The next morning, Maggie stood outside the front of the Museum, waiting for her new partner, ten minutes before their agreed time. A strange sensation coursed through her body and pooled in her stomach; nervousness, with just a twinge of excitement. She'd spend the night preparing for the journey ahead of her, reading up on ancient Polynesian texts, trying to find any mention of the necklace they were looking for. There'd not been much luck, but a lot of her research suggested that the best source of information about Polynesian legends were the ancient temples which had been preserved for generations, so Maggie had found out about as many temples as she could, and marked them on her map. If these guys didn't have the intel they had promised, at least it wouldn't be a total loss.

Streams of sunlight broke through the clouds that stretched across the sky, reflecting off the large Museum windows which towered above the steps where Maggie waited. Maggie shielded her eyes as she turned away from the sudden glow, reaching for her sunglasses which sat nested in her hair. As she positioned her sunglasses on her nose, her hair billowed across her face in the gentle breeze, and Maggie pulled her navy green jacket around her, as goosebumps sending a shivering sensation throughout her body. Wearing the same faded jeans and boots Maggie always liked to wear, she perched on the steps as she waited, and gazed absentmindedly at the people hurrying along the busy street which lay in front of her.

A sharp whistle caused Maggie to jump, and she whipped her head around to find the source. Strolling towards her with a smirk on his face, and wearing the same denim jacket as the previous day, was Sam Drake. Maggie took a deep breath as she rose, and made her way down the steps to where Sam stood waiting. He flashed a brilliant smile at Maggie as he removed his own sunglasses, unashamed of the way his eyes inspected her body as he slid his sunglasses into his shirt pocket. Maggie scowled at him from behind her own shades as she approached, annoyance already starting to build up inside her.

"Morning sweetheart!" Sam winked, chuckling at Maggie's obvious displeasure at the nickname.

"You're late." Maggie said sharply as she marched past Sam, who chuckled to himself as he turned to follow her. He had no trouble in keeping up, and easily fell into step beside her.

"Relax, darling. We got time! We should do this properly, get to know each other. What do you say?" Sam teased. Maggie huffed in annoyance, and quickened her pace. Sam let out a loud laugh as he pulled a cigarette to his lips. "Suit yourself." he smirked.

"I'm glad you think this is a joke, but some of us actually take our work seriously. So instead of wasting my time, why don't you stop playing treasure hunter, and let me do my job, got it?"

"Sorry sweetheart, no can do. I gotta eat too you know!" Sam shrugged. "Besides, you know as well as I do that everything's already been arranged by Victor and your boss, so unless you want to tell them why they won't get their necklace, I suggest you swallow that bitter pill that's been rolling around in your mouth since yesterday, and move on."

Maggie curled her fist, and had to use every ounce of her self restraint to stop punching her new colleague. As much as she hated to admit it, he was right. She'd already promised Mick that she wasn't going to be difficult, and assaulting the guy she was being forced to work with would definitely fall into that category. After disappearing for a few weeks, the last thing Maggie wanted was to get into more trouble. Even if it would have been worth it.

Maggie sighed. "Okay fine, I'll behave. But you've got to behave too, you understand? No more cutesy nicknames, and if you even think of throwing one more inappropriate look at me, I swear the next thing you'll be kissing is the pavement, you got it?"

"Yes, ma'am." Sam smiled, saluting Maggie as though she were his drill sergeant. Maggie's eyes rolled loudly behind her sunglasses, and she continued to lead the way. Silence fell as the two partners continued down the street. A couple of times, Maggie snuck a few glances from the side of her glasses, hoping that Sam wouldn't notice. He appeared none the wiser, and continued to gaze at his surroundings as he walked, a smirk still resting on the corner of his lips. "Where are we going, anyway?" Sam asked after a few more minutes.

"The library," Maggie replied. "My research has narrowed down our starting point to a few locations, but I need to look at some maps to figure out the best place to start looking properly."

"There's no need! I already know where to start." Sam smiled. "We fly to Hilo Airport the day after tomorrow. Sully has sorted us out with a ride, and we'll make our way up into the Mountains. There's a small village nestled near Kilauea; and that's where the we'll be staying. That's where we need to start."

"What makes you so sure?"

"I'm sure." Sam winked as he tapped his nose knowingly.

"Well, whatever. I still want to make sure." Maggie replied bitterly. She hated being made to feel inferior, and whether it was intentional or not, it was how Sam made her feel. Sam held his hands up in easy defeat.

"Hey, you're the boss." Sam chuckled.

The pair continued their walk to the library in a fairly comfortable silence. Maggie was too preoccupied with Sam's lucrative answer to pay close attention to her surroundings; she could walk the route to the library with her eyes closed and there were much more important things to focus on. Who was Sam Drake? He looked like the kind of guy you'd expect to see at a prison line up, yet underneath his scruffy layers of "bad boy" charm, there was clearly a deep intelligence. He seemed very clued up on the task at hand which was good, but Maggie was still suspicious of where and how Sam obtained his knowledge. Not to mention the nagging feeling that Maggie had seen Sam before. He was definitely good looking, so if he'd been to the Museum before, Maggie would have remembered him. But while Sam looked familiar, she didn't recognise him. Maggie didn't socialise much either, so she wouldn't have met him on a night out. Apart from her old flatmate Tom, Maggie didn't really have friends, and she preferred to work late at the Museum than go out with her work colleagues.

Sam, meanwhile, was lost in his own thoughts. He was trying to analyse Maggie, to understand how she worked. She was clearly intelligent and determined, he thought, but her suspicious, almost hostile demeanour suggested that she'd not always had things so good. She wasn't fooled by the things people said, and she liked to keep her cards close to her chest, especially when it came to her work. She was extremely protective of that, which certainly made her more attractive in Sam's eyes. Sam thought about Sully's plan, and how he wanted Sam to make Maggie "warm and gooey". His catholic upbringing came back to haunt him as he considered the prospect of using somebody to gain the advantage. If it were somebody like Sullivan, Sam didn't consider it much of an issue, but to do it to a stranger, a girl he barely knew, just felt wrong. Still, Sam had to do as he'd been instructed, for Nathan's sake. As much as he disliked Sully, he did look out for Nate, and Sam didn't want to jeapordise that.

Maggie and Sam soon arrived at the library, and Maggie greeted the librarian with a warm smile. After reluctantly introducing Sam as her "apprentice" ("Partner" winked Sam) Maggie explained what she was looking for, and the librarian led them to the geography section. There was an old book here, full of old maps, and how the world population had changed over thousands of years. As Hawaii was essentially a cluster of volcanoes, its inhabitants had migrated a lot throughout the millenia, and Maggie wanted to compare the different maps to the Polynesian texts she'd discovered in her research. Then, she'd be able to translate the geographical locations from when the necklace was last seen 1000 years ago, and pinpoint where they would have to go.

Maggie poured over the maps and text as she worked, whilst Sam relaxed on a chair beside her. Eventually, Maggie stopped her frantic note taking, and began to pack her things away.

"All done?" Sam asked, a small smile forming on his lips. Maggie focused on the book she was carrying as she nodded silently in reply. "And?" Sam quizzed, knowing exactly what response he would receive.

"And it looks like your plan wasn't completely stupid, after all." Maggie replied sarcastically. Sam chuckled lightly as he stood, and began to help tidy the workspace.

"I'm going to take that as a compliment." he laughed.

"You should," Maggie replied, "It's the only one you're going to get."