Okay, this weird plot bunny came to me when I had the idea... What if Sam figured out he was still in Loki's illusion during the Mystery Spot because he could see Jack Frost (and by extension the Guardians), and he couldn't call Jack or see the Sandman work while he was in the illusion? Which then lead to 'What if they stayed friends with Jack despite having grown older'? My mind leads me to weird places sometimes, and the idea of Jack Frost pranking the hell out of Gabriel for traumatizing his best friends was too hilarious to pass up.
You could blame the fact they were raised as hunters for the start of everything that happened after.
Sam, who had found out the hard way that monsters did exist (and the only member of the three who still believed in angels), decided that if monsters existed then so did other creatures who weren't as bloodthirsty.
In the childish belief of children everywhere, he saw the Sandman.
He was a small man made of golden sand that sent rivers of that gold all over the sky into houses. Some of it even hit him, which was when he fell asleep and had nice dreams.
And ever since he was a Believer. He even caught the Easter Bunny and the tooth fairy (or maybe one of her minions) once.
But it was one of the forgotten spirits that would change his fate.
And that spirit's name was Jack Frost.
"...Jack Frost nipping at your nose...Every time, every place...Merry Christmas...To you..."
"For the love of god Sammy, turn that crap off!" said Dean with a grimace. He had a migraine, so Sam got to sit up front while he laid in the back. As a consequence, Sam got to pick the music since their dad didn't care.
It was December, which meant that Christmas music was being blasted from every station around the country...and would be until the holiday itself finally passed. A once significant holiday turned into a commercial one. The angels must be weeping.
Sam smirked, his six-year-old self in the mood for some payback for his brother's off-key singing.
However, the song got his mind thinking. He knew Santa was probably real, as were the Easter Bunny and Sandman...but what about Jack Frost?
Why would people know his name if he wasn't real? And if that was the case, how was it that none of the hunters believed in him?
Once they were allowed to play in the snow, which was coming down hard while their 'Uncle' Bobby kept an eye on them, Sam put his theory to the test. If Sandman was real, then odds were Jack Frost and the others were too. And he wanted to meet them, if only so he knew that all creatures weren't out to get him.
He heard someone snickering as snowballs were being thrown at Rumsfield, Bobby's rottweiler. Sam liked Rumsfield, who despite his gruff exterior was really a sweet dog. He would exact revenge on anyone being mean to a nice dog.
What he found had him staring.
"Cut that out!" he yelled. The teenager was wearing a hoodie and some old jeans. He had a weird staff, and was sitting on of the old cars in Bobby's yard.
The teen turned to face him, eyes wide in shock.
"You leave Rumsfield alone. Don't you know being mean to animals is against the law?" scolded Sam.
The teen looked at him with the weirdest expression on his face. Sam wondered if his hair was naturally white or if he dyed it.
He had ice blue eyes, spiky white hair, and skin so pale he was like a ghost.
"You...you can see me?"
"Of course I can see you."
The guy almost looked ready to cry with joy.
"You can see me!"
"Who are you?"
That seemed to snap him out of his hysteria.
"Me? I'm Jack Frost."
And so the world turned...
Upon realizing Sam could see and hear him, Jack never strayed too far from the six-year-old.
He had been startled to find out he was the son of a hunter, but once he got over that and remembered that Sam's dad couldn't see him (talk about overly paranoid, yeesh) that he calmed down.
Sam loved his 'imaginary friend' Jack. He almost wished Dean could see him too, but that would involve giving up his accomplice in a bunch of wintery pranks against his brother.
Jack was just beyond happy someone could finally see and hear him.
It all came crashing down when Sam was seven. Dean was worried about his little brother, so he confronted him about the fact he had an 'imaginary' friend who kept showing up.
"No! You can't tell dad! He'll try to chase him away!" said Sam horrified.
"Sammy, you know we can't exactly trust anything that isn't human," said Dean.
"Like all humans are trustworthy? What about that weird old guy that dad had to 'talk' to when I was five?" countered Sam. Dean winced.
That had been a nasty one, as his father had yelled at him for the entire night and grounded him for a week.
"Are you sure he's not gaining your trust so he can eat you later?"
Sam snorted, as did Jack.
"He's a winter spirit who's more interested in throwing snowballs than eating people," said Sam.
"Snowballs? So this spirit friend of yours...he wouldn't happen to be the reason I got hit with that large snow drift yesterday would it?"
Sam winced.
"So you're the one who did that! That was so not funny!"
Sam gave him a flat look. Dean's frown twitched upward.
"Okay, it was a little funny. So who is this friend of yours?"
Sam shared a looked with the teen. Jack was all for more people knowing he existed.
"Jack Frost."
"No way!"
"What?"
"There is no way Jack Frost is real! It's like believing in Santa!"
Jack slumped.
"Dean, if ghosts, werewolves and demons are real, then why can't Jack Frost be too?" asked Sam wide-eyed.
Dean didn't really look convinced. So Jack decided a little demonstration was in order. He dumped an entire tree's worth of snow right on top of Dean.
Once the eleven-year-old dug his way out, he glared.
"Okay, that is annoying...but still pretty funny."
"Still don't believe he's real?"
"Maybe a little," said Dean. But it was clear he wasn't convinced.
"How about this then. If dad slips on a patch of ice while carrying the beers in for him and Uncle Bobby, then you have to admit Jack Frost is real," said Sam.
"Deal," said Dean. Because the odds of that happening were slim to none.
Later that night, Dean reluctantly admitted Jack Frost might be real when his father slipped and broke half the beer he was carrying inside. He nearly yelped when he came face-to-face with the white-haired, blue-eyed teen.
Still, in revenge for the snow drift prank, Dean did the only sensible thing.
He dumped an entire glass' worth of hot water on Jack, which was the equivalent of the ice water trick for normal people.
Jack yelped, but Sam snickered.
Once he got over the shock of the prank, Jack grinned evilly.
"So you think you can out-prank me huh? Well consider this game on!" said Jack happily.
Bobby didn't know what the boys picked up, but he knew it wasn't something too dangerous.
After all, what sort of evil spirit would be afraid of water guns with hot water?
While John didn't notice the sudden playmate they picked up, Bobby did. He kept his mouth shut though.
About the most he could pick up from the boys was that their friend's name was 'Jack', he hated the heat of summer, and he always showed up roughly around fall, preferably in September to November. And he usually left around Easter, though that was mostly because of a long-standing argument with a kangaroo.
While the kangaroo thing didn't really fit, the rest of it made him think they might have somehow befriended Jack Frost, a known Winter spirit and menace.
Bobby knew Jack Frost existed. He just didn't care. Most hunters were aware of the 'Guardians', ancient spirits dedicated to protecting children, even if they were forgotten or dismissed with age. It was kind of hard not to believe, when their own children could see the things and not the parents.
However because they protected children whenever danger was present and they were in the area, hunters left them alone.
Jack Frost on the other hand...he was their equivalent of a Trickster. He caused chaos and had a long-standing argument with Easter. However, he never harmed children. He might play pranks, but they were always harmless ones.
Which was the only reason Bobby kept his trap shut. If the boys wanted to be friends with those spirits, then he saw no reason to enlighten John to their existence.
"Hey Sam, did you see his face when we called him the Easter Kangaroo?" snickered Dean.
Sam grinned. Kangaroo sounded a lot more accurate than 'Bunny'. He was tall enough to walk on two feet and had a pair of boomerangs for crying out loud.
"What was with the Australian accent anyway?" said Sam snickering.
The Easter 'kangaroo', as Jack liked to call him, was pretty annoyed with them when he helped them out with a werewolf trying to bite Dean. The second he realized what they called him, he knew who they could see.
Only Jack Frost called him a Kangaroo to his face. No one else was suicidal enough.
The damage was done though. Bunnymund told the others about the kids who could see and talk to Frost, and after that more of the Guardians showed up.
The first was Sandman, who entertained Sam for hours with charades, since he couldn't speak for some reason. Dean, once he worked up enough belief to see, joined in while their dad was hunting.
The second was Tooth, who was a bit of a chatterbox...and a ditz, though Dean had wisely not said as much to her face or in the hearing of the other spirits. Sam was amused by her 'baby' Teeth, the little fairies that flew around leaving quarters under pillows.
The third (and final Guardian) was North, commonly called Santa or Saint Nick by others. It amused Dean to learn that North did in fact drink alcohol, but it wasn't exactly something kids could leave without their parents getting on their case. And outside of hunting, Sam and Dean were still on the nice list, and therefor on his good side.
Though the fact remained...ever since meeting North they started a new Christmas tradition of leaving a beer and some pizza out for North instead of the usual cookies and milk. Even if they had to order the pizza and pay extra for delivery, it was totally worth it.
And once Jack realized they would still be his friends despite meeting the Guardians, which would have most kids forgetting about a minor spirit like him, he was almost over the moon.
And the three because inseparable.
"BOMBS AWAY!" cackled Jack as he let loose a large amount of snow.
"JACK!" yelped Dean.
"Head's up Dean!" shouted Sam evilly as he dumped ice water on him.
Dean came up sputtered, but grinning evilly. He launched stink bombs on them both.
"Hey!"
Unseen by the children (and he was including Jack) North smiled. It was good to see Frost with friends. It had toned down many of his pranks.
It was a pity they might lose that sight once they became teenagers, and the loss might be devastating.
Behind him, he heard someone come up.
"Whitey's been good for them," said a voice. North turned around to face Robert Singer.
"They've been good for Frost," said North evenly.
"If you're worried about the boys losing faith in Jack Frost, I wouldn't. He's the only friend they've been able to keep, despite the fact their father moves around a lot to follow the hunts. He always checks with me to find them once the north wind comes in," said Bobby. "The odds of them listening to other children about whether or not the Guardians and Frost are real are pretty slim."
North snorted.
"They are first children to leave alcohol and pizza instead of milk and cookies," said North in amusement.
"Knowing those two, it's likely to become a tradition now," snorted Bobby.
