A KIND OF MAGIC ↝ Killian Jones

⇒ CHAPTER SIXTEEN

GETTING KILLIAN OUT of her head was nearly impossible for Wilma, but not quite, as she definitely got something else to think about during her roaming around the cannery with David and Mary Margaret. The blush on her cheeks faded, and so did the smile on her face, as the trio entered a room only to find Greg twisting the buttons of a machine, with wires connected to a woman sweating and suffering in the center of the room — and the woman was Regina, and whilst a wave of relief washed over Wilma at the sight of her, the truth was, she was struggling and balancing between life and death, which were no longer so far from each other.

David pulled out his gun and shot the machine, breaking it before Greg could smoke Regina to ruins, and as the man attempted an escape, Wilma rushed to Regina's side and began to fumble with the straps holding her down. Grunting, Wilma pulled on the restraints and tried to be as quick as possible, well-aware that the woman was in immense pain and needed help right away, her condition being far too serious to ignore or turn her back on. The slight panic caused her hands to shake, and it slowed her down, but gulping down the lump in her throat, Wilma locked her brown eyes with Regina's faded, drained ones and nodded reassuringly — the sight of her face a mere blur to Regina, but it was enough to spark hope within the queen.

"You're going to be okay", Wilma breathed out, smiling carefully, "if there's anything I've learned about you, it's that you're a fighter. So keep fighting", as she yanked on the final straps and wires and managed to free Regina from being held captive, her arms instantly wrapping around the woman whilst helping her stand up. Regina shot Wilma a tired, but grateful look, and all the brunette could do was give her a warm smile before she was pulled into David and Snow's caring arms.

The couple planned on taking Regina to Mother Superior, who could most likely heal her from the torture she had been through, and while they headed out, Wilma went in another direction. She had teamed up with Emma, and on top of that, the woman was with Neal, looking for his evil fiancé — so yes, Wilhelmina deemed it necessary to insert herself into the situation and offer all the assistance she only could. The sight of Regina's pale face, drenched in misery, continued to haunt Wilma as she ran around the cannery and tried to locate the rest of her little group, but truthfully, the worst was still ahead.

Eventually, Wilma came across Emma and Neal, only that the blonde was lying on the floor after seemingly being knocked down by Tamara, who was standing on the other side of the hallway and holding Neal — and now, Wilma — at gunpoint. Stopping dead on her tracks, Wilma huffed and instantly lifted her hands in the air as an automatic reaction, which made Tamara smirk, but instead of letting the woman speak up and say something snarky, Wilma grasped the opportunity to do so.

"I see my timing is flawless. Tamara, I presume?", Wilma nodded, before turning over to Neal, whose face was twisted with evident shock. "You and I need to have a little chat about your taste in women", she whispered, and if the situation hadn't been so extreme, maybe they could have laughed together. But right now, their lives were in danger, Emma Swan was unconscious on the floor, and Neal had just found out that everything had been a lie, since the very beginning. And the knife in his heart was only twisted, as painfully as possible, when he made the mistake of questioning if Tamara ever loved him — only to get a rather disappointing answer.

Frankly, Wilma couldn't help but feel sympathy for the man. She could see it in his eyes, how his heart slowly shattered in his chest and the shards only dug deeper into his skin, causing each movement, each thought hurt and cause him suffering of the worst kind. It was heartbreak, and not the ordinary kind either. Instead of being dumped on prom night or through a text message, Neal had to discover that Tamara had been lying to him since day one and that she was actually a villain, trying to destroy magic and Neal's friends and family in the process. As if Neal hadn't dealt with enough villains and betrayal in his time. And still, he chose to be brave and stand up against Tamara, he chose to fight and resist.