5 minutes. 5 whole fucking minutes left of the match. Killian nearly stormed over to the fourth official right there and then to give him a piece of his mind. Right. 5 minutes. They could do this. They could win this. All they need to do is focus and be together as one.
Wembley Stadium was roaring with noise and full to bursting – there wasn't a seat in the entire 90,000 seat arena that wasn't occupied. Everyone wanted to see the final of the FA Cup between the Storybrooke Wanderers and Bridgeroad United.
5 minutes. The score's tied at 1-1. They needed to do this now before the referee blows his whistle for full time and then it's the dreaded 30 minutes of extra time and then… penalties.
Killian looked over his shoulder at the players with the ball behind him, ready to pounce at any given second. The Wanderers held the ball in midfield. Robin Loxley passed the ball to his right to David Nolan as David then looped the ball up and over to the other side of the pitch to Will Scarelet, another midfielder. Killian was up front, he stayed in line constantly with United's defenders, so that he stayed on side.
Killian's eyes flicked up to the scoreboard above one of the sections of fans. The clock was ticking. They were running out of time. He was already exhausted after playing 90 minutes of full on proper football. He knew he would struggle to play another 30 minutes let alone stand on his two legs without being propped up to take a penalty if it was to come to that.
"Push, push, push." Killian yelled, as he pulled the white and blue armband signalling his captaincy, further up his arm. His words seemed to knock some sense into his team mates as they started to move up the pitch, now seeking that second and hopefully, winning goal.
The defenders pushed up, the goalkeeper came out of his line slightly, the midfielders and wing backs pushed up further the pitch, which in turn, pushed the oppositions defender's closer to their goal, allowing Killian to get into a good position.
2 minutes.
And then there was a break down the right hand side. David snatched the ball in midfield and ran down the right hand side. Killian made his way into the box and ran into clear space just as David crossed in the ball. Killian jumped and his head made contact with the ball. He turned his head to angle it towards goal, but the goalkeeper claimed. Shit. Come on Jones. Pull yourself together.
Their goalkeeper quickly rolled the ball out of one of their defenders as Killian jogged back slowly into position. His eyes went over to his manager, Gold they call him. Or if he's having a bad day, the Dark One. Gold was clapping his efforts, however you could easily tell by his demeanour that his was still pissed off that they hadn't finished this game off already – they' had the chances, but just couldn't convert them into goals. Just behind the players dugouts, his eyes drifted to Emma, just for a second. She was standing up, with her hands together over her mouth and her eyes closed. From her stance, it almost looked like she was praying to the Football Gods that they could pull this off.
Killian's attention was brought back into the game at precisely the right time. The crowd erupted as Arthur intercepted the ball from the opposition and then passed it to Will on the left wing. Killian's hand went straight up into the air, signalling that he was ready for the ball. Will's eyes came up and Killian knew that this was his last chance before extra time.
Killian started the run just as the ball collided with Will's foot so that he stayed onside. It was a dream pass. The ball passed over the opposition and right into the path where Killian wanted it. He managed to out run the defenders that were marking him and ran with the ball towards United's goal. He looked up as he edged closer to the 12-yard box and he was one on one with their keeper. He kept his focus as best as he could in that situation, but he couldn't help but notice the fans behind the goal, his team's fans, stand up in unison as he took a shot. It must have been Immediately after his foot collided with the ball, that he got taken out by a defender and fell to the ground, but Killian couldn't mistake the roar that sounded out when the ball hit the back of the net.
Pandemonium is the best word to describe it. A word meaning chaos or mayhem. And it was. Killian got up from the floor and ran towards the celebrating fans behind the goal. Before he knew it, his team mates and joined the celebrations and Robin and jumped onto his back. Killian couldn't stop grinning as he high fixed Will for the tremendous assist and then he jogged back into position for the whistle to kick off once more.
As he passed where Emma was standing, he couldn't resist looking over at her and blowing her a kiss. And Killian couldn't help but smile even more at the sight that greeted him. Emma was still jumping up and down celebrating his goal with Mary Margaret and Regina, David's and Robin's wives respectively. In her arms, was his 6 month old daughter Eva and next to them, standing on his seat to get a better view, was his 4 year old son Alfie.
30 seconds. They could do this. They could actually do this. The clock continued to tick as United kicked off. They passed it back to one of their defenders who booted it up the pitch in a last ditch effort to equalise and let the game go into extra time. August Booth, one of the Wanderer's longest serving defenders, controlled the ball with his chest and then let it come down to his feet.
"Keep it boys!" David yelled as Victor, another Storybrooke defender came to assist August. Victor passed to ball back to August who then played the ball neatly to Will in midfield. When the ball reached Killian's feet, the referee blew his whistle to indicate full time. All of the players with red shirts, collapsed onto the floor in defeat, however, all the players in white, erupted into celebrations, high-fiving and giving each other hugs.
The team had put blood, sweat and tears into this campaign. They've won 14 games of football to get to this point. That's 1260 minutes of football. Or 21 hours of playing time. No one expected them to win. Hell, most people were surprised that they passed the fifth round. But no one could say they hadn't fought all the way through and that they hadn't deserved the win today.
Killian shook the hand of the oppositions manager, as he had done with the rest of the players and the officials, before he heard a familiar voice behind him.
"Daddy!" He turned around and scooped Alfie into his arms who had escaped Emma and ran onto the pitch. The little boy had Emma's blonde hair but his blue eyes, and was wearing a football shirt with his father's name and number on the back. Killian protested that it was too big for him however, Emma had put up the fight that he'll soon grow into it.
"Hey there little man." Killian greeted and spun his son around in a circle, which resulted in an eruption of giggles from the four year old. "Where's Mommy?" He asked his son and then gave him a small kiss on his head. Alfie pointed behind him at Emma who was approaching with their daughter.
"You did it." She exclaimed and planted a kiss upon his lips. Her smile was undoubtedly one of the purest sights Killian had ever seen.
"No. We did it." Killian said as Emma passed Eva over to him as well so that he had both of his children in his arms.
"I don't think I kicked a single ball so I don't see how I did anything." Emma said and ruffled Alfie's hair. Killian couldn't help but steal another kiss from his wife.
"How can you even say that, love? You've been to every game, sat through every minute and supported me all the way. So I'll say it again" Killian paused and kissed her once more. "We did it." Emma looked over at him with their two children in his arms. Eva was starting to get restless at this point so Killian put Alfie down on his two feet and adjusted Eva in his arms so that she was more comfortable.
"Hey there baby girl. Did you see Daddy score that goal? Did you? Hmmm" Killian mumbled to Eva and placed a kiss upon her head.
"I did Dad!" Alfie said and jumped up and down in excitement. "You were the best!"
"Thanks lad." It was at that moment that an interviewer and a cameraman came up to Killian to hear his words on the win.
"Killian Jones. What a win for your team today and a tremendous last 5 minutes." The man said and then thrust a microphone in is face. Killian took a second to compose himself, knowing that this was a live interview being broadcast live to millions of people. He could play football comfortably on the big stage in front of thousands upon thousands. Public speaking however, are a completely different matter. He could no longer hide behind his skills with a football, he had to be himself, open and raw. Killian had gotten better at it over the years with Emma's help. The numerous hours spent together, practising interviews had definitely helped.
"Yeah, we played really well today and we deserved the win. All the boys, David and Robin in particular, were exceptional. We knew coming into this game that we had to be at our best, otherwise we weren't going to get the win."
"Talk me through your goal." The interviewer said and Killian balanced Eva better in his arms.
"I kept looking at the clock and I knew we were running out of time. When Will looked up and I made the run, I knew it was now or never. We'd put so much into the game that I knew we'd really struggled if this game went on another half an hour. So when the ball landed at my feet and I took the shot, I just prayed that it was at least on target as then there's always a chance it could go in."
"The fans here today sang all game long, even when you went down 1-0. Did that help you at all?"
"Oh absolutely." Killian said. "The crowd are always our 12th man. I said to the boys at half time that if we were going to do it, we're going to have to do it for them as they've stood by us all season long. The least we can do know is try out very best and come away with a trophy to take back to Storybrooke."
"Well Killian. You've got that trophy. Congratulations, I'll let you go to get the trophy and celebrate with your teammates and family." Killian held his hand out and the interviewer shook it firmly.
"Thank you." Killian said and turned back to Emma who was hiding behind the camera. She came straight up to him and wrapped her arms around his neck.
"I love you." She whispered and leaned in close.
"I love you too." Killian said and closed the gap between them as they shared one last, lingering kiss.
Killian's lips were still tingling as he ascended the steps in Wembley Stadium with the rest of his team mates and backroom staff. As he was the captain, he gets to lift the trophy and present it to the fans, therefore, he was smack bang in the middle of the line to collect their medals. Stood in between Robin and David, Killian couldn't help but be nervous as the FA Cup was brought to him.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you the winners of the FA Cup 2017…. Storybrooke Wanderers." Huge cheers went up all around the stadium when Killian lifted the cup high into the air. Elation and excitement were like waves that shot through his body when he looked out and saw all the fans celebrating. On the edge of the pitch, was Emma with her arms around her infant and her son. Even though he wasn't next to then, Killian already knew what Emma was thinking. She was proud. She loves him. And he loves her. And that's all that matters. Yes the team had worked hard and they'd won the Cup. But all his hard work would mean nothing to him if he didn't have Emma and his two children to share it with. Because that's the meaning of life; love and family.