Nightmare

Summery:  Michael is having nightmares and Amy hears him

Disclaimer: I own nothing, I am getting no money, what more do you want

A/N:  I have never done this before

Amy awoke with a start; there was a noise.  "What was it?" she wondered, looking around her darkened bedroom.  It was a soft moan, or whine.  It was quiet, but Amy was a single mother and her maternal ears were quick to pick up sounds of discomfort.  Getting out of her bed she walked across the hall to Maria's room and opened the door a crack.  She was there, sleeping peacefully, alone thank God.  Maria really was a great kid and Amy was so proud of her.  Maria sighed peacefully and nuzzled her pillow, still asleep. She was fine.

 But the sound continued.  She walked down the hall a little farther to the tiny back room where Sean slept.  He was asleep too, the sound of his aunt opening the door didn't wake him; he just rolled over onto his stomach in his sleep.  Amy was glad her nephew was finally getting his life back on the right track.  Following her ears more carefully led her farther down the hall to the living room, and Michael. 

            The noise was coming from him. He was curled up tight on the couch, shaking and making the heart wrenching noise.  Now that she was close it sounded more like gasping for air.  He was having some serious nightmare, Amy had never seen someone shake or make this gasping noise before.  She started over to the couch to wake him up.  Trembling and gasping he seemed like a child lost in this broad shouldered body of a man.   This was a little awkward, having to wake her daughter's boyfriend up from an obviously vivid nightmare.   "Michael" she whispered, gently placing a hand on Michael's arm.  He startled her by throwing his hands up in front of his face.  He seemed to say something she couldn't make out, something along the lines of "Sorry".  His motion had rolled him onto his back and now he was looking up at Amy with wide, surprised eyes.

            "Uh, hi Mrs. DeLuca" he mumbled

            "You OK Michael?"

            "Yeah, just a bad dream" He wondered how bad he had been this time, just tossing and turning or all out screaming in terror.  He hated having these nightmares; it was stupid, He had spent years quaking but he was liberated now, safe from Hank, but his fear still refused to go away peacefully.  It happened less often now, he hadn't dreamed of his past in months, but sometimes, in the silent darkness of sleep, he heard Hank coming for him.

            "OK, then, Good Night"

            "Yeah"

            Amy turned and headed back to her room.  She wasn't stupid, she may not have gone to college but she could put two and two together.  Roswell was a small town, plus, she was involved with the town sheriff; she knew the Guerin home wasn't a happy one.  Finding Michael in Maria's bed that night, soon after that, Hank departing, she had an idea of what had happened.  Hank had been hurting his foster son, probably for a long time, and when questions finally came up, he ditched his kid like a hot potato. Hank was a perfect example of why she had feared giving up her baby 17 years ago.  She didn't want her baby to grow up that way, without the love of a parent.  She also knew that didn't usually happen. Max and Isabelle Evans had been in the very same situation and Amy couldn't imagine a more perfect, loving family.  She knew most, almost all, of the time it turned out like the Evans.  Still, she was glad she had kept Maria.  Life had been hard, but they were a loving family.  She couldn't help but wonder about Michael's nightmare.  How bad had Hank been?  Obviously he had been worse than she had thought if it left this kind of aftermath. As she was leaving, she glanced back at the couch; Michael had rolled on his side with his back to Amy.  He had fallen back to sleep, his breathing slow and quiet.

"Mom?" came a voice behind her.  She jumped in surprise at the sound of Maria's voice.  "Is he OK?" she had heard his gulping for air too and come to check on him.

"Yeah, he was just having a nightmare" Amy watched her daughter go and sit on the arm of the couch and run her fingers through his hair.  Maria really loved Michael, and she could see he loved her too.  Amy smiled to herself and watched Maria with her boyfriend.  Michael deserved to have someone care about him.  It must be awful not to be wanted, just used as a source of income, and then thrown away when it became inconvenient.  He had had a hard life, dealt a tough hand.  After a few minutes Amy reluctantly separated the couple.  "Go to bed Maria" it was tough to be a parent.  Maria obeyed and went back to bed.  Amy went back to bed too, but not before creeping back to the couch with a blanket from her bed and lightly kissing his forehead.  Michael was a good kid too, she hoped he figured that out soon.

The End