Maggie and Sam flew to Hawaii two days later. They'd agreed to meet at the airport at 7am; Sam had offered to pick Maggie up from her apartment but she'd refused, for no reason other than her pride. Maggie took only a small travel bag with her; She'd only packed a few changes of clothes and toiletries, the rest of the space was taken up with books and research. Her taxi dropped her off at the airport almost an hour earlier than she needed, and she waited for Sam at the departures lounge, anxiously checking her watch every five minutes. She hated being late, and as the time dragged on, she wondered if Sam had decided not to come. Eventually she saw him walking towards her; his tall build made him quite easy to spot over the crowds of people bustling through the airport. He carried a duffel bag over his shoulder, and was wearing the same denim jacket over a brown t-shirt and black cargo pants. His face broke into a wide smile as he reached Maggie, and dropped his bag on the floor.
"Morning, Partner," he grinned, "You ready?"
"Of course I am, I've been here for ages." Maggie stood, appraising Sam's outfit with her eyes. "Seriously, don't you own another jacket?"
"What's wrong with my jacket?" Sam asked, raising his eyebrows.
"Well nothing," Maggie said, "But it looks as though it could walk onto the airplane itself! Has it ever even been washed?"
"Hey, this jacket and I have been through alot!" Sam huffed in defence, before leaning in to whisper in Maggie's ear, "Besides, if you really want to see what's under it, all you gotta do is ask." Maggie's cheeks flooded with colour as she gasped and stuttered over her refusal. Failing to speak coherently, she pushed Sam away swiftly, who merely laughed as he bent down to retrieve his bag, and remove Maggie's bag from her shoulder to his in one swift movement. "Come on. They've not even called our flight yet" he smirked.
The airplane itself was very small in comparison to some of the others on the runway; Maggie loved to watch them take off while she waited, it made the adventure feel real. Sam was leaving her alone for once, he was sat with the bags, reading a book and taking notes. Every now and then, Maggie would sneak a look at him, curious as to what he doing. She didn't want to appear interested, so she remained facing the window, but would check his reflection every few minutes to see if anything about him had changed.
Sam had noticed, of course, and while he kept his position the same, a small smile tugged at the corner of his mouth as he ducked his head to make notes. Maybe he could make her warm and gooey, after all. He secretly relished at the thought, his ego puffing in his chest as he daydreamed. "Still," he thought as he climbed down from his clouds, "I better hope everything goes smoothly. If the plan changes and I have to drop her, I gotta make sure she can't find me again. She'll be sure to kick my ass if she does. That girl does not like to be messed with." Sam wondered again if she was the girl he saw at the funeral. He really hoped she wasn't, but he knew what losing a family member could do to a person; he himself was extremely protective of his younger brother, and Maggie behaved the same about her work. If she was doing it for her Grandmother, that made sense. "I'll have to see if I can find out somehow." He grimaced to himself.
An announcement that their flight was now boarding interrupted the pair's thoughts, and they made their way quietly to the relevant gate. The plane was ivery/i small on the inside, and the long flight was not going to be a comfortable one, Maggie thought as they made their way to their seats. Sullivan had arranged all the travel plans, and Maggie was not looking forward to seeing her accommodation. She found their seats and instantly claimed the one nearest the window, giving her something to look at other than Sam. He was more than happy to take the aisle seat, for the leg room he said, but Maggie couldn't help but feel like he was leaning over her side on purpose. As the safety instructions were explained, Maggie noticed the air hostess nearest to them kept making eye contact with Sam, who returned the favour with a wink and his crooked grin. Maggie scoffed and shook her head, preffering to turn her back to them as much as possible, and read the instruction pamphlet that was slotted into her allocated magazine pocket than watch the god awful attempt at flirting that was going on beside her.
Still, Maggie managed to catch a few hours of sleep during the flight; at one point, to her utter horror, Maggie woke to find she'd in fact been using Sam as a pillow. He in turn was asleep and snoring gently, but as she gently repositioned herself he stirred ever so slightly. Maggie watched him carefully to make sure he didn't wake, and found her gaze drawn to Sam's lips. They were curled up slightly into that crooked grin, and Maggie was surprised to find that when he wasn't talking, she really found him quite attractive. In fact, Maggie thought to herself, watching him take notes and how enthralled he was in his work, made him even more appealing to her. The thought surprised her greatly; she'd never been much interested in having a love life, and she certainly didn't like to mix work with pleasure. Shaking her head as if to banish such thoughts from her mind, Maggie moved to lean against the window of the plane, and tried not to imagine how much pleasure Sam could give her as she drifted back off into an uncomfortable sleep.
They arrived at Hilo airport in the late afternoon, and managed to pick up their ride just as the rentals store was trying to close. A few quiet words from Sam (along with a discreet cash exchange, Maggie noticed) and they were soon dumping their bags in the bag of a very old and rusty looking jeep and where heading south towards Kilauea. After about 30 miles, they got towards the base of the great volcano and their route turned northwest, and began a steady climb. Sam navigated the jeep easily around the mountainous terrain, and Maggie, despite her heavy eyelids, was enthralled by the seemingly sparse landscape. After about half an hour following the road around the slopes, they turned east slightly down a very rocky road which lead the way back down. It was beginning to get dark out, and the long, cramped flight was beginning to catch up with Maggie, who stifled a yawn in the passenger seat.
"How far away are we?" She asked sleepily.
"Not far now." Sam promised. Sure enough, after a few more miles of heading steadily down, the surface began to level out again, and they were surprised to find lush plants sprouting out of the barren ground. As they rounded one final, sharp bend they were suddenly greeted by the lights of a small village, nestled in the mountainside. The small motel they were staying in was just on the far edge of the town, and looked out over a small river which wound down from the volcano, and steam gradually rose from the flowing water.
"It gets heated up from the lava underneath." Sam explained to Maggie when she stopped unloading the bags from the Jeep to watch. "This place is apparently famous for their natural hot spring baths, so I've heard. The water is some of the purest water you could have". As they checked into their room, Maggie was barely able to keep her eyes open, but she vaguely heard the lady behind the desk inform Sam that they were staying in Room 17 on the third floor.
"I'm sorry, shouldn't it be rooms?" Maggie asked.
"Not according to the booking information I've got here, Miss." The lady replied apologetically. Maggie turned to Sam, raising her eyebrow for an explanation. Sam simply shrugged his shoulders in response.
"Don't look at me, Sully sorted all of this out." He replied. "Anyway, it's too late to do anything about it now. You're beat and we got a lot of work to do tomorrow. Let's just deal with it, alright?"
Maggie didn't even argue, she was too tired to deal with this now. Thanking the receptionist, she turned to follow Sam up the large wooden stairs to their room. As soon as the door was closed, Maggie dropped her things on the floor, stripped off down to her vest top and her knickers, and crawled under the sheets of the reasonably sized bed to claim her spot. She wanted to insist that Sam sleep on the floor, but she was too exhausted to even begin that argument, so simply muttered "I sleep under sheets, you sleep on top of sheets..." as her eyelids fluttered closed and she quickly drifted into a long and comfortable sleep.
Sam smiled to himself as he undressed, thankful that Maggie didn't put up more of a fight about the sleeping arrangements. It was part of his and Sully's plan, to make it easier to get close to her, but if he was being honest with himself, he was more interested in a good night's sleep than anything else at the moment. Tomorrow would be a different matter entirely, and that was when the real challenge would begin. Obliging with his partner's demand, Sam lay on top of the bed sheets and sighed in happiness as he relaxed into the large, comfortable pillows. He turned to look at Maggie, who looked very peaceful and charming now that her eyes weren't glaring up at him. Her long eyelashes swept across her cheeks, and her plump lips were hanging ever so slightly open, allowing soft whimpers to escape occasionally as she slept. Sam was enthralled for a moment, his eyes glistening as he settled down for the night. Stealing one last look at Maggie, Sam tucked his left arm under his head and closed his eyes, already looking forward to the dreams that would no doubt come thanks to the sleeping beauty next to him, and the thrill of adventure which was soon to follow.