Ok, so I seem to be in quite the predicament.. just as general info my companion is Nick Valentine and I am wearing power armor. So I found Virgil's cave, entered, and killed his turrets, then I quicksaved. I have no official saves before this... and therefore no way to go back before I meet virgil or killed his turrets.

And that's the predicament. Whenever I go back to that quick save and the first time I met him he was hostile. I must've killed him fifteen times over before I realized I had done something wrong... how do I fix this?

I could be wrong, but I thought I destroyed his turrets, and he never was hostile to me...

Save often..

Are you still wearing power armor every time you go back to him? If so don't. It's a bug that causes him to attack.

Go there alone. For some reason he will attack if you have a companion with you after you give him the cure.

Did you just randomly find his cave or was it quest directed?

I never returned to Virgil because I shot Father the very first time I saw him which set off the chain of events leading to a mushroom cloud. Does anyone know if I can find the cure before turning the place into a mushroom cloud or am I forced to deal with the Institute until I find it?

Ok so go companionless and power armorless. Ok this is going to be good.

Not necessarily. It depends on how far along you are in the main quest.

It was quest directed. After I visited the doctor and mind-[censored] kellogg. Excuse my vulgarity.

Edit: Nevermind, it excused it for you.

I see. So, was it was you that initiated the aggression after entering the cave by taking out the turrets or did they just start firing when you entered?

Not sure, I might've. Even if I did will sleeping for 2-3 hours allow me to come back and talk peacefully/

Were you wearing the power armor mod that causes enemies to be lighted in red? THat's been known to automatically cause hostility.

Maybe. I'd try leaving the area for a few days then fast traveling back with no companion.

This happened to me a couple of times. My first instance was at the end of The Big Dig. From what I have heard, that power armor mod does a very minor attack for each of the targets to glow. So if a npc has the option to go hostile, then it will immediately attack with that mod active.