A/N: holycrap, an update XD Well, I've actually had the idea for this one months back, but the draft was forgotten in the depths of my HD until I found it yesterday and decided to finish it. It got longer than I expected since it was supposed to be just a short scene, but given my track record that's hardly a surprise.

DNAmy wasn't one to keep quiet very easily: usually, making her stop talking took nothing short of a miracle. Still, that day she was sitting silently in the dining room, only eating her dinner without speaking… just like she had been doing more and more often lately. And like every other time, neither Killigan nor Alice seemed to have noticed that.

"…and I tell ye, it could have been a hole in one had the wind been just a little faster!" Killigan was muttering, his mouth still filled with mashed potatoes.

Alice rolled her eyes. "Ye couldn't make a hole in one if the hole was two inches away," she teased him a little "ye're losing yer touch, ye know."

"Ye wish! I can still mop the floor with ye if I fell like it, lassie!"

"Aye, right. That's why I could make a hole in one and ye couldn't!"

"I was just feeling like giving ye an advantage," Killigan protested "don't make me regret it!"

"Blah, blah, blah," Alice stuck out her tongue at him before taking another spoonful of potatoes "keep telling yerself that."

Killigan snorted, but he was grinning. Alice had grown a lot more enthusiast in golf after he had began letting her use the explosive golf balls when she did very well, and the fact now she was getting almost good enough to challenge him from time to time made golf much more fun in her eyes. But he couldn't let her think she was better than him, could he? "Fine, lassie, ye're asking for it. We'll see who's best tomorrow! And the loser will have to carry the bags for a week. Deal?"

"Deal!"

As they got into yet another argument concerning golf and then explosives, Amy sighed a little and pushed her dish aside, not really feeling hungry anymore. It wasn't like she wasn't happy that they had so much fun – on the contrary, it really made her glad – but lately she felt more and more left out around them. It wasn't like they consciously neglected her or anything, but now they spent so much time outside playing golf and talked about it almost all the time, and since Amy knew nothing about it there was pretty much no way to get in the conversation. She did interrupt them from time to time and they did listen to her, of course – even though they both rolled their eyes a little sometimes – but after that they would get back to their conversation as if there had been no interruption.

All in all, they seemed to share a bound she was cut off from… and the more the time passed, the more she longed to be part of it. It wasn't like there was much company in the island aside from their and her living Cuddle Buddies, but not even her darlings could keep her enough company all the time. She would have liked to talk to Duffy about it since Alice was too young to understand her worries, but she was afraid he would just think she was being silly.

Then again, she had to do something to change things at least a little: she felt too lonely that way.

Amy sighed happily as she lay back on the on the pillow, keeping her eyes closed as she waited for her breathing and heartbeat to settle, and she snuggled a tad closer to her husband. He just put an arm around her waist to hold her closer, faintly hoping she wasn't up for more – it wasn't like he would usually complain, but he wasn't such a young lad anymore and he doubted he would be able to do much more for that night – but thankfully she just seemed content to lay there in his embrace.

"Honey bunny?" she finally called after a few minutes of silence. Killigan lazily opened his eyes to glance at her in the dim light.

"What?" he asked, once again thankful she didn't use those ridiculous nicknames in…other moments – that would most definitely have killed the mood.

"Well, I was wondering…"

Killigan sighed, fully expecting her to ask for something she knew he wouldn't usually allow without at least a fight – she knew perfectly that he always was somewhat more…mellow in he daze of the afterglow, and she had taken advantage of it more than once. Well, it wouldn't happen this time: he was going to be absolutely adamant in refusing whatever absurdity-

"…could you teach me how to play golf?"

"Uh?"

That was just about the last thing Killigan had expected her to ask since she had never showed any interest in golf in…ten years? Something like that. "What?" he asked again, blinking "are ye serious, lass?"

Amy giggled. "Of course I am, silly. I'm just curious to try it out, that's all – you and Alice seem to have a lot of fun with it," she said, barely able to hide a slight note of jealousy in her voice. She knew it wasn't nice, and she really was glad they got along so well…but now that Alice was growing up and spent more and more time outside with her father, she almost wished they weren't that close. Not all the time, at least.

Killigan, however, didn't notice the slight change in her voice. "Och, sure I could," he said, sounding rather surprised "I just didn't think ye- ow! Easy!" he protested as she proceeded to squeeze his breath out of him to express her glee.

"Aw, thank you, pookie bear!" she cooed, her giving him a peck on the cheek "I can't wait to get started," she said cheerfully, and for some reason Killigan couldn't ignore the nagging feeling he had just put himself in deep trouble.

"She is being serious," Alice muttered, looking both amused and surprised as she watched her mother getting out of the castle with the lunchbox and walking towards them. Not to mention slightly concerned.

"Aye, looks like she's being serious," Killigan said, leaning back against the seat of the golf cart "it caught me by surprise too, but…what is there so funny?"

Alice muffled another snicker. "Nothing, just, uh…I'll be watching from the cart, okay?" she said, glancing at the golf clubs "just to stay out of range."

"No way, lassie – ye're my caddie, and ye stay near me."

"Oh," Alice frowned "ye're not going to let her use the explosive balls, right?"

"Are ye kidding?" Killigan said, shuddering.

"Aw, too bad. That would be cool."

"I'm not ready to die yet."

"Well, ye are past yer prime…" she snickered, ducking under her father's half-hearted swipe – it was easy since he had no real intention to hit her anyway: it was more like a warning, the shut-up-before-I-get-mad kind of warning.

"Aren't ye supposed to be studying, lassie?" he grumbled, more to have something to complain about rather than because it really mattered to him. Since their only attempt to send her to a boarding school had ended up with a broken nose, two black eyes and a few loose teeth (while she gotten just a few scratches, she was always proud to point out), she was now studying by correspondence – but she didn't really seem to be interested on most subjects. The only thing she was rather good at was scientific stuff like chemistry, but that was pretty much a given considering that they had a genetic engineering lab downstairs and that she had been learning about explosives for a while.

Alice just shrugged. "Nope, I'm done already," she said, crossing her fingers behind her back – truth to be told she still had some grammar stuff to get through, but who cared? It was boring, and she had better stuff to do anyway. Not to mention that she wasn't going to miss that scene for anything…just as long as she stayed out of range, that was it. "I'm curious to see how ye'll teach her," she said with a grin.

Killigan groaned – he could just picture how much fun his daughter would have watching him struggle to explain anything to Amy. She didn't even know how to hold a golf club, and…and…well, truth to be told he didn't really know why the thought of Amy wielding a golf club worried him so much. It just did. "How about teaching her yerself?" he grunted.

"How about no?" came the predictable reply.

Killigan was about to retort, but he was cut off by Amy's cheerful shrill as she sat next to him on the cart. "Here I am!" she chirped, reaching out to hug both of them "oh, I'm sure it's going to be fun!"

As father and daughter exchanged a quick glance, without any apparent reason the sensation that Killigan was about to regret agreeing teaching her was promptly replaced by a horrible certainty.

Well, Killigan had to admit it didn't go too bad at first. Sure, he had to explain her some of the basics at least four times – how could someone who could play with DNA being unable to remember basic stuff like the difference between a wedge and a chipper and the effects of wind speed on the golf ball was beyond him – but aside for that, it nothing dramatic had happened. Yet.

"No, no – not this way, lass," he corrected her for what seemed the millionth time "are ye calling that swinging? It's more like this," he said, swinging the golf club to prove his point "see?"

"Oh, alright," Amy frowned a little in concentration before she swung again, this time imitating him perfectly.

"Good one!" Alice muttered, sounding rather surprised as she took a peek from behind her father – she'd rather not stay near her mother while she was wielding a golf club.

"Aww, thank you, sweetie!" Amy gave her a bright smile before turning to Killigan "see, sweetums? I'm learning!"

Killigan shrugged. "Och, that's the beginner's lu-" he trailed off with a wince as Alice stomped on his foot, and that brief moment was enough for his brain to catch up with his tongue and make him realize it wouldn't be the best thing to say… especially since Amy was pretty much beaming with pride. "Er… I mean, not bad," he conceded.

Amy giggled and poked his stomach with the golf club. "See? I told you we would have fun!" she said, apparently unaware of how Killigan was warily glancing at the club she was holding up to his stomach as if it were a dangerous weapon. Behind him, Alice wisely took a few steps back.

"Uh… aye," Killigan said a little nervously, reaching to push the head of the club away from himself "how about trying out with a ball now?"

She seemed enthusiastic, as if he had just suggested they should have a romantic dinner on the Eiffel Tower – definitely not something he would ever suggest – or something close. "That would be great!"

"What the heck is up with her and golf now?" Alice asked quietly as they both walked to the cart to get some golf balls "she didn't even like it until this morning!"

"Och, I have no idea," Killigan seemed just as puzzled as she was.

"Maybe she hit her head?"

"Aye, could be."

"Yo-hoo, you two!" Amy called out from behind them "what are you talking about?"

"Nothing, I misplaced the golf balls," he replied with a shrug before he walked back to Amy, barely turning to speak to his daughter under his breath. "Ye better stay back, lassie. Ye can never know."

"Sure," Alice muttered, following him but stopping a few steps back once more. Much like her father she couldn't exactly tell what it was that worried her, but she had a gut feeling that a golf club in her mother's hands could only be bad news. Heck, even a plushie in her hands could be bad news. But really, why had she decided she wanted to learn golf all of a sudden? There had to be a reason, but she really couldn't figure it out. She eventually shrugged – she was more action-oriented and thinking too much always gave her a headache – and turned to watch the scene before her.

Killigan straightened himself after placing the golf ball on the tee and turned to Amy. "Alright, now take the stance I told ye…a little more on the left…lower the club a little," he reached to guide her arms in the right position "aye, just like that. Now keep yer eyes on the ball and swing. Just wait a moment…" Killigan took a few steps back, just enough to avoid being hit should something go wrong with her swing, then he nodded. "Aye, try now."

Amy tried to swing, and neither Killigan nor Alice were surprised in the slightest as she missed the ball. Amy blinked in confusion for a few moments, then a small frown formed on her face when she glanced down to see the golf ball still in its place. Before she could say anything, however, Killigan spoke up.

"Och, that happens a lot at first – keep trying," he said, hoping he would sound encouraging – he didn't often try to encourage anyone, so he wasn't sure how believable he sounded – and he probably did, because Amy just nodded and tried to swing again, with the same result. After a few minutes she still hadn't given up, and Killigan was snickering behind her – but silently, because he knew she would pout for a while if she caught him having fun at her expenses. He turned back to glance at Alice, and he wasn't surprised to see her grinning in amusement as well.

He was about to suggest Amy she should take a little break – swinging non-stop was tiring, it was clearly starting to take its toll on her and she was sweating a little, her hair ruffled, a slightly frustrated scowl starting to show on her face – but before he could open his mouth to speak Amy gave a cheerful shrill. "I hit it!" she exclaimed happily, glancing up to see where the ball went.

Alice blinked. "Ye… what?" she said, a little startled.

"Och, that's…great," Killigan muttered, sounding a little surprised. He took a few steps forward and shielded his eyes from the sun with his hand as glanced up as well. "Where did it-"

Thud.

"I don't know, Duffy, so you see it? Duffy?" Amy turned to see Killigan standing rigidly beside her, his widened eyes fixed ahead, and she had barely the time to notice the golf ball bouncing on the ground near his feet before he heavily collapsed on the ground. "Duffy!" she exclaimed, dropping the golf club and crouching next to him "are you alright, honey bunny?"

"Is he dead?" Alice asked curiously, crouching on the ground as well and poking his side, getting no response from him. She poked a little harder, and Killigan gave a slight grunt.

"No, silly, of course he's not dead," Amy gave a nervous laughter, apparently unsettled by the mere idea "he just passed out."

"Aye, I see. Nice bump," Alice snickered in amusement as she looked at bump growing on his head. Maybe he should have taught her to take the wind direction and speed into account a little better before he allowed her to try hitting a ball. She tried to reach to poke the bump – maybe that would wake him up – but Amy pushed her hand aside before she could. "Don't be a meanie, Alice!" she chided her before she worriedly glanced down at Killigan again "do we have some ice?"

"Aye, there is some in the cool bag," Alice muttered, getting up and running to the golf bag and the rest of the stuff was to get the ice from the cool bag her father always had to keep the beer cold when he stayed out to play all day.

"Thank you, sweetie," Amy said with a small sigh of relief as she grabbed the ice Alice had put in some cloth and applied it on the stinging bump on Killigan's head, causing him to finally stir a little. "Sugar bugger? Can you hear me?"

Killigan let out a groan as he opened his eyes again. "What… was it?" he croaked.

"Remember the ball mom hit? Ye found it," Alice informed him, waving the golf ball in front of his eyes "well, it found ye, really."

"Very funny," Killigan grunted as he tried to sit up, but Amy pushed him down.

"No, honey bunny, stay down another while," she told him, still glancing at him a little worriedly as she kept pressing the ice on the bump "does it hurt that much?"

"Nice it isn't," Killigan muttered, making a face. He tried to sit up again but his head spun and he decided that yes, he should probably wait another while before getting up. For a moment he considered yelling at her a little for her clumsiness, but he quickly discarded the idea: not only he wasn't feeling well enough for yelling and the effort would most likely make his head hurt more, but she also looked pretty scared already and it wouldn't be a bright idea making it worse for her. But he would demand an extra portion of dessert that evening.

"Aw, I'm so sorry, honey bunny!" she cooed at him after gesturing for Alice to go get the cart – the less he had to walk to get back to the castle, the better it would be "I didn't mean to hurt you…"

Killigan let out a small snort that could have sounded remarkably similar to a laugh. "Och, I should hope ye didn't meant to," he muttered, and Amy giggled a little sheepishly.

"I'm sorry, sweetie pie," she said apologetically "next time I'll be more careful, I promise."

"What? Next time?" Killigan seemed horrified by the thought there could be a next time "och, lass, what's up with ye and golf anyway? Ye don't even like it!"

Amy pouted a little. "Are you saying you don't want me to come along?" she asked.

Aye, exactly.

"Er… no," he said, though a little hesitantly "it's not that, it's just… just… don't change subject, it's true that ye never liked golf anyway!" he retorted, finally managing to sit up and hold the ice on the stinging area by himself. "Why did ye decide to try it out all of a sudden?"

"Well…" Amy bit her lower lip, a little unsure "it's just… it's your favourite sport in the world and it means so much to you, so I thought it would be nice trying to learn it," she lied lamely.

Killigan blinked. "Are ye kidding? Just because it's my favourite pastime he doesn't mean it has to be yours as well!" he protested, rather horrified by the possibility she could ask him to have anything to do with her homemade creatures because creating them it was her favourite hobby.

"I know, but I must seem so boring to you since I don't like what you like…!"

Fine, his headache was definitely getting worse. "Lass, what in the world are ye thinking?" he asked, surprised – she had never seemed to have such thoughts before "if I wanted someone who likes all the stuff I like and stuff, I'd have asked Blue Boy to clone me or something – it's not like I didn't know ye don't like golf when ye moved here, ye know," he pointed out "and anyway, I've got Alice, so no chance to get bored at all when it comes to golf..."

"Yes, that's it!" Amy exclaimed, feeling a little better after his tirade and relieved that she finally had a chance to confront him about that without seeming too silly. Or so she hoped. "I mean, you and Alice seem to have such a great time playing, and you keep talking about it, and…" she paused.

Killigan, on the other hand, just shrugged. "Aye, and isn't that a good thing? No need for ye to try golfing. Ever."

"Oh, of course it is, pookie bear, but…" she hesitated "I was starting to feel a little left out," she finally admitted.

"Uh?" Killigan stared at her for a few minutes as if she had announced him she was planning to take him on the moon for the weekend "ye…what? Left out? When? How?" he demanded to know, frowning in confusion. When had he done anything to make her feel like that?

Amy giggled a little, somewhat relieved by the confused expression on his face – he really hadn't noticed, she realized. He had never wanted her to feel like that. "Well, when you and Alice keep talking about it… I don't know what to say," she said a little sheepishly "so I just keep quiet. And you two spend a lot of time outside to play and that's so wonderful, really, but… I feel a little alone when you stay out all day," she admitted.

Killigan kept staring at her for a few more minutes, as if his brain was having trouble to process what she had just said. He had assumed that the reason why she had stopped joining him and Alice with a lunch box when they were outside playing was that she was busy with the lab, and as for her keeping quiet around them… he had barely even noticed, he thought with a pang of guilt. He eventually frowned as he felt his head pulsing again, the ice having almost completely melted. "And why didn't ye tell me first?" he asked, a little more angrily than he meant to – but what he heck, he could have spared himself a bump and a nasty headache if only she told him…!

"I thought you'd think I was just being silly, sweetums," she said a little apologetically.

"What? Do ye really think I'd have thought that?" Killigan protested, biting back a retort about how if anything it had been stupid of her not telling him anything about how she felt. Just what did she think of him anyway? Of course he wouldn't have though she was being dumb…not too much, anyway! "I would have tried to find a way to fix it if ye just- ow!" he was cut off and could only gasp for breath as Amy pulled him in a rib-cracking hug…her own fail-proof method to make him stop rambling.

"Oh, you're right, pookie bear," she cooed, apparently oblivious of his desperate attempts to pull away just enough to breathe again "I shouldn't have thought this badly of you…!"

"Aye, whatever," Killigan gasped "it's alright. Really. Let me breathe, lass!"

"Of course," Amy cooed before finally releasing him. Killigan drew in a deep breath, faintly thinking that just breathing had never felt that wonderful before.

"Fine," he finally said when he managed to keep his voice steady again "here's the plan, lass. We get back in the castle, put clubs and golf balls well away, sit down and talk about this. And we're not getting anywhere until we're done. How does that sound?"

"Oh, of course," she gave him a toothy smile "and how about some pie while we speak?"

Well, that didn't sound too bad. "Aye, I think we can make it fit in the plan," he said with a chuckle as Amy helped him on his feet, then he frowned again as he glanced around. "Where's Alice?" he asked, just noticing that she wasn't there anymore.

"I sent her to take the cart here. I don't want you to have to walk too much," Amy told him, then she blinked as she saw Killigan suddenly getting paler "what is it, Duffy?" she asked a little worriedly. Could it be that the blow on his head had been worse than she had thought? Maybe he shouldn't have gotten up already…!

The actual reason of his worry, however, was immediately clear to her when he spoke again. "Ye sent Alice to take the cart? By herself?" he asked, looking a few steps away from heart failure. His daughter was the last person he'd let drive anything, let alone his cart! And she was just eight years old – how could Amy be reckless enough to let her?

Well, stupid question. It's Amy we're talking about.

"I'm sure nothing will happen, honey bunny," Amy tried to reassure him, but she was starting to get a little worried herself – it was taking Alice a lot to get back, she realized… and the cart wasn't very far.

"I'll go looking for her," Killigan said, not reassured in the slightest, but he barely had enough time to take a few steps before Alice walked in sight from behind the sand trap in the golf course. She seemed to be perfectly fine aside from having slightly ruffled hair and some sand on her clothes, and Amy couldn't hold back a sigh of relief before she noticed something else – namely, the stirring wheel she was holding in her hands. The cart's stirring wheel.

"Er… I had a little problem," Alice said, grinning a little sheepishly at them as she lifted the wheel, and Amy wasn't really surprised when she heard the sound of a body heavily falling on the ground right next to her.

"Oh, my poor honey bunny," she cooed, crouching next to Killigan again, but she couldn't help but giggle as she noticed how cute he looked when unconscious. Maybe she should take a picture – if she only had her camera…!

"How much time do I have to run before he wakes up again?" Alice asked, glancing at her father from over her shoulder "can I take the dirigible?"

Amy chuckled. "It won't be necessary, sweetie – I'll try to make him calm down when he wakes up," she assured her "now why don't you go looking for Charlie? We can't bring him back home by ourselves."

"I could lift him," Alice pointed out, folding her arms on her chest as if challenging her to say otherwise.

"Of course you can, but it would be tiring and I don't want my baby to get tired," Amy chirped, reaching to pinch her cheek and ignoring how her daughter had wrinkled her nose upon being called a baby "be nice and go look for Charlie. Your dad will be in a better mood if he wakes up in a comfy bed, don't you think?"

That was enough to convince her, and Alice immediately turned and went looking for the Rhinobunny. Amy chuckled a little as she watched her go. "Aw, she's growing up so quick," she said with a sigh before she began fussing over her pookie bear again.