It had been more than a few hours, and they still hadn't gotten to the bottom of it. In fact, the more they learned, the less sense everything made. Jack hated enigmas. They tended to remain stubbornly mysterious no matter how much you poked at them. He'd had a long day. He wanted to go home and catch some sleep, but that was unlikely to happen until progress was made.

They were going over it again, this time repeating a lot of it for the benefit of General Hammond and Dr. Fraiser, who hadn't been around for the first thousand editions of "what we don't know about the Winchesters."

Progress was beginning to look a little unlikely.

Jack wasn't the only one suffering from it, at least. Daniel was propping his head up with one hand. He looked like he wanted to set his head down and take a nap. Jack didn't blame him. Carter was sitting stiffly, her sprained arm bound up in a navy sling, but her eyes made her frustration apparent. Hammond's frustration was more obvious, but then, he was the general. Yelling was part of his job description. Teal'c looked...stoic. But he always did. Only Jacob, still around after the cluster-f that involved the mini-him, managed to look alert and engaged. But Jack had caught him coughing suspiciously a time or two. Selmak was probably cracking jokes, Jack thought sourly, turning his attention back to what was being said.

"Their blood work comes back normal," Dr. Fraiser was saying.

It wasn't surprising. The blood work coming back abnormal would have been too easy. Normal meant the mystery only deepened.

"They have markers unique to the Tauri in their DNA," Jacob added, "We're pretty sure those boys are from Earth."

"That's something we already knew," Daniel mumbled into his hand. He sat up with an 'oof' and reached over for the files. He flipped through them perfunctorily. "Dean Winchester. Couple dozen misdemeanors to his name, spread out all across the states. Vandalism, traffic violations, a few drunk-and-disorderlies- mostly from bar fights. And then there's the grave desecration, and a couple dozen cases of alleged impersonation. He's a small-time conman with some weird hobbies. They've never really managed to pin much on him. He's made a habit of being a couple states over by the time the shit hits the fan. And then there's his brother, Sam, a sophomore at Stanford with a squeaky clean record- adult record, anyway – and a full scholarship. The only thing they would seem to have in common is their father, John Winchester, formerly of Kansas, current whereabouts unknown."

"Formerly of Kansas? How long ago was that?" Hammond asked.

Daniel sighed, then shuffled some papers around. "A very long time, General. The Winchesters have been gypsies for the past twenty-odd years. Their father uprooted the family and disappeared in 1983, after the death of his wife. They pop up all over the country after that. He apparently financed his new life with fraud." Daniel turned a paper over. "Lots and lots of fraud," he added, scanning down the sheet. "There were a couple of complaints to Child Protective Services, but they never stayed in one place long enough for anything to come of it."

"Impersonation," Carter said, stifling a yawn, "Maybe that's it."

"That seems unlikely," General Hammond said.

"I agree," Jack said. He drummed his fingers on the table. "The Russians could maybe do it, but two civilians with no intel? I can't see it, sir."

"They mentioned breaking into a Russian embassy, once, for a 'job'," Daniel pointed out, miming the air quotes.

"That would not explain how they ended off-world, nor how SG-15 came to regard them as familiar," Teal'c said.

"What does SG-15 have to say on the matter?" Hammond asked.

"Well, sir," said Dr. Fraiser, "Whatever it was seems to have faded. They described returning to the SGC as waking up from a dream. They remember having very specific memories...but they've faded. They remember knowing that they'd been on missions, through trainings, in briefings with them. Pierce remembered fighting the placement of "Doctor Samuel Winchester" on the team, and that they had a knack for trouble."

"That part seems accurate," Jack grumbled. He toyed with a piece of paper for a second, then began folding it up into a miniature paper airplane, listening with half an ear as Dr. Fraiser continued her report.

"And that's not all. Some of Dr. Colma's false memories were quite...explicit." That raised a few eyebrows around the table, Jack noted.

"But," she sighed, "all of their tests check out. No abnormalities. No sign of toxins, drugs, or other chemicals. No nanobots, nothing strange on the MRI."

"What about the two men, Doctor. Was there anything unusual there?" Hammond asked hopefully.

"Yes and no, sir." She flipped through some papers. "Dean Winchester- his wounds were consistent with the damage inflicted by a staff blast. Luckily for him, the armor saved him from the worst of it. It's all in line with the reports. There were some notable abnormalities, but nothing that would shed any light on this, General. Just more mysteries." She rummaged around in a folder and pulled out an x-ray.

"Given the nature of the fight with Mithras, I wanted to make sure our patients hadn't broken any ribs. Neither of them had, but I discovered that they both have identical, ah, disfigurements in the bone." She held the x-ray up to the light. The result was...unexpected. It looked like scrimshaw.

Around the table, stares turned incredulous. Even Daniel remained speechless.

"What in the hell?" Jack said, breaking the silence.

"I haven't the slightest idea, sir," Fraiser said, turning the x-ray in the light.

"And it couldn't have been tampered with?" Hammond asked.

"After the first set, I redid them myself, General."

Jacob craned his neck, trying to get a better view. "It almost looks like the symbols were carved into the bone," he said.

"As far as I can tell, they were." Janet answered. "But there were no signs of trauma, fractures, or surgery."

"It's not impossible," Jacob said, shaking his head, "But it would take some serious time and effort. I'm not sure why it'd be worth it."

"I think I recognize the symbols," Daniel murmured. He held out a hand. "May I?"

She handed him the x-ray. He frowned down at it, then held it back up to the light. He frowned some more.

"What is it, Daniel?" Jack finally asked, impatient.

"I could be wrong; it's been a long time since I've seen them. But I think it's Enochian."

"And that is...?"

"Weird. Very...Weird." Daniel studied the symbols some more.

"Oh, come on, Daniel. This wouldn't be the first time we found some remnant of some ancient language. The Goa'uld liked variety."

"This isn't ancient," Daniel corrected absently. "It's the language of the angels."

Hammond had taken a sip of water as Daniel had spoken. It was a mistake. "What?" he sputtered. "Did I understand you right, Dr. Jackson? Angels?"

"Sort of," Daniel conceded. He handed the x-ray back to Dr. Fraiser and rubbed his temples. He sat up. His next words were delivered in the cadences of a lecture.

"In the late 16th century, a man by the name of John Dee became obsessed with the idea of communicating with angels." He quirked his lips into an ironic smile, continuing, "He transcribed into his journals texts he claimed had been dictated to him by the angels in their native tongue, and written in the original alphabet. He believed it to be the original language, the precursor to all human languages."

"Perhaps it was some alien race communicating with him under that guise," Teal'c suggested.

"It definitely sounds plausible," Jacob agreed.

"No," Daniel said. "He got most of it from a man named Edward Kelley, widely regarded today to be a fraud. As to the 'language' itself... there's nothing particularly unique about it. The syntax closely resembles that of English. It's not real."

"I'm thinking it is, Daniel. Someone carved it into their ribs," Jack said. Daniel shrugged.

"They seemed relieved by the x-rays," Dr. Fraiser offered, "But I can't confirm anything. They both claimed to have no idea how they got there."

"This is weird, even for us," Jack muttered.

"That's not all, sir," Janet said to him apologetically. She pulled out a photograph, which she slid across the table.

"That's of Dean Winchester's arm."

"It's a hand print," Carter said, confused, "Burned into his skin?"

"That would be my guess. But such a burn would not have left clean lines. The healing process alone would have led to far more scarring, not just a raised mark."

Jack grabbed at the photo and spun it around to Teal'c. "Ever seen anything like that?"

"I have not, O'Neill."

"What about the-," Jack gestured to his forehead.

"A healing device is necessary," Teal'c stated calmly.

"When did he get it?" Carter cut in. "Could he have gotten it while on the planet?"

"I suppose it might be possible," Janet conceded, "I asked him about it. He mostly evaded the question, but he did say he got it a year ago."

"What about his brother?" Carter suggested.

"Nothing quite as dramatic as that. I saw some marks on his arms when I took blood samples. I might have assumed they were from an attempted suicide, if not for the angles involved. Someone else did it to him, Major."

"What did he say?" Jacob asked.

She smiled wryly. "Just that they were old battle scars." She paused. "There was one thing. He's got a minor concussion. But what's concerning is that when I tested him, he didn't know correct year, or the president."

"Amnesia?" Jack asked hopefully.

"Not exactly, sir, no. He thought it was 2009."

Daniel frowned and shuffled through his file again. "Look at this," he said, sliding a photo across the table. Fraiser picked it up.

"When was this taken?" she asked.

"Two weeks ago. It's a print out from the campus newspaper."

She frowned and passed it to General Hammond.

"I don't understand, Dr. Jackson," he said.

"Let me, sir," Fraiser said. She stood up and walked over to a computer, and then brought up the security footage from the guest quarters. Sam was sitting on the bed and staring at the door. He looked broody...and a hell of a lot older than the kid in the photo. Bulkier, too.

"General, I think I speak for all of us by asking, what the hell is going on here?"

Jacob stared off into the distance for a second, apparently conversing with his symbiote. "Sam, could it be time travel, or something to do with an alternate universe?"

She shrugged. "We know it's possible, but it still doesn't explain how they ended up P3X-5909, nor how they fit in, nor how they did either of those things without knowing anything about the program or its history." She tapped her pen against the table in agitation.

"Teal'c," Hammond tried, "You said they talked to the boy. Did he say anything?"

Teal'c inclined his head. "He said they spoke of slaying many terrible creatures, including gods, though not the Goa'uld."

"Could they have been lying?"

"Perhaps. If so, I do not believe it was intentional. He cautioned Sal'ek to not to rush into the field of battle, and later shielded the boy with his own body. Those are not the deeds of a dishonorable man, General Hammond."

"Did any of these things he happened to kill have a name?" Jack asked, idly folding another scrap of paper into a tiny paper airplane. Soon, he'd have enough for a tiny paper Air Force base.

"The boy mentioned but two: vampires, and Paris Hilton." Teal'c dipped his shoulders in a minute shrug. On him, it was huge. "They mentioned others, but he could not remember."

"So they're public-service minded vampire-slayers."

Daniel rubbed his face and tried not to yawn. "Sorry, Jack, but 'The Simple Life' is still scheduled for a second season."

"Maybe they're just crazy. Have we thought of that?" Jack asked.

"Sure," Carter answered, "But that still doesn't make any of this make sense, sir."

"Maybe we're crazy, then." He pushed his paper airplanes into a row.

"Could be, sir," she said, looking down at his paper squadron.

Jack pinched the bridge of his nose. "So did we get anything out of them?"

"Not much," Fraiser said.

"From direct questioning, at least," Carter amended. "We let them speak alone, but we recorded it."

"And they didn't maybe expect that, Carter?"

"Honestly, sir? I don't think they cared."

"That's my impression too, Jack," Daniel agreed.

Jack looked down the table towards Hammond, who asked, "Did you learn anything, Major?"

"They definitely think this is television, sir, like Daniel said. Sam Winchester was not happy that his brother risked his life to save the plucky sidekick. They argued a bit about their roles, with Dean Winchester saying that it's what the good guys always do, and Sam saying it's the kind of thing that gets everyone but the main characters killed. They don't seem to know how they're supposed to fit in, which I guess means they're as in the dark about all this as we are, sir."

No one said anything for a minute after that. Jacob broke the silence by saying, "Sam, what if we tried the memory recall device?"

She looked at her father curiously, waiting for him to continue.

"It might help us get a better idea of what we're dealing with here," he said. "Their memories could be false. If so, it might reveal the real ones. And if they are real, it might explain how they got here."

She nodded. "Janet, what do you think?"

"For Sam Winchester? It's a bad idea. With the head wound, I don't want to add anything on top of it. But if Jacob is willing to treat Dean with the healing device, I see no reason not to."

"I could heal both of them," Jacob suggested, but Fraiser was already shaking her head.

"Head wounds are tricky. I don't want to throw the potential complications from the recall device into the mix."

General Hammond looked relieved to finally have a course of action. He turned to Carter, "Major Carter, why don't you go down and see if you can talk to our guest and explain the purpose of the device. Jacob, if you could go with her and see that the young man is fit enough for the procedure?"

Jacob nodded and then pushed his chair back. "Sure thing, George. Let's see if we can't get to the bottom of this."

"Sir," Carter nodded and stood up as well. She and her father left the room, their footsteps echoing down the hall. Dr. Fraiser excused herself and followed them out.

Jack waited a second then moved to get up. "Well, sir, if that's all, I think I'll-"

"Talk to Sam Winchester," the general finished for him.

"I'll just talk to Sam Winchester." Jack echoed.

"See if you can learn anything else from him. He didn't seem to respond to Teal'c," Hammond nodded to Teal'c, who inclined his head in return, "And I'm hoping you might get through to him."

Jack stood. "I'll just...go and do that, then, sir." He hurried out. Behind him, he could hear Hammond say, "Now, Dr. Jackson, I had a few more questions for you..." Jack picked up his pace, happy to leave Daniel and Teal'c to it.