Several years later, I'm back. Long time no see, my friends. The last time was to write about Will coming back to Salem. Now, it's about Will leaving Salem. With or without Sonny, that's for you to find out. Hopefully this one will work out. I got a few messages about me deleting the sequel to Operation Horton, I apologize, but I just wasn't feeling satisfied with what I was writing. I had no direction, and it was just plot hole after plot hole and lots of dead ends. I don't know if I'll work on it again, I like how the story ended, and don't really see the point. Anyway, this is something new, and I've altered some things in the original storyline, so I hope you guys like it. Let's ride!

Late February 2021

The truth was out.

As Will rested his hands on the bars of his cell, his new, smaller, darker cell, he thought of all the events that had led up to this moment.

After helping Ben and his psycho father buy time to escape prison, Will had been sent to solitary confinement as punishment, not that it made any sense, considering the place was mostly reserved for the most violent and deadliest prisoners. Then again, most of the guards, if not all of them, were corrupt, so he figured nobody actually cared.

Prison, Will had learnt, was an interesting, fascinating experience. Sure, he had been miserable, thinking he was responsible for his mother in law's death, torturing himself for being so stupid. He had just wanted to send his mother a Mother's Day message, and lost everything as consequence. His job, his life, his husband. And if his luck wasn't any worse, his cellmate was none other than Ben, the man who had tried to kill him all those years ago. A man who had used the same modus operandi to kill his own sister, or so he believed until recently. He never would have imagined being friends again with the Necktie Killer. He guessed anyone in his corner was better than no one, but deep inside he knew he believed in Ben's innocence. He couldn't help it, loyalty had been his greatest quality and flaw.

Will had taken up the habit of reading novels again. Life and work had gotten in the way when he was free, and it was kind of nice to do it again, even if it was as a method to not lose his mind in this hellhole. He had even gotten a bit inspired, and had several ideas for different stories written in a small notebook he kept under his pillow, each one wilder and better than the previous one. It felt nice to vent, and transform his anger and sadness into words. He had given up on hating himself so much, he was sure Sonny hated his guts, so that was more than enough. Will wouldn't mind if he was sentenced to life in prison if it meant not facing all the people whose lives he had ruined (although it was very unlikely), and who probably never wanted to have anything to do with him ever again.

But when Ciara came to see him, and told him he was innocent, everything changed. He was definitely relieved he hadn't killed Adrienne, and the future didn't seem so dark anymore. He had not wanted to say anything anyway, for he didn't want Maggie to suffer what he had suffered. Loyalty was his quality and flaw, right?

But now, everyone knew. Or almost everyone, he wasn't sure. He only knew because he had heard the guards talking about it. He wondered if Sonny knew. If he was willing to take him back. Right, he was with Evan now. Will hadn't filed the divorce papers as Ciara had asked him to, so Sonny was technically cheating on him, but Will had been too dejected to call him on it. Not to mention Sonny thought he was free to move on so Will wouldn't blame him. That was who Will was. It sucked.

"HORTON!" yelled a strong voice, making Will startle and hit his forehead with the bars. A guard came out of the dark and into the dim light as Will rubbed his face, with a smirk. He had totally scared him on purpose. Asshole.

"What?" Will asked. He had spent an entire week inside solitary, he could be bitter with the guards if he wanted to. The guard gave him a mocking grin, though, which turned into a serious frown in a matter of seconds.

"The warden wants to see you" he replied, opening the cell. "Come on, move".

As they got out of the dark area, they walked past a man in a suit, who stared at him, then at the place they had just gotten out of, and then at the guard, accusingly. "Murray, what the hell? I told you to get Horton out of there three days ago!"

Murray just shrugged. "Oops".

"You are so fired" the man said, writing furiously on a small writing board he had as he walked away.

The guard kept walking, rolling his eyes at Will's glare. "Don't look at me like that, it was nothing personal. I'm just getting myself out of this place. I hate it here. And now, I'm fired, so thanks".

Will didn't say anything until Murray left him in front of the warden's office. Of course it'd be his luck that a guard would "forget" him on purpose in solitary confinement to get himself fired. He knocked on the door, heard a "come in!" and entered.

"He escaped?" asked an appalled Sonny, not believing what his father and uncle had just told him.

"As you heard" said Justin, hands in his pockets and sighing. "I honestly have no idea how it happened".

"He didn't say anything about considering escaping? You were his attorney!"

"I told him not to represent him but he didn't listen to me, and look where it got him" said Victor, with his typical scowl on his face. "His own client didn't trust him enough to tell him he was going to flee!"

"Ben escaping without telling me has nothing to do with a lack of trust or anything like that!" Justin exclaimed firmly.

Sonny went to pour himself a drink, overwhelmed. "Ben was on death row. How could he escape so easily? I would think he'd be under maximum security or something".

"The prison system is pretty permissive, if you ask me" Justin replied.

"Corrupt would be the word you're looking for" Victor interjected.

Justin rolled his eyes and ignored him. "When there's someone sentenced to death, guards tend to leave them alone to do as they want, I guess they think the prisoner has given up all kinds of hope to be free. Ben would be one very rare exception".

"He probably bribed a guard into making sure no one caught him while he escaped. I heard his murderous father was involved too, but got caught in the process. That man cannot be seen in Salem. If he can betray his own flesh and blood, no one will be safe from him, especially Ciara".

"Where are you going?" Justin asked, for Victor had started to walk to another room after taking his phone.

"To call my men" he replied. "I'll have them look for Weston and shoot him in the head if they see him".

After he was gone, Sonny gulped. "I haven't seen Uncle Vic so mad".

"He's worried about Ciara" Justin explained, although he actually knew there was no reason. He fully believed in Ben's innocence, even after Ciara had told him he was not the innocent man Victor and Xander sent to prison the previous year. He did wonder why Ben would have risked everything by escaping, but that could wait.

"Hey, um" Sonny started, lowering his voice for he did not want Victor to listen, he knew his uncle's feelings about the subject. "I know Ben was cell mates with Will. Do you think...?"

"That he escaped too? Of course not. That he knew about it? Maybe" said Justin. "There's no word on Will, actually. But I think he's still in Statesville".

Sonny looked down. "Will would never escape prison, I know that for a fact. He's way too noble".

Justin nodded. "You still care about him".

"Of course I do. Despite what he did, I could never hate him or wish something bad happened to him".

"If he were to get out soon, do you think you'll work it out?"

Sonny shook his head. "I don't think so. I don't think we'll ever get past it. It's too messed up".

He glanced at his father's innocent look, which seemed to be avoiding him, and narrowed his eyes. "Do you know something I don't?"

"What?"

"I don't know, it's just the look on your face".

"I don't know anything".

"But if you did, you'd tell me?"

Justin looked at him gentler. "Of course I would, son".

Sonny nodded. "I should go. I gotta see Evan".

Once he had left, Justin sighed, just as Victor reentered the living room. "You're making a lousy ass job at keeping the truth from him".

Justin glared at him. "I wasn't trying to. The only reason I haven't told him Will is really innocent is because it's not my place to tell".

"The only reason you haven't told him Will is really innocent is because you are too scared of being cut off from this family as I said you would" Victor said.

"I don't see how you are expecting this to work" Justin argued. "The truth is already in the news! I can only keep Sonny from checking them for so long!"

"Then do a better job! Maggie may not be going to prison, but I'll be damned if Sonny gets back together with that cheating, lying manchild!"

"You are so full of yourself, aren't you? I should hate you too, Adrienne was my wife!"

"You've moved on" Victor dismissed. "Sonny is about to".

Justin got closer to Victor. "I didn't tell Sonny, but I heard through the grapevine that Will is going to be released soon, uncle Vic. Everybody except Sonny knows he's innocent. It's only a matter of time before he finds out as well. You can't be that stupid to think he won't".

Victor smirked. "I'll think of something".

Justin looked at him, furious. "Will and Sonny will reunite. Mark my words. And there's nothing you can do to stop it".

He left the room, and Victor smirked. "Not on my watch".

Will entered the office quietly. The warden was one of the very few people he actually liked. He was a man, probably in his late 50s, who always wore the same suit he seemed to have worn for the past fifteen years with the same, white striped blue tie, had a white mustache that matched his white, short hair and contrasted his dark skin. He was almost like a grandfather, and seemed to have a very sharp judge of character. He was, after all, the one who determined he'd be Ben's cell mate after all.

The warden was sitting in his desk, reading some papers and chewing some gum. It was probably the same gum he had been chewing the previous day, and the previous day, and the day before it. Will wouldn't put it past him to eat expired food.

"Mr Horton" he greeted. "Have a seat, please. How was solitary?".

Will sat across him. "Um, I was supposed to get out of there..."

"Three days ago, I've just been notified" the warden said. "The guard who didn't obey the order has just been let go".

"Bastard" he thought bitterly.

"You know why you were sent there, don't you?" the warden continued.

"I've been accused of helping my cell mate escape".

"Are you saying you didn't?"

"I'm saying my actions were taken way out of proportion".

The warden raised an eyebrow. "You lied to the guard in charge of bed checks that night by saying Weston was sick and already sleeping, and when he removed the covers of the bed, he wasn't there".

Will couldn't be blamed for it. He was a terrible liar.

"Forgive me for my words, but that was a very stupid thing to do".

Will frowned.

The warden took off his glasses. "What kind of dumbass goes along with all this plan worth at least an extended sentence when they're just about to be released?"

Seeing Will's incredulous look, he chuckled. "That's right. You're free. Judge Gallagher sent an order of immediate release for you now that it's been revealed you weren't responsible for your mother in law's death".

"I'm free?" Will asked, still not believing.

"You are" said the warden, smiling.

"But what will happen to my aunt?"

"That I don't know. Last I heard, her advanced age will prevent her from going to jail".

"Oh".

Will didn't actually expect anything to happen to Maggie. Not that he wanted to, the whole reason why he was still in prison was to protect her. She had always welcomed him whenever he visited when he was a kid, he was his father's sponsor (despite her falling off the wagon, well, alcoholism was an ongoing battle with oneself after all), and she had been so supportive when he came out.

"Look son" said the warden. "I know it's not fair that you had to pay for a crime your aunt committed. But at least you have now the chance to clean your name and rebuild your life".

Will nodded, as his mind drifted to Sonny and Arianna, his family. "There's only one thing I care about".

Every time Sonny saw Evan, he felt a tiny pang of guilt. It wasn't too strong to make him back out, neither too weak to make him not feel that, in some way, he was being unfaithful to Will. No matter what, the feeling just wouldn't go. He knew Will was dragging his feet for some reason, maybe he just hadn't had time to file the divorce papers. Pff, time was one of the most abundant things in prison. Still, he knew he should have insisted on filing them himself. Maybe he wouldn't feel so bad about moving on with another man.

Evan was an interesting case. And quite exciting. Sonny had never dated a bisexual guy before. And the air of mystery that emanated from him kept Sonny interested and wanting to know the guy more and more. The sex wasn't that bad, but the very few times they did it, Sonny ended up remembering all his times with Will, and that was something that didn't seem to be going away any time soon.

He didn't think he loved him, at least not yet. It didn't even get close to his love for Will. It didn't even get close to what he had had with Paul all those years ago. But it wasn't so bad. Still, something inside of him screamed something was not right. And being the person he was, Sonny just ignored it.

"You look like you've gotten the worst news ever" Evan commented, letting Sonny into his apartment.

"Not the worst, but it's certainly quite bad" Sonny replied. Funny, he could joke ven after knowing there was a serial killer out there.

"Nah, come on" said Evan. "It can't be that bad, can it? Unless you're here to tell me the Backstreet Boys concert is sold out like in the rest of the country".

"Ha, you're funny" Sonny replied. "But it can. Ben Weston escaped from prison".

Evan's grin slowly faded. "What?"

"Yeah, he uh, he broke out last night. They said he's vowed to find his sister's 'real killer', he still claims he was framed for the murder".

"That can't be possible!" Evan snapped.

Sonny frowned, not used to seeing Evan lose his cool. "Did you even know the guy?"

"I know enough" Evan said, calming down a bit. "I have to look out for David after all".

"David's his nephew, I really don't think he would hurt him".

"I can't take that chance, Sonny. Rafe is trusting me to care for him!"

"Well" Sonny said, rubbing Evan's arms. "I know that Rafe is with David at his house, and he's safe. And besides, I didn't come here to talk about Ben".

"You didn't?" Evan asked, smiling as he played along, already having forgotten about his outburst. "Why did you come here, then?"

"I came to see you, actually" Sonny admitted. "I wanted to see you".

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. I figured, since I had nothing to do, and I could use the distraction".

Evan chuckled. "Well, I do know what we can do to distract you".

Sonny raised his eyebrows suggestively. "Oh yeah?"

Both men chuckled, and went to Evan's room.

Will just couldn't believe his eyes. Not too much time had passed, actually (it was almost a year), but he felt like ages had passed when he was in jail. He looked at himself in the mirror, wearing the same clothes he had worn the day he was sent to prison, and glanced at the uniform which lay, carefully folded, on a chair.

"I better not get to use one of those ever again" he thought, smiling.

As he passed throught the whole security system, he got back all the things that the prison authorities had confiscated from him when he got in, including his cell phone (which didn't work anymore, he blamed the fat inspector for that, he probably sat on it), his watch and his wedding ring. Will didn't put it on, though, but not as a sign of giving up on his marriage. He just didn't want to freak out Sonny when he saw him by refusing to take it off and looking like a total loser, especially if Sonny wasn't wearing his.

The warden had asked him if he was going to be picked up or if he would just take the bus. Will decided somebody would pick him up. During the time he spent in prison, he got reassured that his family and friends still loved him, despite what had happened. Out of all of them, he chose the one person who could understand not only him but also Sonny, which meant he could tell him what Sonny was up to and if there was actually a chance for him to fight for his marriage. Not that he would make an actual conversation with him unless he apologised. After all, his friend hadn't visited him that frequently.

"There he is!" exclaimed a happy voice, making Will look up. Next to a black car stood his best friend Chad DiMera.

Will wanted to at least look pissed off, but he couldn't help but smile. He had missed him, hell, he had missed everyone, perhaps more than he was willing to admit, so he gladly accepted Chad's bone-crushing hug, and they remained like that for a few minutes.

"I can't believe you're free" Chad said after letting go, and cupped Will's face as he examined him. "Let me look at you. Ah, prison has been a bitch to you, I can tell. You look rougher, though. Have you been working out?"

Will raised an eyebrow, amused, and decided to tease his friend a little. He deserved the fun, dammit. "I'm mad at you, you know?"

Chad's grin didn't fall. "What, me? Why?"

"I've been there for quite some time, I would have liked it if you visited me".

Chad pretended to gasp, offended, but obviously playing along. "I did!"

"Yeah, like once, and that was like a week or so after I had just been moved here!"

"Well, if you're that mad at me, I can just go and you can take the bus" Chad teased, closing the door of the car and motioning to move around it to climb to the driver's seat. "That way you won't have to see my unloyal face all the way to Salem".

"No, wait" Will said, grabbing Chad's arm, stopping him. "I take it back, I forgive you, I get that you were busy and it's ok".

Chad grinned. "You only say that because I'm your ride".

"Yeah, I'll hate you when we get home" Will laughed.

Chad laughed too. "Just so you know, I'm sorry I didn't visit more. I'll make it up to you, ok? Come on, let's go home".

Will climbed into the passenger seat and Chad drove, blasting some music on the radio, old songs they used to listen when they were teenagers.

"Ari can't wait to see you" Chad told him. "I was going to bring her but I figured we were going to talk about some pretty heavy stuff and not suitable for her"

"I can't wait to see her. God, I'm gonna hug her and never letting her go".

"You're such a dad. Wanna hear about what you've missed?"

"I've been kept up to date about things in Salem" Will said. "But what I do wanna know, how's life been with you?"

Chad chuckled. "Well, I'm actually happy right now".

"Because of what happened with Gabi?"

"That's right my friend. No more crazy bitch leading my company into the ground and making me and my family miserable by invading my house like a parasite, no sir!"

Will raised an eyebrow. "Need I remind you she's still my friend?"

Chad shrugged. "Ok, sorry. Bottom line is, I'm ready to give my family back what belongs to it".

"I heard about Stefano being back".

"He is. But it's pretty complicated"

"How come?" Will asked, frowning.

"Well" Chad said with a grimace. "My father somehow managed to implant his conscience and essence into you uncle Steve's body. Don't ask, I still don't fully understand it yet".

Will closed his mouth, for was indeed going to ask. "Wow, of all the things he's done to rise from the ashes, this has got to be the wildest".

"Tell me about it" Chad sighed. He stayed silent for a few minutes. "I also heard about your grandfather. I'm sorry".

"Thanks" he said. "Grandpa Bill wasn't that involved in my life as he was with Abigail, but he was very good to me. He even sent me a congratulatory message when my dad told him I had come out. Said it was 'about damn time'".

Chad smiled. "Abby sent a condolences card in your name".

"How nice of her, thank you" he replied. "So, um, do you know anything about Sonny's new date?"

"Who, Evan? Nah, I don't think it's serious. He's nice, yeah, but just wait until Sonny sees you and he's gonna forget all about him".

"Does he know about what really happened?"

"He should, it's all over the news. Victor pulled strings so Maggie wouldn't be harassed by the press, but the poor woman hasn't come out of the mansion in days".

"I should go see her" Will decided. "I don't want any apologies or whatever, I just wanna know if she's ok".

"You're so thoughtful" Chad said, in a mix of fondness and mocking. He blinked as he checked the rearviewmirror, and looked back at the road. However, his eyes returned quickly to the mirror, and he frowned. "The hell?"

Will looked at him, quizzically. "What is it?"

"There's a car following us" Chad replied.

"What?" said Will, looking back. Indeed, there was a black car right behind them, and while the road was clear, it did not seem to have any intentions of passing them.

"Will, sit properly, I'll try to lose him" Chad instructed.

"You know who that is?"

"I can see his stupid face glaring at us".

Not too far from them, Xander Kiriakis followed their car, looking ready for a fight.

I'm a sucker for the Chill friendship, sue me. I hope you guys liked this first chapter, let me know what you think and I'll be posting Chapter 2 as soon as I can! I should say, this will be a short story, way shorter than my previous ones, but I'll try to make it interesting and good for you.

Please comment and thank you for reading!