After episode 2x12 "Sun and Fun", and AU scene

They were still on the boat, drifting near the coast on the dark sea with a night sky above, but Martin wasn't worried. He and his son were safe. Moreover, the vehicle was well equipped. There were blankets, food, warm clothes and other useful tools for a run away. (He would thank Capshaw, if she didn't want to kill his son.)

A slight murmur made Martin to stop stargazing, as it seemed that Malcolm was slowly waking up.

"My boy..." Whitly sat next to him.

"...run, you must run..." Bright mumbled. He probably presumed that they were still in the mansion. Martin wasn't surprised, after what the boy came through, he could feel confused.

"I still have some time." the serial killer chose to say aloud. He hardly believed that Malcolm would be overjoyed regarding their current circumstances. "I need to make sure that you're all right at first."

"Why?"

"What a silly question, you're my son."

"Why me? Why not Ainsley? Why not mother?" Malcolm was surely delirious, but not in the way, which Martin predicted.

"I don't understand, my boy. You know that I love you and your sister dearly. If I was put in a position to pick only one of you, I could never be able to do it. And I did loved your mother..."

Yes, he did, a past tense, because if Jessica wanted to rescue him, it would end differently and Capshaw would be behind bars days ago.

"If we are the same to you, why did you choose me?"

Whitly smiled sadly. He indeed was favouring his son the most in the whole family and his amazing profiler noticed it. Poor Ainsley had to feel neglected for all this time, Martin promised that he would make it up to her... somehow.

"Jessica was always a strong woman, and your sister was her mother's daughter. Since Ainsley was small, I knew that if she wished for something, she would have it. But you..." he put a calming palm on his son's temple. "You were a brave and smart boy, but sometimes you looked so lost... as if you needed someone to tell you that what you are doing is right. I couldn't just leave you alone."

It was when Malcolm was a child. Now, his boy was a grown up man with his own decisions to take.

"I remember that when you were born, you were so little and fragile... so innocent... You grabbed my finger and didn't want to release it... and I felt... It was a feeling, which even your mother couldn't awake... I think that you became the first person, about whom I truly started to love."

Martin thought that he saw a glimpse of smile on Malcolm's face. It seemed that the profiler was calming down and soon would fall asleep again. Good, they still had a long way before them and Whitly preferred if his child wouldn't struggle, but before:

"My boy..." he shook him a little. "When I saved you... you were astonished that I did it. Why? I presumed that I made myself clear that for me, you are the most important person in the world. Except of your sister, of course."

"...I rejected you..." Bright managed to say. "Even if you forgave me for betraying you years ago, I still didn't treat you well. You were in prison, I was free, I could be everywhere, you were dependant on me. Oh, I haven't forgot that you are a narcissistic psychopath."

"Really?" Martin's voice raised up. "Haven't I proved over and over again that I lo...?"

"Yes, you love me." the profiler had to be waking up more with each second, as his tone became more focused. "Or you believe you do. But the Surgeon's thoughts circle around only one person - himself. Get what you want, make people do what you want, run and take whatever you want... with all these, I wasn't certain how it would end for me." Bright took a deep breath. "When Capshaw brought me to you, you were happy that I came for you..."

Whitly was momently speechless, but then he found his voice again.

"Of course I did, you wanted to rescue me..."

"If you had cared," Malcolm didn't allow him to finish. "you would have been furious that I was there and I was risking my life for yours... well, at least mother would have."

With shame, Martin had to admit him right. Jessica would rather slit her own throat, than put any of her children in danger.

"But you still came back for me." the older man said quietly.

"You know why." Also, a quiet answer.

Martin sighed. He didn't want that. He was supposed to help his son get better, but the life had other plans. Even now, free, he was forced to hide in the middle of nowhere, his options were so limited.

"I'm sorry." the father spoke aloud, because it was the only thing, which he actually could do.

Malcolm only stared at nothing in particular and buried himself deeper under the blanket, probably to get a well deserved sleep. Instead of Doctor Whitly, who started reevaluating his whole plan and cursing himself for being careless. He was the parent, he should have been sacrificing himself, not his own son, who had the whole life in front of him. If the worst had happened, Martin would have known how it would end. He experienced it in the first hand, when Malcolm was kidnapped by John Watkins. But this time, he would have been there, next to his child's corpse. How could he be so stupid? And what he could offer? Running, hiding, accidents could happen easily, not only to him, but also to Malcolm. Maybe he should have gone back and surrender?

The older man was so absorbed by his thoughts that he almost missed, as Malcolm snuggled closer to him, practically hugging his knee, to seek more warmth or comfort or as a form of acceptance, Whitly didn't ask. His profiler eyes' were half closed, so some part of Bright's mind had to be conscious in his actions and Martin was deeply touched by the gesture.

When Doctor Whitly took another blanket to put it around his sleeping son's body, he had already decided. His child was his main priority. He could surrender, but then Malcolm's situation would not change. It was only possible, if he was free. Martin had done all those things, for his son, to help him. He couldn't give up now. He would never give up.