After the SGC people left the room, Sam turned to his brother. "Dude, Dean, 'How do you kill a shtriga?' That's the best you could come up with?"

"You got it, didn't you?"

"Well, yeah, but still..."

Dean cut off the comment, "Seriously, though, Sam. What do you think of them?"

Sam didn't even hesitate in replying, "They're hiding something. Something big--and they're afraid to tell us what," he shifted uncomfortably on the infirmary bed.

Dean didn't miss it. "What?"

The youngest Winchester shook his head slightly, his gaze darting around the room, never staying on one object for more than a fraction of a second, "I don't know, man. I've just got this feeling."

"Well, that's just great," Dean growled sarcastically, then his voice got notably more wary, "What kind of feeling?"

"I just--it reminds me of our old house," Sam blurted.

"That's it," Dean stood abruptly, "We're getting out of here."

Sam shook off his brother's hand, "What the hell are you doing?" he hissed, "We're in the middle of a military base, Dean!"

"I don't care!" Dean snapped back, "Damn it all, Sammy, everything goes after you! The Woman in White, Bloody Mary, Ellicot, hell, our old house tried to kill you! And if it's not enough that you're a target for every supernatural evil thing out there, even those psycho hunters picked you! I'm not risking your neck this time!"

"Dean, if we leave, those people will die."

"What do you want me to do, Sammy?" Dean demanded, voice strained nearly to breaking, "'Cus I'm out of ideas. You said it yourself, Sam, this is a military base. They're not going to let us find out enough to stop this thing!"

"I know, but, Dean... I have to try," Sam looked up, his eyes glittering with unshed tears, his voice desperately soft, "It's bad enough to have seen it and know it didn't happen, but... I can't keep doing this, Dean. I can't keep seeing people die!"

Dean paced, his motions reminiscent of a caged wolf, "I get that, Sammy, I do. But I just don't know how to help you with this, man! Hell, I don't even know how to help them with this!"

"Just--wait it out, man, please," Sam pleaded, "I have to try."

xxxx

One hour later:

Colonel O'Neill looked up from the monitor with a perplexed expression, "What the heck are those kids talking about?"

"I'm not sure, sir," Carter replied, frowning at the screen. The camera in the infirmary had caught the entire conversation on tape, and the only thing she was sure of was that it sounded crazy. Bloody Mary? Woman in White? And what on earth was a shtriga?

"It's a kind of witch, according to Scandinavian legends," Daniel offered.

Carter blinked. She hadn't realized she'd said that out loud.

"What kind of witch?" Jack asked idly, fidgeting with an unattended pen.

"They supposedly eat a person's life force... and there's no way to kill one. I believe that, to quote: 'They cannot be harmed by any weapon made by god or man.'" Daniel pulled off his glasses and rubbed at his eyes with one hand, "What do we know about these people? Aside from that they saved you from an invisible attacker in an alley."

The pen clicked against the counter once, twice, three times before Jack tossed it aside and stood, "Their names are Sam and Dean?"

Daniel glanced from Jack to Carter, "Sam?"

She shook her head, resigned to the fact that they'd been outwitted by a couple of kids. "That, and they have a Chevy Impala and two sawed-off shotguns in their trunk."

"Weeelllll..." Jack drawled, "We could go talk to them again..." He moved towards the door, glancing back at his teammates, "Danny, Carter, you comin'?"

"Yeah, sure, just let me turn this off," Daniel turned to the keyboard and clicked in a few commands before following the Colonel out the door.

The pen that Jack had thrown onto the desk started rolling again, too fast to be normal, and hit the floor to skid off to a shadowed corner, leaving the cap behind.

xxxx

Dean automatically shifted himself to be between his brother and the door as the voices in the hall drew nearer. The door opened, and admitted three people. Jack and Samantha were back, with a taller, blue-eyed, sandy-haired man.

Sam's sharp intake of breath let Dean know something was up, "Sammy?" he asked, not taking his eyes off the three in front of him, his entire body tense as he waited for an answer.

"It's him, Dean. The one I saw with Samantha--Daniel."

Carter glanced sideways at the Colonel, who in turn flicked his gaze towards his linguist. Daniel had a very typically "Danny" look on his face--interest, curiosity, slight wariness.

"Dean, it's all right," Sam offered, standing to lay a hand on his brother's shoulder, "They're hiding something, but they're not going to hurt us."

"It's not them I'm worried about," Dean shot back, even as he let Sam come up beside him, "It's the damned thing that's after them that bugs me."

Jack started to open his mouth, but Daniel, being the diplomat that he was, tried to warn him off.

Jack was oblivious, "What the hell are you kids talking about?" he demanded, using his military-tone.

To the surprise of the SGC people, including Janet, who came to her office door to watch, the boys straitened and stood at something like attention. "There is something wrong, here, sir," Dean replied quickly.

Sam shook his head, "Dean!" he hissed, "This isn't Dad!"

"You said it was after them, didn't you?" Dean shot back.

"Look, we know something's going on," Jack started, but Daniel broke in.

"What are you talking about?"

The brothers exchanged glances and came to a mutual agreement. Dean tilted his head a little and Sam nodded slightly.

"Just remember:" Dean commanded, "You asked."

xxxx

I almost hate to leave it off like this, but I do have work to do on other things. Sorry!