This was inspired by Selene Illusinia's story The Brief Adventures of Skye: Puppy-Bound Ward, which was an absolutely adorable story that everyone should read. It has inspired me to write a version of my own. It's an AU where Ward was never Hydra and Tripp's part of the team. So there's some lovely Biospecialist, along with a hinting of my Skitz babies.

Something was burning. That was the first thing that Skye noticed when she came to on the floor of the lab. The last thing she remembered was her and Fitz in the lab, studying an 084. Simmons had been with them earlier, but she'd left them to go sneak off somewhere with Ward. Skye knew this because she walked in on them in the supply closet, and both of them had begged her to keep their relationship a secret from Fitz because he would probably go into overprotective brother mode on Simmons.

Anyway, she'd been in the lab with Fitz, and they weren't getting anything from the 084. So out of curiosity, Fitz decided to prod it gently. The explosion happened after he did this, and she'd been blown back against the wall. After that, everything had been dark and now here she was, staring at the smoking remains of the 084 and a puppy trotting toward her.

A puppy?!

She blinked and stared down. Yes, that was a puppy. A small, fluffy puppy with curly brown fur who was wagging his or her tail happily. Skye pushed herself up into a sitting position before picking up the dog. She couldn't keep the smile off her face as she stroked the soft fur. He (she decided to just look so she would know) was just too cute. Of course, it just got cuter when he began to lick her face. Skye squealed happily and cuddled the puppy closer. She looked down lovingly at the puppy, preparing a speech to Coulson of why a dog would be a great addition to the Bus, and froze.

The puppy's eyes were blue-grey, almost the same color as the ocean. Exactly the same shade as Fitz's. The gears began to turn in Skye's head, and she looked around the corner. Fitz's sweater, pants, and tie lay in a crumpled heap on the floor. Everything clicked into place when her gaze returned to the puppy.

"Leo?" Fitz suddenly seemed like too harsh a name to call this adorable puffball.

The dog-Leo-yipped and leapt from her arms.

Skye stood up with a groan. Puppy Leo was now next to his clothes on the floor, looking up at her. He was a perfect picture of innocence, save for the tie hanging out of his mouth. A tie that Skye knew was a particular favorite of his that he was now chewing on.

"Hey, hey no, don't do that!" Skye chided as she grabbed one end and tried to tug it from his mouth. "Come on, Leo. Let go. You love this tie."

A growl rose from his throat as he tugged against her. After struggling for a few moments, Skye realized where this was going and released her end. Leo tumbled backwards into the lab doors. Grabbing the tie and the rest of the abandoned clothes in one hand, Skye scooped up Leo with her other and made her way upstairs. Hopefully, Simmons would be available to help her out with this.

Luckily for Skye, Simmons and Ward were done with whatever it was they had been doing and were now in the kitchen making sandwiches. Skye had already dropped off Leo's clothes in his bunk (Oh great, where was he going to sleep now? They couldn't leave him by himself in there, or it would be a mess.) and could now hold the squirming puppy a little more firmly now. Unfortunately for her, two hands could not stop a hungry puppy when Leo caught scent of Ward's BLT and slipped from her grasp. "Head's up!" she cried, chasing the running furball that was making his way toward Simmons and Ward.

"Skye!" Simmons shrieked, jumping back as Leo streaked by her. "What is that!"

Skye held her breath as Leo began to whine and paw at Ward's legs. She half expected the specialist to kick the dog off to the side. The only person he actually seemed to be a regular guy around was Simmons, but a dog. No way.

To her surprise though, a big, goofy grin stretched across Ward's face. "Hey, bud," he chuckled, picking up the puppy.

Leo barked and licked his nose. Ward laughed and cradled the puppy in his big arms. The scene was so adorable and so odd at the same time that Skye didn't know how to react.

"Isn't he adorable, Jemma?" he crooned, scratching the back of Leo's ears. This pleased him a lot, as he relaxed and began to make happy little yips. "Yes, I'm talking to you, big boy. Aren't you the fluffiest little thing ever."

Skye shook her head and rubbed her eyes. "I had no idea that you liked dogs," she snickered, absolutely revealing in the sight of her SO going soft with a dog cuddled in his arms. A dog who just happened to be a member of their team.

Ward grinned wider. "Of course! They're amazing! You couldn't ask for a better companion."

"So should I be jealous, Grant?" Simmons teased as she stroked Leo's fur.

Ward turned toward her with an even dopier smile than he had when he was looking at puppy Leo. "Never, Jemma. You know that you always come-"

"There's something you might want to know about the dog," Skye cut in as Leo's features grew a bit darker and a low growl rumbled from his throat. He didn't know about the relationship going on behind his back, and he shouldn't have to find out by watching the two kiss overhead. "His name is Leo."

"Aww you named him after Fitz," Simmons gushed, not catching what Skye meant as she was still in a puppy-love haze with Ward. "That's adorable. It's too bad he's not a monkey though. Fitz would definitely not object to naming the monkey-"

"No, his name is Leo. Fitz," Skye bit her lip. "The dog is Fitz."

The room went dead quiet, save for the puppy's panting. Ward and Simmons froze, the blissful smiles evaporating off their faces. Leo almost fell out of Ward's arms, but he managed to regain his grip in time.

"That's Fitz?!" Simmons squawked as Ward handed Leo back to Skye. "How did he end up like this? Fitz, how did you end up like this?!"

"Stop interrogating him!" Skye curled Leo closer to her chest and stepped back from Simmons. "He can't exactly answer you anyway. He's a freaking puppy!"

"I would have thought that if Fitz ever turned into an animal, he'd be a monkey," Ward snickered. Simmons shot him a dirty look. "But how did this happen?"

"It was the 084," Skye explained as she stroked Leo's soft brown curls. His fur was too irresistible to not pet. It was pretty much the fluffiest stuff ever. "He nudged it, and it exploded. I wasn't as close as he was, but it still blew me back against the wall. I had no idea that he was a puppy until I saw his clothes on the floor while he was being adorable and chewing his tie."

Ward and Simmons chuckled. Skye gave a small snort as she remembered how she had struggled with him over the tie.

"Let me see Fitz," Simmons held out her hands "I could run some tests on him so we can find a way to get him back to his normal self."

"No!" Skye shielded Leo and held him tighter to her body. "You are not poking and prodding and hurting him. He's happy right now."

"I'll say," Ward smirked at the puppy's position. "It's probably the closest Leo's ever gotten to someone's, er, assets."

"Aw, Ward!" Skye shifted Leo so he was now looking out at Ward and Simmons instead of her breasts. "Sorry, Leo," she apologized to the puppy.

"I promise that I won't hurt him. Fitz is my best friend, Skye," Simmons reassured, placing her hand on Skye's shoulder. "Just give him to me, and we'll just pop down to the lab and figure out what's going on with Fitz."

Skye huffed. "Fine, but we're calling him Leo while he's like this."

"Any reason why?" Ward asked as he tried not to smirk.

Skye rolled her eyes and held out puppy Leo, who was panting happily. "Fitz is not a proper name for this bundle of preciousness."

"Okay," Simmons rolled her eyes with a sigh. "Bring Leo down to the lab so we can sort this out."

Skye nodded, and the girls left the kitchen. Their hopes of getting down to the lab unnoticed fell short when they bumped into Coulson.

"Sorry, sir," Simmons apologized, stepping in front of Skye to hide the puppy from his line of sight. Unfortunately, he noticed.

"Skye," he sighed. "Do you want to tell me why there is a puppy on the Bus?"

Simmons laughed nervously. "It's actually an interesting story, sir. See, Skye here-"

"He's Leo," Skye interrupted, shooting Simmons a look that said don't-even-try. "Fitz."

Coulson let out another sigh and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Do I want to know?"

"It was the 084," Skye's voice was barely a whisper. "It exploded, and he ended up like this."

"We're just taking him down to the lab now to run some tests," Simmons added. "Don't worry, sir. He'll be back to normal in no time. At least I hope."

"Do it," Coulson uttered. He turned and retreated to the cockpit.

They pretended that the sudden dipping of the plane that happened twenty seconds later was just turbulence.

"So that's Fitz?"

Trip was staring at the puppy with distinct surprise. Leo was skittering about on the table, whining now and then.

Skye nodded. "Yep."

"I thought he'd actually be a monkey."

"Ugh, you and Ward both. Is that a specialist thing or something?" Skye scooped Leo up before he could knock something off the table. "And we're calling him Leo until he's back to normal."

"Which could be a while."

Simmons came up beside them, holding a sheet of paper in her hands. Trip and Skye looked at her with raised eyebrows.

"As far as I know through the scans, there's something in his bloodstream that's made him into a dog," she explained. "It's quite fascinating though. It appears to be a chemical or something similar that transmitted into him via the explosion. Once it was inside, it attached to the blood cells and began to form a compound that's called-"

"Get to the point, Simmons," Skye cut her off. "You can tell the science stuff to Leo once he's human again."

"Oh, right. Sorry," Simmons blushed and continued. "Anyway, whatever's in him is wearing off, but the rate keeps fluctuating and I can't get any idea of when it will be completely gone. He will become human again, but it could a while. Anywhere from days to weeks, even a month or two."

The lab went silent, except for a sudden bout of whimpering from Leo.

"Aww, don't worry Leo," Skye soothed, smoothing his fur out. "We'll have you fixed."

Upon hearing the last word, Leo yelped and jumped out of Skye's arms. He streaked through the lab doors and into the cargo hold.

"No, no, no Leo! I don't mean it in that way!" Skye shrieked as she and Trip followed after him. "We would never do a thing like that to-NO, LEO DON'T!"

Leo had trotted over to where Lola was parked. He was now sniffing the front tire on the driver's side of the Corvette. Satisfied, he scooted close and lifted a hind leg.

"Oh boy," Trip groaned nervously. "I know what that means."

"NOOO!" Skye screamed, running forward and tackling the puppy out of range of Lola. The car avoided getting urine on it. Skye, on the other hand, wasn't as lucky.

"Ew ew ew ew!" Skye pushed herself out of the puddle of dog urine. Leo sat nearby, happily wagging his tail.

"Oh my," Simmons whispered. Trip hid his mouth with his hand, snorting silent giggles.

"Are we okay?" Skye asked, concerned. Coulson would kill them all if Leo had gotten anything on Lola.

Trip crossed the room and bent down next to the wheel that Leo had been beside seconds earlier. "All good," he replied, giving a thumbs up sign. "You, not so much."

"Tell me about it," Skye scowled, getting up and handing Leo to Trip. "I'm going to get cleaned up. If you guys clean up the pee, then I'll deal with the security cameras because this never happened. Right?"

Trip and Simmons nodded as she left.

"Just let him sleep with you tonight."

Skye stared at Simmons in disbelief. "What?!"

The biochemist sighed and handed her Leo. "He's terrified of May- trust me I saw-, and Coulson's got it in his mind that if he sleeps in his office, then he'll chew up all the collectibles overnight."

"Well, what about Trip? Or you or Ward?" Skye countered. "You're his best friend after all."

"He likes you best," Trip shrugged, pointing to Leo, who was curled comfortably in her arms. "And someone's got to look after him."

Skye turn to Ward. "Oh come on, you like dogs," she pleaded.

"It won't be for long, Skye," Ward said, his hand falling behind to the small of Simmons's back.. He grinned a little. "And I don't think he'll pee on you again."

Skye glared at Simmons. "You TOLD him?!"

"I can't lie to him!" cried Simmons.

"You can't lie to anyone, Simmons." Skye huffed. "But fine. I'll take him for tonight."

She put Leo on the ground and he followed her back to her bunk. Skye made a small nest for him out of two old sweaters. "Don't pee on them."

Leo whined and tried to hop up onto her bed.

"No," Skye ordered, pushing him back down to the floor. "This isn't your bed. You need to sleep on the sweater, okay?"

He gave a little whimper, but still curled up in the little nest. Skye switched out the little once he was settled. She regretted yelling at him, but the beds weren't that big, and if Leo turned back into a human in the middle of the night…

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Skye's eyes snapped open and she jolted up in bed. Flipping on the light, she winced at the initial brightness, but then realized the absence of Leo's throaty breathing that she had fallen asleep too. The sweater nest was empty, and the door was open a crack, letting in light and Ward's screams. Then a little streak of brown ran in and leapt onto her bed.

"What have you been up to?" Skye scolded as he looked up at her proudly. There was something in his mouth. "Spit that out now."

Leo dropped the item into her lap. Skye picked it up, frowning. It appeared to be a piece of fabric with a plaid print on it. The edges were frayed ,as though it had been ripped away from something.

"SKYE!"

Ward stomped into her bunk in a white t-shirt and boxers. Simmons was close behind him, wearing a thing silk robe and looking downward at his butt. "This is your fault!"

"Grant, please." Simmons soothed as she peered closer at his backside. "He was going to have to find out one day. And he didn't even draw blood. Wait, never mind, he did."

"Could one of you please explain to me what is happening?" Skye asked, peering down at a very smug Leo. "What has he done?"

Simmons straightened up and sighed. "Grant and I were out in the hallway between his bunk and mine. We were talking and one thing lead to another. We were just about to into my bunk, and then I heard this barking and snarling."

"And then he bit me!" Ward cried angrily. "Right on the butt. He ripped out a piece of my pants and scurried back here. Don't get me wrong, I like dogs, but that-" he shook a finger at Leo. "That is not cool."

"Let me take you down to the lab, Grant," Jemma told him. "I'll fixe you up, and then maybe…"

She gave a seductive smile, which he returned.

"Out, out now!" Skye ordered, pointing to the exit. "No one needs to hear about that except for you two."

After the door was closed, Skye hugged Leo tightly. "Good boy!" she squealed. "That ought to teach them a lesson about being quieter."

Leo yipped and licked her face. Skye scooted over and laid him down on the comforter.

"Here," she told him. "You can sleep on the bed now as a reward. And in the morning, we're going to frame that piece of his boxers for blackmail."

Leo barked happily and curled up beside her. Skye kissed the top of his curly head, He was just too adorable.

"Night, Leo," she whispered, turning off the lights and settling back down to sleep.

Snuggly. Warm. Something tickled her face a little. The bed felt a bit squished, but in a good way. Smiling, Skye scooted closer and readjusted her arm around the smooth, warm body. Wait, what!

Skye's eyes flew open to see a flurry of messy curls in her face. Her eyes traveled down to where the curls where connected. There was someone in her bed. A very cuddly, very naked someone.

Screaming, Skye pushed the person out. They hit the floor with an equally loud scream.

"BLOODY HELL!" A groggy Scottish brogue shouted. Skye scrambled over to the edge, staring out to see Leo. He was human again, as well as completely naked. Skye pointed at one of the sweaters, which he grabbed and placed over his lap. The moment of shock at the naked Scotsman (Whoa, he actually had abs. Nice ones too.) passed and she rolled off the bed.

"You're back!" She squealed, pulling him into a hug. "Oh, Leo! I'm missed you so much!"

"I was a dog…" he mumbled in confusion, as though everything was now making sense.

"Yeah, you were." Skye giggled a little at his flustered expression. "But a very adorable, cuddly one! Do you remember much?"

"Yeah," Leo muttered, frowning. "Pretty much all of it. And now I need to have a word with Ward."

"You bit him," snickered Skye.

"Well, he was snogging Simmons!" Leo protested. "Are they actually…"

"Together?" Skye nodded. "Yep, and they have been for a couple months. At least that I know of. It could have been longer though."

The door opened, and Ward and Simmons tumbled inside.

"You're back," Simmons cheered. Ward simply glowered at Fitz. "Oh, and you're…naked."

Leo gave them a sheepish expression and stood up, keeping the sweater over his groin. "So…you and Ward…"

"Ah yes." Simmons strode over and slapped him across the face.

"How dare you bit him! He was doing nothing wrong at all! Shame on you for that behavior! You could have reacted better than that! I'm glad you're back to normal, but still!"

"He hurts you, and he's dead," Fitz growled. "Got it Ward?"

"Crystal." The specialist gave him a stony look. Skye smirked, knowing that in less than a day, they'd be back to their normal brotherly relationship.

"Leave him alone, Fitz," Simmons huffed. "Come on, Grant. Let's go get some breakfast. I'm a bit hungry."

With that, they exited the bunk. Skye handed Leo a towel. "So about this morning," she began.

"Oh." His cheeks went crimson. "Um, talk later."

"Sounds good."

Leo nodded and scurried off to his bunk. Skye flopped back down on her bed with a sigh. She would never ever admit it, but cuddling with Leopold Fitz was definitely one of the best ways she had ever been able to wake up with.

Please review and tell me how you liked it! I'm considering doing another one of these. They're super fun!