Garrus helped a few people to stand from their seats before going to Kaidan. A brief discussion put all of them on their path to figure out what to do next. First, the crew would do was it was made to do, check on the Normandy and all of its systems, and see if there was any damage to be reported among them. Kaidan would go to the vid comm room while Traynor was back at her terminal to try to get ahold of other Alliance ships. Liara went with some of the other crew down to the lower decks, hoping to see what happened to Glyph. Dr. Chakwas was back in the med bay to tend to any damaged supplies and help anyone that needed patched up. Tali talked briefly over the comm with Adams to make sure all was well in engineering. The turian himself was unsure of what to do, but Tali's voice brought him something to focus on.

"Garrus?"

He looked in her direction to see the quarian nod behind him. Turning to look down the small stretch to the cockpit, he saw light radiating from the airlock doors. Last he knew, the airlock wasn't damaged … Tali followed as he walked down the hall to stop in front of the doors. Out in front of them, warm sunlight was cast around a surprisingly luscious landscape of green plant-life and dark earth. The airlock opened up to a pile of upturned rocks, showing the Normandy had in fact nose-dived into a planet. Some feet away, Joker stood away from the ship, looking up into the sky.

"I'll … go check on EDI," Tali offered quietly. "See if there's something I can do."

"Yeah," Garrus sighed. "Thanks."

Stepping out on to the rock, the turian could hear a general cacophony of noise from the wildlife and water that surrounded them. It seemed like, aside from the Normandy's intrusion, the planet had not been touched by the Reapers and their path of destruction. Garrus was beginning to think nowhere was safe. He paused to take a deep breath, appreciating the lack of smoke and smell of impending death in the air. Here, it smelled clean, unscathed. A turian nose could really appreciate smells like these.

Joker didn't react for a moment as he approached to stand beside the man. His eyes searched the clear blue sky line; vivid white clouds rolled lazily through the air. Expansive waterfalls fell down past the trees ahead of them. Sunlight reflected brightly from the water droplets that floated above the falls. Garrus had to smile despite himself; he was sure he could see the fractions of light becoming a prism of color. A rainbow would form to signify they had found their haven. Liara was still partially questioning if they had all died. Maybe that was true …

No, he didn't think that was true. Shepard did what she was meant to do. She always had.

The pilot chanced a look in the turian's direction as Garrus crossed his arms.

"Looks like we won," the small man sighed.

"Yeah, I think we did," Garrus nodded. "Seems like a nice place to land … well, sort of land."

"Seems like it." He paused for a moment to look up again. "You can tell Tali not to bother. EDI's gone."

"You okay?"

"Not really … But I guess being dead could be worse."

"'Could be worse'?"

"I'm figuring we're all dead until further notice. Covering all of the bases."

"You're starting to sound like me."

"Don't be too impressed. I'm just cynical, not a hard-ass."

Garrus laughed. "You'll get there."

Joker exhaled in a puff of air. "So what now? Do we gather the women to begin populating?"

"I'm not sure if Liara or Traynor would hit you if you made that suggestion."

He shrugged. "Hey, I wasn't saying I would be part of it. I'm damaged goods. Sorry there's no turians here to make it worth your while."

The turian shook his head. "I'm not too concerned about it. Haven't been for a while."

Aside from the din of wildlife, the two of them enjoyed the quiet for a minute. Garrus leaned his weight on his right leg, looking up at the sky around them. He knew, sooner rather than later, that everyone on the Normandy would soon be focused on what to do next. They were members of the human military, after all. Rebuilding everything they had lost would be a priority. Palaven would be put back to its former glory, Earth would be rebuilt, Thessia would be the asari pride and joy again … so many places would find new vigor to come together. They had something to celebrate, to be proud of. All of them saw the greatest war their galaxy had ever known, and lived to record it for history. Garrus was able to understand Liara's love of history in that moment. It was pretty remarkable, when you thought about it.

"Welp, I better go down to see Chakwas about the wrist," Joker sighed, gesturing his right hand lazily. "We're gonna have to get ready to go soon, and I'm not exactly sure where we're at."

"Planning on going somewhere so soon?" Tali asked as she approached, looking ahead of them.

"Hey, I just don't want to hear that it's my fault we took so long to get back. She'll have her scary voice and eyebrow of doom on as soon as we show up."

The quarian looked down for a moment as Joker turned to go back toward the ship. "I wish I could be as optimistic, but Joker, logically—"

"You forget what crew you're on these days, Tali. Logic's never really been our thing. She's still there."

"We can't be sure if we can even take off, let alone find our way back to the Crucible. At least not right away …"

"Fine, Garrus, you tell me. You love her, so you can feel it in your gut. Is Shepard still alive?"

Garrus looked over his shoulder at Joker, thinking. He used his instincts for shooting, calibrating … not guessing. Of course, he wanted Shepard to be alive. After all they had been through, to have the chance to just be would be nothing short of incredible. His girlfriend (He still felt kind of strange using that word.) just saved the universe. Both of them were well-aware that they may never see each other again. It was a risk that they knew of back when they went to face the Collectors. Any moment of any day could, and eventually would, mean your death.

Logically, Shepard was gone. There was no way a person could survive all of that. On the other hand, Shepard was no ordinary person. Everyone that met her knew that much. And logic was really not their thing anymore. So, could he "feel it in his gut"? Was Shepard alive? Or had that connection he felt to her been permanently severed? He smiled to himself at his immediate thought. It was true, his girlfriend saved the universe. Maybe it was about time he took her on an actual date …

"Yes," he said slowly. "She still is."