I particularly like the opening to this fic: the first sentence is sharp and strong, and the "is" repetitions that follow in the descriptions of the characters (is unavoidably witness... is impervious....is at his most supercilious...is inflexible) really emphasize the sense of frozen impasse or standoff between them.

Other lines I enjoyed:

Imprisoned as much by the lingering weakness of his own recent fever as by the iron bars

impervious to both reason and threat.

begun on that same rainwashed day==>I like this image of Horatio's entrance into Archie's life being a baptism of sorts

and listening to the sound of the faint breathing that is Kennedy’s tenuous grip on life.

That last line is interesting, too, as a reminder that even making it to the next morning is a fight that Archie's undertaking for Horatio.

Thanks for writing!

~