General Disclaimer of Everything: I own nothing.
Side trips. Or: What really should have happened when Gandalf saw the ring of power.
Gandalf recognized the ring immediately, when Bilbo accidentally dropped it into the campfire one night.
They all looked on in fascination as the ruins on it slowly lit up, and Gandalf turned pale in horror.
And so it came about that Gandalf borrowed the company's burglar and sent him on a little side trip.
"Not to worry, my dear Bilbo," Gandalf had reassured him, "All you need to do, is ride on the eagle until you reach the volcano, and drop the ring in. We should be back in plenty of time for you to fill your contract and sneak past the sleeping dragon."
Bilbo wasn't feeling reassured in the slightest.
Bilbo was a hobbit of his word, and he would do what he had promised to, but all the same Bilbo did not want to take any side trips. He had already had quite enough of adventuring, thank you very much.
Nonetheless, he climbed up onto the back of one of a pair of giant eagles, and flew off with the wizard. After all, somebody needed to go, and one does not simply walk into Mordor.
An: PM me if you think of a drabble that I should add.