Lyrics from "Run" by Snow Patrol

I'll sing it one last time for you
Then we really have to go
You've been the only thing that's right
In all I've done

And I can barely look at you
But every single time I do
I know we'll make it anywhere
Away from here

Light up, light up
As if you have a choice
Even if you cannot hear my voice
I'll be right beside you dear

Louder louder
And we'll run for our lives
I can hardly speak I understand
Why you can't raise your voice to say

To think I might not see those eyes
Makes it so hard not to cry
And as we say our long goodbye
I nearly do

Slower slower
We don't have time for that
All I want is to find an easier way
To get out of our little heads

Have heart my dear
We're bound to be afraid
Even if it's just for a few days
Making up for all this mess

He ran.

He could have walked back up to his room and grabbed his car keys, but at that moment the only thing his mind said was "move."

So he ran.

He saw the flashing lights grow smaller in the distance, but he knew the way. He tried to clear his head as his legs pumped beneath him. What had happened? What went wrong? What could he do to fix it?

He ran past the familiar landmarks, his lungs burning with the exertion but he didn't notice.

He saw them put her into the squad car, Munch getting in behind her. He was shocked, confused and scared and just dropped his soda from the vending machine.

And ran.

He had to save her. He had to save Olivia.

So he just ran.

XXXXXX

Munch gazed at Olivia from the open door. She was sitting in the interview room at the station, the perfect picture of calm if you didn't notice the incessant tapping of her index finger on the table. They had pulled one of the town's public defenders out of bed and he was sitting next to her, talking in low tones. The district attorney was flipping through the case file, trying to get acquainted with the facts. A fifteen year old murder mystery solved, he thought. Beautiful.

Munch tried to gauge Olivia's demeanor. It appeared that she wasn't paying much attention to her attorney, but every so often she would nod her head.

Munch polished off his coffee and rapped on the door. The defense attorney, Steve Mackavoy, motioned for him to enter the room. Sheriff Loren and the DA, Mark Prosser, materialized behind him and followed him inside. They took their seats on the opposite side of the table from Olivia and Makavoy.

Munch had been shocked when Olivia had knocked on his door earlier in the evening. Her face was tearstained and she had pretty much confessed to Byron Stabler's murder.

"…Olivia, what exactly are you saying," Munch said, leaning forward in the doorway.

She smiled brokenly. "The game is up as they say," she said. "I don't want to say anymore until I talk to an attorney."

Munch was silent. "I'll have to put you under arrest," he said finally. He patted her down. "I won't put the cuffs on until the cruiser gets here."

Olivia nodded. She entered the room and sat down on the bed and watched while Munch called the police station. After hanging up the phone, he sat down next to her.

"Olivia is there anything you want to tell me before the police get here? Because once we get to the station-"

"Save it John," she said with a small smile. "I'm a cop too, remember?"

He smiled, in spite of himself. "Okay, is there anything you want to tell me anyway?"

"No…not now…just that Elliot had nothing to do with it. He's innocent."

And she wouldn't say anymore. They had sat in silence until the patrol car arrived to take her to the station. Once there, he supervised her booking. Now, he was ready to get to the bottom of this. He wasn't buying her statement that Elliot wasn't involved.

"Hi Olivia," Sheriff Loren said. "I don't know if you remember me…"

Olivia smiled. "Yes…Tony? We shared a few classes right?"

"Yeah, you were always in the accelerated classes which were just my normal ones," she said almost shyly. Olivia nodded her head and they all sat there awkwardly.

"Should we get started here?" Makavoy prodded.

"Olivia, when did you meet Byron Stabler?" Munch asked.

"I guess I always knew him, but…he started dating my mother when I was a junior in high school…they dated a little over a year before…before he died."

"What was your relationship with him?"

Olivia drew a deep breath. Here we go. "He ignored me at first, I guess. I knew he was married and I didn't approve of him being with my mom. And I hated the way he treated her, he beat her many times. But, one night we slept together."

"So you had an intimate relationship with him?" Prosser asked.

"The first time was consensual, yes," Olivia said, biting her lip. "I had an argument with my mother and it was a childish attempt to get back at her. But…Byron took it as a signal that he could have me pretty much when he wanted me."

"Meaning…" Prosser pressed. "If you slept with him the first time by consent, what was different the other times?"

Munch jumped in. "Olivia, did he rape you?"

"Yes," she said firmly. "Numerous times. He also beat me on a number of occasions. If you look at my school files you should see that they kept documentation of the abuse. My principal even talked to my mother about it and threatened to call child services."

"Are you getting this down?" Makavoy asked.

Prosser waved his hand in irritation. "And you think this record will corroborate your story? Let's get to the night of the murder."

There was no way Munch was going to let this DA railroad Olivia. Criminal or not, he knew there were mitigating circumstances. "Tell us a little about your relationship with Elliot Stabler," he interrupted.

"I dated him for six months," she said.

"And were you aware of any abuse allegations?"

Olivia had to be very careful. "They didn't have the closest relationship," she said. "They got into a fight one night, but that was about it. If there was any other abuse, I wasn't aware of it."

"Come on, Olivia," Munch said, pursing his lips. "I've spent almost three days in this town and I've already heard that Stabler liked to beat up on his family. You're saying you didn't know?"

"And this is relevant…why?" Prosser asked in exasperation. The woman had already confessed, his mind was already thinking about the plea agreement.

Munch held up a hand. Olivia responded, "You'll have to ask Elliot," she said evenly.

"Okay, so Byron Stabler was sexually and physically abusing you and your mother. So you decided to kill him to stop the abuse."

Olivia nodded. "Yes, I-"

A sharp rap on the door interrupted her. A young, freckled face deputy popped his head in. "I'm sorry to bother you, but a Detective Stabler is outside and he wants us to let him in to the room."

Olivia breathed a small sigh of relief. She wasn't sure if Elliot knew she had been arrested, and she had been worried about getting the news back to him. Now that he did, it would keep him from calling the hit on John.

Munch stood up and walked out of the room. Elliot was standing in the main squad room, arguing with a clerk.

"Elliot, please calm down," the woman said. She put a restraining hand on his arm.

"Sheila, get me-" he stopped when he saw Munch. He marched up to him until the two were standing just inches apart from each other. Munch recognized this as one of Elliot's favorite intimidation techniques, but he wasn't falling for it. He noticed that he was sweating and breathing heavily.

"Where is Olivia?" he asked with clenched teeth.

"She's in the interrogation room," Munch answered, "she confessed to Byron's murder. We're getting the details down now."

"She confessed?" he asked dubiously.

"Yes," Munch said, narrowing his eyes. "She confessed that she, and only she, killed your father."

Elliot felt the air leaving his lungs. "It's not true…she didn't do it."

"Well then who did? Was it you?" Munch watched Elliot's face as he did an internal battle with himself.

"Let her go Munch," was all he said. "Just send her back home. You don't…have any idea what that man put her through."

"That man?" Munch asked. "You mean your father? I'm having a real hard time believing that she is the only one involved in this. Are you really going to let her take the fall for both of you?"

Elliot set his jaw. "Olivia didn't kill him and neither did I."

Munch gave him a smirk and headed back towards the interrogation. Almost as an afterthought, he turned back to Elliot. "Did you come down here to convince me of Olivia's innocence or did you just want to make sure she hadn't given you up too?"

Leaving Elliot slack-jawed with that parting shot, Munch re-entered the room. Prosser and Loren were conversing quietly in the corner while Makavoy and Olivia spoke quietly amongst themselves. Munch took his seat and the interview reconvened.

"Is...is Elliot alright?" Olivia asked worriedly.

"Yes, he was just telling me how you were both innocent and how we should let you go."

"Yeah…sounds like him," she said wryly.

Munch studied her. "You know, I'm a little confused by this sudden show of allegiance between you two Olivia," he said. "At work, Elliot hated you. Tried to get you transferred. Now, you're willing to spend the rest of your life in jail for him."

"I killed his father," Olivia said evenly. "Wouldn't you hate me too?"

"Yet, now he's trying to get you freed? Why didn't he turn you in when you showed up at the 16th precinct? Why not turn you in 15 years ago?" Munch quickly switched subject matter. "So what was the straw that broke the camel's back? When did you decide to kill Byron?"

Olivia recognized the technique designed to throw her off guard and she had to take a moment to gather her thoughts before answering. "My mother tried to leave him after I told her what he was doing to me. He put a gun to her head and made me give him oral sex in front of her…he had gone too far. He was going to kill us, I had to stop him."

Munch could see her reliving the nightmare. "So what happened that night?" he asked more gently.

Olivia was ready. "I took the gun he kept underneath my mom's bed and a knife my mom bought years ago and put it in a bag. I drove my car out to a spot I had picked out a few days before and hitchhiked my way back to Lewiston. I picked up his blue Chevy truck he used when he was with my mother from our house. I went to a pay phone outside the library, called the station and pretended to be his wife. Once he was on the phone, I told him it was really me and that I needed him to meet me at the old warehouse district because I had accidentally hurt my mom and needed his help. I then drove out there and waited for him to arrive. When he got there, I told him my mom was in the truck. When he opened the door, I whacked him on the head with a tire iron and the blow knocked him out. I pushed his body into the truck and took him to this abandoned shack that I knew of out in the woods."

Olivia took a sip of her water before continuing. "I tied him to a chair and then I beat him with his night stick, sometimes with my own fists, until I was too tired to continue. Then I stabbed him twice in the stomach with the knife. He was suffering and I wanted him dead…for it to just be over, so I shot him in the forehead. I untied him, threw him in the back of the truck and drove him outside of town to a field. I dumped his body, then drove to the other spot where I had left my car. Burned the clothes and the truck and buried the knife and gun. If you go back there, I'm sure the gun and knife are still there."

The shock of the story rendered everyone speechless. Makavoy spoke up first.

"Is there a deal on the table?"

Prosser threw him a bizarre look. "Are you shitting me? She just described the brutal, premeditated murder of a Lewiston police officer. My office won't sign off on any deals. She gets the max."

"She was a juvenile at the time of the murder, so you can't charge her with the death penalty," Makavoy pressed. "If you don't deal, we're going to trial. Once the jury hears about the abuse they'll sympathize with her."

"I'll take life in prison with no possibility of parole and be happy," Prosser answered, gathering his things.

Munch was still staring at Olivia. "Byron Stabler was 6'4, 230 pounds," he said slowly. "You mean to tell me you were able to disable a man of that size all by yourself?"

Prosser paused and looked at Olivia. "If there was someone else involved, give me their name and I'll try and work out a deal for you. But you have to give me a name."

Makavoy leaned over to her. "This would be a good time to speak up Olivia."

Olivia's eyes never left John's. "No," she said firmly. "It was all me."

"You were able to lift his body in and out of the truck, tie him up…"

"You'd be surprised how strong hate can be."

"We're done here," Prosser said standing up. Makavoy gave Olivia a few words of advice and followed him out. Loren, who had been quiet through the whole interview, pulled Olivia up and cuffed her hands behind her back. Munch followed as she led Olivia through the squad room.

"Olivia!"

The trio turned to see Elliot. He ran up to her and grabbed her face.

"Are you all right?" he asked, searching her eyes.

"Never been better," she joked weakly.

"Why…why did you do this?" he asked, anguished.

"Because I had to," she said simply. He watched as they led her towards the lock-up.

XXXXXX