Series Note: "Omega-version": This series is very thinly knotted in the Omegaverse because I wanted Horatio and Archie to be Mates. There will be no actual Omegas in this verse. Betas will have absorbed some Omega attributes. There will be no mentions of Knots or Heats (sorry). It will focus on Horatio/Archie's love/companionship under the constraints of Navel/life aboard a ship in the events of "Mutiny" & "Retribution".

a/n: This is part of my "Comfort" Series. Set in the same universe. Post "Security".

SEQUEL to: Security.

Tag: Retribution.

Summary: It's them together or not at all.

Pairing: Horatio/Archie
Includes: Omegaverse, Slash, Mates, Alpha/Beta, Minor Spoilers,

—
Horatio Hornblower
The Adventure Continues:
Retribution!
—

Succour:
help or relief for somebody or something in a difficult or unpleasant situation.

!

"I'll go with you," Archie said immediately, stepping forward next to his Mate.

"I would as well," Bush spoke up behind the pair. All looked toward the Acting Captain.

"No no." Buckland shook his head. "I don't believe it will take the two of you, let alone all three of you."

"Sir-" Archie's fists clenched at his side and he fought greatly against the urge to strike the Acting Captain. It was against regulation, unless in extreme circumstance that Mates are forcibly separated.

"I said no, 4th Lieutenant. That's an order." Buckland said firmly, his first show of authority. "Now, I expect to see you and Mr Bush both aboard the Renown." He promptly turned on heel and headed back for the dock and the jollyboat that would take him back to the ship anchored in the water.

Bush stepped away, allowing the Mates a private moment of parting. It did not seem likely that they would see Horatio again.

"Horatio." Archie whispered painfully.

Horatio stepped close to the Beta, taking his right hand and tangling their fingers, cupping his left cheek with the other. Archie gripped back tightly, determined to not let go and leaned into the touch pleadingly.

He's setting you up, the accusation was on the tip of his tongue, but what came out instead was: "Please don't leave me, Horatio."

"I would never leave. Think of all that we have been through; when has there ever been an obstacle that I have not torn through to get back to you? Hm?" he lay their foreheads together.

"Let me come with you, then. And we can face it together." Archie's gaze blurred with welling tears.

But he shook his head. "That will be all, Mr Kennedy." Horatio pressed a brief kiss to his Mate's lips, but every emotion and care was compacted into the gesture of parting, everything he didn't have time to express with words or caress. His thumb brushed over his initials scarred on his Mate's cheek before he stepped back, distancing himself from the Beta, a look of resolve in his brown eyes, even as Archie tried to hold his firm only to fail. "I shall see you gentlemen back on the Renown." He glanced back at Bush, a question in his eyes; Bush read it loud and clear, giving a silent nod. Horatio gave his Mate one last look before he ran back into the fort, determined to do his duty.

"Mr Kennedy," Bush spoke gently.

Archie looked determinedly into Bush's gaze, a defiant set to his jaw. Bush did not look away and returned the stare with a liking determination. They would not leave a man behind.

...

Horatio looked up, nearly shooting Archie as he came up the stairs. He was obviously more shocked to see Bush than he was to see Archie. He would expect nothing less from his Mate; he knew the Beta too well.

"I said I would meet you both back on the Renown," he scolded, not to be bothered that Bush ranked above him.

"We're just meeting you halfway there," Archie responded cheekily as Bush rose his pistol and fired, felling the enemy who had come up behind Horatio's back.

"Then the pair of you need to take more lessons in navigation," Horatio focused on connecting the fuse line to the other barrels of gunpowder, trusting the pair to watch his back.

Archie fired his pistol at this turn. "Then you shall have to come back and give us lesson," he remarked.

"We should go before it gets any warmer in here," Bush commanded.

Fuse sparked, the threesome of Lieutenants escaped through the same underground tunnel that Horatio and Archie had used in the original skirmish with the Spanish when they first took the fort—with just enough time for them to escape and the rebellion to funnel into the fort.

At the edge of the cliff, they were left with the exploding fort at their back and the Renown sailing away before them. Even with the distance between themselves, they could still feel the heat from the fire.

"She is sailing away!" Horatio cursed.

"Then that is it." Bush declared in resignation. "We are finished."

"You should not have come for me!" Horatio turned to them in frustration, including Bush in the accusation, but focusing his attentions on Archie.

Archie turned to his Mate from his thoughtful calculations as he looked upon the water over the cliff's edge. "Do you think that I was just going to let that coward do off with you?" Archie's lip curled briefly in contempt toward the Acting Captain. "It seems Buckland is truly no different than Captain Sawyer in that regard. I will give neither of them the satisfaction!"

"Archie!" Horatio cried out in exasperation.

"We're all likely to hang for mutiny when we return to Kingston, there's no need to be shy about it anymore." He turned to the other dark-haired Lieutenant who appeared in silent confliction; Archie yanked the frock jacket from Bush's shoulders with no thoughts towards his superior officer.

"What are you doing?!" Bush exclaimed.

"It will just weigh you down, Mr Bush." Horatio let the matter go for the moment, and answered Bush's question, having read Archie's intentions clearly and stripping off his own jacket. "We must swim swiftly if we are to close the distance to the ship."

"What? You cannot be serious!" he looked between the two of them. "No. We'll never catch them. They think us dead and will have no lookout."

"Matthews, Styles, and Mr Wellard will be on the lookout," Archie told him firmly, down to his own waistcoat. He grinned at Horatio, "They know better than anyone that our dear Horatio has more lives than a cat."

"We best hurry before they catch the wind." Horatio simply said in reply.

They linked arms firmly with Bush and charged towards the cliff edge, jumping into the free air with the 2nd Lieutenant's shouts propelling them into the water below. They came to the surface, Bush anchored firm between them, sputtering.

Archie looked over the middle man's soaked head to his Mate. "We either live together or die together, Horatio. There is no middle ground."

f

—
Horatio Hornblower
The Adventure Continues!
—

Continued in: "LUXURY" ...