Jack and Daniel scratched their heads at the problem that lay before them. They saw the map in clear sight. It was raised up on a pedestal, plain to see. The catch was that the pedestal itself was a bit low. It was in something of a pit.

"So," Jack clapped his hands together once. "What are we gonna do about that hundred foot drop and lava filled pool?" He and asked Daniel. Their guide out of this place did indeed perch somewhat precariously over lava, many, many, many feet below them. After the hallway, there was just a small cliff before the sheer descent down. There was no way at all of getting to the scroll.

"Well, we could, umm..." Daniel was at a bit of a loss. They could see the scroll, but that was about it.

"Yee-ah" Jack summed up their situation quite well. Daniel was rather worried that one of the occasional jets of flame that shot up from the lava would incinerate the scroll. "We could always...you know...jump." Jack suggested.

"Jump? Are you insane?" Daniel was not about to take a mad leap, over ten stories in height, into a pool of lava. Even if he somehow did manage to land on one of the rocks and not into the boiling magma, the impact would still kill him.

"Well, we have these time thingies, we could always just...jet on back if we miss." Jack told him.

"Yes, well, those only work seconds before we all get immolated, do you suggest we just stand around here and talk until then?" Daniel really thought Jack was losing it now.

"Yeah, why not. Got any better ideas?" O'Neill asked him.

"I suppose not." Daniel admitted, and silence filled the air for a while.

"So, uh, anything new and interesting in archaeology?" Jack tried to drum up some conversation.

"No, not really." Daniel said reluctantly.

More silence.

"You have any interesting new hobbies?" Daniel inquired.

"Oh you, know, just sit around and watch TV or whatever when I'm not on duty." Jack admitted. When he wasn't blasting aliens, saving the universe or forging new alliances, life was a bit of a bore.

"Really?" Daniel inquired, "What shows in particular?"

"Oh, there's this one that really cracks me up." Jack laughed, "Farscape or something like that. This guy goes through a worm-hole and can't get back."

"Hmm. No DHD?" Daniel didn't watch much TV.

"Nah, nah. Their worm-holes are totally different. They got it all wrong. He does meet one heck of a looker though. I wish they brought more people like her into the Stargate program." Jack wished. The women on TV were always so much more attractive. He felt that he was getting ripped off, somehow.

"Ahh, well. You know what they say, lucky in cards, unlucky in love." Daniel imparted some ancient wisdom.

"Lucky in cards? You kidding me? Teal'c cleaned me out in poker last night. It's impossible to read that guy." Jack thought the Jaffa had an unfair advantage, with that glum mug he had you couldn't tell a thing.

Daniel looked at his watch. Four minutes left. "Are we really going to just jump down there?" He asked.

"Not afraid of heights there, are you?" Jack gave him a questioning look.

"No, no, just of being splattered on sharp rocks or boiled alive in lava." Daniel told him.

"Oh. Maybe you fell off a cliff and died in a previous life. Or this one." O'Neill suggested.

"No, no deaths from falling yet. I think. To be honest I forget." Daniel admitted.

"Understandable." Jack empathized.

Another pause.

"Fifteen seconds left. We'll jump at ten." Jack said. "5...4...3...2...1...Cowabunga!" He cried as he took a running leap into the pit. Daniel leaped at the same time, and was also flying through the air.

"Ahhhh!" Daniel cried as he futilely attempted to grab at the air in an effort to gain some stability. His jump hadn't been as good as O'Neill's and he could clearly see that he had undershot the map. He didn't know how many seconds were left before he could use the device, but the lava was approaching fast. Real fast. Make that a little faster. He pushed the button over and over frantically. Just the instant as his body splashed into the lava and he felt his skin burning he pushed the button, he was whisked away.

Jack heard a splash behind and below him, where Daniel probably was, and didn't think that bode well for him. He ignored it though. They could probably get some DNA out of the rocks or a mosquito or something and bring him back. He didn't worry about Daniel, but about grabbing the map that was below and ahead of him, and he was approaching it fast.

He noticed the time-travel device illuminating a few seconds ago, and wondered how much time he had before the place was incinerated. "Come on, come on..." He thought, and he reached his hand out to the scroll. He passed just overhead, and snagged it as he continued his descent into the lava. The air exploded in fire as he pushed the button, but Time's protective arms enveloped him and brought him back, with the scroll in hand.