"When you're trying to find someone who's gone missing, the devil is in the details," Nick began. "Tell me everything, no matter how… painful it might be."

Nora and Piper had returned to Nick Valentine's office after wrapping things up with Oberland, with Preston and a reluctant fake Preston going back to Sanctuary. (Both Prestons had objected, before Nora pointed out that she had more than one hole with which to accommodate multiple Prestons sexually, which Preston — grudgingly — and fake Preston — enthusiastically — gave in to her pestering to return to Sanctuary together). Once they returned to Nick's office, the synth detective offered Nora a seat so he could hear her out on her case. He seemed to be in much better humor than in the Vault, free of the stress of escaping his kidnapping and also having had a few days' break from dealing with Nora's bullshit.

"We were in Vault 111, in the northeast part of the Commonwealth," Nora said. "Typical vault, in that it was a fucked-up science experiment where they herded us all into these cryogenic freeze chamber things. You may have already read Piper's article about it." Piper gave a small smile — she did love free advertising. "Though the Vault you were stuck in had some hilarious shit in the works — I would have given my life for Soup Can Harry, solely to find out where I could get in on the sex parties he talked about." She smiled fondly, recalling the holotape she'd found in 114.

Nick frowned, suddenly remembering why he almost regretted being rescued. "You were on ice, huh?" Nick mused. "Underground… sealed up… that's a lot of obstacles to get through just to take one person. What else?"

"My hubby was killed by this cueball dipshit with a scar on his face." Nora dragged one finger down over her left eye to demonstrate its location. "He opened up his cryo pod thingy, pulled Shaun from his arms, and blasted him in the head when he fought back." She mimed firing a gun directly at Nick's forehead, her lips mouthing the sound effect 'Pow'.

Nick nodded. "So, we're talking about a group of cold-hearted killers, but they waited until something went wrong to resort to violence. Anything else?"

"There was a dipshit in a radiation suit. Maybe two dipshits?" Nora frowned, wracking her memory. "They said I was the backup." She frowned. "Or maybe that was cueball…" Her frown deepened. "Why didn't cueball have a radiation suit? That's rude."

"So we're talking a small team," Nick concluded, trying to get the discussion back on track. "Professionals. The kind that know to keep their lips tight when they're on the job. Not sure what 'the backup' means, though… anything else?"

"Well, the kidnapee is my son, Shaun. He's a baby. Uh… about a foot tall, can't talk, still poops in a diaper…" Nora shrugged. "I don't know how to be more descriptive than 'typical infant'."

Nick hmmed. "Why your family in particular, and why an infant? Someone would be taking on all his care, and a baby needs a lot of it." He thought for a moment. "This isn't a random kidnapping. Whoever took your kid had an agenda."

"No shit," Nora muttered.

"There's a lot of groups in the Commonwealth that like to grab people." He began to tick them off on his weird metal hand. "Raiders, super mutants, Gunners, and of course, the Institute."

"I think it was the super mutants, personally," Nora said, flippant. "They obviously hired humans to do their dirty work." Nick sighed as pain flared through the circuits in his head. He had no idea that synths could get headaches before he'd met Nora Jones. "Seriously, though, raiders and super mutants are incompetent chucklefucks, and the Gunners, by all accounts, aren't much better. That leaves the Institute."

Nick nodded. "Well, they are the bogeyman of the Commonwealth. Something goes wrong, everyone blames them. Easy to see why — their early model synths strip whole towns for parts, killing everything in their way. Then you got the newer models, good as human, that infiltrate cities and pull strings from the shadows. Worst of all, nobody knows why they do it, what their plan is, or even where they are. Not even me, and I'm a synth myself." He tapped his chest with an extended thumb. "A discarded prototype, anyway."

"I knew it!" Nora shouted out, pointing an accusing finger at Nick. "I knew you were a synth!" Piper, Nick, and Ellie all rolled their eyes. "What do you mean, a prototype? Are you the first synth ever?"

Nick shook his head. "No, nothing like that. I've just never seen another synth like myself. See, you've got the older ones that are dumb as rocks and all metal, then you have the newer ones that're almost human. I'm somewhere between."

Nora nodded. "Well, I don't care if you're human, synth, or a one-eyed one-horned flying purple people eater, I need your help to find Shaun." She furrowed her eyebrows together. "Oh, and I respect your personhood as well, I don't want you to think that that's contingent on what you can do for me."

"I appreciate the vote of confidence," Nick said dryly, figuring at least that it was better than what he got from most of his clients. "Now, I've been thinking about the description you gave me of the man who shot your husband… you didn't hear the name 'Kellogg' at all, did you?"

"Only when watching commercials for breakfast cereal," Nora said.

Nick ignored her mindless prattle. "It's way too big of a coincidence…" He looked to his secretary. "What notes do we have about the Kellogg case?"

Nora noticed that the woman had brought out an old folder, presumably with said case notes in it. "The description matches. Bald head, scar, reputation for dangerous mercenary work, nobody knows who his employer is."

"And he bought a house here in town, right?" Nick asked. "And he had a kid with him, didn't he?"

Nora jumped up from her chair. "Where's the fucking address?!" she roared. "I'm gonna shove my shotgun up his ass and give him God's own enema! And then I'm gonna take back my baby!"

Ellie looked incredibly alarmed at the declaration. "Hold on, Ms. Jones. The house is in the abandoned West Stands… but he hasn't been seen for months. And the boy with him was around ten years old."

That knocked the wind out of Nora's sails. She fell back down onto the chair, more out of luck than anything. "I…" She could feel tears welling in her eyes, and bit down hard on her lip until they subsided, hard enough to draw blood. "I always suspected, in the back of my mind, that maybe more time had passed than I realized. I was hoping for hours, days at the most." She looked down at her lap. "Ten years is a lot." She looked up again, lost in thought. "…I think I'll see if I can keep Kellogg alive that long," she decided. "See if I can keep him screaming for ten whole years."

Everyone else in the room fidgeted uncomfortably at the incredibly psychotic declaration, but none of them really blamed her for feeling that way. Nick finally spoke up: "Both of them vanished a while ago," he said. "Haven't been heard or seen since." He got up out of his chair and put on his battered trenchcoat. "Let's you and I take a walk over to his house. See if we can snoop out where he went."

"Be careful out there," Ellie warned. "Security doesn't go to that part of town."

"I'm always careful," Nick informed her, a playful smile tugging at the corner of his mouth.

As Nora got up to leave, Ellie approached her. She waited until Nick was out the door before she spoke. "You know, if you're looking for work, and don't mind putting on a detective hat, Nick sure could use a new partner," she suggested.

Nora was going to make some wisecrack about what kind of partnering Ellie had in mind, but then she saw the fear hidden away in her eyes. "You love him, don't you?"

Ellie's face became a mask. "Nick Valentine is not interested in romance," she recited. "And neither am I."

"Uh-huh," Nora said, not fooled in the least. "It's okay, Ellie, I'll keep an eye on your man."

"Thank you," she said, just as stiffly. Still, just a smidge of tension leaked out of her, as her posture relaxed just the slightest bit (and was that blush starting to rise in her cheeks?) Ellie turned and busied herself in the rear of the office, facing away from Nora so she wouldn't have to face any more questions. Nora just chuckled and left.

XXX

The walk to Kellogg's house was a fun one, as Nick talked about some details he'd held back from Ellie, namely about how Kellogg was a stone cold killer (big shocker there). They reached the house, Nora once again popping the lock, and then she proceeded to go through the place and vacuum up anything even remotely valuable. "Oh, cool, secret button," she said while peeking under a desk, pushing it. A wall by the entrance slid open. "Oh cool, secret room!" Nora said, then immediately ignored it and went upstairs to grab any goodies that lay up there.

Nick frowned, then called out: "I hate to interrupt the biggest magpie this side of the apocalypse, but when you're done grabbing all the shiny little trinkets you can carry, do you think you can join us here on this insignificant little case regarding your missing child? Just pretend that your son is holding half a bottlecap!"

Piper put a hand on Nick's harm. "Hey, give her a break, Nicky. I think it's just, uh, one of those things that you do when you've got a lot of big problems, so…" Piper looked stumped.

"Coping mechanism!" Nora called out cheerily, coming back down the stairs and walking right past Nick and Piper to enter the secret room.

"Yeah, where's my coping mechanism for you?" Nick grumbled, but followed her into the room.

A single caged bulb threw a disquieting light pattern over the room. It hung almost directly over a comfortable looking arm chair that had probably been salvaged from some highfalutin professional's office. Nora promptly swept through the room, holding her open backpack in one hand and shoveling valuables into it as rapidly as she could with her other hand. Once she finished, she turned to Nick. "Okay, we've got Gwinnett Stout beer, .44 caliber bullets, and these cigars, 'San Francisco Sunlights'."

"Hmm…" Nick rubbed his chin. "Time to call in a favor. I know a specialist who can help… if I ask."

"Who's this friend of yours?" Nora asked.

Nick was evasive. "I worked with him a few times, but he only likes certain people. I've got a feeling you'll get along, though." He tilted his head down, then added, "You're probably about as smart as he is," sotto voce. He looked Nora in the eyes again and spoke up. "You'll be meeting him soon enough — I'm going to send out the signal on a special frequency that only he can hear."

"Oh what, like a dog?" Nora said.

Nick ignored the question, put his fingers between his lips, and blew… either nothing, or a whistle that was too highly pitched for Nora and Piper to hear. "Okay, let's go wait outside."

"Oh my God, is it a dog?!" Nora asked again, abruptly beginning to disintegrate with joy. Nick had already started walking for the door, but Nora almost knocked him straight down as she rushed past him. She threw the door open… and there he was. "DOGGIE!" she screamed at the top of her lungs. "DOGGIE DOGGIE DOGGIE!"

Nick walked up and gave the beautiful German Shepherd a pet. "Ready to get to work, Dogmeat?" he asked.

Nora kept jumping up and down, her brain having completely melted. "DOGGIE DOGGIE DOGGIE DOGGIE DOGGIE DOGGIE!" Dogmeat caught her infectious enthusiasm and began hopping up and down with her, playfully barking along.

"Will you calm the hell down?" Nick snapped. Nora exerted an immense force of will and managed to comply. Nick abruptly felt shame about losing his temper like that. "Sorry about that, I'm just focused on your case," he apologized.

"Nothing to be sorry for," Nora soothed. "You're not the first person to get overwhelmed with my shenanigans. I definitely need a poke in the right direction when I start going really nuts like that."

Nick nodded. "No surprise there," he muttered. He gestured to Dogmeat. "He's a hell of an animal. Doesn't really have an owner, but he's always ready to help out when he's needed. Go ahead, give him that cigar."

Nora narrowed her eyes. "Nick, dogs shouldn't smoke. It's bad for their health!" She gave Piper a quick side-eye, causing the other woman to roll her eyes.

Nick bit his tongue to keep himself from taking the name of the Lord in vain. (Any and all philosophical arguments about the soul of a machine aside, Nick still didn't want to risk pissing off the big man upstairs). "No, I mean… let him just sniff it, to track the smell. See if he can find our man."

Nora nodded, bent down, and let Dogmeat catch the scent. "Find Kellogg, boy," she said, petting him. "Find my son." Dogmeat barked and began trotting down the metal walkway. Nora and Piper began to follow him, but Nora stopped after a few feet and saw Nick just watching them go. "You coming, Nick?" she asked.

Nick shrugged. "I figured it was, eh, personal business, that you'd want to face Kellogg on your own."

Nora put a hand on her hip, annoyed. "Come on, Nick. I've already got Piper tagging along, and you know what they say: the more the merrier. Especially when I give this motherfucker the pinata treatment."

Nick gave her a little bloodthirsty smirk. "Then let's go get the bastard."

Nick then followed the two women. Piper lingered a moment so that she was walking in step with Nick. "The pinata treatment?" she asked.

"An old prewar kids' party game — you'd fill a paper animal with candy, hang it up high, and beat it with sticks until the candy came out. I don't think Kellogg is full of candy, but something tells me that doesn't really matter to Nora." Nick's face was grim.

"Knowing her, it does matter," Piper said. "She'll probably shove a few fistfuls of candy up his ass, or something." Nick's composure was rattled as he snorted with laughter.

XXXXXXXXXX

Nora finally discovers the awful truth about Nick's synth-hood!

And she finds out (the beginning of) the awful truth about Shaun. :(

Sorry to disappoint any Nick/Nora fans out there, but he will not be joining the Katamari polycule Nora is building up. Yup, nothing but good ol' one-sided romantic pining for (towards) our favorite synth detective!

If you somehow bypass the Red Rocket gas station in the game and make it this far in the main storyline, Nick does indeed cast Summon Dogmeat after leaving Kellogg's place. (I've got a really wild headcanon about Dogmeat, but I'll hold off on talking about it for now in case I can somehow work it into the plot, haha).

Up next: the dramatic showdown with Kellogg! I can't wait!