Author's Note: I live.

-x-

Stone Canyon had outgrown its canyon. While Kimberly and Zack laughingly informed Tommy that the name had been accurate at one time and the city had been founded deep down within the namesake canyon, which initially protected it from the dangerous conditions beyond, it had exploded outward after the last rumblings of The End into the sprawling metropolis that lay beneath them now.

The city spread out for miles upon miles in every direction, a tangle of narrow streets and tall buildings. Some were well-built and stable on their foundations, but others were ramshackle and decrepit, looking as if they might fall apart at any moment. For some reason Tommy had expected the city to be as sere and brown and dull as the desert stronghold where the Rangers lived, but the streets and buildings were painted in a riot of colors. Even the people were dressed in brightly colored clothes, a stark contrast to the practical, sand-colored garments worn by the Rangers.

A few people paused to stare upward at the airship, pointing. Tommy was beginning to understand that such vessels were uncommon outside of the Ranger strongholds.

"Not just uncommon," Kimberly quipped when he said as much aloud. "They're totally unique. Billy designed every airship and glider we use."

Tommy resisted the urge to ask what the Rangers had used before Billy devised such ingenious vehicles for them. Had they simply used what passed for regulation airships before that? But there wasn't time for foolish questions now, because they were approaching an enormous building that he realized must be some sort of airship dock. It managed to be taller and more massive than any other building in Stone Canyon, jutting high above the city.

"Most of the ships the cityfolk use aren't as maneuverable as ours, so they have to park them up high to make it easier to get out of the city," Kimberly commented dismissively before heading off to help with the docking process. Tommy followed a moment later, feeling a little sad at leaving behind the overhead view of the sprawling city – civilization! – but knowing that as a Ranger he ought to help the others.

Docking the airship turned out to be a lesson in itself, even with the help of the Stone Canyon dockmen. Having a ship of their own that was sleeker, faster, and more maneuverable than most models was a point of pride for the Rangers. Unfortunately, non-Rangers weren't used to dealing with such devices, and the Rangers weren't keen on sharing their technology with the wider world. It wasn't until much later, when they had shrugged off the stiff antagonism of the dockmen, the city folk they passed, and the innkeeper who had reluctantly agreed to host them, that Tommy found out why there was such antagonism between the city folk and the Rangers.

"Yeah," Adam muttered, throwing himself down on the small, lumpy bed that would be his for the next few days. The room was ridiculously tiny for even one person. For two, it was absurd. But Tommy kept that opinion to himself, settling on his own bed to listen to what Adam had to say. "Let people think they've got these invincible ships," he went on, rolling onto his back and clasping his hands behind his head, "so they can just fly out into the desert and do one better than the Rangers. After all, if we would just do our job, the whole world would be fixed by now."

"I'm going to guess that doesn't work out very well for them," Tommy ventured.

"Hah," Adam said dryly. "We find the bleached bones of their ships sometimes. We never find any of the people that were sailing them."

Tommy mulled this over. "Nobody said anything about anything like that when I was in training," he said at last.

Adam chuckled. "Yeah, there's a lot they don't tell you in training. Ask Jason or Billy sometime."

Or Trini? Tommy wondered, thinking of the peaceful, gentle Trini he'd known back home… and the young woman here that was so very like her, except that she was willing to kill another person in cold blood to protect the people she loved. But what he asked Adam was, "What about Kimberly?"

"Kim?" Adam asked, all innocence. But he couldn't maintain the charade for long. "Man, you've really got it bad for her, don't you?"

"Just curious," he insisted. He didn't think he'd been that transparent about his interest in Kimberly, but apparently he had. "It seems like everyone at the 'Hold has some sort of tragedy in their past…"

"Except you," Adam pointed out. "At least, not that you can remember."

He gave a cautious nod.

"Kim's been a standout since training," Adam said at last. "She was the first in our class to kill a monster, and she hasn't stopped fighting with Jason for first rank ever since." It sounded a little daunting to Tommy, but Adam seemed amused. "She's the best girl Ranger our 'Hold has ever had."

Somewhere, away off in the city, bells began to toll. Adam groaned and rolled onto his side, flinging an arm over his head as if to shut out the sound. Tommy's brow furrowed, and it began to bother him that nobody had really told him anything about Stone Canyon before dragging him out here and throwing him in head first. Before he could ask what was going on, Adam sat up, sighed, and said, "Well, come on. Night Market's just opened up."

They locked up their room behind them and joined up with Kimberly, Zack, and Jason outside the inn. Tommy followed silently where they led, keeping his eyes open and taking in as much of the city as he could. After all, he'd simply assumed that the answer to finding his way home lay with the Rangers, because that world was more or less familiar to him. But what if the answer was here somewhere, in a place where he might not expect to find it?

The five of them walked for nearly an hour, winding their way through wide streets and narrow alleys, including a long time spent hiking down an uneven staircase cut straight into the stone of the canyon's wall, which led deep down to the very bottom, until they came at last to what Adam had called the Night Market. This, apparently, was the reason they had come to Stone Canyon instead of any of the other cities within airship range from the 'Hold. Where other cities might shut down after dark, the sprawling market of Stone Canyon had just opened for the night. The market was just as large and sprawling as its city, though Tommy found the prospect of entering that bustling and crowded marketplace a bit daunting. The canyon walls loomed overhead and the city buildings this deep in the canyon were crammed together into what began to seem like a single monstrous, amorphous structure.

But the Rangers were undeterred and he didn't want to be left behind, so Tommy followed them through the gates and into the bustle. He'd expected this place to be gloomy and dark, but strings of large electric lights strung between raised poles bathed the entire market in such brilliant, steady light that it was easy to forget it was nighttime at the bottom of a canyon and not midday in the middle of the open desert.

"We'll meet back here by midnight," Jason pronounced, looking pointedly at Kimberly.

Tommy glanced in her direction as she gave Jason an adorable pout. "But –"

"No buts, Kim. You know we're here on business," Jason told her. His tone was stern, but not harsh. It almost seemed like he might be teasing her.

Kimberly rolled her eyes. "Fine."

When the time came to split into groups, Kimberly claimed Tommy as her partner while Jason, Zack, and Adam formed the other group. Tommy watched the three men head off into the crowd, feeling a bit exasperated. "I thought I was supposed to learn how this is done," he muttered.

Kimberly smiled, looking every bit the conspirator. "What Trini doesn't know won't hurt her."

Tommy utterly forgot to look for clues that might lead him back home as he watched Kimberly dig eagerly into the shopping. Somehow he hadn't expected this trip to be so much like a trip to the mall back home, but the vendors of the Night Market at Stone Canyon seemed to be selling anything anyone could ever want. And Kimberly fully intended to take the opportunity to acquire a few luxuries that she couldn't otherwise get at the 'Hold… and Tommy began to see why Trini sent her on every trip.

Using her relatively small portion of the group's funds, Kimberly purchased gifts for every Ranger in the 'Hold. Spices, candies, dried exotic fruits, cosmetics, hair ribbons, and, after much searching, a set of violin strings. She seemed pleased with each purchase. Tommy, who was stuck carrying all the packages, was less enthused.

"Did you just want me to come along to carry your stuff?" he asked, making a face and exaggerating how difficult it was to hang onto all of the little boxes and bags.

She smiled, giggling. "No, not entirely, anyway," she told him. "But what the others are doing is, well, less pleasant than this." She sighed. "I didn't want your first trip away from the 'Hold to be awful."

"Awful?" he repeated. And then he realized: no one had given him an angry or resentful look since they entered the market. Here they were just more travelers looking to buy goods or restock their supplies. They weren't the Rangers who only just managed to keep death at bay, who couldn't fix the problems with the world. They were nobody.

What were Jason and the others being forced to put up with, as they placed the larger orders for supplies for the entire stronghold?

"Is it that bad for them?" he found himself asking.

Kimberly sighed. "Let's go back to the meeting place and talk there."

They found an out of the way corner near the gate they had used to enter the market. Tommy was fairly certain that he would never have found his way back there without Kimberly's excellent sense of direction to guide him. They sat silently on a bench near the wall, watching latecomers wander into the market and early arrivals stagger out under the weight of enormous piles of packages. Tommy wondered if maybe he'd gotten off easy, only having to carry the small bundles Kimberly had selected for her friends back home.

"I know," Kimberly said at last, "that when you came to the 'Hold you thought being a Ranger was an admirable thing to do." Her voice was quiet, uncharacteristically sober. "And I agree with you. And not just because I'm a Ranger. And not because they took me in when nobody else would, either."

Tommy waited patiently for her to continue, uncertain of what to say.

"The people here and in the other cities," she went on, "they don't know what we do. They just know that we take in orphans and urchins and criminals and we turn them into fighters and tell them that we protect them." She closed her eyes, and Tommy realized that she was fighting against very real, very intense anger. She opened her eyes again, and now she looked more sad than angry. "Most of the people who live in Stone Canyon or the cities further south, away from the waste… they never leave their cities, Tommy. They have no idea what's out there. They only know the desert is a threat because we tell them that it is. And then we tell them that we're out there, keeping them safe from it. And in return we demand payment. Money, food, good cloth and leather, new trainees."

He hadn't thought of it that way. "But wait… you said they took you in when no one else would. How is that bad, from the city's point of view?"

She laughed quietly at that. "Doesn't make any sense, does it? They don't want the penniless orphans and the homeless street urchins or the teenagers stealing from the market because they have no other option. But the moment the Rangers make a move to take them in and give them something better to do with their lives, a roof over their head and a purpose to call their own, that's going too far."

Tommy caught sight of Zack waving through the crowd, with Jason and Adam close behind. Kimberly must have seen them, too, because she stood up and waved back, but it didn't look like their returning companions had cheered her up one bit.

"The people here think we fight imaginary monsters and demand too much in return," she said, her voice dark. "But I think one day they're going to realize just how much they need us… and they aren't going to like it one bit."