A/N: I found this hard to write. I started yesterday, but didn't come back to it until an hour ago. I hope I did it justice. Please let me know if there's anything I could improve on, or if you think I did a good job with portraying this kind of stuff.

Thank you to annavale23, changingdestiny40, Maddison1803 and Fandoms8 for your reviews! :)

Skye gently led Grant over to the remains of Buddy. His breathing was slightly irregular as they neared Kara, and Skye could swear that she saw tears glisten in his eyes. She chose not to push it, though.

"Grant." Kara said softly as they got within close earshot. She held out the shovel. "Time to put him to rest, don't you think?"

Sadness holding his shoulders down like a burden, Grant nodded. His hands slightly shaking, he reached out and took the shovel from her, dropping it down to his side.

"Where do you want to bury him?" Skye asked, her hand on his back. Grant looked around before picking a patch of blue flowers and clovers in the grass.

"Over there." He said quietly, then walked over, flanked by the two women.

They remained silent during the dig, only making noise when they were adjusting their positions on the ground. Grant was thankful for the peaceful support. Their presence meant that the heart-wrenching burden of having to bury Buddy was so much easier to bear.

It took him half an hour to dig a hole deep enough, and Grant found himself in the awkward position of trying to find a way to carry the skeleton over to the hole without it falling apart. Seeing his dilemma, Kara hurried inside and came back a minute later holding an old, moth-eaten blanket to wrap Buddy in.

"Here." She held the blanket out to Grant, and he took it gratefully.

With Skye's help, Grant gently lifted the skeleton off the ground just enough to move it onto the blanket. Then each of them took hold of a corner (or in Grant's case, two), and slowly brought Buddy over to the grave.

Grant had to take a moment to keep his tears at bay while Skye and Kara hugged him tightly. He didn't know if it made it easier or harder to hide the depth of his turbulent emotions, but he appreciated the comfort.

As he took a deep breath, they broke apart and each reached for their corners of the blanket. Gently, they lowered him into the grave. The girls took a few steps back and allowed Grant his space while he moved the dug up dirt back on top of Buddy. He kept his breaths long and deep, and although they shuddered a bit in his chest, it helped him. It took him several minutes to completely fill in the hole and solidly pat back down the blocks of grass he'd carefully removed.

"Now what?" he asked. "I don't know what happens at funerals."

Skye moved over to stand beside him, and held out the dog tag and a small stick. "Mark the grave." She said, watching his face with care. "If you come back, you'll be able to find it again."

Grant managed a smile as he took the tag and stick. "Thank you. But these won't last long."

"So look for a decent size rock later and drill a hole into it." she replied. "For the sake of ceremony, these will do for now."

He nodded, kissed Skye on her left cheek, and knelt to place the items in the middle. Standing back up, he turned to Skye again. "Is that it?"

She smiled. "Now you say a few words. A memory, how you feel, a thank you."

"Okay, um," Grant breathed deeply and began a stuttering ramble. "Buddy, I…I'm sorry you died and I never came back. I left because of Garrett, but…if it wasn't for Garrett, I suppose I never would have met you." He glanced at Skye with his eyebrows raised in the question Am I doing this right? She smiled encouragingly and nodded. "I…thanks for being a dog, and being loyal." He half-laughed, the sound filled with sad nostalgia. "You would always run off whenever I took a shot out here. You kept me warm and feeling safe when I had no food or shelter after Garrett left me here. I wish you were alive long enough to see me again." Grant's head bowed as more tears threatened to fall. "I miss you, Buddy. You would've loved Kara and Skye." At the end of this he turned and pulled Skye into a hug, letting his head drop onto her shoulder as he finally allowed the tears to stream down his face.