Vietnam:

Nikky wakes up, still somewhat high from the previous night. He's approached by the Vietnamese boy Jack helped before. Nikky teases the boy with some chocolate, so the boy takes Nikky's glasses and teases him with it. The two share a laugh. Nikky decides to take the boy fishing with him. 

Nikky shows him a trick he learned and throws a grenade into the river, getting them a bunch of fish. They go and find another spot. The boy tries to take the grenade from Nikky and in the struggle, Nikky accidentally opens the grenade in the canoe. He yells at the boy to get off the boat but just sits there, scared. 

Nikky jumps off the boat, hoping the boy will do the same, but before he can the boat explodes. 

Jack hears the explosion and rushes to see who was on it. He and his crew find Nikky helplessly staring at the explosion. Jack sees the boy's sandal and starts yelling at Nikky. He tells Nikky he's done. The boy's mother cries in agony as Jack apologies for what happened. 

Nikky is put on a helicopter and sent home, while Jack goes back to work. 

Jack & Nikky:

Jack continues to receive postcards at his office from CK, who eventually asks Jack to come to visit him. One eventually arrives at his home. Jack lies to Rebecca and tells him he has to take a mini work trip the following day. 

Jack's family hug him goodbye but Kevin doesn't want to. Jack goes over and Kevin says he wants to go with his dad because he likes him the best. Jack gives him so advice and says Kevin has the opportunity to do better than his father. 

Jack arrives at Nikky's trailer in Bradford. Before entering Jack flashes back to when he and Nikky were kids. Nikky tells Jack that when's older he wants to get a big house on a lake with a boat. 

Jack knocks on Nikky's door and tells him to stop sending postcards and letters, especially to his home address. Nikky asks Jack to come in for Nesquick since Jack doesn't drink anymore. 

Nikky tells Jack he had a house once but has learned that this state of living is actually much more manageable. He gives Jack some photos of his team from Vietnam. The two share stories about their mom's bad cooking and other childhood memories. 

Nikky tries to talk about Vietnam but Jack shuts him down, saying he wants to leave all that stuff behind him. Nikky just wants to explain but Jack tells him he just can't turn back. 

Nikky asks if he ruined Jack's life but Jack assures him he didn't. He shows him a picture of Rebecca and the kids. Nikky points out that Jack is the one that now has the nice house. 

He promises Jack he won't write him anymore and tells him to leave. 

Jack stops at a convenience store and then considers the two directions he could go: Pittsburgh to his family or Bradford, back to Nikky. For a quick second, he puts his blinker on to turn to Bradford but switches it back to go to Pittsburgh. 

Jack arrives home and tells Rebecca that he lied to her. He tells her he went to go visit someone who was in the war with them. They had a falling out but the guy reached out, and Jack decided to go see him. Rebecca asks if it helped him at all and Jack tells her it did a little. 

When she tells him there are people he can talk to, he brushes her off. 

Present Day: 

Randall, Kevin, and Rebecca talk to Kate through Skype and tell her all about what they learned about Nikky. 

Kevin assures them all that Jack knew Nikky was alive. Kevin has the address and asks who wants to join him on a road trip. Randall agrees to go but Rebecca and Kate don't want to. 

As Randall packs, Beth tells him she's nervous about her job interviews. He gives her a pep talk which makes her feel better. She asks how he's feeling about the whole Nikky situation. 

Randall connects it to his situation with William and how he was worried he would never find him. He's concerned that might happen here and he wants to be there for Kevin if it does happen. 

Kate shows up at Randall's house and decides to go with them after all.

While on the road, the Pearson kids joke around for a little before discussing Nikky and Jack. Kate asks Randall how he's been so cool about all this. Randall reminds them that the situation he went through with William prepared him for this.  

Annie asks Rebecca and Miguel if Randall will bring Nikky home as he did with William. Rebecca says she doesn't think so before excusing herself from the room. 

The Pearson kids arrive at Nikky's trailer and knock on his door. No one answers and Kevin tries to open the door through the window until Nikky arrives behind them. They introduce themselves and Nikky asks if  Jack knows they are here. They tell him he's dead. Niky walks into his trailer and asks if they are coming in. 

Kevin asks Nikky some questions about Jack, but Nikky just tells them to leave. Kate says no because Kevin's traveled all around the world trying to get answers about his dad. Nikky caves in after realizing they are exactly like Jack. 

Nikky tells them about Vietnam and his drug addiction during the war. Kevin asks why Jack told them that Nikky died there. Nikky just responds by saying he never got to tell him. 

Nikky talks about how his memory of the war fades away every day but the memory of the Vietnamese mother's face will remain with him until the day he dies. Nikky tells the kids their dad saw everything in black and white and lived two lives: before Vietnam and after Vietnam. Once the war was over, Nikky says Jack put the war behind him and never looked back, but Nikky wasn't able to do that. 

Nikky asks how Jack died. Randall tells him about the fire and Jack's heart attack. Nikky tells them that he's tired and needs to call it a day. Kevin wants to ask more questions but Nikky says he's done. 

Rebecca tells Miguel that her kids found Nikky. She wonders if she could have done more to get Jack to open up to her. Miguel tells her he thinks Jack didn't want to share his darkness with her and the kids because they were his light. Rebecca used to love that answer but now she wants the truth. 

The Pearson kids finish up at the convenience store and Kevin remembers the conversation he had with his dad about correcting his father's mistakes. Kevin tells his siblings he can't leave Nikky behind as his dad did. 

They turn the car back into Bradford and when they enter his trailer, they see him sitting at his table with a gun. Randall takes the gun away. Nikky laments that he never got to tell Jack that what happened with the boy was an accident.