I swore I was not going to do this. This is essentially a continuation of where the crew ends up after defeating the Reapers.

Edit: lol thought of a better name.

The Normandy crashed through the treeline, touched a ridge and for a moment was airborne once more before slamming into the ground, ploughing a furrow a hundred feet long into the forest floor.

For a second Joker couldn't believe they'd actually stopped. The banks of controls in front of him were dull and wouldn't respond when he tested them.

He lifted his arms tentatively – they weren't broken, at least – and undid the restraints keeping him in the pilot's seat. "Holy shit," he said, mostly to himself, and then again. "Holy shit!" He struggled to his feet. Bruises. That was it.

He flipped the intercom switch. "Guys? Guys? We made it!"

He crouched, carefully, next to EDI's chair. "EDI! We're-" he froze.

Her eyes stared ahead, dully. Her long, slender limbs were lying motionless, slack in the seat.

"EDI?" he touched her face; smooth, cold synthetic alloy.

"Is she-"

He looked up to see Garrus.

"She- she's offline," he said. "Maybe that – that red blast knocked her out somehow. Maybe – maybe there's some way to restart her-" he lifted her forward slightly. "Some sort of switch?"

"Where the hell are we?"

Joker heard the sound of the doors to the left of the cockpit open as if it were far away.

"I want to say Terminus Systems," said Tali. "But – this doesn't look familiar."

"EDI?" he asked, softly. He lifted her hand, interlaced his fingers with hers, and stared into her blank grey eyes.

"Joker-"

He lifted his head, startled.

"Where was that last jump to?" Garrus was watching him from the doorway.

He stood, reluctantly. "I – I'm not sure. Nav's down."

Finally, he made it to the doors. The thick canopy of the jungle spread out in front of them, the sky blue for miles in all directions.

"I guess she did it," said Tali.

Garrus looked up into the sky. The bright red glow in the sky was fading. "I – hope that's what it was."

There were footsteps behind them.

"Are we – are we trapped here?" Kaidan made his way to the doorway. He was sporting an impressive gash on his forehead, that he must have picked up in the rough landing. He followed Garrus' line of sight.

"This bird is grounded," said Joker. "For now, anyways. I guess later we can – see what's going on. We still have FTL travel."

"How much fuel?" asked Garrus. Joker didn't reply. "Not enough, huh?" He stepped off the ship, his feet sinking into the rich brown soil.

Tali followed him. "Are we going to be able to eat anything we find here?" she asked.

Garrus paused. "I'm not sure about us," he said. "But we can survive on what's left in the ship for a week or two. Long enough to repair the Normandy. Maybe."

"Maybe we're dead," said Tali. "And this is the afterlife."

"I didn't think being dead would hurt as much," said Kaidan, touching his fingers to his wound gently.

"If this was the afterlife, she'd be here," said Garrus. "She promised. And there's no bar. I think we can safely exclude that option."

"Are you – okay?" asked Joker.

"Fine," Garrus replied. "I'm going to scout out our immediate area."

"I'll come-" began Tali, but Garrus cut her off.

"No," he said firmly. "I'll go alone." He disappeared into the thick green foliage.

"He's taking it hard," said Tali.

"Who wouldn't?" asked Kaidan.

Joker left them in the doorway and returned once more to EDI's chair. "I know you can hear me," he said. "I'm gonna get you back. I promise."