When Alex returned to the lobby twenty minutes later, having settled Kara back until the sun lamps, she was surprised to find Lena sitting in one of the chairs staring at the front door.

"You're still here then," Alex interrupted her thoughts. "I thought you'd be long gone, but Kara asked me to come and check."

"It's a big decision. Do I go and face Lex, tell him about Jamie and make him promise to leave him alone, or do I leave and hope Kara can protect him?"

"Or there's the third option."

Lena looked up at her, puzzled, "oh?"

"You could go upstairs and spend some time with your son."

Lena shook her head, "they must hate me."

"Kara's got amnesia so those things you said to her when you left, she doesn't remember them. As for Jamie, he came looking for you remember?"

"He came looking for his superpowered parents," Lena corrected her, "I'm just a human. And a Luthor. Once he understands what that means..."

"Lena," Alex scoffed, "I thought you were smarter than that."

"I gave him up, it's not like I can come back into his life. Eliza is his mother, she's been raising him all these years. You're his family now."

"Oh I get it, this isn't about him it's about you. You don't want to be part of his life, you're just looking for another excuse to run away the same way you did to Kara. You couldn't handle who she was, and you just saw that she didn't care that you're a Luthor so maybe you're the one with the problem."

"You don't have the faintest idea what it's like to be in my family. I did what I had to in order to protect them. Once I got over being angry at Kara for lying I realised it was all for the best. If I could discover her secret how soon would it be before Lex realised? Once I told them I was dating her they would have scrutinised her entire life trying to find some way to break us up, and her secret would have been out."

"If they're so awful why do you still visit Lex in prison? Why are you still part of the family, running LCorp and using their name?"

"Lex is my brother, once upon a time he was the only friend I had, and there's no way I'm leaving someone like Lillian in charge of LCorp - she's worse than Lex! If I left them for Kara they'd still come after us, but I've been working on a way to disappear completely. I just... I wanted to wait until Jamie was old enough, to make sure he was safe..."

"Then I guess you've made your choice," Alex shrugged and headed towards the doors.

"Alex?"

"Yes?"

"This amnesia, it isn't permanent right?"

"I'm not sure yet, it was caused by a head injury so we just have to wait and see. I'm hoping the sun lamps will help her recover faster."

"Okay."

Lena watched Alex open the doors, then ran across the lobby to follow her.

"You have got to teach me how to fly!"

Jamie was standing next to Kara's bed, about halfway down, just out of the sun lamps range. He had been talking to his other mother non-stop since before Lena arrived and Kara looked exhausted, but was trying to put on a brave face for him.

"We don't know if you'll get that ability," Lena reminded him, "and I don't think you should be putting yourself in danger by trying."

She was sitting in a chair by the door, across the room from them. She'd hoped to have the chance to speak to Kara privately, but it didn't look as though Jamie planned on leaving her side any time soon. It was strange watching them interact, there had been times when she'd wondered what life would have been like if she had stayed with Kara and they'd raised Jamie together.

She knew Alex had called Eliza. That was one more awkward conversation to look forward to.

"But Kara'll catch me, won't you?"

"Of course. I missed out on teaching Kal so this'll be nice," Kara assured him. "I can teach you all about Krypton and share stories..."

"And we can fight crime together!"

"No! Definitely not," Lena interrupted. "You'll get hurt."

"You are a little young," Kara conceded, "even Kal didn't become Superman until he went to Metropolis."

"But you can start training me, right?"

"As soon as Alex lets me out of here."

Lena sighed. She thought it was quiet enough to go un-noticed, but Kara's head turned towards her. Lena dropped her gaze first. Even though Kara looked older, Lena knew she was still thinking like the teenager she had once been. She hoped that wouldn't make her reckless with Jamie's safety.

She half-listened as Jamie launched into another tale of a time when his powers had manifested. When the door next to her opened she looked up and Alex motioned for her to step outside. Lena wondered whether she was about to be asked to leave. Reaching into her bag, she pulled out the folder with all of the photos of Jamie inside and took them over to Kara.

"I thought you might like to see these, until you get your memory back," she explained laying them on the bed.

Before she could back away, she felt Kara's hand reach towards her. The superhero's soft skin brushed against her arm. Lena fled.

Alex led her down the corridor, and around a corner, to another room. Lena stepped inside, not sure what to expect. When she looked around she realised there was another woman waiting there. Despite the decade that had passed, she recognised Elia Danvers. Lena spun around, intending to ask Alex what was going on.

The DEO agent just shrugged her shoulders, "she thought you might like to talk away from Kryptonian hearing. This room is soundproofed."

Then Alex closed the door and Lena was left to face Kara's mother.

"Thank you for taking care of Jamie," Lena said, choosing to break the silence first.

"You know, I always wondered whether his mother was a friend of Kara or Alex's. I'm not on any list of potential foster parents, or adoptive parents, so to be chosen like that... it had to be someone who knew me, knew our family. Every time the girls brought an old school friend over to the house I offered them the chance to spend time with Jamie, then waited for one to break down in tears and tell me the truth, as the girls got older I thought maybe his mother would find herself in a better place and come and ask for him back. Kara told us who you were after you broke up, but I never thought..."

"What did Alex tell you?"

"That Jamie's been investigating his birth parents on his own, that he inherited superpowers from his mother Kara but that you were the one who gave birth to him."

Lena nodded, "yes."

"That must have been hard for you, on your own. When did you find out you were pregnant?"

"Not until I went away. I knew I couldn't raise him, and I couldn't let my family find out not with Kara as his mother."

"You didn't feel you could come to us in person to ask for help?"

"I... I was angry with Kara. She didn't even tell me it was possible, so it felt like one more lie on top of everything. I didn't want to face her but I knew the best place for Jamie was with you. Kara was still so young and if I said he was our child she would have come to find me."

"What about now? Jamie and Kara both know the truth."

"You're his mother, you've been raising him. I don't want to take that away. Plus if Lex found out, Jamie and Kara would be in so much danger. He's safer with you."

Eliza walked towards her. Lena wasn't sure what to expect. She certainly never anticipated Eliza holding open her arms, offering her a hug. Lena remembered those hugs. Kara had inherited Eliza's fondness for hugging for every little occasion, from having a passing grade in high school to welcomes and farewells once she was officially dating Kara and visited the Danvers home. Hesitantly, as if fearing a trap, Lena stepped into the hug, breathing a sigh of relief when Eliza's arms wrapped around her. She wanted to cry. It had been a long time since she'd felt safe like this.