And then there was pie ...

"Not that I'm trying to be the downer of the group or anything but, where does purgatory fit in to all of this? I mean we have lost souls," Bobby stated pointing to Sam, "lost heavenly weapons, rogue angels, an unusually quite hell, and bizarre monster behavior. What ties purgatory to all of this?"

Dean glanced up from the pile of books and papers he was going through and looked around the room, his gaze briefly landing on Diablo who had gotten a reprieve of sorts. The hellhound was currently curled around Nikki who was sitting cross-legged on the floor hands resting in the creases of two books she was "scanning" psychically trying to get a glimpse of some foretelling vision to help them out. He had been watching the two of them on and off, despite the angry bitchfaces he was getting from Sam, the demon slaying knife firmly gripped in one hand. Nikki would simply smile, and do what Dean could only suspect was a demonic eye roll judging from her face, and continue scanning old books for clues.

"If we knew that Bobby, we'd be ganking some fugly instead of sitting here waiting on Woofinstein over there to drag us all to hell when we pass out from boredom." Sam chuckled and looked over at Nikki and Diablo, who promptly raised its head and showed a gleaming set of wickedly sharp teeth and then, to Dean's complete and utter bemusement, winked at him.

"Nikki," Dean asked her using his most innocent look, "Is Diablo neutered?" He twisted the knife in his hand and raised an eyebrow, taunting the blind hellhound. Diablo's answering coughing hiss, what they had all decided was his 'laugh', wiped the smug look off Dean's face. Very deliberately Diablo started to rise and lift his hind leg to give Dean a better view when Nikki's arm whipped out and made a resounding "smack" upside the dog's head. He snorted and sat back down on the floor.

"Heh ..." Dean cackled, but was cut off as he met the angry stare of black eyes.

"He is not, neither are you ... both can be remedied shortly." Bobby and Sam both laughed as the Dean and the dog stared in horror and hunkered down in a protective scrunch.

"Ok, back to Bobby's question ... all I have so far is some 700 year old script talking about dragons and virgins with an obscure reference to ..." Diablo let out a rumble and nudged Nikki's leg with his head. She paused what she was doing and reached out to touch his head.

"That's it!" She cried and reached for the book that Dean had been reading. "Dragons ... "she whispered as she read the text, "are as old as time itself. Diablo says that there has been some discussion in the lower ranks about a push to find the 'reluctant lizards'. I bet that's what they were talking about." Bobby perked up and began rifling through stacks of papers looking for his cell phone.

"Perfect, I happen to have a contact that might be able to help us out." Dean blinked at him.

"Seriously?" Bobby looked at Dean, a frown on his face.

"What, you doubt my skills boy?" Dean chuckled and shook his head. He stared at Sam as Bobby left the room.

"Dragons and virgins? This job is getting hokier the older we get you know it?" Dean commented as he lounged back in the chair and filled an empty glass with whiskey. Sam smiled wanly, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Finding a dragon will be about as difficult as finding a virgin." Sam commented dryly as he stood and took the offered cup from Dean who was busy locating another empty cup for himself. Neither one noticed the uncomfortable expression on Nikki's face till they heard her whispering in a hushed tone and Diablo's ears laid back with growl.

"Hey, if he's going rabid I have a solution for it ... " Dean offered hopefully. The hound merely ignored him and once again nudged Nikki's leg.

"What's he so upset over?" Sam asked frowning coming closer to Nikki whose face was bright red.

"Nothing ..." Another nudge and Nikki pushed him back. "I said NOTHING Di ..." Dean's glass hit the table and he nearly spewed the contents of the whiskey. Sam's eyes were wide with shock and his mouth fell open.

"Oh my god, you're a ..."

"We need a virgin to draw out the dragons ... " Bobby said as he walked back in the room. Noting their faces he frowned at them. "What'd I miss?"

"We have a virgin right here." Nikki sighed, groaning inwardly.

Later that evening Sam stood at the door watching Nikki and Diablo. He'd decided not to push her on the virginity subject till she was willing to talk to him about it, though that definitely fulfilled a sick fantasy in his head that he sure hoped she never got a glimpse of. She was sitting on the steps using telekinesis to toss a huge tractor tire up in the air. The Hellhound would chase after it and rip it to shreds, then Nikki would piece it back together and toss it. He came onto the porch and sat down next to her. Her delighted giggles confused him though, since he knew she couldn't the see the fun the dog was having.

"How do you do that if you can't see him?" Sam asked. Nikki smiled.

"I've been with Di so long we're able to send images to each other pretty easily. He's projecting them to me so I can see how much fun he's having." She dangled the tire above Di's head and laughed as the dog growled and barked at it. Sam shook his head.

"That's amazing. So you're seeing what he's doing just by him projecting the images into your mind?" She nodded.

"Yes, I can show you how to do it. It would be easy for you, you still have latent talents left over from all the demon blood in your system." Sam frowned at that.

"It's not something that will just go away Sam." Nikki reached out and found his hand. He squeezed her's back and she smiled. "The less you use those powers the better, the less susceptible you are to their control. Nevertheless, some thing's come natural to us all, kind of like when you hug someone and you can 'feel' the love. You simply focus on the feeling or the image and then push it towards the person you want to receive it. With your latent power and strong mind you'll be a natural in no time." Diablo suddenly let out a mournful howl and Dean was immediately on the front porch with his shotgun at the ready. Sam had even jumped at the sound and had the demon killing knife raised to attack. Nikki sighed. Di howled once again and disappeared. They both looked at her as she stood and extended her cane.

"We all have our parts to play in the cycle of life and death. Hellhounds are part of that natural order as well." She tapped her way around the brother's and silently went back inside. Dean stood staring off in the distance for a moment, then felt his brother's hand on his shoulder. He turned his head and was caught in Sam's direct stare.

"I'm really glad you're my brother." Dean's eye's widened for a second, almost misting over.

"Dean!" Nikki yelled from inside. "You're pie is ready!" Dean's heart was filled with joy, a huge grin spread across his face. He met Sam's smile, whose eye's were twinkling, and chuckled.

"You better start putting the moves on her soon or I may have to step in and marry her ... she made me pie!" They both laughed and walked back into the house.