Shorter chapter from Samantha's POV. Ever since the ending I've wanted the perspective of the Normandy's crew and how they survive until they get the Normandy operational again. Please review with critiques and recommendations, don't know exactly where I want to take this but I am enjoying writing it and would like to continue.

"Jeez Samantha, this is the 14th day in a row with nothing but standard Alliance rations and those plants you've been digging up." One thing the crew of the Normandy could always count on was for Joker to come up with a smartass remark, no matter the circumstances.

"Complain all you want Joker, but don't know how long we'll be here, so we've got to make what we have last." She said kindly, but truth be told Sam was started to get a little tired of Joker's constant quips and sarcasm. Between pulling 18 hour days scavenging edible plant life and working on the Normandy's systems, she was more than a little on edge.

Warning….stress levels exceeding recommended tolerances

Oh shut up, Sam thought. She would love to know why every crew member of the Normandy was now sporting synthetic code up and down their bodies, and why EDI seemed to have a new understanding of human emotions and thought processes. Until that particular question was answered though, she was just happy that wherever these enhancements came from, they were helping her solve problems in minutes or hours what would have taken her days or weeks. Deciding to leave Joker and his constant bitching behind, she headed to the war room.

The Normandy had sustained heavy damage during the crash, with her engines requiring a full rebuild and communications much the same way. Fortunately there had been no fatalities and all of the other injuries had been stabilized by what the crew could only guess were the new synthetic parts of themselves. One other issue was the fact that while most of the crew were able to eat the local plant and animal life, Tali and Garrus weren't. It wasn't an immediate concern since the Normandy carried enough provisions for several months, but it was definitely something that had to be considered in the long term if the crew couldn't get the Normandy repaired.

Despite the crew's hopes, the chances of repairing the Normandy were increasingly dim. As Engineer Adams, Crewmen Donnelly and Daniels, and Tali tore apart the core to make repairs; they kept discovering new damage and fused wiring. There had never been a clear chain of command under Commander Shepard, so there really was no XO like Pressley or Miranda, but given her status as a Spectre and ranking officer, Lt. Commander Williams had assumed command of the Normandy's crew. During the last meeting of the crew, Ashley had told the crew that there was less than a 10% chance that the Normandy could be made space worthy again. There was just too much damage to repair without the proper facilities, equipment, and parts.

The engineering crew was continuing their efforts, after all, 10% was still 10%, but several communications personnel had been moved to assist Traynor with repairs. As the leading communications specialist aboard, she naturally assumed control of repairs. When they had begun repairs, her synthetic components had whispered that there was greater than 75% probability that they could repair the Quantum entangler. The problem however was that the entangler was useless unless someone on the other end had theirs working. Despite this they had little choice but to continue their repairs and hope that someone was looking for them.

Sam didn't need to say it out loud, but she kept hoping that every time she powered up the unit, that Rebecca would be standing there saying she was on the way. Before the Reaper invasion and being posted to the Normandy, Sam had never entertained the idea of entering into a relationship with her commanding officer. However given the circumstances and the chances of the total extinction of her race, maintaining non-fraternization policies seemed rather trivial. They were hardly the only ones on the ship to strike up some kind of relationship.

Joker and EDI had gotten together, as had Garrus and Tali, Donnelly and Daniels, and various other enlisted personnel. She had even caught Lt. Commander Williams and Lt. Vega exchanging glances from time to time. Samantha however, she had fallen for the Commander. From the first moment Sam had laid eyes on Commander Shepard, she was love struck. The Commander had just radiated confidence and Sam had taken every opportunity to talk with Shepard and get to know her. Shepard had started out rather formal, but as the war had worn on, she had become increasingly friendly with Samantha. The stress and pressure of having the entire war on her shoulders had gotten to her until finally the barriers of rank had broken down after the resolution of the Quarian/Geth war. Sam had kept the Commander grounded for the rest of the war, being there to comfort her after the fall of Thessia, the final assault on Cronos Station, and countless other missions and skirmishes.

Shaking her head, she realized that she had been daydreaming for a while. Her hands had continued doing the work while her mind had gone elsewhere.

16 minutes, 18 seconds

"Thank you very much." She said to herself. It was certainly nice to be able to multitask without having to think about it, but she could do without the constant little pieces of information her new synthetic wiring was always happy to give her. Sometimes it felt like her synthetic side was being sarcastic or intentionally picking the wrong time to give information, but she knew that was just stress and irritation talking.

She continued working for another few hours before deciding to take a break and get some air. Taking a stroll outside the Normandy's crash site, she saw various Normandy crewmen building shelters, organizing salvaged components and equipment, and several of the marines returning from hunting. Lt. Vega and Garrus had been having a friendly hunting competition. Judging by what Sam saw them hauling, Garrus was still the unmatched marksman aboard the Normandy.

"I don't get it Scars; with these new synthetic enhancements I should be kicking your ass." Vega said, clearly dismayed at being beat by Garrus.

"Even with enhanced eyesight and senses, there's no substitute for experience Vega. If I can outshoot Commander Shepard then I think I can outshoot you." Garrus responded. Garrus's little shootout on the Citadel with the Commander had quickly become a favorite topic among the crew during the war, and Garrus enjoyed ribbing people about it.

Smiling at the friendly banter between the human soldier and the Turian, Samantha decided to take the opportunity while she was outside to report on progress to Ashley. "Ma'am, the Entangler is working at 87% efficiency, I think I can get it up another couple percent, but realistically it's going to fall to the people on the other end of it if we can't get the Normandy space worthy again."

Despite their stranded situation there was still considerable respect for the chain of command and military discipline. It seemed to help the crew stay unified and focused on survival and contacting the Alliance without fracturing. There were several minor personal disputes, but that was to be expected during normal times, and all the more so given their current situation.

"Very well Sam, keep up at it, if nothing else, it will keep the crew's spirits up; hope of contact with the Alliance."

"Yes ma'am." Sam responded. She wanted to keep hoping, but after seeing the energy wave erupting from the Crucible right before the Normandy went to FTL, she couldn't help but think that there was no way that Rebecca could have survived. It just seemed like they had expended all their good luck; defeating Cerberus, defeating the Reapers, surviving the war, coming out of FTL only minutes away from a habitable planet, and surviving nearly unscathed from a controlled collision onto that planet. She kept hoping that any day an Alliance ship would come and pick them up, and she would see Rebecca coming down the ramp of the shuttle and into her arms, but Sam couldn't help but feel that her luck had run out. Until then though, they had little choice but to continue making repairs and foraging for food.

The routine among the Normandy crew remained pretty much unchanged for the next two weeks. Various crewmen and marines would hunt and construct additional shelter, while the engineers and communications personnel attempted to repair systems. They had been stranded for nearly a month, and Garrus and Tali were starting to become a little nervous about their prospects for the future. They had already used roughly a quarter of the Normandy's food stores, and neither of them could eat the same food as the rest of the crew. Samantha and the other communications personnel had repaired the Normandy's communications as much as they could, and now had little to do but help the other crew members with the basic survival jobs.

Sam had just pulled another 18 hour day and was absolutely exhausted. 23 days of 18 hour or greater workdays. Average is 18 hours, 12 minutes 52 seconds.

To add to this her nights were restless, with constant nightmares of seeing Rebecca being hurled into space by the Crucibles energy wave, helpless to do anything but float in the vacuum while her oxygen ran out. During one of their nights together during the war, Rebecca had told Samantha what it was like when the SR-1 was destroyed, suffocating to death in a vacuum, unable to do anything to help herself as she entered the atmosphere of a planet which had never been explored before. The story had chilled Sam to the core, and now that image, and those feelings, were haunting Sam almost every night.

She had just woken up from yet another nightmare, covered in sweat and panting, when she heard commotion outside her shelter, quickly dressing herself she went outside to see the entire crew running to the Normandy. Having no idea what was going on, she joined the other crewmen. There was a large group waiting in the CIC, talking excitedly to each other. Pushing her way forward she found Tali hovering at the door to the War room.

Tapping her on the shoulder to get her attention Sam asked, "Tali, what is going on?"

While she couldn't see her face, the delight was evident in Tali's voice. "It's Shepard Sam! She's on the other end of the Entangler! She'll be here with the SSV Iwo Jima in 2 days."

Sam could hardly believe what she was hearing, she had convinced herself that Shepard had not survived the Crucible firing, but somehow she had defied death yet again, and was coming to the rescue once again. Sam was hoping she would be able to get to the entangler and have a few words with Rebecca, but Ashley came out a moment later. Before she could say more than, "The Iwo Jima will be here in 2 days," the crew erupted into a deafening cheer.

The rest of the night was a blur to Sam, as the crew broke out every ration, and every bit of contraband alcohol, and celebrated. They toasted each other, the Normandy, the Alliance, those who had fallen during the war, and they let Sam do the honors of toasting Commander Shepard. In 2 days they would be headed back to Earth to start rebuilding, but for now, it was time to celebrate and honor their victory, and the woman who had made it possible.

The next day almost nothing was done, as every member of the crew was feeling the result of the previous night's celebrations, even Tali and Garrus had found dextro-friendly drinks and were suffering just as bad as the rest of the crew. Ashley cut the crew some slack, though that night there was no more wild celebrating, as the crew wanted to be in top shape when Commander Shepard and the Iwo Jima picked them up.

About midday on the day the Iwo Jima was scheduled to arrive, the unmistakable sound of Alliance Kodiak drop ships filled the air around the Normandy. There were over a dozen of them, all touching down around the Normandy. Sam ran to the first Kodiak to touch down nearly overwhelmed with joy. Just as she hoped, as soon as the ramp opened, Commander Shepard, first human Spectre, hero of the Battle of the Citadel, savior of the galaxy, and the person who meant everything to Samantha, was the first one out.

Pushing her way through the Normandy crew, Sam jumped into Shepard's arms and embraced her as if for the first time. As they kissed, both were completely unaware of the clapping and cheering of the crew behind them. Though there would be much more grieving for the lost and rebuilding what had been destroyed, in this moment, the universe was perfect.