[ The hit lands, hard, a shock of pain across his cheek that's quickly followed by the taste of blood seeping onto the edge of his tongueβbut this man is not taking him back there, even if that means he has to die by his own hand to avoid it, and he's not going to rot in some capitalist prison cell or fry for a national audience like the Rosenbergs, either. Thank God he's still armed, though if he shoots the guy, he's going to have to explain a murder to people who are already looking for a reason to kill himβ
so he just holds that arm as far from Archer as he can and does the exact opposite, pulling the trigger and moving forward to slam his forehead against his opponent's nose and teeth in the immediate aftershock of the impossibly loud bang. His ears ring, blotting out the sounds around him, but he knows it's not as disorienting as it would be if he didn't know it was about to discharge, and that's half of what he's putting his hopes in hereβthat as much as his eardrums hurt, it had the same effect on the intruder, or worse. ]
cw blood, violence, gun mentions, brief suicidal ideation
so he just holds that arm as far from Archer as he can and does the exact opposite, pulling the trigger and moving forward to slam his forehead against his opponent's nose and teeth in the immediate aftershock of the impossibly loud bang. His ears ring, blotting out the sounds around him, but he knows it's not as disorienting as it would be if he didn't know it was about to discharge, and that's half of what he's putting his hopes in hereβthat as much as his eardrums hurt, it had the same effect on the intruder, or worse. ]