Who was Jack?

That, Sam decided, was a hard question. Harder than anything that the police had asked him. Jack was a winter spirit. He was something to be hunted. But he was Sam's best friend. He had been with him when no one else had been.

Jack was someone that Sam had always tried to help. He was the reason he had told Jess about his old life. He was the reason that he didn't let himself drop entirely out of the hunting world. Jack was part of the reason that Jess was still alive.

Jack was important.

"I first met Jack a long, long time ago, and he's been one of my best friends ever since then," Sam explained. "He would drop in to visit wherever we went. He would walk me home from school when you were too busy. He would talk to me when we'd just moved, and I didn't know anyone yet. He would stay with me while you and Dad were gone hunting."

Sam sighed as he measured out his next words. "Without Jack, I know that I would be dead a few times over. He's been a great friend to me." He paused a moment, holding his breath before letting it out in a whoosh.

Get it over with Sam, he chided himself. He took the psychic thing alright.

"Jack… Jack is a winter spirit. He needs to be believed in to survive. He's… He's Jack Frost."

~ An Unlikely Friendship ~

Sam was healing exceptionally well but he was still incredibly weak. After their conversation Dean had left to let Sam get some sleep, while he tried to comprehend everything his little brother had just told him. Visions, winter spirits, psychic children.

It was an awful lot to adjust to, but after seeing how close Sam had come to death, Dean was willing to try.

With a sigh, Dean strode through the hospital. He riffled through his pockets until he found Sam's phone. It had been left with him, along with Sam's keys and bloody clothes. It had been what he had had on him when the Demon attacked. If things had gone worse – if the ambulance had been too slow – it would have been all that Dean would have had left of Sammy.

Dean inhaled shakily, pushing away that thought. Sam was fine. He was fine, and there were some new revelations that Dean had to deal with. He scrolled through Sam's list of contacts until he found the number for Bobby.

He had been like a father to him and Sam while they were growing up – until Dad had pissed him off, that is. Dean guessed it made sense that Sam had told him things that he hadn't told him or Dad. They didn't exactly have many other friends that Sam could talk to. It didn't make Dean feel any less upset that Sam hadn't told him about his spirit friend, or that Sam had kept in touch with Bobby when he hadn't been in contact with him.

Dean loved being a hunter, but he knew better than anyone that it was an incredibly lonely life. Sam hadn't gotten on with their dad at the best of times, and he had learned to keep how he was feeling inside very early on. Not that he had been able to hide it from Dean.

Dean stared at Bobby's name and number for a long moment before made himself type the number into his own phone. Sam's was too damaged to actually make calls.

Bobby picked up on the third ring.

"Who's this?" Bobby said, warily, instead of a greeting.

"You're definitely Bobby Singer, right?" Dean said instead, checking. Bobby didn't answer, his suspicion obvious. "I'm – it's Dean. Dean Winchester."

"Dean?" Bobby repeated. "What are doing calling me after how many years?" His voice lowered. "Has something' happened?"

"No," Dean answered. "Um, well, yes actually. I – it's Sam."

"What's wrong with him?" Bobby asked, concerned. "I thought he was meant to be at his interview."

Dean paused briefly to wonder how Bobby knew that before deciding it didn't matter. "Dad went off on a hunt, and I hadn't heard from him for a few days," Dean began.

"Sounds pretty standard for your daddy, but what about Sam?"

"I brought Sam with me when I went to check on Dad. He left me a voicemail, and I couldn't go alone. I didn't want to go alone," he admitted. "When we got back, Sammy's place went up in flames. The Demon attacked him, his friend and his girlfriend. I barely got them out of there alive. Sammy's still in the hospital."

"But you're all alright?" Bobby checked.

Dean nodded, then remembered that Bobby couldn't see him. "Yeah, it's just… Sam told me that before this happened he'd been…" Dean paused. "He's been having visions of his girlfriend burning on the ceiling, like our mom. She did too, apparently – and Sam's friend. That's pretty weird. And the Demon showing up? It can't all be a coincidence."

Bobby was quiet. "No," he agreed after a minute of quiet consideration. "Was Sam's friend James, by any chance?"

"Yeah. Jessica told me that they'd both had fires in their houses when they were six months old. James' mother even died in the fire too. She thinks it's all connected and… I have to agree."

"It's too much of a coincidence otherwise," Bobby agreed. "There wasn't anyone else hanging around Sam's apartment, was there?"

Dean squeezed his eyes shut. "Sam was talking about Jack Frost but that's just crazy, right? He can't really believe that, can he? I mean, he's still all drugged up."

"How drugged up?" Bobby asked worriedly. "How hurt was he?"

Dean sighed. "He's gonna recover fine, but it was pretty bad for a while. But, you didn't answer my question."

Bobby sighed this time. "Dean," he began then he stopped. "There are all sorts of crazy things out there. You need to keep an open mind."

"You're saying that some winter elf knows my brother?" Dean said, incredulous.

"Spirit. He's a winter spirit. And yes, Sam's known Jack for a while. Years, in fact. He never told you before because it sounds crazy."

"Damn straight it does," Dean muttered.

"Dean," Bobby called, getting Dean's attention. "If there was a fire, and Jack was around then he was probably hurt too. Those two hunted together on occasion, Jack'd never let anything happen to Sam, or Jess."

Dean didn't have a response to that. He wasn't sure how to feel about the fact that his kid brother had been friends with a goddamn winter spirit for years and had kept it secret. He had no idea how to feel about the fact that this spirit might have gotten hurt trying to keep Sam safe. Dean found that he didn't like owing favours to creatures that he didn't know were real.

"You've gotta talk about this to Sam," Bobby insisted. "About these visions. About Jack. You boys have got a lot to catch up on. You've both changed over the years."

"Yeah, I guess. Thanks, Bobby."

"I'm just glad to hear from you again, son. I'm sure that Sam is too," Bobby added.

"Yeah. I'll talk to you soon?"

"Don't go quiet on me like that ever again. It's your daddy that I'm fighting with, not you."

Dean laughed, despite himself. "Bye Bobby."