Anna stands in the mostly dark kitchen area of the open-plan apartment, luxuriating in the decadent raspberry sorbet Pepper makes sure was always stocked in her freezer. The two of them had gone out for ice cream once when Anna first moved into the Tower, and ever since then, Pepper made sure the frozen treat was always available. It was one of many personal touches that Pepper and Tony were kind enough to show her. And then she'd gone and lied to them about Phil.

Speak of the devil, Anna listens as he enters the apartment. His biometrics are already programmed into the system, which makes her all the more curious as to how much Tony and Pepper actually knew about Phil's status as a not-dead person.

He loosens his tie and drapes his jacket over the back of an armchair in the living room area before making his way towards her, shooting a dirty look at her right hand. He obviously doesn't miss the fact that she's holding a pint of frozen goodness against her recovering fingers not for a sweet dessert, but to ease the stiffness and pain. "How long did you play?" he asks.

"Until my hand went numb," she replies with a proud smile she can't contain.

Phil shakes his head as he crosses the kitchen to stand in front of her. He dips his head to kiss her, the contact deepening quickly. They're interrupted by the sound of a groan approaching the kitchen.

"All I wanted was a glass of water," Skye whines.

"Sink's there," Phil physically points out, not bothering to step away from the embrace.

Skye, clad in a t-shirt and polka dot sleep pants, hair in a messy knot on top of her head, curls her lip in disgust. "When you inevitably have sex, can you please be quiet about it?" she asks while grabbing a bottle of water from the fridge and walking back to bed.

Phil's eyes trail her until she's gone. "Spare bedroom?"

Anna nods. "She's in there with Jemma, and they stole my cat, which I'm sure you'll appreciate. Trip said he had a place around here and wanted to spend a night in one of his beds."

Phil's brow creases for a second. "Hopefully he never told Garrett about that apartment."

"I think he's smart enough not to walk into a trap. Where's Melinda?"

"She has an apartment in the city, too."

"Another one wanting to sleep in their own bed?" Anna asks.

"I think she wants to see how many of her husband's belongings she'll still find there."

"Do I even want to poke at that beehive?"

Phil shakes his head. "Not with a ten foot pole."

He dips his head again, but before his mouth can make contact, the door chime rings. "I thought you were done with Tony for the night," Anna comments.

"If it were Tony, he'd just barge in," Phil points out.

"It is Miss Potts at the door," JARVIS announces.

"Yet another thing I don't want to touch with a ten foot pole," Anna tells him as she extracts herself from his arms.

"Running away?" he asks with a small smile.

"Valuing my life," Anna corrects. "Good luck with that one."

She dashes off to the master bath before Phil can answer the door. Drawing a bath, she slips into the hot water to soak her sore hand and arm. She has JARVIS play a piece one of her students is practicing at the moment to further attune herself to its nuances. The melody barely finishes before Phil enters the bathroom, rolling up his shirt sleeves. His shoes are gone, which causes him to give an odd look at the heated tile floor as soon as his socked feet touches it. His untucked dress shirt is opened a third of the way, low enough to show off chest hair, but still hiding his scar.

Phil sits on the lip of the bathtub and reaches his fingers in to flick water at her face. She splashes back and soaks his shirt, but it doesn't faze him.

"She leave you in one piece?" Anna asks.

"For now," Phil answers. "But she wants us to have dinner with her and Tony in a couple nights."

"That doesn't sound terrifying at all. How'd it go with Tony?"

Phil frowns and shakes his head. "He's gone and started the Sentient World Observation and Response Department, or S.W.O.R.D., as he calls it."

"Sounds like something that would pair well with a S.H.I.E.L.D."

"He blew up all his suits only to start designing a series of robots with artificial intelligence to monitor criminal and suspicious activities."

"Because the whole spying robot with artificial intelligence trope always ends well," Anna comments. "No offense, JARVIS."

"None taken," the disembodied voice says.

Phil sighs wearily. "Whatever he's up to—and he's not willing to share his entire plan with a quote-unquote zombie—I'm sure I'll be in meetings about it all day tomorrow." He reaches into the water once more to gingerly take hold of her hand. "Try not to go too hard," he asks of her.

She gives him a sultry smirk. "But if my hand isn't up to snuff, I'll guess I'll just have to use my mouth to take care of things."

Phil grins at her. "Skye asked us to be quiet."

"And heaven knows you can't be during sex," Anna laughs.

Their laughter dies down, and Phil gives her one of those stares where she feels like he can see right through her. "You still doing okay? I know all of this is a lot to take in and I—"

She cuts him off by taking his hand and kissing each knuckle. "You're here. I'm fine."

"And when I have to leave again?"

"Just come back to me eventually, and I'll be okay."