Not a drop of that was for Brannon's reaction: though he wasn't entirely sure his nod and gesture asking Bran to stand down on Archer's behalf had been interpreted correctly, he didn't blame him for being pissed off. In the same way that everyone in this room had seen some shit, Archer had no illusions that the mayor and Lansing didn't have a good bead on him and his partner both. Archer was supposed to be fucking calm and O'Brien could be whatever the fuck he wanted. Their jackets -- their files, whatever existed from the past and had been cobbled together since the apocalypse -- had been perused. No one just becomes chief of police just because he or she is the next in line. He'd been vetted. Brannon O'Brien had, similarly, been deemed suitable to be his Deputy Chief. It was just as likely that they knew Archer wouldn't do the job without someone he could trust to have his back but, their bond and O’Brien’s perceived attitude aside, there wasn’t a better qualified officer out there for the job and would make an excellent DCoP.
All of that he comprehended, had anticipated once he'd seen the badge headed his way, and was prepared for when the reality of the situation stared him in the face. That shit he got.
What he hadn't been ready for was the way he was going to feel when the mayor began to read from that piece of paper. Archer wasn't prepared for the weight -- one that felt way too fucking real -- to settle onto his shoulders, for the words to hold an edge to them that cut him to the fucking bone. He didn't remember this from Grady's oath, had only been passing by the squad room and ducked in, had only been around and happened to witness it and he didn't know if this was the same sort of blessing, the same sort of warning, that Grady got. If so, there was a traitorous little voice in the back of his head that privately believed that Grady ignored the parts of this that didn't suit him. Archer, however, wasn't cut from that cloth. He believed Olinger when he said that he'd be responsible. He sure as hell believed that it would be intense and extreme and require his full attention for as long as he continued to draw breath. Archer believed in duty. Listening, though... he wasn't entirely convinced about the honor, and that was a bleak thought he didn't want to be having.
All of it, taken together, didn't sound like praise or a promise. It sounded like a hammer and nails. Archer only hoped Olinger thought he was helping to reinforce Archer's defenses. Instead of building his coffin.
Over that buzzing in the back of his head, Archer heard the mayor tell him to repeat after him and stood at attention and raised his right hand to follow suit. The words weren’t so different than he’d thought they’d be, and half a beat after they’re said to him, he repeated them back, making each one carry the weight it ought.
“I, Archer Avery, do solemnly swear,” he began, “That I will faithfully and impartially discharge and perform--” There was a rhythm to it, the call and response, and that grounded Archer in the moment almost as much as a quick glance over at O’Brien by the fireplace. “--all duties incumbent upon me as the Police Chief of the City of Austin, according to the best of my skill and ability, agreeable to the Constitution and laws of the United States and the State of Texas.”
Olinger paused and gave another of those small smiles of encouragement, not unlike the kind way he’d looked at him when he’d first held out the gory badge, and Archer didn’t know how the fuck any of this was supposed to make him feel. Smiling wasn’t fucking gonna happen, though. They continued on, the mayor giving the oath and Archer repeating it, and though his face was as impassive as it had ever been since entering this office, there was intent gravity and thoughtfulness in his voice behind the delivery of the words. Archer meant what he said.
“I further solemnly swear that I will be faithful to the demands for truth and honesty, as established by my profession and the Austin Police Department.” This really wasn’t so different from reaffirming the oath he’d taken fresh out of the Academy or the loyalty he’d sworn when they’d moved here.