Daniel's feet were dragging as he approached the tower. He swipped his overly long fringe out of his eyes and glared at the platform. "Abseiling was bad enough Jack, but at least there was something to hold onto. Parachuting on the other hand. Jack, are you sure …"

"Now don't start with the 'do I really have to learn this' line again," said Jack with a touch of exasperation. "Yes, you do have to learn, okay? It's not that bad really. It's just a small jump off the platform, pull your cord and then a nice soft landing."

"But … " Daniel looked with bewilderment at said platform set high up over the top of an enormous soft landing bag. "We travel through the stargate, Jack. Those things are always set firmly on the ground; on solid ground - bedrock even. Why on earth do we need to learn this?"

Jack sighed dramatically. "It may have escaped your notice, but on occasion, we've been on board space ships … "

"We don't parachute out of those either, Jack," snapped Daniel rapidly.

Jack eyed Daniel carefully. Was that an edge of panic there? It would be the first he had ever seen the kid display – including when they were literally inches from death. "I know you don't like heights Daniel, but parachuting isn't all that bad …"

"It involves jumping out of airplanes, Jack. Airplanes thousands of feet above the ground, Jack. It involves lots and lots of falling and if you're lucky your 'chute actually opens before you splatter all over the ground."

That was a definite edge of panic there. Jack took a hold of Daniel's shoulders and faced him head on. "I wouldn't have said that learning how to parachute was essential either, Daniel. But you've managed to piss off some very important Government red necks who would like nothing better than for you to cave in on their brand spanking new and updated list of essential training exercises for Stargate teams. The list that got modified right after they got a hold of your file and found out about your little thing with heights."

Daniel eyed him full on for a whole minute, and Jack watched the play of emotions across Daniel's face until it settled into that stubborn one that Jack was beginning to appreciate – at least for now.

"They modified the training requirements list to get rid of me?"

"If you can't pass, then they have a legitimate reason to boot you off of SG-1, Daniel."

Daniel chewed at his lips, his gaze locked onto Jack's face. The stubborn look slipped a little. "Those … bastards."

Jack felt his eyebrow quirk upward. It was unlike the archaeologist to use bad language – even in the worst situations. Daniel could be polite even with a staff weapon pointed at his head. Jack spotted Daniel's hands crushed tightly into fists – but shaking and Jack began to wonder if his friend could get through this.

"You can do this, Daniel. It's not that bad really. You just have to put yourself in the right frame of mind. That's all. Yes, you will fall, but you will land safely without a scratch. Keep that in mind. "

"Right frame of mind," Daniel repeated taking a long steadying breath.

Jack started walking his friend to the bottom of the platform. "Try to think back to when you were a kid and you jumped off the swing when it was still swinging. It's sort of like that only with a softer landing."

Daniel was nearly hyperventilating as Jack helped him put on the training parachute.

"I have to pass this if I want to stay on SG-1?"

Jack nodded. "Yes, Daniel you have to pass this."

"I need to pass this if I'm going to find Sha're and Skaara?"

Jack shot a look at Daniel's face again. And there was that stubborn, determined expression again. Talk about getting into the right frame of mind. "Yes Daniel."

Daniel took a long steadying breath and let it go again slowly. "I can do this, Jack."

"Yeah, I know you can."

"Can I puke afterwards, Jack?"

"All over Maybourne's boots if you like."