Disclaimer: Characters within do not belong to me.

Author's Notes: This is my first Unbound challenge response. I hope ya'll enjoy it!

Spider Sense

by Kristen Elizabeth

"Are you sure it doesn't hurt?"

Sara looked down at her hand, now covered in an ice pack and an Ace bandage. "Like I told you, not anymore. It's just pins and needles now."

"It might be that way for another few days. Maybe even a week. The ice should reduce the swelling, though." Grissom was clearly troubled; his forehead was pulled into a deep frown and his clear-blue eyes were cloudy with confusion. "I just don't understand. She's never bitten me before."

"You're the hand that feeds," Sara pointed out. "I'm not. Maybe I startled her or something."

"No, you handled her just right," he assured her. "Almost like you do it every day."

"Well, ever since my apartment complex switched exterminators, I've become a really great roach wrangler. But tarantulas are a little out of my norm."

The creature in question sat in the far corner of her glass cage, the same spot to which she'd crawled after Grissom had unceremoniously dropped her back inside. It was the first time he'd taken no care to place her onto her bed of gravel. But in his defense, the spider had just bitten Sara Sidle's palm. And if there was one thing that could make Grissom mad, it was anyone…or anything…hurting the brunette CSI.

"I shouldn't have pushed her on you," Grissom said, ruefully. "I just…"

"You wanted me to get to know her." Sara's smile was tempered by a wince as her hand throbbed, despite the ice. "It's all right. I promise I won't seek retribution."

But Grissom refused to be comforted. "I'm really sorry, Sara. This wasn't in my plan."

"You had a plan?"

He cleared his throat. "I'm not exactly an open book."

She had to fight the urge not to laugh. To her credit, all she did was smirk. "Really? I hadn't noticed."

Grissom was too busy looking at his tarantula to notice. "I wanted to introduce you to the important parts of my life."

"Sort of a crash course in Gil Grissom?" she teased.

"You seemed interested in the subject."

"Oh, I was. I am." She held up her injured hand. "I've always taken my education seriously."

"Have you ever bled for it before?"

Sara shrugged. "Only when the information was particularly fascinating."

"I still can't understand…why you find it even mildly interesting."

"No one will ever accuse you of narcissism, Grissom. I find that appealing, in and of itself."

He sat on the edge of his desk with a resigned sigh. "There was more to this plan, you know."

"Really?"

"Dinner, for a start."

Sara's eyes narrowed slightly. "But you decided to skip it in favor of quality time with your spider?" She paused. "Did Sofia have to play with her, too?"

"I would have never put her in Sofia's hands," he confessed.

"Too precious to be bitten?" she snapped.

"Too foreign to trust."

Her cheeks colored like she was thirteen again and the boy who dug for worms in the dirt during recess had just told her she was smart. "Oh," was all Sara managed to say in reply.

"I've never known spiders to be jealous, but maybe she realized she was being held by a strong competitor for my attention," Grissom continued. "And that prompted her to bite."

Sara looked away. "Sounds a little unscientific to me, Mr. Entomologist."

"Maybe I should find a new home for her."

She whipped her head back around to stare at him. "No!"

Grissom blinked. "But…I want you to be comfortable in my life."

"And I want to be," Sara said, firmly. "But I will never ask you to sacrifice anything that makes you Gil Grissom just for me. If I can't figure out a way to slip into your life the way it is, then maybe I don't belong in it."

"You do. Sara…you do."

"Then…" She reached out and touched the side of his face; his beard was softer than she'd expected it to be. "…we'll figure it out. Jealous spiders and all."

"What if I want to sacrifice some things?" At her puzzled look, Grissom went on. "I'm not self-obsessed, but I am work-obsessed."

"As am I."

"I'm trying to say, that's something I might have to…work on. That and…I like my space, Sara. Sometimes I just can't be around people for awhile. Even people whose company I enjoy. I'll have to sacrifice some of my 'me' time."

She nodded. "So will I. And I'll have to work on not gagging at the sight of meat, because I know how much you love a good piece of steak."

"I'm not good at sharing the remote control."

"I'm a cover-hog," she countered.

"I'll have to start saying what's on my mind."

"I'll have to stop cutting you off before you can."

Grissom stood and cupped her face in his warm hands. "I'll have to stop seeing myself as an old man."

"I'll have to stop trying to be your best student."

"It'll be worth it."

"Yeah," she whispered. "It will be."

His lips touched hers and nothing else mattered anymore. Not her hand, not the possibility that she might have a resentful spider out to get her, not the fact that they had a long, hard path ahead of them. All that mattered was that he was willing to try. And that, for the first time in her life, a simple kiss had managed to melt her knees.

Grissom pulled back after planting a soft kiss on her cheek. "Dinner?" he asked, his voice slightly husky.

Sara nodded. "But you ought to feed her first," she said, jerking a thumb towards the tarantula's cage. "All eight of her eyes look a little green."

Awhile later, they left the room together, trying to hide the smiles on their faces.

The End