The Enemy of my Enemy?

Silence hung thick in the air.

Starlight’s jaw tightened as she listened to Gale’s words, every syllable dripping with the kind of raw, unfiltered hatred she’d heard before—from the worst kind of people. The way she said Supe like it was a curse, like it was something dirty—like she wasn’t one herself.

Her fingers curled into fists at her sides, the familiar hum of energy flickering beneath her skin, but she didn’t move. Not yet.

Cate, standing just beside her, didn’t react at all—not outwardly. But Starlight could feel the shift in the room, the way the air seemed to thin around them, the way Cate’s expression became too still, too calm.

When Cate spoke, her voice was silk wrapped around a razor’s edge.

“Oh, I get it,” she murmured, tilting her head. “You don’t just want to kill Homelander. You want to wipe us all out.”

A dry, humorless chuckle escaped her lips, though there was no amusement in her eyes.

“That’s cute. Really. You do realize you’re a Supe too, right?”

Cate took a slow step forward, keeping her hands loose at her sides—a careful move. A controlled one.

“I mean, I get the self-loathing thing,” she continued, her voice still unnervingly smooth. “God knows I’ve seen my fair share of people trying to make up for their pasts. But you’re really standing here, on a moral high horse, thinking you’re different? That you’re better than every other person born into this nightmare?”

She gestured vaguely, her gloved fingers curling and uncurling. “Hate to break it to you, sweetheart, but whatever righteous crusade you’ve got spinning around in that head of yours? It doesn’t make you any less one of us.”

Cate didn’t blink, didn’t break eye contact, letting the weight of her words settle.

Then, Starlight took a step forward.

“If you want to kill Homelander, congratulations—you’re not special. That’s what everyone here wants.” Her tone was sharper now, controlled but undeniably pissed. “But if you think you’re going to sit here and spit that kind of purist bullshit, then maybe you’re not the ally we need.”

She nodded toward the door. “Because if you want to burn everyone with Compound V in their blood, then you might as well be working for Vought.”

Cate arched a brow. “And last I checked, that side doesn’t need any more psychopaths.”