Disclaimer: I don't own them and I'm not making any money.

A/N: I would also like to give a huge thank you to the wonderful SiennaS who beta read this story and offered amazing editorial advice. I was very unsure about the idea and execution, I'm incredibly thankful for the encouragement I needed to share it.

AU Background: Brief explanation of how I've introduced dragons into the Plum-verse to keep you from feeling lost. Feel free to skip over it if you prefer discovering the world building stuff through the story! The 'world' is modern and for the most part the same as canon. The difference is that dragons exist. They aren't common, or found in urban areas and most people in Trenton have never seen one. They're not something most people give much consideration to and they're endangered in the wild. Ranger and some of the MM have had encounters with them while in the wind. There are domestically raised dragons for high end goods (think over 5K dragon scale bags) but they're beyond the budgets of our characters and just not part of 'normal' life. They also have medicinal uses for venom, weapons derived from their fire producing capabilities, and of course dragons have their place in the world of crime...

Chapter 1

This is why I don't do mornings. My already sour mood was made worse by the lack of parking near the bonds office. I spent the block and a half walk from my car to the door grumbling to myself.

Rush hour traffic, long lines for drive through coffee, and no parking. I much prefer letting everyone else get wherever they're going before starting my day. Unfortunately, that wasn't a luxury I had at the moment.

I'd barely shouldered my way through the office door before I was greeted by Connie.

"What are you doing here so early?" she asked.

"I'm hoping you have a skip for me. There's only a week left in the month and I'm still about three hundred short of making my bills."

"You're in luck. I have two for you," she said, holding out the files.

I took them and dropped to the fake leather couch. I flipped them open for a quick read through and saw that both were for non-violent crimes. And Connie was right - I was in luck. Both bonds were just high enough that I would only need to bring in one to cover my missing three hundred.

"I think I'll head after Deliah Smith first," I announced. "Lula, are you interested in riding along?"

Lula looked up from her seat on the floor where she was actually doing some filing for a change.

"Girl, what do you think you're doing asking if I want to go after skips today. I'm wearing my gen-u-ine knock off Via Spiga dragon leather heels today. I can't be damaging these. They're a work of art."

As she was talking, she had struggled to her feet and was holding one foot out for Connie and I to admire. She had a point. They were beautiful shoes. Shiny bluish black material with microscopic twinkles that almost made me believe they were true dragon scale leather rather than a great knock off she picked up from god knows where.

"Fair enough," I said before grabbing my bag and files and heading for the door.

In my car, I gave the file on Deliah a more thorough read. She had been caught shoplifting in a high-end boutique. The value of the goods she lifted was enough to get her a grand larceny charge. And looking over the details, I couldn't fault her taste. Unfortunately, the officer doing her pat down discovered a decent amount of drugs on her person. So she ended up with possession charges tacked on as well. All in all, she didn't sound like too much trouble.

Further into her file, I saw her employer was listed as Baby's Bar and Grill. The place was barely a step above a strip joint and didn't open until late afternoon. I figured I had a decent shot at finding her at home.

I turned the key in my most recent POS and motored my way across town to the address she had listed on her bond agreement. It turned out to be an older home that had been converted into apartments. Luck seemed to be with me today when I found her unit was on the ground level. I said a silent prayer of thanks that I didn't have to go up the rickety external stairs to access the second - or God forbid - third floor today.

I gave the door to her apartment a polite knock and waited a minute before knocking again.

"Deliah?" I tried calling. I could hear the TV playing inside so I gave the door a less polite pound.

When I didn't get an answer, I tried the door handle out of habit and was shocked when it swung open.

"Well, hell," I muttered to myself as I stepped over the threshold. I never had luck like that. Knowing my luck would only take me so far, I reached into my purse and palmed my stun gun before going any deeper into the apartment.

I followed the sound of the TV towards the back of the building and saw Deliah's profile through the doorway to the living room. She was sprawled on the couch and seemed to be out cold.

"Delilah?" I called again, not wanting to startle her too badly. She may have been a skip, but I knew what it was like to wake up to a stranger in your apartment. It wasn't something I liked doing to people.

She didn't budge, so I crept closer and called her name again. She was eerily still, and I was starting to get a squirmy feeling in my gut about this. Given the heads up from my spidey sense, I wasn't overly surprised when I got close enough to tell she wasn't breathing.

"Fuck," I muttered to myself. I hated when they were dead. It always seemed to get chalked up as another Bombshell Bounty Hunter disaster when I didn't even do anything.

Walking back out of the apartment, I decided to make my calls and wait for the police in my car. It was air conditioned and death cootie free.

Five minutes later, I'd hung up with dispatch and was surfing the radio stations for something to distract me when I heard a loud popping sound. My head whipped up and I saw a ball of fire blow out the doorway of Deliah's apartment. I'd barely managed to brace myself before I felt my car rock from the force of the blast.

Miraculously, the airbags didn't deploy, and the engine was still running. My POS may have just survived its brush with disaster.

I was still celebrating my luck when the first police cruiser pulled up.

"You didn't say anything about fire," Carl shouted at me over the sound of the old building burning.

"It just happened," I said as I jumped out of my car and headed towards him.

Big Dog was calling in the fire and I cringed as I heard their radio crackle with the outgoing call from dispatch. This was going to turn into another three-ring circus that I got blamed for.

There was no way the cops would be done with me before the media showed up.

As it was, the first black RangeMan SUVs were arriving just ahead of the fire trucks and EMS. Like my own personal parade. Bringing in the rear was the black vehicle I'd been watching for most closely. I breathed a sigh of relief as Ranger parked two blocks down and jogged his way towards me.

The sight must have distracted me from giving my statement because Carl gave me a light jab on my shoulder.

"Focus, Steph," Carl said with a laugh.

"I told you pretty much everything I know," I said. "The only other thing I can think of is there was a loud pop before the explosion. It wasn't like anything I've heard before other explosions."

Believe me, it wasn't lost on me that I had enough experience to compare explosions. They weren't usually my fault, but they just had a way of happening around me.

"Thanks, Steph," Carl said. "Stop by the station some time later this week and you can pick up a body receipt once the ME has had a chance to confirm the identity."

The cops seemed to be done with me, so I angled my body towards Ranger and waited for him to get to me.

"You okay, Babe," he asked, running his eyes slowly over my body, checking for injuries.

"Yeah. I was in my car when the house blew. I found my skip dead and headed outside to call it in."

"Can I give you a ride home? I'll have one of the guys drop your car off with Al to make sure there isn't any damage. It should be back in your lot by tomorrow morning."

"That would be great. Thanks," I said. I could feel the adrenaline come down starting and I was glad to have him there to catch me.

I gave Ranger a smile and felt my insides go suspiciously mushy when his lips brushed my forehead and he whispered, "No price, remember."