DISCLAIMER: 'Rebound' is a story based on characters and situations from Kidou Senshi Gundam Seed which is a property of Sotsu Agency, Bandai Studios and TV Asashi. This work is non profited and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended. Unless specified, all materials in the web is work done by HERMIT JUNCTION. Please do not use without permission any text or artwork.

WARNING: Text and all related materials are rated PG13/T and may mild strong language, violence and suggestive adult themes unless otherwise stated. Please do not read if you are underage or maybe offended by such material. Spoilers for Gundam Seed.

NOTE: This fanfiction disregards the plotline of the original series' sequel Gundam Seed Destiny. Please see author's page for the site hosting of this fanfiction.

Gseed Aftermath Trilogy I:
REBOUND
a hermit junction project

Epilogue

'Does it still hurt?' Dearka frowned, fingering the wound on Miriallia's shoulder.

'A little.' Miriallia admitted.

'I can't believe I let this happen.' Dearka muttered. 'If I had been in charge of this mission, things might have been different. No, things would be different.'

'Stop it.' Miriallia brushed some of his blonde tousled locks out of his eyes. 'It was a sniper and you can't put all the blame on Major Hahnenfuss.'

'Oh I'm gonna.' Dearka snarled.

Miriallia leaned forward and planted a solid kiss on Dearka's lips, throwing one leg across his thighs. 'It's over, the next thing you probably should do is find out who did it.'

Dearka sighed. 'You're right. I'm working on it already.'

'And that's why you made me come with you back to PLANT.' Miriallia frowned, hitting him in the shoulder playfully. 'And didn't let me sleep last night!'

'You're the one who has a vacation!' Dearka protested. 'It's bad enough that I got yelled at by Yzak.'

'You were the one who came after me without telling him.' Miriallia muttered.

'Well…' Dearka looked up. 'He was the one who gave me that speech, I thought we'd have an understanding.'

Miriallia laughed, then winced at the gauze wrapped around her shoulder. 'I think I should change the bandage.'

'I'll help you.' Dearka lifted the sheets and sat up from the bed.

Biting her lip, Miriallia's eyes trailed Dearka's god like body, her face turning red at the sight of his manhood. Shaking her head, she reached out one hand and grabbed the camera on Dearka's nightstand. Before Dearka could even move, she took a shot of his back.

'Excuse me?' Dearka looked at her with raised eyebrows.

'You're butt naked!' Miriallia cried, waving her camera in the air. 'I couldn't resist, you have too good a body.'

'And you should be grateful that from now on, you're going to be the only one who will have access to this great body of mine.' Dearka smirked, climbing onto the bed again. 'You're not going to show that to any one are you? You better not.'

'No.' Miriallia said quickly. 'This goes into my personal collection.'

Dearka couldn't help but laugh. 'Come on, you can take as many pictures as you want, but let me change that gauze of yours first.'

Miriallia kept still as Dearka undid the bandage carefully. She watched him work in concentration, strands of hair falling into his eyes. She winced at the alcohol.

'It's okay.' Dearka coaxed, smiling up at her. 'All done.'

Miriallia looked down at her shoulder. 'You sure are good at this.'

Dearka shrugged. 'Piece of cake, I had to do this to myself a lot when I was still a cadet.'

'Dearka – ' Miriallia stopped when Dearka's cell phone rang.

'Who the hell is it?' Dearka cursed. Leaning over Miriallia, he grabbed his cell phone and answered it curtly.

'Elthman.' It was Shiho.

'What the hell is it?' Dearka muttered. 'Do you know what time it is Hahnenfuss?'

'I know Major, but you're going to want to see the photos we got from investigation.' Shiho replied on the other line.

Sighing, Miriallia wrapped her bare arms around Dearka's neck and rested her head on his shoulder. Pausing for a moment, she turned her head.

'I'll never get enough of you too Dearka.' She whispered into his ear. Dearka paused and turned his head, ignoring Shiho on the other line. Smiling at him, she held his head in both hands and gave him a deep kiss that almost turned him on all over again. 'I love you.'

'Are you there Major?' Shiho asked. 'Or are you just cuddling with the missus.'

'Uh, yeah.' Dearka said absently, watching Miriallia leave the bed.

'Uh, yeah as in you are cuddling with the missus?' Shiho mimicked.

'I'm sorry, what did you say?'

Shiho sighed. 'I said we got the photos and we can see the guy's face clearly in one of them.' She paused. 'You're not going to believe it.'

'You sent it to me?' Dearka asked.

'Uh-huh.' Shinho said. 'Just open security box 336. You know the codes'

'Got it.' With that, Dearka cut the connection. Standing up, he located his discarded boxers and pulled it on. When he looked up again, Miriallia was already in his shirt, padding across his studio barefoot.

'I love you too.' Dearka called across the apartment.

Turning around, Miriallia made a face, blushing, her skin flushed. 'I know that you idiot, now go check your mail!'

Shaking his head, he plopped himself onto his work chair and flipped on his laptop. Breaking a few security codes, he entered the designated security box and clicked onto the materials Shiho referred too.

'Is everything okay?' Miriallia asked, walking towards Dearka who had gone silent all of a sudden. Looking over his shoulder, she gasped at the photo on the screen. 'It's him!'

Dearka turned his head abruptly. 'You know him?'

'He was that male nurse who helped me clean my wound the day I left the hospital.' Miriallia said, looking at his shocked face. She looked away. 'I – I don't know but I think he sort of threatened me. I really didn't get much out of it because I was so shocked.'

'Miriallia, are you sure?' Dearka asked carefully. 'Are you sure that it's him? I remember distinctly the male nurse pushing the cart into your ward had a mask on.'

'He took off his mask.' Miriallia said firmly. She pointed at the screen. The man in the photo had a cap on his head, the flap at the back, his bright red hair escaping from the hole. He was pointing his finger at the camera, his hand in the shape of a gun, obviously aware that someone was taking pictures of him. 'You can't miss the hair, it's like it's on fire.'

'This can't be it.' Dearka murmured.

'You okay?' Miriallia asked gently, wrapping her arms around him from the back. 'You know him?'

He didn't just know him.

He was Rusty MacKenzie, the elite from team Klueze who died during the Heliopolis raid.

End of Gseed Aftermath Trilogy I
Please go to next chapter for previews of Gseed Aftermath Trilogy II: Repercussion

A/N: An R-rated version of the epilogue can be found at 'gseedaftermath.hermitjunction. net'