Samantha

They had lost communications with the ground team some time ago. In an effort to do something and keep herself grounded, Samantha was now sitting in the copilot's seat, having routed the comms to that terminal. Not that the comms were giving her anything but the occasional blip of voice right now.

"Anything, Sam?"

Samantha looked up and over to Joker. Her mind had been buried three hundred miles inside the holographic screens in front of her, studying code, trying to find a way through the interference from the storm. She knew it was futile, but it was a problem in which she could become enmired, which was exactly what she needed in order to avoid worrying her pretty little head off about Ashley.

"Sam? Samantha Traynor!" Joker said sharply, snapping at her. "Earth to Sam! We got anything?"

Shaking her head, Samantha closed the window she'd been knee-deep in. "Not really. The occasional half a word here and there, but nothing…"

She trailed off as an alert popped up off to the side. Pulling it up, she saw that it was video footage from Shepard's camera. It was grainy, as the storm was only just past the area, and there was no audio, but at least she could see what was going on down there.

Looking closely, Sam saw a woman running, taking a leap and landing in a shuttle. "Joker! I have video! We need to get down there!"

"On it," he said, having watched over her shoulder. "Who do you think that chick is? Think she has something we need?"

Sam nodded. "Privileged information I can't disclose. But it's important. It's why Dr. T'Soni was here."

"Rog," Joker said with a nod. "Liara would be here. Nerd. Total hard-on for anything Prothean."

They were friends, Sam realized, blinking over at him.

"Sorry," he said, his ears growing a little pink. "Not used to having anyone up here to hear me."

Sam snorted. "Joker, I have twin teenage brothers and have spent the last four years around salty marines. It will take a lot more than that to make me blush, and even more to make me stomp out screaming 'misogyny'."

He chuckled. "Sounds like a challenge, Sam."

"I'm up to it if you are."

Her attention was caught once more by the camera. It jumped to the side, obviously falling to the ground, turning sharply to watch the burning Cerberus shuttle land not too far away. The camera rose off the ground, looking over to see Ashley helping Dr. T'Soni to her feet. Sam still didn't have a lot of sound, but the frequency of blips was increasing. She could hear the tones of individual voices, but no full words just yet.

Hitting the command, she tried contacting them. "Commander?"

Nothing.

"Commander, this is Communications Specialist Samantha-"

A figure emerged from the flames in the shuttle. Melting skin revealed the figure to be a mech, though definitely feminine in form. Samantha's stomach dropped as she watched the figure jump through the flames, running right for Ashley and Dr. T'Soni. Ashley shoved the asari to the side, pulling her pistol in the same move and firing three times before the mech's hand shot out, knocking the pistol away.

"No! Ashley! No!" Sam yelled, standing up in her panic. Ashley dangled in the air, held aloft by her helmet – held aloft by her head. She was still alive, struggling, one hand grabbing at the mech's wrist.

{ASHLEY!} Shepard's voice rang clearly through Sam's earbud. Typing frantically, Samantha finally broke through the rest of the interference, glancing up to see the mech rearing back, Ashley dangling from its hand like a cat caught by the ruff of its neck.

Samantha's scream was guttural, barely intelligible, and unbeknownst to her, broadcasted to everyone on the ground. "NO! Ashley!"

"Sam, no, wait!" She disregarded Joker, catching herself as she tripped trying to get around her seat. The last thing she saw was the Normandy in Shepard's sights, the mech falling from the commander's gunfire. She had to get to Ashley. That was all that mattered.

She ran through the CIC, ignoring her fellow retrofitters as she headed straight for the lift. They would be coming in through the shuttle bay, but would likely head for the medbay. Maybe, if she made it before them…

She stopped in front of the lift, ramming her hand far too hard on the holographic call button.

"I am sorry, Specialist Traynor," EDI's voice sounded in her earbud. "The elevator is occupied by Commander Shepard, Lieutenant Vega, and Doctor T'Soni. It will be available in just a moment."

All Samantha could see was Ashley slamming into the side of that burning shuttle. "EDI, I can't…"

"I am sorry, Specialist Traynor," EDI repeated. If Sam wasn't so distracted, she might have detected sympathy in the synthetic voice, but as it was she waited impatiently for the lift to come, unhearing, knowing that no matter how long she had to wait it would be faster than trying to go through the security screen and climb down the duct in the conference room.

Finally, finally, the elevator opened, and Samantha was through it and jamming both hands onto the controls to take her a level down before the door was even completely open.

"Oh my God, why won't this bloody thing move!" Samantha half-shouted. Finally it did, the doors closing and the metal box she stood in moving down. Sam tapped her foot impatiently at the door, only able to see one thing in her mind's eye: Ashley groping uselessly with one hand while her whole body dangled like a ragdoll from her head. Sam shuddered. I need to see her. She has to be all right. I can't… she just has to be all right!

The doors opened, and she was out, flinging herself around the corner and running for the medbay. The windows were transparent, but she couldn't make sense of what she saw. Just as she turned the corner, Shepard and Liara both went running through the doors, passing her without thought on their way for the lift. Looking back, Sam's vision filled with grey and blue, her air knocked from her lungs as what felt like a baseball bat slammed right into her diaphragm.

"Oof!"

"Calm down," James's strangely melodic voice sounded, originating somewhere above her.

She clawed at what she now knew to be his arm around her middle, stopping her from entering the medbay, whose doors were now closed. She had barely gotten a glimpse of Ashley's blue armor. "Let me go!"

His grip only strengthened, and then she was moving backwards, the marine's mountainous frame still filling her view. "I can't let anyone in there, Samantha. Commander's orders."

"Let me go!" she repeated, struggling harder, but to no avail. Finally, she stopped, and he let her go near a table.

Pointing, he said, "Sit."

Her brain and nerves far too frazzled, she obeyed, her arse making contact with the bench as she frowned. "How do you even remember my name?"

"We met drinking that one time, remember? Then Ash was talking about you this morning. I'm James, in case you forgot." She opened her mouth to speak, also trying to look around his large frame, but he put a finger in her face. She hated when people did that. "No one can go in there, Samantha. She's in critical condition, her suit locked up to prevent her from moving. I can't let you in there. I can't even go in there."

Her heart finally started beating again. The relief was palpable, but she still needed to see Ashley. "But… she's my…"

He nodded. "Your fiancée, I know. But Samantha, you gotta listen to me."

She finally stopped trying to see around him, looking up into his face. "What? She's alive. What else is there?"

He frowned. "She's alive, yeah. But Sam… Ashley's neck is broken."