Caine slid his key into the lock and pushed against the heavy door with his shoulder. He slipped into the room and dropped the key onto the table next to the door.

The apartment was dirty. It had been for a long time. Pizza boxes and cans were littered across every surface. The couch was ratty and falling apart with a number of suspicious looking stains. The TV hadn't worked for months and he couldn't be bothered to fix it. There was mould on the walls and he slept on a mattress.

Caine didn't really care. It wasn't like he spent that much time in his apartment anyway.

He kicked a half full beer can out of his way and flung himself onto the sofa, pulling out his burner phone. Jason had insisted that he keep it on him at all times. Over the years, he had developed a habit of checking it every five minutes. A new message flashed on the screen and he sighed, adjusting his glasses to read it.

Go to location one now.

He rolled his eyes. He'd only just gotten home and yet he was being summoned to another bloody meeting. He was probably just being called to hear another one of Jason's rants about how much he hated Hiro Hamada and how all his family deserved to die.

Rena. His stomach clenched at the thought of Jason getting his hands on her. Caine knew full well what was going to happen to her; yet he didn't have the power to stop him. Nobody could stop Jason Fournier once he set his mind to something.

'It's your own fault.' He muttered, rising from the couch and kicking a plastic bottle across the room. 'Don't get attached. Idiot.'

Only that had failed, hadn't it? He'd kissed her. He'd kissed her and she'd pushed him away. Caine was angry, but more at himself than at her. What was he thinking? He knew full well that Jason had every intent on killing her. He knew that from the start and yet he let himself fall for her. And the stupidest part is - he thought she felt the same.

What would he have done anyway? Beg Jason not to kill her? Fat chance. If Caine even hinted at the fact that he'd grown attached to Rena Hamada Jason would not hesitate to have him eliminated. He knew that.

'You were placed a spy.' He muttered under his breath, 'that was all. You were supposed to monitor them. Now look what you've gotten yourself into.'

He had wracked his brains for a solution countless times. Rena Hamada was going to die along with the rest of her family. He wanted more than anything to stop it. But how?

He couldn't. That was the short answer. There was nothing he could do about it. Especially now that Jason had carried out Project 412. He'd be a fool to even try and stop it.

Now Rena was going to die knowing he'd betrayed her. And Caine hated himself for it.

But... at the same time... his desire for revenge ran deep. He'd never met Hiro. In fact, he'd purposely avoided the kid for all this time. Mainly so that he didn't recognise Caine and give it away, but also because of how angry he was at him. It was Hiro's fault that Marissa had died. There were no two ways about it. Hiro Hamada had been the catalyst for her death. He was the one responsible for ruining everything good in Caine's life. And Jason's. And Matthew's.

Caine was hungry for revenge. How could he not be? Hiro needed to die. He knew that much. But.. did Rena really have to as well? Was it selfish to just want to keep her alive?

'Don't be soft.' He muttered under his breath as he slid the key back into the door. 'She must die. Yes, you tried to kiss her. It means nothing. She means nothing to you. You were an idiot. Put all that behind you. She can die.'

He sighed deeply as he ran down the concrete stairs of his apartment block. Location one was only a five minute walk away from him; he'd be there in no time.

His mind was going a hundred miles an hour as he walked down the street. The air was cold and refreshing on his face, waking him up faster than any amount of caffeine.

It had been two days since he had last seen Rena. Two days since they'd sat on the rooftop and she had pushed him away. Was it really only two days ago? It felt like a lifetime had passed in those 48 hours.

His face hardened. No, he wasn't going to waste any more time thinking about her. He'd already spent enough time thinking. He was done with it. Thinking? Yeah, that was overrated.

He reached the old warehouse by the river - location one. Jason insisted on code-naming each of their secret hideouts a different code name. Not that it would make any difference. Everyone in the gang was too scared to snitch and everyone outside was too scared to go looking. They knew what happened to traitors. Caine could still hear their screams in his dreams.

He knocked on the heavy iron door and it slowly creeped open with a noise loud enough to wake the whole city.

Matthew's face peered out from between the gap, his eyes alight with delight. He let Caine slip inside and clapped him on the shoulder. 'Boyo, we've done it!'

Caine narrowed his eyes at him, suspicious of his uncharacteristic glee. 'Done what?'

'He's not told you?! Oh brilliant, just wait until you see this!'

He gestured for the boy to follow him. Caine marched down the corridor behind him, his eyes peeled and back straight. After all this time, he was still never at ease in Jason's territory. Something told him he was never going to be.

They went down some stairs and across another, longer corridor. The whole time, Matthew seemed to be overflowing with joy.

'Finally!' He said loudly, gesturing to the walls and ceiling as though they were alive. 'We've done it! Not long now until the Hamada child is dead! Not long at all!'

His cackling didn't stop until they reached the end of the corridor. Matthew held out his hand as they approached a green door flanked by two of Jason's men Caine vaguely recognised from somewhere. His heart was pounding and he was doing a poor job of hiding his anxiety.

Matthew said something in a low voice to the man on the right and he nodded in response. The guard turned and slid a key into the door; successfully unlocking it.

Matthew gestured for Caine to go inside, grinning wickedly. 'I don't like you all that much boy, but you're largely responsible for this. You should get your chance to gloat. Maybe get one of our... ah... tools and you can have a go at torture!'

He said it so casually, Caine didn't recognise what he said at first. 'Uhh... what?'

But Matthew wasn't listening. He had already began walking down the corridor away from him, whistling.

Caine looked nervously at the guards, unsure of what to say. 'Shall I just... go in?'

'Permission has been granted.' The man on the right stated simply.

Caine stepped forward and opened the door. He stepped into the semi-darkness, scrunching his nose up in disgust at the foul smell that met him.

He reached for the light: a single string attached to the ceiling. The room was suddenly lit up and as he looked up his heart seemed to stop.

In the centre of the room was a basic wooden chair. There was a bucket of water and a soaking wet towel next to it. A knife had been thrown in the corner; a baseball bat lying next to it.

Tied to the chair was a girl with dark curly hair. Her head was bowed forwards, blood dripping from her face onto the floor. Her breathing was ragged and the ropes seemed to be cutting into her.

Rena Hamada slowly raised her head and Caine put a hand to his mouth in shock.

She was missing a tooth. Maybe more. Her nose was bleeding and so was her lip. Her right eye was swollen and blackened. Her eyes were dead. That was possibly the scariest thing. She looked... hopeless. He'd never seen her like this before.

Rena looked at him and her eyes widened. She opened her mouth then clamped it shut again, seemingly lost for words.

Caine swallowed down a mouthful of bile and without saying a word, he turned around and left the room.