A/N: I DO NOT own any part of the Law & Order franchise, nor do I own the rights to the song Medulla Oblongata by The Dust Brothers from the film Fight Club (best movie ever by the way.)

Medulla Oblongata

John walked into the kitchen to fix his morning cup of coffee to find Jodi already having completed the task for him.

"You're up early this morning." he walked over and put his hands on her shoulders before kissing her.

"Getting together my dance routine for my audition. I think I have my song picked out already."

"What is it?"

"Black and Gold by Sam Sparro."

"Huh. As predicted I've never heard of it."

"Not many have."

John grinned before walking over to get his coffee. It was just great to see that she was so committed to this. He knew for a fact that it was a sin to her to be awake before two in the afternoon, and here it was six in the morning. She was already in workout clothes and he could see slightly-matted hair on the nape of her neck, indicating that she had been practicing already.

"When do you think you'll be home?" Jodi asked, turning around.

"Barring that nothing new comes up, which is unlikely, maybe around five. I've got a shitload of papaerwork to catch up on."

"Okay, I'll try and have dinner and everything ready by the time you get here."

John walked over to Jodi, sitting down beside her before leaning in.

"You know, I think that you're going to be the best mother I've ever seen."

She smiled, tilting her head and somewhat surprised by his sudden statement. John always surprised her by saying little things that made her giddy and blush like a little girl.

"Where is this coming from?"

"Just observation." John replied before leaning in and kissing her. She sighed, wrapping her hands around his neck. He ran his hand in between her thighs, slowly moving it up before she let out a tiny gasp.

"I should stop while I'm ahead." John cleared his throat before standing up and straightening his clothes. Jodi gave him a pitiful look momentarily before bidding him goodbye.

He forced himself to the door, struggling not to turn around. As usual, Jodi was too hot to resist. That tank. Her breasts falling out. The tight black shorts that barely covered her ass, and her long, lean legs that extended for miles.

And there was that simple fact. The fact that she was his wife.

"FUCK!" Jodi screamed loudly as she missed a step for the fifth time in the row. Granted, she had only gotten the whole routine together in the past few hours and practiced it three times, but she wouldn't settle for anything less than perfection. Nor would Juilliard.

She walked back over to her iPod before pausing the music and closing her eyes, taking a deep breath. Day one. She had her routine down, now all that was left was to perfect it. Next she had to compose her own piece of music for her piano audition. As easy as it would simply be to play something, she knew how much better it would look if she composed something.

On the plus side, her inspiration came from two things. Sex and pot. Now, because of her being pregnant the weed thing wasn't really going to work out, but sex...

She replayed the song, turning on her heel before closing her eyes and letting her body take over, the moves in the back of her mind. No pressure. No stress. Her feet could take her where they needed.

It was one of the ways she perfected every dance move. Letting her body go. It had been during her ballet lessons coupled with yoga back when she wass 14 that she learned how well it worked. For her, dance was one of the things that came naturally. It was like making love. When she was moving across the floor, her feet having a life of their own, nothing else mattered. She let go, letting her legs lead the way.

1:27. She pivoted, her ankle turning and her other foot coming down, leading her into the next step. She opened her eyes and smiled. She knew she would get it. Focusing her concentration again she gritted her teeth, oblivious to how badly her toes hurt. Not feeling the sweat that was dripping down her face. Not giving a damn about the the raging pain coming from every muscle in her body after exerting herself for hours.

The last notes of the song died out and she fell to the ground, panting harder than she ever had in her life. She hadn't had an asthma attack in months now, and she had no idea where her inhaler was.

She rested for a moment before standing up and limping over to grab her bottle of Gatorade. Her ankle screamed in pain and she looked around for her brace before slipping it on and setting the bottle down.

And repeat.

"Hey you alright?" John asked as he opened the bathroom door and walked in to find Jodi in the tub, soaking in ice water.

"Not really but pain means perfection." she leaned her head back, grabbing his hand.

John kissed hers before turning around to take a leak. He had just gotten home after a naturally stressful day. He turned to look down at Jodi. One of her feet was sticking out of the tub, and it was swollen and bright red.

"What happened?" he asked, flushing the toilet and zipping up his pants before going to wash his hands.

"Nothing I've just been dancing for 14 hours straight pretty much."

"You don't have to run yourself ragged you know."

"Juilliard? Babe, I've got to run myself to death. How was your day?"

"The usual. People getting raped. Kids missing. Elliot abusing perps in the interview room."

Jodi smiled, sinking lower into the tub. It was below freezing, and to her pleasure her aching body was finally becoming numb. She couldn't get her tempreture too low because of the kids but just enough so that she couldn't feel the pain would do.

"Dinner is downstairs on the stove."

"You made dinner and spent the entire day dancing yourself to death?"

"Yeah." she shrugged.

John smirked before leaning down and kissing her, eternally grateful to have married such a woman. Girl. Whatver she was he preferred not to think about it.

As soon as he left Jodi sighed before lifting herself out of the tub, muscles screaming in protest. She looked down at her body in the mirror. Her toes had turned purple and her bruised feet were discolored. As she turned her foot to look at the tips of her toes she knew they would be bleeding by tomorrow. The last time she had bled from ballet was back when she first started.

She grabbed a towel, shivering as she dried herself off before wrapping it around her body and walking across the hall to find some clothes. Two more weeks of this.

John walked into the bedroom to find Jodi tucked tightly underneath the covers, reading a worn copy of A Clockwork Orange.

"Hey." John slid in beside her before sliding his hands around her swollen waist and kissing the back of her neck. She smiled before setting the book down and turning to kiss him, ignoring the aches and pains coming from her body.

He reached a hand underneath her t-shirt, grabbing one of her breasts and causing her to twitch in pain as she jerked her knee forward.

"Sorry." he muttered, withdrawring his hand before turning over.

"No I really want to." Jodi protested before rolling over on top of him. She froze, her inner thighs burning before she returned to her back.

"Or maybe not. Just kiss me." she shrugged.

John smiled and nodded before carefully sweeping her into his arms and pressing his lips to hers, her damp hair dripping onto his fingers.

"I love you." she whispered.

"Mmm I love you." he replied before burying his lips into her neck.