Peggy Carter moved to get away from the bullet, but she wasn't fast enough. Daniel Sousa thrust his crutch out, hoping to deflect the bullet.
Deke Shaw leapt in front of the SHIELD director.
The bullet found a target, just not its intended one.
"Deke" Piper shouted as the young man fell to the ground.
Phillips had already cocked his pistol and was ready to aim at Carter once more, but Daniel beat the Colonel in the face with his crutch.
Peggy Carter trained her own pistol on her former colleague
"The face" Piper instructed, "the head" she motioned with her pistol, "that's how to kill it"
"It?" Daniel beat the Colonel in the face with his crutch once more
"That's not Chester Phillips" Piper shot the Army officer, but he kept moving and the bullet only hit his shoulder.
"One of those- Chromium devices?" Peggy aimed a well timed bullet at Phillips, and struck him in the face.
"Right" Piper shot twice rapidly
Daniel yanked the rubber stopper off the end of his crutch and then rammed the metal rod into Phillip's neck. There was a shower of sparks as the machine finally stopped.
Then, and only then, could the trio turn to Deke, who lay bleeding onto the Sousa's hardwood floor.
"We've got to get him to a hospital" Piper shouted
"Peggy, stay here with Piper" Daniel was concerned, "I'll get him to the hospital"
It took all three of them to load Deke into the back of Daniel's car.
At the hospital, Daniel looked around furtively, half afraid he'd run into his ex-fiance, Violet. Thankfully, nurses had loaded Deke onto a gurney and had whisked him away for surgery. Now, Daniel sat alone on a bench and was lost in thought. This was the hospital where Ana Jarvis had lain after Dottie Underwood had shot her. How many more deaths, let alone near-deaths, would be seen here?
He got to his feet, and made his way over to the pay phone. He fed in some coins and made two important calls.
At the house, Peggy rifled through the dead man's pockets. Along with Phillip's actual wallet, keys, and other accouterments, she found a handwritten note regarding the Arena Club
"What's that?" Piper looked confused
"The Arena Club is social club for wealthy middle-aged men in Los Angeles, California with a strict no-women rule" she sighed, "It's also a front for the Council of Nine to conduct their secret businesses" she explained, "they were planning to rig the senate campaign to make Anderson lose and Chadwick win"
"I'm usually more with it" Piper felt embarrassed, "can you explain what this means"
"It means that your team will have to infiltrate the Arena Club" she smiled knowingly, "and I think I know just the way to do it"
Just then, the telephone rang. Peggy deftly answered the phone, "Yes, of course I know how to handle things, Daniel Sousa" she snapped, "yes, I searched his pockets. As a matter of fact, he has an appointment at the Arena Club. Yes, yes it does seem odd" she went on with the conversation, and then both said their goodbyes and hung up.
She tossed Piper a jacket, "Put this on over your futuristic uniform, we've got to get to the hospital"
"He's waking up" Jemma smiled. At the hospital, Deke was slowly coming out of anesthesia
"Is Daisy here?" Deke gave a lopsided grin, "She's so pretty"
"Go easy, loverboy" Mack nodded, "you can talk to her in a minute."
Deke focused his gaze on the agents who stood around him, Mack, Elena, Jemma, Piper, Director Carter, her husband, and - Daisy.
"You took a bullet for Peggy Carter, I guess I can give you a break" Daisy leaned over and kissed Deke's cheek.
Deke grinned as wide as he could. Then his eyes rolled back in his head and he fell asleep again.
"When he wakes up again, we'll have to brief him on this new mission" Mack looked at Daisy, "can you explain it to him?"
"I'm sure he just hears violins playing when I'm talking" Daisy quipped, "and lemons"
The next night, Deke and Daisy were dressed in period clothes, as they stood outside the Arena Club.
"Are you ready for this?" she smiled at him and held his hand in hers
"No, but let's go do it anyway" he grinned
They made their way inside. There was a job to do