cmk418 | Prodigal Son Fic

Malcolm's thoughts after the conversation at the police station at the end of "Head Case" (Season 2, Episode 6)

She's the best part of his subconscious- this dream Dani, not so different than the real Dani except that she touches him a lot more. That's his subconscious, too, the dream him that accepts it, doesn't shy away, doesn't worry that she'll turn around and accuse him of being a monster. Of course, dream Malcolm isn't a monster, he's quite normal, no family skeletons or dark secrets hiding in his closet. His family is normal too, almost abnormally so. They worry dreaming Malcolm in a way that he can't quite put his finger on.

There are days where he'd like nothing more than to have grown up in oblivion, to be able to sit down and have a meal with his loving family. That's one of the things that unsettles him when he comes back to reality, those family dinners, those nights with Dani. They're buried deep.

The possibility of having a normal life haunts him as much as the sins of the past do. For an instant, he looks at Dani and imagines the possibility.

She smiles at him and he shoves the last vestiges of the dream back into his subconscious, as happy as he can be with his life as it is. She's the best part of that too.