It turns out that I do have a few stories from Horatio's return from the pit. They are mostly from Archie's pov. It is not surprising that they were hard to find-- they are from 5 years back!

http://eglantine-br.livejournal.com/2011/02/02/

http://eglantine-br.livejournal.com/2011/02/04/

http://eglantine-br.livejournal.com/2011/02/06/

Hope this helps! I am curious to know if the way I imagined it seems right to you.