Above Manhattan, New York.
Two figures wove through canyons of glass, steel, and concrete.
Homelander flew with his hands behind his back, the half-length cape trailing him snapping in the wind. He looked utterly at ease, as though strolling through his own backyard.
Beside him, a figure in red rode an old-fashioned broom, bobbing up and down. Her movements were still a little clumsy, but she could barely contain her excitement.
"Whoa!"
Wanda Maximoff gripped the Nimbus 2000's polished mahogany handle and leaned forward. Magic parted the rushing air before her.
One moment, she pulled into a graceful climb, the twigs at the broom's tail tracing an elegant arc.
The next, she tumbled through the clouds, her red skirt blooming like a rose.
Homelander watched her.
The girl whose eyes had once held nothing but hatred and fear finally wore the smile she should have had at her age.
So this is the joy of watching someone grow?
"This feels... this feels incredible, Anthony!"
Wanda swung the broom around and hovered before Homelander, her cheeks rosy from excitement and the cold wind.
"It knows what I'm thinking! I think left, and it goes left! I think right, and it goes right. It's like part of my body!"
"When I was little... back in Sokovia, I watched videos about magic on TV," Wanda shouted over the wind. "I used to dream of riding one of these!"
For a girl raised amid war and experiments, fairy tales had been an impossible luxury. Now this man had made one real and placed it in her hands.
"I'm glad you like it."
Homelander reached out and tucked a windblown lock of hair behind her ear.
"I told you I'd give you the best."
Wanda ran her fingers over the "Nimbus 2000" inscription on the