This prompt, as well as the next, were written before the winter finale. It made me a little upset, but eh. Still made something pretty good.

Transformation

"You can do this," Leo told himself as he approached Skye's bunk. The door was open, and he could see Skye sitting inside. Her new SHIELD badge was open, and she was staring at it proudly. Raising his fist, Leo knocked on the side of the door.

At the noise, Skye lifted her head and smiled at him. "Hey, Leo."

Every time she called him by his first name, a warm feeling rose up inside of him, and it was impossible to stop the smile from breaking out on his face. "Congratulations, Agent."

"Thanks," Skye mumbled, ducking her head. Leo could see her cheeks reddening. "It's been a crazy journey. That probably shouldn't surprise me, considering it's SHIELD, leader in all things strange and impossible."

He chuckled a little at her remark. "Still the same sassy hacker we picked up, huh?"

As soon as the words left his mouth, Skye's smirk faded. A shadow of worry came over her face, and her hand clenched around her new badge. Leo pressed his lips together, regretting his comment.

"Sorry," he apologized.

"Was it really so long ago?" Skye murmured, gazing up at him. Her beautiful brown eyes were clouded with concern and doubt. "A few months ago, all I cared about was spreading secrets and finding out who I was. Now I'm keeping the secrets, and it's to protect others. I just…"

She trailed off, looking back down at the badge again.

"You feel as if you wouldn't recognize yourself if you saw yourself back then, right?" Leo asked. Skye nodded, and he stepped inside. "Like the old you has been transformed into someone new, wiped away forever. That's how I felt, how I still feel sometimes."

Skye nodded again. She shifted over on her bed, patting the space beside her for him to sit down.

"I'm scared," she confessed as he lowered himself down next to her. "I don't want to be destroyed by SHIELD. Ward, I mean he was already pretty rigid. But the night that the Bus went down and the power went out, Coulson told me about May. He said before Bahrain, she was like me. Then it happened to her, and you know what she's like now. I don't want that to happen to me. I don't want something really bad to happen and transform me into someone who I can't even recognize."

Leo put a hand on her shoulder comfortingly. He took a deep breath, thinking carefully about what he was going to tell her.

"SHIELD does change you a lot, that's true. I see it all around me, and I wonder what they were like before all this. But I believe deep down, the person they used to be still exists. No matter where life takes you or what it makes you, the old you is never gone. I still see that sweet, funny, beautiful hacker who got Agent Grant Ward to say Gramsy in you, Skye."

Skye snorted a laugh. "You really mean that?"

"Yeah," Leo said, giving her a one armed hug. "Trust me, I see her every day."

Tomorrow, the real clincher in setting this on an AU path. It's minor to Skitz, but it plays a bit of a role too.

Please review.