Chapter 9: The Introduction

"Partners! Rise and shine! It's seven am-time to wake up and face the sun!" The PA shut off and Jack, who had awoken at the sound, slipped slowly back into sleep again. Five minutes later, the door flew open with a bang and a grinning face popped through the doorway.

"Come on, up partners! We're all meeting up on deck in three minutes!" The door shut noisily and there was a silence for a moment.

"Make the bad man go away," Sam mumbled, and Jack groaned and rolled over.

"Let's pretend we thought it was a dream," Jack suggested, burying his head into his pillow.

"A little coincidental if you ask me… us having the same dreams and all."

"We're partners… over time, we have, er… grown closer and, er…"

"Have each other's dreams."

"Well… yeah!" Sam sighed and got out of bed, smirking and shaking her head.

"Sir, that is the most pathetic explanation I've ever heard for anything. Same dreams." She rolled her eyes at him and pulled some clothes out of her suitcase, before going into the bathroom.

"You seem a little more energetic now that you've had some sleep," Jack called out.

"My hangover is completely gone now. I feel like Sam Carter again instead of hammy Sammy."

"And who do you have to thank for getting rid of hammy Sammy…?" Her head popped from around the doorway and she raised an eyebrow at him.

"I personally think it was something to do with that café coffee." She shut the door just as he replied.

"No, I beg to differ!" he shouted. "It just needed a little time to kick in!"

"It kicked in alright! I got a great bang when I drank that crap down." She exited the bathroom with changed clothes, and Jack stood up, shaking his head.

"Always complaining. Well, the next time you get drunk, don't expect me to come and help you with the consequences! Oh, by the way, you and Daniel owe me seventy dollars for your little 'gorge' last night." Sam's eyes widened.

"Seventy dollars?! What the hell?"

"You know, I remember having a similar reaction."

~~~

"Firstly, I'd like to wish you all a good morning, and we hope the time wasn't *too* much of an inconvenience." There were a few grumbles, Jack and Sam being among them. The man who had been talking to them smiled.

"Hey, we had to get up in the middle of the night too-we're all on the same boat here." It was obvious from the expression on his face he had tried to crack a joke, but all that could be heard was an odd silence. Jack made a loud cough, which really was hiding a snigger. The man cleared his throat.

"Anyway, welcome to the Lola Moon. For the next seven days this will be your temporary home. You will sleep here, eat here, go to the toilet here and do everything else you might do at your house. However, there will be one major difference to this ship and you're home…"

"This is on water?" Jack whispered to Sam, who grinned.

"In most of your spare time you will be participating in games with your partner and other partners that help you two work better together as a team. After this seven-day trip, you will hopefully be working more efficiently as a team than ever, and you'll also have some very fond memories.

"Now before this can happen, we have to split you all up into four groups-the Red group, the Blue group, the Yellow group and the Green group. The reason we have to do this is because there are too many people here to possibly make this work and make you feel as if you're in a community. Because you are in a community, and we want to make that community feel as friendly as possible.

"I am Rob, leader of the Green group. We'll be splitting you up into the groups now-hope to see you in Green!" He grinned and walked to the side as a woman walked up to the front instead.

"Okay, listen up, I will read each and everyone of your names out and the group you will be in, and you will get up and go to that group. Rob, as you know, is the leader of the Green group; I am the leader of the Blue group. That man standing next to Rob over there is Mike, the leader of the Yellow group and Simon, who is standing all on his lonesome in that corner over there, is leader of the Red group. Got that?" All the partners nodded, and the woman nodded herself, before commencing calling out names.

"I want to go check out the dining hall," Jack said suddenly.

"I bet it's huge. I bet there's food everywhere there."

"I bet there's food everywhere too, but that doesn't necessarily mean it's good."

"It has to be. I mean, they spend all this money on this fantastic ship, but then they serve second rate food?"

"Have you *tasted* plane food?"

"Jack O'Neill and Samantha Carter, Red group…"

"What?" Jack questioned.

"Uhm… I think she just said that we were in the Red group," Sam replied uncertainly. Jack looked around, before shrugging.

"Meh. Might as well just go over there anyway." They made their way over to Simon, the leader of the Red group, and he smiled widely at them.

"Hi! It's great to have you on the team! I'm sure we'll have a great time!" He shook their hands enthusiastically, and Jack shot a puzzled look at Sam, who just shrugged.

"Happiness, happiness, everywhere everyone is happy…" Jack mumbled.

"And what do you have against happiness?" Sam asked.

"Hey, a few hours ago you'd be agreeing with me, so don't go and get on your high horse."

"I wasn't…"

"You were!"

"I swear I wasn't! I didn't… I was just… I can't even remember what this is about," she ended, confused, and there was a silence.

"Dining hall… didn't I… wanted to check out dining hall…" Jack spat out, and there was a pause, before Sam turned back to him.

"I don't think that that was it." There was another pause.

"Never mind," Jack stated, shaking his head.

"Okay, uhm, could I just get all of your attention please? Yeah, just come around here," Simon called, and all the partners gathered around him.

"Firstly, welcome to the Red group! I'm Simon, your group leader, and for the next seven days you'll probably be spending most of them with me, and I'm predicting that these will become some of the best you'll ever have. I'm really looking forward to working with each and everyone one of you, and I hope that we can all get along together not just as team mates, but friends." He gave them all a brilliant smile, before clasping his hands together.

"Okay, everyone! I think we should go head down to the ballroom, which is where we'll be having our first series of games!" He walked off down a series of stairs and the partners all followed him.

"There's a ballroom?" Sam whispered nervously as they walked down a long corridor. Jack glanced at her.

"What, did you expect a farm instead?"

"Sir, if there's a ballroom on this ship, that means we'll be dancing."

"I guess that's only to be expected with something like this."

"I don't… I can't…"

"We're here, everyone!" Simon called out enthusiastically, and he pulled open the double doors that lead into the Hall and directed everyone inside.

"He's so happy," Jack said bitterly. "How can anyone be that happy?" He turned back to Sam.

"Sorry, what were you saying?" Sam swallowed, shaking her head.

"Never mind."

"This is how we're going to work out this thing," Simon called out from the front of the room.

"You and your partner will be playing a board game, versing two other partners for about half an hour. Then you will advance on to the next game and the next game, continuously versing people until the very end. The point of this is so you can get to know everyone in this room, and maybe bond a little… make new friends… meet people, you know?" He smiled warmly around the room, and Jack grunted. Sam elbowed him lightly in the stomach.

"Shh," she whispered, putting her index fingers upon her lips, signing to him to shut up.

"Hmm," he grumbled.

"So, you should probably go off now and choose a game, and a pair of people that you're going to verse! But remember-you'll be going up against everyone eventually anyway, so it doesn't really matter who you go with."

"I feel like a child at school who's being explained every little detail," Jack said miserably.

"You make this sound like it's a pain or something. At least we're not doing paperwork or typing up reports or anything," Sam pointed out. Jack's face washed over with a blank look.

"But I hardly ever do paperwork or reports. Don't you usually do that?" Sam sighed, still staring at him.

"Yes. Yes I do." Jack turned away, apparently not caring, and she sighed again. Sometimes… sometimes, that man could be just *so* infuriating…

"Let's go over there," he said suddenly, pointing vaguely in the direction of a far corner of the room. There was a monopoly set there.

"Monopoly, huh?" Sam questioned lightly as they walked over. "I didn't know you were a fan."

"What? Monopoly? I just wanted to go over there so we wouldn't be seen." Sam's eyes widened slightly.

Wouldn't be seen doing what?

Then she shook her head and snapped out of her dreamy state.

Jack and her making out in the corner of a room, with two other people watching, when they he hardly ever even called her by her first name.

She really did have to stop thinking like this. Her fantasies were slowly intermingling with reality. Soon she would probably kiss him on the lips in front of the General and say something like

"Good morning, honey, how was your day?"

Although that would probably amuse Daniel and Teal'c.

"Hey, is it alright if we go with you guys?" The pair, who had seated themselves down on the ground, looked up to see another couple looking down at them intently.

"Sure, go ahead," Jack offered, and they sat down across from them, smiling.

"Hi, I'm Paul, this is Laura," the male greeted, and the four all shook hands, smiling politely.

"Nice to meet you. I'm Jack, she's Sam… so what pieces are we using? How are we going to play this thing?"

~~~

It was ten minutes later, and Sam and Jack, as he would put it, 'weren't happy campers'.

"We're losing," Jack said, snatching the dice off of the monopoly board and rolling them idly.

"Well, I know that. It's quite obvious when we only have a few one dollar notes between us," Sam retorted, her voice rising.

"And whose fault is that?"

"Are you suggesting that it's mine?"

"Well… YES!"

"Hey, excuse me?" They both heard the pair across from them chuckled and they turned to them abruptly, both pairs of eyes flashing.

"What is so damn funny?" Jack asked in barely more than a whisper. Paul cleared his throat.

"Er, nothing," he replied, clearing his throat again.

"This is not just my fault, you know," Sam said, as she watched Jack move his silver piece across the board.

"We're not just playing by ourselves here. It's our fault, not just one of us."

"Yeah, that's what you say, only because you know it's your fault."

"Oh, for God's sake!"

"Free parking! Oh, you piece of… I land on free parking and there's nothing there!"

"Yeah, I won it all just on the last shot," Laura said with a snigger. "You're just a tad too late there."

"Grr!" Jack spat, his teeth bared, and Sam attempted to pull him back.

"Come on, Sir, don't worry about it." He pulled out of her grasp and glared at her in contempt.

"Why are you defending them?" he asked. "They are the enemy."

"Will you listen to yourself? It's a game of monopoly, which is supposed to be friendly…!"

"You traitor! You're secretly working for them, aren't you? Is that why we only have…" He quickly counted the money.

"… seven dollars?"

"The reason why we only have seven dollars is because you've been spending all of our money on properties and things we don't need!"

"Oh, yeah, blame it all on me!"

"Maybe if you stopped spending our money on railway stations…!"

"Maybe if you stopped landing on Virginia Avenue every time you go around the board…!"

"Oh, yeah, like I'm really able to stop what number the dice rolls and where I land! And I've only been on there twice!"

"Pshaw! I've counted-it's been much more…"

"Your turn," Paul said, and he handed the dice over to Sam. She rolled, and as soon as the dice stopped she realized that she was going to land on Virginia Avenue again.

"There!" Jack shouted-he had realized too.

"What, are you going to slap me now to get rid of all my bad luck?"

"For God's sake, just get over it, it's only a game," Paul said, and Laura nodded vigorously.

"Yeah! I mean, you two have been bickering all of this time… do you know how annoying it is? I understand why you two are on this cruise-because your boss couldn't stand you two bickering all the time!" There was a pause and the two slowly looked at each other.

"I'm… I'm sorry, Carter," Jack said finally, and he outstretched his hand. There was a pause, before Sam finally took hold of it and shook it.

"I'm sorry too, Sir," she replied, and there was a pause as they gazed into each other's eyes for a while, before Jack coughed and leant over to her.

"I hate them, let's kick their butts," he whispered, and she looked at him, smiling slightly, and nodded.

Fifteen minutes after that, it seemed that Paul and Laura were the ones who were the unhappy campers.

"Ha ha ha!" Jack called out triumphantly as Paul moved his little horse figure onto Boardwalk reluctantly.

"That's… that's… oh, God, I can't even say it… two thousand dollars!" Sam said in glee, her eyes lighting up as she saw Laura cringe slightly. Jack was grinning from ear to ear as he eyed their measly pile of money.

"So, what are you going to pay us?" he asked, still eyeing the money. They also looked down at the money, before looking across the board. They whispered a few things to each other, before Paul cleared his throat and looked up at them both.

"How about we give you Virginia Avenue and we forget about it?" Jack and Sam shared an evil look, before turning back to them.

"I think that could be arranged," they said simultaneously.

~~~

A/N: Personally I don't really like this chapter much-it was a bit forced. I told you they'd get better-I hope I wasn't lying though! They will… they will! I swear!

-Silence-

But this is basically just an introduction to what's going on, you know, who some of these people are… now that you know, we can sort of get on with it, you know?

So things can only get better… hopefully… ^.^