It was no longer much of a surprise to see Elliot dropping into the squadroom unannounced and uninvited, striding over to the doorway of Olivia's office. Sometimes he'd catch her attention quickly, taking in the smile that grew on her face when she'd see him appear. Other times he'd find himself waiting with his weight against the door frame, watching her as she worked. She'd become so intensely focused on her computer, or facing away while talking on the phone, that she'd fail to recognize his eyes looking her over.

Today was one of those days.

He leaned against the familiar door, listening as she spoke on the phone. Her chair was turned with the back to him, but he could see her slender fingers running through the top of her hair. He'd become fascinated with its current length, his fingers always finding their way into her long locks. She had the toe of her black boots lifted to the cabinet behind her desk, giving him a view of the curve of her thigh all the way down to her ankle from this angle. Her slim black pants fit her curves perfectly, snug to her hip where they reached her charcoal blouse. Something felt so naughty and careless about watching her in this position. She'd become so relaxed recently, smiling and acting in ways he couldn't recall ever seeing her in the past. She yanked her glasses off abruptly as she spoke into the phone, waving them beside her head as her elbow rested on the arm of her chair.

"We'll talk later," she spoke professionally into the phone. "Thanks."

Spinning around, she quickly met his gaze. Her teeth caught her bottom lip as her eyes sparkled, seeing a smirk rise on his face. "How long have you been there?"

Elliot stepped into her office, closing the door behind him. "Long enough to think of everything I want to do with you tonight," his tone went deep as he moved closer to her desk, walking behind it and leaning down to kiss her once on the lips.

Olivia smiled, blushing as she leaned back in her chair and watched his position change. He leaned against her desk, his eyes never parting from hers. She took in the sight of him, dressed in his work clothes with a black moto-style leather jacket she'd never seen him wear before. He hadn't shaved in a week and his rugged appearance was about to send her running to close the blinds.

"I have a surprise for you," he said in a charming tone, snapping her out of her fantasy. "How about we go to lunch?"

She shrugged, "Depends on where we're going. Are we talking about lunch or lunch?"

Elliot let out a knowing laugh, "Lunch, real food. We'll talk about dessert this evening."

Olivia stood from her chair, placing her hand on her desk just beside his hip, stretching up for a quick kiss, "Sounds perfect." Lifting up her black leather blazer from the back of her chair, she tucked her phone into the pocket and swung it over her shoulders. She looked over at the man in her office as he headed towards the door, "Wait, what was my surprise?"

"Patience. You'll see."

––

"What the hell is this?" Her voice hit a tone he'd never even heard before. This sure as hell wasn't the surprise she was banking on.

Elliot shot his eyes over to her, rolling them before smirking and playing along, "This would be a motorcycle. A Ducati, to be exact."

Olivia curiously stepped closer, taking a lap around the bike as she looked it over. "Not enough risk doing your day job? You needed to go out and purchase a donor-cycle while you were at it?"

"I never took you to be a wuss, Captain."

Olivia crossed her arms tightly, watching as he climbed over the bike. "I'm not a wuss. I'm just not an idiot. Is this a part of a midlife crisis?" She figured she should have kept her mouth shut considering the sensation she felt between her legs as she watched him glide his body onto the seat. The rush of heat hit her even harder as he situated his hips, sliding forward along the bike.

"Little late for that. Get on here." His voice was firm, not playing along with her faux worry wart attitude. He knew deep down she was fearless.

"Elliot, I have a child."

"Great, I've got five of my own."

He wasn't wrong. She took the moment to examine the bike as she looked over the red paint, accented with black and silver. Something burned inside her to hop on, letting go of her fears of the unknown. She stepped into the unknown every single day at work, but admitted that she tended to be a bit of a stick in the mud sometimes in her personal life.

"Do you even know how to drive it?" Her voice had turned curious, yet still not trying to show any signs of actually being interested in hopping on. The only thing worse than caving and jumping on the back of this bike, would be to let him have any idea she was excited to do so.

"Liv, I lived in Italy."

Her curiosity began to dig in her mind, forcing out the words to ask everything that popped in her head. "This bike isn't even really made for two riders. It's made for one 25-year-old with no concern for their life."

"You'll fit perfectly," he stated, "right here." His hand patted behind him on the narrow, padded end of the motorcycle.

She shrugged her shoulders, sighing. He had an answer for everything, showing he'd clearly thought this through with her in mind. The new helmet hanging on the side of the bike screamed at her, knowing he'd known she would eventually say yes. He knew her too well.

"Trust me?" He held out the helmet.

A smirk appeared on her face. "I trust you with my life. I don't know if I trust everyone else on the road."

"Yet you'll run into anything to save the life of a stranger."

His eyes examined her, watching her contemplate the decision. He wanted her to let go with him. Elliot knew she would eventually, but getting her to that point required putting her on the spot so that she couldn't dwell over the decision for days. He waved the helmet one more time.

Olivia sighed, looking him over once more. "I better not be disappointed."

He knew he had her hooked, watching her take the full black helmet from his hands and slide it perfectly over her head. His eyes shimmered as he looked over her brown locks hanging from beneath the helmet. While the bike was as sporty as he wanted it on his own, he'd made sure it was safe for two, adding the odds and ends to ensure once she got off the first time, she'd actually want to get back on again.

He scooched forward once more, taking her hand as she threw her leg over. "That's my girl," he said just loud enough for her to hear. He clasped his fingers onto hers, pulling her arms to wrap tightly around his waist. "Feet up on the bars. Hold onto my jacket pockets." Elliot fastened his helmet into place, stroking his hand up her thighs to ensure her legs were safely in place. That's what he told himself, at least.

"All set?" Elliot shouted through his helmet.

She nodded against him, moving her hand to close her shield before securing it tightly onto the front of his leather jacket. "Yep," she shouted, clinging on tightly.

He fired up the bike, eliciting a giggle from her. He felt it from her chest more than he could hear it, but he knew it was there. With one kick forward, he took off from the curb, feeling her secure herself tighter against him before she relaxed as he entered the roadway.

The freedom exhibited by the wind in her hair was like nothing else she had experienced before. The trust she put in him, the experience she was willing to have with him all reminded her why they worked so well together.

It wasn't until they reached a stoplight that he reached back, massaging her thigh as his legs propped the bike up. "You sure you haven't done this before?"

"Never!" She said loudly through her helmet, hoping he could hear her over the engine's purr. "Where are you taking me?"

Elliot chuckled to himself, "You'll see," he mumbled out before the light turned green, allowing him to take off again.

Twenty-five minutes into their drive, she had a feeling she knew where they were heading. He pulled down several shorter roads, slowing as they reached their destination. He came to a halt just outside of a diner they had frequented regularly on the job, usually in the wee hours of the morning after getting taken on a wild goose chase outside of Manhattan. The food wasn't the greatest, but for nostalgia's sake, he'd been craving the grease of the owner's signature cheesesteak, a favorite of both he and Olivia's over a decade ago. He'd actually had to do his research to ensure the dump was still in business.

Olivia pulled off her helmet, looking over to the building as he turned back to look at her, "El, I cannot believe you actually brought us to our old spot."

"Haven't eaten here since I've been back. Had to check and make sure it was even still standing," he teased, ripping his helmet off.

"I haven't eaten here since you left. Couldn't bring myself to share their fries with anyone else." Her eyes glimmered, smiling at him as he looked back at her. She leaned forward once, kissing him gently before swinging her leg off of the bike to stand. "Thanks for the ride, El."

He grinned, looking her over before standing up and taking his key from the bike. "Congrats on being my first passenger," his voice was confident, ready to watch her flip out, "ever."

Olivia's eyes widened, "You're joking."

He laughed, knowing she'd be annoyed he'd never used someone else as his passenger test dummy before, "No one's ever been willing to get on a bike with me. I knew nothing scared you, even if you tried to talk yourself out of it."

Her worry quickly turned to laughter as she realized how silly she'd been. She trusted him with her life and knew she was pretty damn fearless, even when she tried to cower behind all of the possibilities of things going wrong.

"You owe me this lunch for not telling me that beforehand," she said quickly, letting him take her hand and lead her into the diner.

––

"As much as I want to test the limits of how long my aging hips can handle the back of a motorcycle," she said sarcastically, sliding her helmet back on after they'd finished their lunch and made their way back to his bike, "I think I need to get back to the station before people ask questions."

"You got it, Captain," Elliot responded, helping her back into position behind him on the seat, securing her hands around him. "Ready to see what this bike can do?"

"El–," she almost snapped, letting it go as he started the engine and stepped off from the kickstand, allowing the bike to accelerate forward.

He weaved through traffic, pushing just ten over the speed limit as he reached an open stretch of road heading back into Manhattan. The open roadway in the slower hours of the day allowed the bike to stretch its legs, reaching just under twenty over the limit. She held on tight, feeling the bike accept the pressure as he shifted over two lanes. Deep within her, she craved the view of an open road ahead of them with nobody in sight. One day she may have to slip that idea his way. As they approached the hustle and bustle of traffic, she knew he'd be forced to slow down soon as the roads would become too tight to maintain this speed.

The blue lights appearing in the tiny side mirrors in front of him beat them to the punch.

"Elliot, seriously?" She yelled, her fist jabbing him in the abs.

"Just a uni, I'll take care of it." He grumbled in a shouting tone for her to hear him as he pulled over to the curb.

She groaned, having known better than to trust him to behave. If it wasn't such a turn-on to see him in his rugged bad-boy era, she may have actually chewed him out over it. She kept her visor down and dropped her feet as he came to a stop.

The young officer approached the bike almost instantly. "License and registration," he asked sharply, speaking to Elliot who had his visor up. "You were pushing nearly twenty over the speed limit back there. You know that you can get your license revoked and this bike impounded, correct?"

Elliot shrugged, babbling some nonsense in return as he handed the officer his license and the freshly printed registration for the bike straight from his wallet.

"Ma'am, I need you to raise your visor during the traffic stop," he said in a quick tone, glancing over the cards Elliot had handed him.

Olivia turned her head down, lifting up the visor, but attempting to avoid allowing his eyes to meet with hers.

"Captain Benson?" The uni asked with squinting eyes, looking directly at her as she caved and made eye contact.

"Guilty," she responded in a hushed tone.

The young officer fidgeted with the documents he held in his fingertips, "I uh– sorry, I–."

"He promises to slow down," she said, a smirk rising on her lips as she looked up at the uni, immediately recognizing him from movement around the 1-6.

"That's–," he mumbled, "Definitely. Slow down, drive safe. I'll just–," he handed Elliot back his license and registration. "Have a nice day."

"Thank you, Officer," she responded politely, watching as he walked back to his patrol car.

"Do you have that effect on all unis or just the ones who see you hiked up on the back of a motorcycle?"

Olivia laughed and returned to her position, gripping onto him with one hand before closing the shield on her helmet, "Shut up, I saved you from getting your ass handed to you."

"Thank you, Captain," he responded, reaching back to squeeze her thigh before starting the bike back up to safely return her to the workplace before anyone realized she was missing for too long.

––

"Glad you're back. Here's the file you were asking for this morning," Amanda said cheerfully as she stepped in front of her Captain's desk. "How was your lunch?"

"What? It was fine." Her quick overreaction to the innocent question set off alarm bells. She steadied herself and focused on stacking the file into a pile of others.

A moment of uncomfortable silence took over the room.

"You know, Liv, even as a mom, you can enjoy the thrill of riding on the back of a guy's Harley," Amanda said with a smirk, turning to leave her office.

Olivia felt the shame of being caught slam right into her chest as she looked off to the side, shaking her head, "I have no idea what you're talking about." Her finger ran up to brush her hair flat.

"Alright," Amanda shrugged, "I'll just get back to work." She stepped closer to the door.

"Ducati," she corrected quietly, her eyebrow raising as she took her seat in her chair behind her desk.

Amanda stopped in her tracks and turned to look back at her, "Hm?"

"It was a Ducati," she said matter-of-factly, smirking at the blonde detective.

Amanda gave a knowing smile as her hand rested against the door frame, "Should've known those unis didn't have all the details of their story straight."