Homelander immediately changed his demeanor.
He bent slightly and laid America, whom he had been holding, flat on a nearby stone slab.
Then he strode over to Wanda and gently cupped her face.
His eyes held the joy of finding someone he thought he had lost, along with pain and just the right amount of self-reproach.
"I missed you so much, Wanda," Homelander said softly, with a faint, perfectly measured tremor in his voice.
At the familiar voice and the real warmth against her cheeks, Wanda's eyes reddened. Her tears broke free.
The fear and loneliness of drifting through the endless void between dimensions poured out of her at last.
She threw herself into Homelander's arms and clung tightly to his neck, as though he would vanish if she let go.
"I thought I'd never see you again..." Wanda buried her face against his chest, sobbing. "There was nothing in that place. No time, no direction. I thought I'd lost you forever..."
"Don't be afraid. I'm here." Homelander stroked Wanda's back with infinite gentleness.
"I promised you that no matter what happened, I'd never give up on you. You have no idea how much it hurt not knowing what had happened to you."
"To find you, I searched through every ancient text I could get my hands on. I even turned to the forbidden Darkhold."
"I knew it was dangerous, but I didn't care. If it meant bringing you back safely, then being consumed by darkness, paying any price at all—it would have been worth it."
Wanda trembled. She stared at Homelander through tear-filled eyes.
During her time studying at Kamar-Taj, she had learned exactly what it meant to touch dark magic. Its sorcerers rarely dared even speak of that forbidden power.
Yet this perfect hero, a man who valued