~*~ When Did This Happen? ~*~

:: Seiftis. Squffie hints. (Quistis x Seifer, Squall x Selphie) ::

Chapter Eleven: Confined fears

Note: I usually go into detail with things, but I'm in university now, I have a midterms and essays staring me in the face. This is a quick and casual read. We think. Reviews are more than a little appreciated.

~Silverium~

Disclaimer: Squaresoft. Not Silver.

"Oh look, a screw!" Zell cried sarcastically, throwing the piece of metal into a box,

Squall ignored him and picked up some shrapnel that he figured belonged to the ship. For the past three hours they had dug through charred plane-pieces and the remnants of the generator building. The building was four stories tall, and the plane had crashed into the top two. It wasn't a large plane, two-person standard fighter, but it had no reason to crash. Squall made a stack of outer casing bits and tossed them into his box, noting it was full and toting it over to the hull of the craft.

Selphie was jammed half way underneath it. Her skin was dotted with grease stains and oil smudges, streaks of ash and other dirty particles. They all were. Squall dumped out the box and did a quick job of sorting out the pieces,

"Brought more," He called under the ship, wondering if she could hear him,

"Great! Do you have anything that says 1895DX100?" Selphie's voice floated back to him,

Squall did a quick check and turned up with nothing, "No,"

"Okay, no prob," Selphie replied, sliding herself out.

She sucked in a deep breath of air and then closed her eyes, blinking them open after a moment, "Whew. How long have we been here?"

"Three and a half hours." Squall replied with no hesitation,

"Time for a break?" The little brunette asked hopefully,

Squall watched her for a moment then nodded shortly. Selphie smiled and then stood up, dusting herself off though it did no good. Zell was overjoyed at the break and announced he was going to eat. With neither of them feeling hungry, Squall and Selphie decided to explore.

"I think the plane came in at this angle, then hit the edge, and tilted up, that means some of the pieces probably fell through that hole," Selphie said, mimicking the plane with movements of her hand, "So I'm going to check it out,"

They had roped off the hole as soon as they had got there, not wanting to accidentally fall down to what would be their death, or at least severe wounds. Leading the way, Selphie climbed down a tilted staircase cautiously, its wire railings hideously bent, and then jumped to the landing. Dust rose up and she waved it away, squinting in the dull light. Squall came down after her, his pale eyes narrowed, searching for the hole in the ceiling. It wasn't hard to find but it was an unappealing situation. They could see the hole, but it disappeared behind a wall, and when they turned the corner, following the gap in the ceiling, they saw that the majority of the hole had been opened in the inside of a storage room.

"We'll have to break in, to see what fell down there," Squall acknowledged softly,

"Yeah, here, I bet I can get it." Selphie pulled out a multi-tool and went to work on the keyhole.

She managed to pry open the door a little, but it wanted to swing back and lock into place. Together, Squall held the door open wide enough for Selphie to fit through and then began to pull it open so he could get in too, but the thick metal was heavy.

Selphie turned on her flashlight and looked around the small chamber. She felt uncomfortable in the small confines but said nothing, looking for the secret piece of the black box that would contain the information they were looking for. The walls of the storage area were lined in shelves, but one side had been smashed inwards. Selphie moved closer and grimaced as a broken shelf propped up vertically blocked her from the corner. Throwing down her flashlight and gripping it tightly she pulled it away from the wall, but in doing so lost her balance.

"Ugh! Squall!" Selphie shrieked, as it came tumbling down towards the doorway.

Squall leapt away in time but the door slammed shut, locking Selphie inside. Snapped into blackness, not even the hole above her granting any light. Selphie fumbled around the floor for the flashlight and clicked it on, the pale light bringing her only a little bit of comfort. She ran to the door and pounced on it, trying to push it open. On the other side Squall was trying to pull it but the door had latched into place again. He could hear muffled cries from Selphie, and he then it struck him that she hated dark places.

"Selphie!" He shouted, banging on the door, "Selphie!"

He could hear her whimper out his name. Furiously the gunblader tried to dig his fingers into the crack in the door and pull it open, but it was no use.

"Selphie, I'll be right back, I'm going upstairs, I'm going to get Zell, and we'll get you out." Squall assured her through the door, his heart had constricted painfully in his chest and the thought of her being in there all alone.

Running like a mad man up the stairs He grabbed Zell by the collar just as the man had settled in on his seconds. Zell choked and was dragged a few feet before he managed to get up and shoot a baleful look at Squall.

"Wha-th-'ell!?" He asked with his mouth full,

"Selphie got trapped, we need to get her out, she's in a locked storage room but the hole the ship made opens the ceiling a bit." Squall said abruptly, stalking to the hole and kneeling down,

"Selphie! Can you hear me?" He shouted,

"Squall!"

There was a mass of ripped piping, insulation, and a broken air vent in the way of Squall seeing Selphie. Dimly he could make out a broken slash of light, it had to be her flashlight, and perhaps a sliver of a pale leg. Kneeling down Squall squinted to see better, he had hoped he could just throw a rope and lift her out but there were too many things in the way. Maybe they could use a thin cord and get Selphie's multi-tool, then they could unlock the door.

"Selphie, I'm going to get a cord, and put it down to you, I want you to tie your multi-tool to it so we can open the door again." Squall called down,

"O-okay." Selphie replied, her voice wavered a little,

"Hang in there…Seffie,"

Zell's wide blue eyes softened when he heard Squall use the girl's pet name. He was really worried about Selphie being down there. Looking around the martial artist began to sort their supplies looking for cord. Squall joined him and they were disappointed to come up with nothing.

"I'll go into town, someone will have something, don't let her panic." Squall ordered in an even tone,

"Yeah," Zell nodded, scrambling back to the hole and looking down, "Yo! Selphie!"

"Y-yeah?" Selphie's tiny voice drifted back up,

"Stay tight chicka."