Fei awoke slowly, and was incredibly unhappy that he did. His head pounded. "What the hell...?"
"Good morning, Bright Eyes," said a very smooth, cultured voice.
"Don't make me look up, for fear that I'll lose what little food is left in my stomach," he said. "Since I'm sure that whoever is standing above me is more than enough to jumpstart my gag reflex."
Someone chuckled. Suddenly, Zechs filled Fei's vision. "Really, now..."
Curling his lip, Fei turned his head away, closing his eyes. "Oof...it's worse that I thought."
Zechs cupped Fei's cheek and turned his face. "Tsk tsk tsk. That's not a very nice thing to say, Chang." Without warning, Zechs lashed out and smacked Fei across the face. "You should learn some manners."
"Yes, Zechs, and you are so the one to teach me," he sneered. Sloe eyes remained stubbornly closed. Zechs took a deep breath. "Chang, if you do not cooperate, I will be forced to kill the person in this picture. Take a good, hard look, and tell me if you know him." The aristocrat lifted a picture and held it in front of Fei's face. "Come now, look at the picture."
Reluctantly, Fei opened his eyes to see a smiling Duo in front of him. His face hardened with rage, and he lunged at Zechs, yowling viciously. "You bastard! You wouldn't dare kill my Duo!"
Zechs took a smug step backwards. "Well, you'll just have to cooperate."
"Lieutenant Zechs?" came the tentative call from outside the room.
"Yes, Private?" he asked, standing straight. br br "We have confirmed Heero's hacking. He has read the schedule."
"Excellent. Phase two has begun. Dismissed." Zechs turned back to Fei. "Your friends are such imbeciles, dear Chang. I'm so sorry."
"Oh, bite me, you pompous, pathetic excuse for military spawn!" Fei lunged at him again, biting back a yelp as he pulled his shoulders.
"When, where, and how hard?" he asked as he turned on his heel. Pausing, the blond looked over his shoulder. "I'll be back in a few hours, to see how you're holding up."
Fei hung his head, long black hair falling down around his face. A single tear formed in his eye, overflowing to slide down his cheek. "Duo...I'm so sorry..."