Of Spiders and Soulmates

Title: Of Spiders and Soulmates
Author: PLK
Rating: General
Pairing: Grissom/Maddie... JK! Griss/Sara, of course!
Genre: Humor with a dash of Angst
Word Count: 1500 or so
Spoilers: 8x12 Grissom's Divine Comedy
Disclaimer: Nope, still not mine.
Summary: Er... the phone call, what else?

A/N: I didn't get a chance to watch GDC until recently, so I had to run a bit to catch the bandwagon, but managed to jump on anyway. Many thanks to and smacky30 for the awesome betas!

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Of Spiders and Soulmates

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The usual joy he felt at seeing her name was increased by the sheer relief that the call had nothing to do with work. As he settled into the soft cushions in preparation for a nice long chat, his smile carried through his voice, "Hi."

"There's a spider staring at me."

She didn't even bother with a preamble, and he couldn't help but chuckle at the indignation in her voice.

"No, I'm serious, it's watching me. Its eight beady little eyes follow me around the room every time I move."

He struggled to swallow his laugh, but choked slightly as he replied, "Really..."

"Its whole body faces me wherever I go. I can't even get undressed for bed; it's worse than Hank!"

At that, his laughter refused to be contained. Sara's aversion to being watched during intimate moments was a household legend.

"Gil! I'm serious. Why is it watching me?"

He cleared his throat gently to avoid a coughing fit, a small grin lingering around his mouth. "Well, it's probably watching to make sure you're not a predator or other dangerous creature about to squash it."

"Shouldn't it have figured that out by now? This has been going on for at least thirty minutes!"

His grin widened. "Maybe it's hoping you'll come close enough so it can hitch a ride to a better feeding ground."

"What?! What'll it do? Jump on me?! Can spiders do that?"

"Well, based on the behavior you described, I'm thinking that it's a jumping spider. So yes, it probably could. What does it look like?"

"Well, in addition to the face full of creepy little eyes, it's got these stubby legs and a short body, and I'm not going any closer to see more than that!"

"Yes, that sounds like a salticid, a jumping spider." He slipped into his lecturing voice, "Those legs are basically like little springs, and they launch themselves on their prey from a surprising distance. They're pretty amazing creatures."

"This is NOT helping!"

He chuckled, but continued anyway. "They're well known for being one of the few spiders to visibly react to human presence, tending to watch them, as you've seen. The most personable of the arachnids in my opinion."

"Of course you would think that. Just seems creepy to me. Anyway, I thought spiders couldn't see very well, so what gives?"

"Mmm. Most spiders don't see well, it's true, but salticids are visual hunters. They don't build webs. They're like the mountain lions of the spider world, stalking and pouncing on their prey. They have pretty acute vision and amazing spatial ability." The silence on the other end encouraged him to continue. "Scientists have even shown that some species of jumping spider will observe prey from a distant vantage point and mentally map out the best route to take to reach it. Their courtship and fighting rituals are highly visual as well." He paused to clear a tickle from his throat, but she remained silent so he continued. "Most of the detail is seen with the two main eyes located in front. The six smaller ones surrounding the head have less acuity, so they have to continually turn their bodies to face what they want to see."

A light chuckle drifted across the phone line, warming his heart even further, and he smiled when she said, "Despite myself, I found that fascinating, if slightly disturbing. So is it trying to map out the best way to attack me?"

"I doubt it. I don't know of any salticids that have fangs tough enough to pierce human skin anyway, so you should be fine." He glanced up at the tarantula display mounted to the wall. "I didn't realize spiders bothered you so much."

"Well, they don't freak me out when they're in a terrarium or a web minding their own business, but this one is watching me."

"Mmmm... So, other than the voyeuristic spider, how are you doing?"

He could hear bed springs creaking in the background as she paused before answering, "I'm doing okay. Time with my mom is less awkward, and we actually laughed a little at some old memories the last time we got together. It's nice to remember some of the good, you know?"

"Yeah, it is," he sighed. "Do you want to tell me about it?"

"Not yet, but I will. Soon."

"Okay."

The pause that followed was full of unspoken promises, as they each listened to the quiet sounds of the other breathing. It was broken only when he could no longer contain his cough.

"That doesn't sound good, sweetie. How are you feeling?"

He smiled a little at her tone. "Mmm... a little like I got run over by a truck, but Thera-flu is a wonderful invention. Though, I'm sure I'd be better if I hadn't gotten dragged into work."

"What?! They made you come into work sick?"

"Yeah, Nick and Greg too. They'll probably have to disinfect the whole lab after today. Maddie demanded that I take the case, and when demanding didn't get me out of the house, she showed up on our doorstep with a box of evidence and a guilt trip, then dragged me out with her."

"Deputy DA Madeline Klein?"

"Yep. To give her a bit of credit, even I agreed that it was a time-sensitive, important case, and not just political shenanigans. A very dangerous man was set to go free after the death of a key witness."

"Did you solve it?"

"Yeah, though it turned out that he wasn't the one responsible for that particular death. However, we did manage to keep the guy in jail a little longer on a different charge."

"What was that?"

He rocked his head against the arm of the couch, "I don't think I should tell you the details on this one. Let's just say we found evidence that he was sneaking notes out of isolation and passing instructions on to his gang."

"He threatened you, or tried to have you killed, didn't he?"

His disbelieving snort turned into a cough. After he finally calmed his breathing, he asked, "How do you do that?"

"What else would you be unwilling to tell me?" Despite the serious nature of the conversation, he could hear the smile in her voice. "At least, as pertains to a case like this."

"Yes, well, everyone's fine and the guy is still in jail and even more closely watched than before, so no need to worry, okay?"

"I'll stop worrying about you, if you'll stop worrying about me. Deal?"

"I can't help it, honey."

"Neither can I. But I'll try not to worry too much, okay?"

"Yes, dear." Desperate to end on a lighter note, he shifted the subject. "So, Maddie said something interesting to me today after it was all over."

She allowed the change, "What was that?"

"She said that I was the only man who's never let her down, and thus that I must either be a 'classic enabler' or her soulmate." He smiled wistfully at the memory.

"Well, you must be an enabler then..."

His wistful smile morphed into a grin. "True. Given that I wince when I see her name on my caller ID and smile when I see yours, I'm pretty sure which mate my soul has chosen."

Her groan carried easily across the phone line. "I'd be flattered, but that was just too sappy. I miss your puns, though."

"Even the bad ones?"

They both chuckled lightly as she answered, "Yes, unfortunately, even those."

This time the comfortable pause was broken when she yawned, followed immediately by an even longer yawn on his part, then a sigh from across the room. He looked up to see a pair of mournful brown eyes focused on an empty blue bowl. "Honey, much as I don't want to do this, I'd better go. You're tired, I should be sleeping, and a certain dog would really like his after-walk meal."

"I know, it's okay. We'll talk again soon. Say hi to Hank for me."

"Will do. Say hi to the spider for me."

"Ugh -- Hey it's gone!"

"Maybe now you can dress in peace."

She chuckled lightly. "Yeah, or sit here wondering where it went and when it's going to reappear."

"I'm sure it's headed someplace with more bugs. You don't need to worry."

"Okay, I'll try to get some sleep without visions of spiders dancing in my head." She sighed. "I love you."

"I love you, too. Sleep well."

"You too. Get better, okay?"

"I'll try. Talk to you soon."

"Okay... I'm hanging up now. Bye!"

He laughed quietly as he shut the phone, and then dragged himself off the couch to attend to his dog.

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Any feedback always appreciated!
PLK