Welcome to the next chapter of "A Piece of Home." Let's get on to it!

I found Batman a short time later. He seemed a little worse for wear but otherwise fine. We switched suits immediately upon my arrival. Something told me that Batman hated switching costumes. He looked at his costume in disdain before continuing as if nothing happened. Bruce didn't like sharing his toys. It's not like I used much of any of them. Just the grappling hook. It wasn't that bad, was it? Oh well, I can't change him. He can brood in the corner for all I care. Even I can't straighten that one out.

I expected Batman to head off afterward, but he didn't. It seemed that the League of Assassins got his attention. He did not want to go home until he knew what they were doing here. Hell, it's possible that was the real reason why he was here in the first place. Lois's kidnapping could just be a convenient excuse to tread on my toes. One never knew with that man.

I decided that since I wasn't going to get to leave then I might as well enlist his help. I wanted to speak to Karsta one more time and I might as well have him along. We might get somewhere with her. It was worth a try. We had little to lose.

We arrived long after business hours were over. Most of the office was empty. Only Karsta and a few personnel remained. It was the perfect time to have a chat. That way no one would bother us. I made a point to enter through her office door. While Batman chose the balcony. She seemed a little startled but otherwise unperturbed by our appearance.

"Kal-el," She nodded, "And Batman too. To what do I owe the pleasure?"

"We wanted to have a chat with you about what happened tonight."

Karsta stared at me blankly. "What do you mean 'what happened tonight?' I do not understand."

"At the warehouse, where Lois was being kept."

"Lois was kidnapped?"

Batman chimed in this time. "By Mannheim. He wanted to use her to force Superman to take you out."

I turned to face Batman. "What?"

He explained. "When Mannheim thought that I was you, he made an ultimatum. Either I kill Kristin Wells or Lois Lane dies. It appears that Mannheim wanted you out of the picture."

There was a short moment of silence before Karsta spoke again. 'I see. And you stopped him, right?"

"No," Batman said, "The League of Assassins did."

There was another silence. She seemed to be caught off guard by this. Something wasn't right. "Well, I suppose that is good news. I trust that your life partner is safe and sound?"

"Wife." I corrected. "Humans use the terms husband and wife to describe life partners. And yes, Lois is fine. She is resting at home."

She sighed, "Good. I know that you and I have not always seen eye-to-eye. I know that I have been critical of your choice to mate with a human. For that I am sorry. Your private life is your own. Who you choose to mate with is none of my business. I wish you many happy years."

Something was off. Why was she acting this? It was almost as if she was trying to make amends before . . . It couldn't be. I thought as I started to examine her closely. But there it was. Her heart rate and respiration were off. Her breathing was becoming labored. She was dying.

"You're dying." I said out loud

Batman looked at me in surprise. "What?"

I ignored him. "That's it, isn't it? You're dying."

Karsta smiled at me weakly. "Yes, Kal-el, I am."

"Dying of what?" Batman asked.

"Poison." She waved me off. "And no, the League of Assassins are not responsible. I was dying before I returned to this planet."

"What happened?" I asked.

"I told you before that I had returned to make amends for what I've done. Well, I was not lying. I had returned to atone for my sins. Was tried, convicted, and sentenced to die." She shook her head. "Now don't give me that look. They had every right to sentence me to death. Not all societies are as evolved as Krypton once was. Many still execute criminals. The Zantarie are no exception."

Batman narrowed his eyes. "If you were to be executed then why are you here?"

"Because the Zantarie are a compassionate people. They like to give the criminal a choice on how to die. Either a quick and painless death or a long but relatively painful one. It had been their legal standard for hundreds of years. The methods change but the concept stays the same. The condemned can choose how they die."

"You choose long and painful." I guessed.

She smiled. "Yes, I did. A rarity among their prisoners apparently. Most choose short and painless. I had to do it the hard way. I had to drag it out. I had to suffer."

Batman cut through the crap. "Why?"

"Because it would give more time. You see the Zantarians were not the only species that I had wronged. Just the most vocal amongst them. I had others that I wanted to help. So, I choose long and painful."

"I don't get it, how would that help others?"

Painfully, Karsta stood. "Because if you choose long and painful then you are free to go. So long as you expire within the allotted amount of time, that is."

"How much longer do you have?" He asked.

"Not long. A few minutes perhaps, maybe longer. The Zantarians are nothing if not precise. They go out of their way to make sure that their punishments are delivered on time. Even if they are light-years away."

"What did they use?" I asked.

She thought about it for a moment. 'Not sure exactly. The executioners are sworn to silence. They told me that it had traces of kryptonite in it but beyond that, I do not know. It's progress has been slow. Eating away at me for the last five years or so. It slowly robbed me of my powers and now we are here."

The whole thing sickened me. I hated executions along with all other forms of killing. But to do this, well it was not humane. Compassionate my ass. This was cruel and unusual punishment. No Kryptonian court would have sentenced Karsta to such a fate. Even if she had tried to destroy our world as Zod did. They would have simply sent her to the Phantom Zone. Which gave me an idea on how to save her.

"I can save you. I can send you to Phantom Zone."

She raised her hand. "No, Kal-el. I will not escape justice that way. I will go to death with my head held high. Not cower inside the Zone for all eternity. I have made my choice, I ask you to respect it."

"But . . ." I interjected.

She shook her head. "No."

I wanted to argue but I saw that there was no point. Karsta Wor-Ul did not want to be saved. She had already resigned herself to this fate. Perhaps it was what she wanted all along? Then again she had outlived all of her contemporaries. She had even outlived most of our race. Maybe she wanted to die for the same reason that I wanted her to live: Our world was gone. We may not be close, but we were in the same boat. Only a few of us remain. We needed each other. Even if we were not friends.

I bowed my head. "I'm sorry that I ever mentioned it."

Karsta smiled but said nothing more on the subject. Instead, she tried to walk around the room but failed. She started to collapse but caught herself on the desk. "I do not have much time. If you wish to ask me more questions then ask it."

"Why did you return to Earth?" I found myself asking.

"Isn't that obvious?" She laughed. "It was to be with you, Kal-el. Now before you say anything, I had no intention of breaking up and your . . . wife. You are far too young for me. That was not my intent. I just wanted to be near one of my kind when I passed."

"Then why work with Al Ghul?" Batman asked.

She looked at him briefly then answered. "I don't know. I've only met the human once. Shortly after my arrival on Earth, He had heard of my plight and wanted to help. And no, he did not offer that famous pit of his. I wouldn't have taken it anyway. I wanted to die. I did not want to prolong any longer."

"Then what did he offer?" He was not moved by her impending death.

She sighed. "Purpose. He knew that I only had months left to live. So, he offered a chance to give those months meaning. Something that I had been lacking for quite some time."

She hobbled over to her chair and sat down again. Then continued. "He told me of his mission. To guide humanity into a better future. To help them achieve what they could not achieve on their own." She chuckled. "I don't know why, but suddenly I cared about things like that. Maybe it was your influence, Kal-el."

"I inspired you to join the League of Assassins?" I asked incredulously.

"Not directly, of course. You are a shining beacon of light. The League admires you. Even if it cannot emulate what you do. You are their hope for a better tomorrow."

"Glad I inspire the League of Assassins." I grumbled.

No one responded to my complaint. They just continued on as if I said nothing. Which annoyed even further.

"In any case, they knew of my origins and my tenuous connection to you. They knew of what I could do and what I had done. They knew that I was looking to make amends. And that the only one that I had not made amends to was . . . you, Kal-el."

"What?" I asked dumbfounded.

"I had insulted you, pushed you away. Brought my pursuers to your planet. Forced you to fight for your life. All when you had done nothing wrong." She took a raspy breath. "You may not believe it, but I wanted to make amends to you as well."

"And you went about it, by joining the League of Assassins: Releasing dangerous Kryptonian weapons on the market: Threatening to hurt my wife and trying to force me to join you? How does that make amends to me?"

She stared vacantly at me for a bit then finally said. "I suppose it doesn't. Oh well, I suppose that will be my final regret." She started to cough. "Hurry, my time is short."

Batman moved things along. "What about the weapons? What does the League want with them?"

"The same thing that they want with ALL weapons, Batman. To use them. They are not just about primitive swords, you know." She took another ragged breath. "You can relax. There were only a few prototypes produced. They found them difficult to make. And like those herbs that I planted - the Earth models are inferior in every way. Nothing like the originals. They were quite disappointing."

"And Intergang?" He demanded.

"That is another matter. Just a figurehead. A'Daire ran it once she got control. I wasn't really involved. Just like this human company. Never really understood the thing. The Board always made the decisions for me. I just signed whatever . . ."

Karsta lost focus once again. Finally, she said. "I'm sorry, I am starting to fade. If you have any more questions then ask."

Batman took the opening. He fired a series of questions at her. "Where are weapons now?"

"I do not know."

"Where is A'Daire?"

"Do not know. She contacts me. Not the other way around."

"What does the League want with them?"

"To correct the balance of power. That's what they told me."

"How many are there exactly?"

"Not many. Maybe fifteen to twenty devices. Most were of the model that you were given, Kal-el." She swallowed hard. "Not sure if they produced much more."

Batman proceeded to grill her on the League of Assassins for several more minutes afterward. Most of what he asked she did not know the answer to. It seemed that she only had limited contact with the organization and was not directly a member. Despite her running a corporation created by a well-known member of the league. She did confirm that helped in the design and production of the first 15 weapons. But that was where her participation in the project ended. She didn't even create the product catalog that led me to her. The more that he talked to her the more I realized that she was not who I thought she was. She was not the mastermind. She was not the one that I had to worry about. She was a puppet in all this. The one who was behind this was Whisper A'Daire and the League of Assassins. I had been fooled. Unfortunately, our conversation ended when Karsta could barely talk. The pain had become too great. The time for questions was over. It was time to say goodbye.

She hung on for another hour or two. Alive, but barely able to move or speak. I stayed with her as she deteriorated. Batman gave us our space. She didn't say much until the very end.

"Kal-el . . . I mean, Clark?"

I reached and took her head. "I'm here."

"Thank you."

I was puzzled. "For what?"

"For treating me like . . . family."

"You kind of are."

She squeezed my hand. "Take care of that family of yours. They are a treasure."

I smiled. "I will." With that, she died.

Only one chapter to go! See you all there!