I was told that the first thing the man talking to Wesker did was try to show that he wasn't afraid of him by asking why they should even listen to anything he said and stated that they don't negotiate with terrorists. Wesker then broke all his bindings, evaded every attack, and threatened to kill everyone as he made his way out. I sighed and internally rolled my eyes as that was a predictable reaction. He was sure they had the means to contain him somehow but if he didn't want to be there, he would eventually find a way out. He was a superhuman genius with a wide range of specialties, they had to be very careful about how they dealt with him and it seemed they had started off badly.

It was then agreed to at least hear him out so Wesker had listed that his demands were to be kept well rather than in a cell and to be supplied with writing materials, a list of books, and whatever else he would need, within reason. Those were side conditions but he wouldn't reveal what the real one was until I was present. After that, he refused to speak at all and nothing they tried worked. It was posed to me as an option and I was even asked how they should proceed, being the 'Wesker expert' and being highly regarded as one of the founders of the whole organization. I told them they wouldn't get anything out of Wesker that he didn't want out so while I hated having to play right into his hands, what he had was too important to pass up and Wesker knew it. He would push as far as he wanted within the limits of it still being 'worth it' and we would have to comply. Our only choice was to give him what he wanted while his demands were still low as he would no doubt start to stack them the more annoyed he became with people which was why I also advised little contact. I didn't say it but the whole 'being kept well' thing was probably a result of the poor negotiating in the beginning.

Wesker had told them that the evidence was on his phone but it was encrypted and only he was able to get into it, one wrong move and everything would be lost. A backup existed but he would have to be physically present to get it. So if we wanted to avoid having to bring him along for that, he advised that no one attempt to hack into his phone but it was up to us. There was already a lot of debate about whether or not to hack it anyway. The tech department had at least taken a peek at the encryption and hesitated so I shut down the idea to hack it, saying it was better to have it ready than to be forced to agree to take Wesker along to retrieve the backup.

Once all that was settled, I was sent in to confront Wesker in the very thick reinforced glass cell he was currently in.

"Chris, how wonderful of you to finally join the negotiation." it was unexpected to be greeted warmly though it was still as condensating as ever.

"Cut the shit Wesker, just tell me what you want." I demanded as I rubbed my eyes again, really starting to feel just how tired I truly was.

"You really should get some sleep." his tone hadn't changed but when I looked back at him his smirk was replaced with his usual stoic expression. He was being serious. What the hell? Was he actually concerned about my wellbeing? Of course not, he's just messing with me while he knows I'm too tired to really deal with it. That was true but I also just wasn't in the mood to be messed with and that's all Wesker did so I didn't want to be here longer than was absolutely necessary.

"I'm fine." I snapped more out of confusion than anger though I'd be lying if I said I wasn't getting a bit grumpy.

"Alright." the blond dropped it and smirked again much to my dismay. "You have to stay with me in captivity for one whole month, down to the very last hour." the words were simple enough but they hit me about the same as when the man had told me he was turning himself in. I stood there shocked for a few silent moments as he waited, again too patiently as I processed what he was saying.

"What?" was all I could dumbly say.

"I won't harm you. There can be visual surveillance though I won't stand for auditory surveillance. I'll leave it up to you how we're detained but it has to be a shared space." he went on as if I wasn't already lost. "You have the rest of the day to think it over before I recant the deal and escape." and then he drops that bombshell.

"Uh…" I honestly had no idea what to say or think for that matter. My brain had already been in overdrive because of all of this and now it was threatening to shut down. Without knowing what else to say, I wordlessly walked away and ignored the chuckling from the cell.

Everyone told me that it was completely up to me if I was going to do it or not but it was obvious they were expecting me to take the deal. I guess somehow I already knew I was going to but I really needed to get away and give my mind a little time to try to make sense of any of this. So I went home. I didn't call Jill though someone did because I then got a call from the hospital that I assumed was her. I let it go to voicemail which I then listened to just to make sure it wasn't actually the nurses calling me to say something had happened. It was Jill so I stopped listening. I didn't want anyone else's thoughts on this, at least not until I could figure out my own.

I did shut down from the stress of it all and woke up with a massive headache. It wasn't that late so I don't think I was out for long but I could think more clearly. Of course I was going to take the deal. I had to in order to save millions of lives. With that in mind, it wasn't that bad… I mean it could be much worse. Saving countless lives versus spending a month with Wesker? As much as I hated it, it was an easy decision. I called in with an affirmative on the deal but refused to go back in. I called Jill to let her know exactly what was going on. She was silent for a long time before simply wishing me luck and promising to be there if I needed anything. She must have been thinking about it a lot as well the past few hours and reached the same conclusion as I had. She said one last thing before she hung up that made me feel like a weight had come off my chest.

"Tell him thank you for me."

I wasn't alone in these cursed feelings of gratitude for the evil man. He had done something genuinely good that he didn't have to for no discernable reason other than just to save Jill and by extension, me. He could have let her die and turned himself in with all the same demands and still gotten his way but he went through all the effort of saving her instead. I wasn't alone in feeling like maybe, somehow, in his own way… that he cared. I'm sure we were wrong but at least I wasn't alone in thinking that maybe STARS wasn't just an act for him. I wasn't alone in feeling like we were somehow important. And maybe, just maybe, I wasn't alone in feeling like he could be changed or that maybe he already was changing. The last thing he had done before this was kill Oswell E. Spencer, the man behind Umbrella and the last remaining piece to everything that controlled him his whole life. I knew I was getting my hopes far, far too high but I wanted to believe that's what he needed in order to feel free to do whatever he wanted to do and that came with a change of perspective that didn't include all his evil plans. I would never expect him to regret what he's already done but that didn't mean he couldn't change what he did in the future.

I was up all night thinking about this and kicked myself in the morning after some coffee, reminding myself that he wasn't changing and he would never just suddenly become a better person. There was some angle he was playing. There was something he was getting out of this even if I couldn't see it yet.

I later met with an architect the BSAA hired to build an underground cell for us to stay in and I was supposed to help him design it. I didn't know why I was supposed to do that but they said they were taking my advice to be careful with Wesker and he had said he would leave it up to me so that's what we were doing. Leaving it up to me. Great. I thought about it for a long time. I didn't want to be stuck with him at all times, I wanted my own space, so I got my own room and bathroom. It was a start. I wanted somewhere to lock him in if I felt the need so his cell became its own room though I refused to call it his bedroom since he didn't deserve that. He wouldn't care about the lack of privacy needed for the bathroom, even if he did they were going to monitor him at all times anyway. So the bathroom was in the same room as his cell with just a curtain to separate them though it wouldn't go all the way around to give him any privacy. As an added safety precaution, both my bedroom and bathroom doors would lock from the inside while his cell door would lock from the outside. It was a small gesture and I knew the doors wouldn't be enough to stop him if he didn't want them to but it did make me feel a bit better about this whole thing. It reassured me that despite putting me in this situation, the BSAA were at least trying to make sure I was as comfortable and safe as possible.

Jill was released from the hospital since there was nothing actually wrong with her anymore and the doctors didn't know what to do with her. The BSAA still wanted to perform some tests just to make sure of a few things. She even demanded and they tested to be sure her hair wasn't just dyed and was disappointed that Wesker had been telling the truth that it was actually changed. It was a funny thought though that Wesker had dyed her hair just to mess with her. If the man had a normal sense of humor rather than a twisted one, I'd even say he would do it just to see her reaction. Jill joined the planning once everyone was done with her and we learned that she truly was fine and we both shared a knowing look. I internally thanked Wesker again and secretly hoped that Jill did too. I still hadn't told Wesker that she wanted to thank him, I felt that it was wrong so I didn't want to say it while there was so much surveillance and someone else could hear. It could wait. I assumed that Jill felt the same because she hadn't been to see him at all. Some believed it to be trauma but I knew better. Yes she had some trauma, she basically remembers falling to her death and the surgeries it took to keep her alive. But that didn't have to do with Wesker. She didn't face him because she didn't feel like thanking him would be wise when others who wouldn't understand could hear.

We went back and forth with how to connect the rooms when it was thrown in that it would be best to have a kitchen area otherwise meals would need to be brought in daily which allowed for too much outside contact. Jill joked that we were just making an apartment which was followed by silence. It somehow made everything more clear. One of the conditions was that he would be imprisoned comfortably and even after Chris was able to leave, it would provide all the same safety precautions to prevent him from escaping. The only time he would get any sort of contact would be to resupply the kitchen. Yes it was more than he deserved but it met the demands, prevented him from escaping, kept me and anyone else that might have to go down there safe, and kept Wesker away from anyone else to possibly make new contacts. So we made an apartment though I wouldn't let anyone call it that or Wesker's room a bedroom because that was too far for me. It was a prison, the room was his cell, and I was the warden. This became somewhat of a joke and whenever a new job came up involving this case, we titled it something relating to the prison system. There would be a heavily secured elevator that would lead down to the hallway filled with security measures, booby traps are basically what they really were. The 'front door' was reinforced steel with a few different types of locks on it ranging from deadbolts to fingerprint scanners. All of it on the outside so even though I was in the system, I couldn't unlock the door until after the month was over.

When the architect was done with the floor plan and we all agreed on it, I took it to Wesker though it only showed the prison, not anything of the security beyond it. I pressed it to the glass so he could look it over. The entrance led into the living room, my room was to the left and his cell was to the right, beyond that was the kitchen and the connected dining area, and just off to the side of that was space for a washer and dryer. It wasn't big or nice by any means but it was still more than he deserved. Wesker seemed a little displeased about something but nodded and said it would do. So the men got to work building it. They were scheduled to finish it before the first of the following month which would begin my incarceration with Wesker and last until the very last hour of the month.

I spent the remainder of my time away from the BSAA, having been reassured that taking some time off before I had to do this was best for me. I was alone for the most part but Jill came by often since she was also given some time off after what she had been through. We both appreciated the company. We talked about what happened to her only a little bit. She wasn't looking forward to starting therapy per the BSAA's procedures but understood why it was needed. I asked her if she blamed Wesker and she said she didn't. She blamed him for almost killing me but it was her who tackled him out of a window overlooking a cliff and instead of leaving her to die, he saved her and brought her home. We didn't talk about it again because she wasn't ready. So we talked about what I should bring with me. At first I said I didn't need anything but she assured me I would get bored, pointing out that even Wesker wanted books to keep entertained. That was the last time either of us so much as brought him up, both too ashamed to admit our feelings that betrayed our minds. Jill assured me she would pack some things she thought I might like to keep me busy. I would usually turn to work to keep busy but it was already made clear to me that I wouldn't be sent any while I was down there in case Wesker got to it which I understood but it was still irritating. I agreed to whatever Jill wanted to have me take.

I called Claire to update her on what I could. Jill was found alive though I couldn't really go into detail about how so I just never brought up the extent of her injuries. I thought she would continue to pretend I had never mentioned Wesker with such sadness during my drunken state but she asked if he was also found and if I was okay. I hung up on her because I didn't know how to answer. It was like she knew all of the guilty feelings I was hiding and had directly questioned me about it. It was then that I realized that I wanted- no, I needed to talk to her about this. I couldn't talk about it with Jill because she was going through the same thing and was just as confused and guilty over it as I was. Maybe Claire could help her sort it out later too but I needed to get myself together before I went in there and Claire had less of a bias about Wesker than anyone else I could possibly share this with. Plus she was my little sister and I didn't like to keep things from her. I ended up getting permission from the higher ups to tell her everything, her position in TerraSave greatly helped the approval, though she had to sign a document of confidentiality. I called her back and told her to come to my apartment so we could talk and I warned her about the paper in case she didn't want to know. Of course she agreed to sign it for me and said she would visit over the weekend.

As promised, Claire came to stay with me for the weekend and I sat her on the couch so I could tell her everything. She listened intently with little quips of feedback or questions here and there but for the most part she was quiet and just listened.

"What do you think?" I asked, a touch more nervous than I liked.

"I think you're crazy." she said a bit harshly with folded arms and a stern look on her face. I deflated a little in disappointment. Just because I said she had less of a bias against him than others I know, myself included, doesn't mean she didn't still hate the man. "But," she continued with a sigh as she looked down at her lap. "I understand why you agreed. I would probably do the same thing if it meant preventing so much pain and death." she admitted and I breathed in an air of relief.

"Exactly." I nodded and relaxed more into the couch behind me.

"What are you bringing?"

"What?" he asked, feeling confused about her sudden question.

"Well the prison is gonna need furniture." the redhead stated matter of fact.

"Oh. Yeah, we've got all the basics covered." I replied, not really caring about that.

"I figured but what are you bringing? Is your room comfortable? Do you have enough to keep busy since you can't work?" her voice was a bit more rushed now and I knew that was a sign of her nervousness. She was probably going over the different ways this could go wrong in her head. She always worried too much for a tough girl. I chuckled at all the different times I recalled her stressing over me though I was her strong older brother. She was just such a kind and loving person and I loved that about her.

"Jill's insisting that she pack some things for me to keep me from getting bored." I told her and she nodded.

"That's good." she looked around for a moment. "Do you have a tv?" she asked, pointing to the small smart tv that sat in front of us.

"It's a prison." I reminded her.

"Not for you." she shot back. "Take your tv- and your laptop- and your phone. Can I still contact you?" I took her hand to get her to look at me.

"Thank you for looking out for me but I'll be fine Claire." I assured her with a soft smile and she sighed, squeezing my hand.

"I just want you to be okay." she smiled playfully back at me. "Otherwise those months I spent chasing you around the world would've been for nothing." we both laughed at that. "You are taking your stuff though." she stated seriously. "You'll thank me later."

"Fine." I rolled my eyes. "And yes, we'll still be able to talk." she nodded and seemed satisfied. Now or never I guess. "There's um, there's actually something else I wanted to talk to you about." I stated as I leaned forward with my elbows on my knees. I couldn't bring myself to look at her anymore as her inquisitive bright blue eyes turned to me. "It's about what I was saying… while I was drinking."

"I thought you didn't remember-"

"We were both pretending I didn't say anything." I corrected hastily and she nodded, understanding why I would want to pretend I hadn't acted as if I was sad that my nemesis was possibly dead. "Look, I- back in STARS I think I…" I took a deep breath and had to give myself a minute. This was a lot harder to say out loud than I thought it was going to be as I'd never done it before, not even while I was alone. I hardly ever let the thought form in my own mind before banishing it to the darkest corner of my brain. My sister's hand rubbed at my back as she scooted closer to me on the couch, her leg now touching mine as her free hand rested on my arm. I felt better with the comforting touches and her loving aura around me.

"Take your time." Claire reassured me that it was okay and she was there. I took another deep breath and ripped the bandaid off.

"I had a crush on Wesker." I finally forced out and noticed her eyes widened from my peripheral vision and her hand stopped rubbing my back though it remained on me. I didn't blame her for freezing in shock, not only did I just confess to once having a crush on another man but Albert Wesker of all men. "I don't anymore but he saved Jill and- I don't know! It's- I think it's doing something weird to me." I sighed in frustration, putting my head in my hands. "It's stirring up old feelings and thoughts and I'm pretty sure Jill feels the same way." I tried to explain but knew I was failing miserably. I didn't know what was going on with me so how was I supposed to put it into words for someone else to understand? But that was why I was talking to her about it, right? In the hopes that she could help me figure it out.

"Jill had a crush on him too?" she asked almost in disgust.

"What?" my head turned to her to see the baffled expression she wore. "No! I mean, I don't think so. That's not the point!" I turned to glare at the ground again. "I just mean she's feeling mixed up about it. Wesker doesn't care about anyone but himself yet there's no reason for him saving Jill. He was the only one involved that didn't gain anything from it."

"Are you sure?" she asked hesitantly and I thought for a minute.

"Positive. If he was gonna get anything out of saving her, it would have been by using her as some sort of experiment and he was right, the evidence shows that he didn't."

"What if the experiment was seeing if the T-virus could heal her without mutating?" her question took me by surprise and I should have thought about that more but for some reason I felt defensive.

"Claire, he went to the trouble of bringing her home." I reminded her and she shrugged. "He could have killed her and still gotten his way with turning himself in, which is another weird thing all on its own." I sat back up so Claire moved her arm and I stared up at the ceiling. We were quiet for a while and I could practically hear the gears turning in her head.

"Are you gay?" she suddenly asked and I looked at her, dumbfounded.

"That's what you got out of all this?"

"Sorry, I just didn't think you were the type…" she trailed off, not wanting to finish and I wondered if that grossed her out.

"I'm not even sure I am." I shrugged. "It's not like I ever think about guys and I'm still interested in women. Wesker was the only man I ever thought about like that and I've tried to forget about it ever since he betrayed us. But with this, I don't know, maybe-"

"Please don't say that." Claire cut in and when I looked at her, she looked afraid. I looked around as if there was some sort of danger around us but of course there was nothing.

"Why?"

"It makes it sound like you… just please, don't say that." I slowly nodded and we fell back to silence. I knew what she was going to say and I was grateful that she didn't. If I thought admitting a crush was something to be stricken even from thought, that was forbidden territory never to exist even in the deepest bits of my subconscious. Yet… it was now there. "Chris-"

"I don't want to talk about this anymore." I interrupted and she gave me a worried look. "But maybe you should try to talk to Jill about this stuff too, see if you can help her figure it out. Do me a favor though and don't mention the… thing. I'll tell her about that when I'm ready… even if that's never." I wasn't about to say it again but luckily I didn't have to because she nodded in understanding.

"Alright." was all she said but gave my arm a reassuring squeeze. "Everything will be okay and if you need anything, I'll be there for you." she promised with a smile that I returned. Even if this didn't help me figure out my feelings, I was still glad we had this talk.

"I know Claire, thank you." I leaned in to kiss the top of her head. "Same to you. If you have a rough day at work or whatever, call and we can talk about it."

"Is that how you're going to live for the month? Vicariously through others?" she joked and I laughed.

"I thought we were trying to help me not be bored?" I shot back and her mouth gaped in offense before she punched my arm. She laughed with me and just like that everything was fine.


So from here we'll go day by day of the two's imprisonment together, even if it's rather mundane. The chapter lengths will probably vary greatly depending on what happens that day. Just a warning, the first few will most likely be short but I already have the next few done so they'll be out quickly. I was actually already working into Day 2 by the time I posted the first chapter.

See you all later, feedback is great, and hope you continue to enjoy!

~Arren