The communications room was packed with people by the time they arrived. Jacob stood protectively beside a heavily pregnant Dr. Cole as she directed the other scientists and communication specialists as they made the final adjustments. Shepard gave him a quick nod of greeting as she made her way through the crowd to where Admiral Hackett waited, patiently watching the proceedings.

"Thanks for asking me to come, Admiral."

He nodded, not taking his eyes off of the final preparations. "I know how much your crew means to you Commander. We're going to do what we can to find them but right now we have more pressing concerns."

"I appreciate that, Sir."

"If this works it will the first step to getting the relays operational again. Matriarch Aethyta tells me that the repairs on the Charon relay are almost complete but unless we can contact the Turian Hierarchy and Asari Republics we don't know if the other relays are intact."

"Good to hear the Asari are finally listening to her."

"We've all learned some hard lessons during this war Shepard. Only time will tell how that affects us all going forward."

The buzz of activity stopped as the scientists stepped away from the consoles.

"Admiral Hackett, we are ready to bring the communications network back online." Dr. Cole confirmed.

"Good work Dr. Cole, do we have confirmation that the new comm buoys are in place?"

"Yes sir. Our allies assure me that their people will have enough QE communicators left to patch into the network once it's operational again."

"Do we have their representatives standing by?"

"Primarch Victus, Urdnot Wrex, Major Kirrahe, Admiral Han'Gerrel vas Neema and Matriarch Lidanya of the Destiny Ascension are standing by." One of the specialists confirmed.

"Let's bring the network back online."

The tension was palpable as the different systems began powering up. Across the board green lights began to flash as comm buoys paired and linked into the network. Information began to be called out from the operators.

"Sixth fleet is reporting stable comms."

"The Destiny Ascension confirms active buoys."

"The Quarian fleet is linked into the network."

"Confirmation from the Geth that the local network is stable."

"Powering up the rest of the system." Dr. Cole advised.

"Communications array active Sir. Awaiting connection to other systems."

Static chatter began to filter through the room. "Clean up that signal!" Hackett ordered.

The scientists and operators hurried to try and strengthen the connection.

"Link stabilized Sir!" Dr. Cole reported a moment before the first communications started coming through. Then the information started to come in thick and fast.

"Primarch Victus confirming contact with Palaven Command."

"We have a link with Thessia!"

"The Migrant Fleet is reporting in from Rannoch and the Geth have secure comms with their Collective."

"Major Kirrahe of STG is connected directly with Sur'Kesh and Dalatrass Linron."

Cheers went up around the room. The scientists and operators hugged each other as more comm buoys activated, bringing the galactic civilizations back into contact. Through the open comms to the allied ships orbiting Earth they could hear the shouts of joy and celebration as they were able to speak to their home worlds for the first time in months.

"Good work everyone. I want reports from each of their systems so we know what we're dealing with." Hackett smiled at her. "This is the first step to getting everyone home Commander." Turning back to the operator closest to him. "Specialist Pravis, hail the Normandy."

The man nodded, turning back to his console. "This is Alliance Command hailing the SSV Normandy SR-2. Normandy, do you copy?" The room fell silent as they waited for a response. The operator repeated the hail. "SSV Normandy SR-2 this is Alliance Command do you read me, over?"

They waited but there was no reply. All eyes turned to where Shepard stood, her face a mask of calm professionalism. Miranda and Jack stood beside her staring them all down, daring any of them to utter a word.

Breathe in, breathe out. Stay in control. She repeated the phrase over and over again in her mind, desperately trying to keep a stoic front. The operator tried again but there was no answer. The lump in her throat was becoming too hard to swallow and she felt her legs begin to tremble. Stiffening her spine she murmured her apologies to Hackett and turned on her heel, barely maintaining the façade of being completely under control. Miranda and Jack shared a surprised look before Miranda nodded and hurried after her.

Jack shot a worried glance in the direction Shepard had left before glaring menacingly at the comms specialist. "Keep trying!" she ordered.

"Yes ma'am!" the man stammered before trying to hail the Normandy again.

Shepard strode down the hallway, her long legs taking her away from their stares. Her vision was tunnelling and the walls seemed to be closing in on her. She needed air, she just needed to breathe. Throwing open the next door she found, Shepard stalked into the room, with only a cursory check to make sure she was alone.

"Shepard hold on!" Miranda burst through the door. "I know how bad this looks but it doesn't mean anything."

"I'm fine." She snapped at the other woman.

"How stupid do you think I am? You think I don't know that you're still carrying the weight of the galaxy on your shoulders? You take on everyone's problems then hide what you're thinking behind the mask of Commander Shepard." Frowning at her with her hands planted on her hips Miranda was not pulling her punches. "Knowing you, part of you probably thinks it's your fault that the Normandy is missing. You knew this was never going to be easy. We need to be patient."

She winced as Miranda's barbs hit their marks. "What if they're gone? What then Miri?"

"They're not gone, we just haven't found them yet."

Unable to stop and stand still, she finally bit out a vicious curse and slammed her fist into one of the lockers lining the room. The pain filtered through the haze in her mind and it was only then that she remembered she was in her dress uniform, not her armour. Her knuckles throbbed from the impact and she knew they were going to bruise badly.

"Feel better?" Miranda crossed her arms over her chest. "If you want to break your hand fine but could you at least restrain yourself from doing it while we're standing in an armoury? Things have a bad habit of exploding when you're pissed and there are guns in the vicinity."

Jack chose that moment to stroll into the room. At Miranda's questioning look she merely shook her head. "Shit, you still whining Shepard?"

"Screw you Jack."

"Oh come on, at least put some feeling into it." Jack retorted. "You're Commander goddamn Shepard, the woman who took out the Collectors and the Reapers and you're here having a pity party because you didn't hear from your boyfriend."

"Jack…" Miranda's warning was clear.

"No screw this. So they didn't respond, that doesn't mean they're not out there. You want to find them then stop bitching about it and go and do it."

There was a moment of silence when Jack wondered whether she'd gone too far or pushed too hard but to their shock Shepard chuckled.

"I hate you guys."

Jack snorted. "Nah, you love us about as much as that teamwork crap you keep pushing. Now come on, whose ass do we need to kick to get those relays fixed?"

Unable to help herself Shepard was laughing as they left the armoury. As difficult as they could be at times, they had proven themselves to be good friends by giving her the kick she needed to keep going. Ever since she'd learned of the Normandy's disappearance she had known that it wasn't going to be easy to find them. Luckily she had friends like these to help pick her up when she stumbled and to watch her back when things got rough. With so much still riding on her she needed all the support she could get.