They left Dogmeat with Ellie again before they re-entered the Glowing Sea and went to Virgil's Cave. He was delighted—and surprised—to see that they had survived. While they were gone, he compiled a list of instructions and materials needed to build a transporter to get into the Institute. He apologized for the child-like writings and drawings because his enlarged hands had diminished his fine motor skills. Virgil reminded them about the serum and wished them luck as they left again.

Nick hadn't really spoken much since they killed the Courser and every time she glanced at him, his eyebrows were scrunched, like he deliberated on something. Once the Geiger counter on her Pip-Boy stopped clicking, meaning they were now safe from the radiation, Briar Rose stopped and turned to him.

"Alright, Nick, what's wrong?"

Nick looked at her, confused. "Wrong?"

"Something's bothering you; you haven't said a full two sentences since four days ago. Now what is it? You can talk to me."

"I know I can, Flower; it's just, you already have so much on your shoulders with finding your son and I... don't want you to feel obligated to help me, because I know you will." He paused to think something over; coming to some decision, he shook his head as he resumed walking. "We can discuss it later, after you get Shaun back."

Briar Rose grabbed his arm to stop him from walking away. "No, we're going to discuss it now. I know where Shaun is and how to get to him, but after everything to get here... I think I need a breather."

"My situation won't give you the rest you're hoping for."

"I don't think anything in this new world will, but your problem might provide me with something else to focus on."

Nick remained silent as he thought; finally, he sighed in resignation. "There's this chunk of Nick Valentine history I've been hoping to put a bow on for a while now. I could use a hand, if you're willing to take a crack at it. Once upon a time in the land of Boston, there lived a king of organized crime: Eddie Winter."

"Eddie Winter... I know that name; he was from my time," Briar Rose said.

He nodded. "He was a wicked man who did a lot of bad things. Hurt a lot of innocent people, but he knew the end was coming. So he sealed himself inside a personal shelter, located underneath the sub shop he used as headquarters. The arrogant bastard wanted to cheat death; live forever... so he could come out of that shelter someday, into this brave new world. Sound familiar? Only Eddie didn't want to be a frozen banana—no cryo sleep for him." She scowled at him. "No, he invested his money in some sick, crazy radiation experiment. He went and turned himself into a ghoul. Two hundred years before it was fashionable. Hell, he was probably the first one. I'm convinced that he's still locked inside that shelter. Safe and sound—ready to come out and begin his evil reign all over again."

Briar Rose listened, but something bothered her. This seemed like him seeking an-eye-for-an-eye. "I don't get it, Nick. Why kill Eddie Winter, even if he is still alive? This sounds like some kind of vendetta."

Nick hesitated. "I have memories of a girl... my girl. They're not really my memories, I know that; they're Nick's. But the girl... she was real. She was beautiful and innocent, and Eddie Winter killed her. The 'old Nick' became obsessed with getting him after killing Jennifer Lands; I feel like I should finish what he started—honor his and Jenny's memory."

He wanted to do this to avenge the 'old Nick's' fiancée; Briar Rose wanted to help him do it for him, not for her. Maybe doing this would help him move on...

Nick continued. "Now, I know where Winter's vault is. But the door is sealed with a complex numerical code. Lucky for us, Winter's arrogance knew no bounds. Back in the day, he recorded ten holotapes, incriminating different criminal associates. On each one, he hid a single number. We find all those holotapes, we get the numbers; we get all the numbers, we get the code. Then we get Winter."

She didn't have to think about whether to help him. "Then let's go get those holotapes."

***

They returned to Valentine Detective Agency to get the case file on Eddie Winter and the one holotape Nick already had, and to bring Dogmeat with them.

In his case file, Nick had listed four police stations he knew one of Eddie Winter's holotapes were in; a working terminal at the stations should help them track down the others. It looked like they would have to visit ten separate police stations to get a holotape and the next number in the sequence. Briar Rose at least hoped their destinations were somewhat close to each other.

Their visits to many police stations ranged in intensity: one they had to kill three Radroaches, the next was claimed by a gang of Raiders, another was riddled with Super Mutants, and one they didn't have to fight anything. On visiting Cambridge Police Station, they had to help a recon team from the Brotherhood of Steel fend off an attack of Feral Ghouls; Briar Rose had to convince their leader—a man named Paladin Danse—to let them in to get the holotape in lockup and to look at the terminal. He let them in because of their help, but eyed Nick the whole time.

They had to trek across the entire Commonwealth to get the whole code. Each holotape was numbered in 1 to 10 and determined the order of the code. Now that they had the sequence of numbers, they had to delve into Andrew Station, where Eddie Winter was hiding.

Andrew Station used to be a subway station but now housed a large gang of Raiders; she, Nick, and Dogmeat fought their way in. One of the subway tunnel's walls had been tunneled into, creating another path through rock. They journeyed through the twists and turns to find a single metal door set apart from the main path, locked by a high-powered terminal and watched by a security camera. Because of the security, they knew they had found Eddie Winter.

Briar Rose looked at Nick. "Ready?"

"Eager," he corrected before he stepped up to the terminal and typed in the correct code on the keypad. Deep thuds sounded as large metal locks unlocked and the door swung open.

They cautiously stepped in—it was a fairly nice living area with a bed, cooking station, bureaus, cabinets, sofas, and a small table with playing cards on it. A man in a suit came into view.

"Who the hell are you?"

This Ghoul wasn't how Briar Rose remembered Eddie Winter; she remembered him being plump but attractive with dark hair and blue, deep-set eyes. The only thing this Eddie Winter had in relation to the old one was that he was fat. Were they sure they had found the right guy?

His eyes looked her over. "You're easy on the eyes, sweetheart, but still, who are you people?"

Never mind; his insolence meant he was the right Eddie Winter.

"Just how the fuck... No. No way. Not after all this time. Don't tell me you actually cracked my code? In the holotapes?" He laughed. "Well, it's only been, what, 200 years? I'm not sure what you thought you'd find—gold, jewels, the secret of the universe. But you get me: one guy. A 'ghoul,' I guess you'd call me. Just living. Surviving. And what I got, you can't have. That code; it was a joke. I just wanted to prove how dumb those feds were. Turns out, pretty dumb. So take your asses someplace else."

Nick stepped forward. "I'm not going anywhere until I get what I came for."

"Yeah? And what's that?" Eddie Winter finally looked at Nick and had to take a double-take. "Who are you, huh? You look kinda familiar. But what are you? Some kind of robot? Is that what it's like out there: a world of robot overlords? I knew it."

"The name's Valentine; Nick Valentine. Remember me?"

"Valentine? The cop? Is that who you're supposed to be? Sorry, pal, but you ain't Nick Valentine. You're just some kind of... machine."

"You killed my fiancée, Jennifer Lands. There are some crimes even you can't get away from, Winter."

"Your fiancée? You mean Valentine's fiancée? Pretty girl. Shame what happened to her. But hey, you... or the real Valentine, shoulda backed off when he had the chance. But what gives, robot man? Why do you even care? Some girl gets whacked 200 years ago and you come into my home acting the tough guy? Christ, look at you: you're not even alive."

"Then I guess I'm in good company," Nick retorted.

Nick shot him in the stomach before Winter could draw his gun. He clutched his stomach as he fell back against his bed. Briar Rose thought Nick would shoot him again to end him quickly, but he never moved to do so—content to watch him suffer as he bled out. Because of his weight and the gut shot, Eddie Winter died quickly.

"We're done here, but there's one more thing I've got to do," Nick said after a while. "I... I wouldn't mind the company if you wanted to tag along."

"Of course, Nick."

He turned away and headed out the door. She followed Nick up through the tunnels chiseled into the stone and killed the rest of the Raiders lounging in what used to be a bar. He held Dogmeat under an arm as they climbed up a metal ladder into a sub shop. Nick walked out into the street and kneeled at some specific spot.

"This is it. In this spot, 200 years ago, one of Eddie Winter's boys put a bullet in Jenny Lands' back. Now Eddie's as dead as Jenny and Nick and I'm... I'm at a loss."

Nick remained silent for a long while before he straightened and turned to her. "All I know is that without you, Eddie would still be at large. Winter was it; the only reminder left of the original Nick Valentine. The last proof outside some long lost Institute archive I was ever just a mechanical copy of some cop from a bygone era. I'm not sure how to feel. Because I was Nick Valentine. I had his memories. His fears. All the poor bastard's hope. I remember getting the call to go to some lab in Cambridge to get that neurotrans-whatever. And the next thing I know, I'm in a trash heap; my family, my home, my entire life, gone. Then I discover all those things, they weren't even mine. Everything I ever was belonged to Nick. With Winter gone, the last hint of that old world snuffed out, I could finally be free.

"But being out here with you, what I finally realized after all this time was that taking down Winter, it wasn't about Nick or Jenny, or even you or me. It was about justice; about doing what's right. And that act of goodness, that's ours. All the good we've done—that's ours and ours alone. And even if that's the only thing in this world I can claim as mine, not Nick's, not the Institute's, but mine... I can die happy. And none of it would've ever happened if it weren't for you. I'm not sure I'll ever be able to thank you for that."

Gauging that he now seemed to have recovered from his venting, Briar Rose moved to hug him. "You don't have to."

He chuckled as his arms wrapped around her. "Noble to the end."

She enjoyed his arms being around her; being held close to his chest, held so gentle like he thought she was porcelain. It touched her deep that he remained gentle and soft toward her while facing this world with hardness.

"Alright, now since that's over, how about we get back to getting Shaun?" Nick suggested.