehow stabilize Tony only for one of them to whisk him away to Rao knows where leaving the other standing there waiting expectantly for an explanation.

She glanced sideways at Susan, hoping against hope that she heeded Kara's desperate request, before she teleported them to not mention her powers to Tony or Clark for now, Susan had acquiesced to her request only because she herself had a secret to keep.

The barely imperceptible nod that Susan gave Kara might not have been spotted if she was human. She breathed a sigh of relief though when she did catch it and nodded back at the magician? Before turning her attention back to Jonathan Kent as Clark started to explain exactly what had been happening since Tony returned to the states.

Even Kara was surprised at some of the details that the boy revealed about Tony's abduction and subsequent decisions to take back his weapons and make his captors pay for their crimes. By the time Clark finished the grip on the stick that Jonathan was holding was so tight that Kara thought he might just snap it. Rao, Kara would have probably turned that stick to dust by now.

She saw Jonathan process the information Clark provided before nodding. He produced a thin string from one of his pockets and tapped it with his stick. Amazingly it turned into a thick rope right in front of her eyes. Kara shook her head at herself, she could fly, run at insane speeds, probably lift an entire oil tanker with one hand, freeze things at below zero temperatures and shoot lasers from her eyes! And here she was being amazed at a small thing turning into a big thing.

Fortunately for Kara her internal monolgue remained internal and she thanked her inhuman reflexes for being able to catch the rope that Jonathan tossed her despite being distracted.

Jonathan smiled kindly at her and she couldn't help but return said smile. She knew Jonathan Kent. She liked Jonathan Kent. Just because he could now do magic didn't make him any different than the man she had met so many times before.

"Now Miss Danvers, the rest know this, but I need you to hold onto this rope very tightly and whatever happens once I tap my wand on it, do not let go."

Kara looked from the concerned face of Jonathan Kent to the expectant face of Clark and the encouraging faces of Daphne and Susan and taking a long deep breath, she nodded her assent.

Once everyone was clutching the rope Clark's father counted from three. Two. One.

Kara felt a strong pull behind her naval as if a fishing hook had just painlessly hooked into her stomach from behind. And then she was whirled away into a sea of colors. It took all of her strength not to start flying, to fight against the whirlwind. The trip took seconds but felt longer before she was thrown from group and landed hard on her butt in the middle of what she recognized as the Kent Farm Barn, turning her head she glimpsed Clark's bedroom up the stairs as she stood up and brushed off the hay that had gotten stuck to her when she landed.

Turning around she couldn't help but scowl at the fact that she was the only one who had fallen, the rest were still gathered around the rope that had brought them here. None were laughing at her but she couldnl see them hiding smiles. Kara huffed.

"Whatever that was," she said pointing to the rope. "You can keep it to yourself, next time I'm taking the taxi."

At this Jonathan did let go of a laugh appreciating Kara's sense of humor lightening the load even while they were all worried about Tony's condition.

Once Jonathan stored away the rope, shrinking it back into a string, he led the four out of the Barn and over to the house.

As they entered the living room Kara saw Martha pacing in front of the hearth. As she looked up at their entry and immediately rushed over to Jonathan.

"Martha how's Tony?" he asked his wife who was wringing her hands in agitation but seemed to calm as Jonathan clasped his own hands over hers grounding her.

"He's still stable and under the Draught," she sighed a little bit of frustration leaking through in her voice. "It's a little bit more complicated than I initially thought. The splinch ripped the reactor and the chest piece he had installed along with it. There is a very large hole in his chest bone and the shrapnel slivers that he's been keeping at bay with the electro magnet are even closer to his heart then ever."

Martha broke away from Jonathan and resumed her pacing." So I can't just wave my wand and fix the bones he's missing! I'm going to have to vanish his entire chest cavity, remove the shrapnel and then regrow new bones." She glanced up at Jonathan with shining eyes, her wavy hair had fallen out of the neat bun she had kept it in. Kara had actually never seen Martha so distraught before. "I don't know what prompted me to try and make skele-gro work with muggles but thank Merlin I actually made it work," she ran a hand through her already messy hair. "I don't know how I feel about Tony being my first human trial though."

Jonathan walked forwards and engulfed his wife in a hug. Martha struggled for a moment before sinking into the embrace. It was only a hug, but Kara felt the need to look away because the embrace between them seemed too intimate to be intruded upon. She turned to Clark and noticed that he had already averted his eyes and was staring intensely in the direction of the pantry.

"Love do you think maybe you should let Andy handle Tony's care? Maybe you're too close to this?" she expected Martha to get angry, get fired up at the implication that she couldn't separate herself from her emotions. But all Martha did was let out a long and bone-weary sigh.

"Probably," she heard the Kent matriarch admit. "But I can't trust Tony's care to anyone else. If something happens to him because of me not being there, Clark might forgive me someday, but I won't ever forgive myself."

She whispered those words to Jonathan and the only reason Kara heard them was because of her enhanced hearing. For a moment Clark shifted as if he had heard her too but then he turned back to staring at the pantry. Exactly what was so fascinating about the pantry?

"If you're sure?" Jonathan tried one more time and his wife pushed off his chest and she heard the sound of lips meeting lips and now Kara knew was definitely intruding.

"I'm sure," she reasserted and moved out of his embrace. "Daphne I could really use your help with Tony."

Daphne didn't even question her, already moving to follow Martha until Susan caught her and laid a small kiss to the platinum blonde's lips before letting her go.

Before Martha left the room she cast an appraising eye over Kara then looked at Jonathan. "Remember, no memory charms."

She saw Jonathan nod his acceptance of his wife's ruling and Kara felt a deep apprehension at the notion of memory charms?

She decided quickly to sit as far away from Jonathan and his wand, did they say? as she could, just in case. Clark and Jonathan settled on a couch by themselves and Susan settled on an armchair near Kara.

Jonathan smiled at Kara's defensive posture and tried to assure her about his intentions.

"You can relax Miss Danvers, my wife has already decided, so I will not be attempting to wipe your memories."

Kara was not reassured. "Meaning that you would have done so if she hadn't asked you not to?"

She saw Jonathan's features harden for a second and it was all the confirmation she needed.

"No, Kara," said Clark jumping to her defense. "I wouldn't have let Dad do that either."

Kara fixed Clark with her stare assessing his honesty before determining that he was telling the truth, it still did not calm.

"All that tells me is that if it weren't for your wife and son," she said turning to Jonathan. "You would make me forget that all this ever happened?" she asked her ire rising. "I mean I know I'm not as close to you guys as Tony but I don't think I've given you any reason to mistrust me."

Jonathan's jaw clenched. "You're mistaken, Miss Danvers. It's only my trust and Tony's opinion of you that has stayed my wand for so long," he said, no regret in his voice. "Rest assured I will do anything to protect my family."

"I'm not a threat to your family!" Kara retorted heatedly.

"No," agreed Jonathan. "But your mind is another story."

"Whats wrong with my mind?" she asked. 'Other than the absence of missing memories,' she thought to herself scathingly

"It's unprotected," he said softly apology in his tone. "A skilled wizard could take your memories of my family without your consent. It's better to not have those memories lest you are put in more danger than necessary."

Kara crossed her arms still unsure but recognizing that Jonathan might be a desperate man trying to keep his family, and surprisingly herself, safe.

"Why would someone want to come after your family?"

Clark jumped in at that point. "Dad maybe we're going about this wrong."

Jonathan rubbed a hand over his face and nodded. "Fine, get the Pensieve."

And Kara got even more confused as Clark got up and ran up the stairs.

Harry watched as tears ran down Kara's cheeks as his son narrated his life's story with the help of their Pensieve. It wasn't fun reliving it all but the understanding in Kara Danvers eyes was worth it.

And that's why it hurt him more to do this. Kara did not know about Clark and if he couldn't protect his and his wife's magical secret, he could deal with it, but he was never going to give away Clark's origin freely. He would protect his son til his dying breath, if his integrity and sense of honor comes into question, then so be it.

"The problem was, that while I defeated Voldemort, all of his followers were not caught. The ones in hiding kept hiding, but a lot of them vowed revenge against me and my family. And when I married Hermione and adopted Clark, who is a muggle child, it gave them even more reason to come after them."

Harry sighed and looked away. "If it were only me, I would have stayed and fought, but I had a wife and a child. I had to think of them first. So I ran to the States and we hid here and I don't regret that because I got to see my son and my daughter grow up. But now I have got more to lose than ever." He gave Kara a small smile. "So you see Miss Danvers, it's not about not trusting you. It's about you being one more person that I will be bound to protect if you were know about us."

Kara nodded. "I think I get it now," she said as she wiped away her tears and Harry felt that twinge of guilt at deceiving the caring woman in front of her. "Is there no way to protect my mind against these magical intrusions?" she asked hesitantly.

Harry shook his head. "You have to be magical in order to learn the defense techniques. There are however runes that can detect when you're being attacked by a Legilimens. Our bracelets," he showed Kara his own, "have a rune like that so it will light up as soon as it detects a mental attack."

"Can I have one of those then?" she asked eagerly. "I don't like the idea of being mind wiped but I also don't want to give up your location in case someone trys to scan me."

Harry smiled at her. "You are too good for this world Miss Danvers." and he laughed as Kara blushed.

Clark once again looked downwards through the pantry wall and into the makeshift medical ward that his mother had made a while ago; fully stocked with magical and muggle supplies ranging from murtlap essence to morphine drips. And it was a godsend because a lot of the magical remedies did not work on Tony. Thankfully his mom had been working over the years, in secret, to combine the two separate medical practices and with the help of Andy they had succeeded in some ways to be able to manufacture a mix of potions and spells that worked on muggle patients but did not cause adverse effects that were likely to occur if a muggle was given normal magical treatments.

He had been keeping an eye on what his mother and Daphne were doing while he and his dad were filling Kara in on the wizarding world. He had winced slightly at the lie his dad had told about the reason for their hiding but it had been drilled into his head for a long time that his secret was only supposed to be told to the smallest amount of people. Personally Clark believed that they could trust Kara completely but his father was always extra cautious.

Before he didn't really understand his dad's desperate attempts at keeping Clark's real origins a secret. But ever since Lily Marie came into their lives, Clark understood the need to protect someone to the point of being unreasonable. He had to constantly fight with himself to try to let Lily live freely because for a while he was always superspeeding to save her from the smallest bumps and scrapes.

Even now with another person knowing about their magical secret he was terrified of someone finding out about Lily's magic and trying to abduct her and experiment on her. So he didn't stop his father from trying to protect him but eventually he and his parents needed to have a talk, because if he was guessing Tony and Kara's intentions towards each other correctly; then she might have to be included in his Alien heritage if she became a bigger part of their surrogate family.

Movement from Tony's ward caught Clark's eye as he watched his mother approach with her wand extended. Daphne was standing by next to them as his mom slowly removed the metal armor surrounding Tony. Clark knew that without the arc reactor in place the armor would have to be removed by brute force but his mom's gentle banishing charms seemed to be doing the trick.

He was grateful for the heavy subject still being discussed in the living room, because it allowed Clark to watch the proceedings in the medical ward without anyone noticing.

As soon as Tony's chest was clear, Clark tried really hard not to focus on the gaping hole in the center of his chest, his mom waved her wand in a complicated pattern from one side of Tony's chest to the other pause and then repeated. Four cycles of this and he watched in morbid fascination as Tony's chest sank down significantly. It was like his torso was a balloon that had been slowly let out of air.

He had to then look away as with another wave of her wand his mom pulled the shrapnel out that had been slowly moving towards Tony's heart. Unfortunately there was no delicate way to do this as risking a vanishing charm so close to Tony's heart could be catastrophic so the metal shards had to be pulled out by a summoning charm that ripped through Tony's deflated chest in a bloody stream.

Thankfully when he looked back his mom had quickly managed to heal the cuts and vanish the blood, stabilizing Tony's heart rate which had picked up rapidly in Clark's ear when the summoning was performed.

He thanked the gods maybe even Rao, as Jor-Els AI had told him, that his mother had a steady hand in a crisis, despite freaking out earlier. He knew it must be killing her to perform experimental magical surgery on Tony but he also knew that she wouldn't be able to entrust anyone else with his care..

Finally it seemed like only administering the modified Skele-Gro was left, the cuts and bruises Tony had sustained in his fight with Stane had already been healed by Daphne. Unlike with the previous potions this was attached to an IV drip which his mom expertly applied to Tony's forearm and Clark breathed a sigh of relief when, finally, she pulled off her mask and gloves and covered Tony's exposed chest and still present circular wound. Unfortunately that particular injury would not be easily fixed with a wave of a wand, since they had to wait for his chest to regrow before growing muscles, tendons and sinew in and around the bones.

As Kara and his dad finished discussing how they were going to protect her mind from unwanted invasions, Daphne came back into the living room to tell them about the successful surgery. Now all they needed to do was wait.

It has been a while, hasn't it? Well all I can say is that I'm still invested in completing this story and actually making a Saga out of it. I hope ya'll can hang with me till then!

And yes, I know that the Kara reveal people were expecting didn't actually happen but I never intended for her to find out so soon.

It's gonna happen eventually but right now only Susan and Daph know and the girls might have this secret between them for a while same as the Kent's having theirs.

Anyways, keep the reviews coming in and I'll update as quickly as I can. Cheers!