The Dragon Awakens

Chapter Twenty Five

When Lanie opened her eyes she was laying handcuffed to a cot in a small cell, all grey cement and cold despite the heat outside. There was a small window letting in light and Lanie winced as she struggled to sit up. There was a toilet in the corner with a sink next to it and that was it. She was still in her red suit, now soiled, but her feet were bandaged and there were the most ungodly looking white slippers on them. Lanie lifted her legs and arms to gauge how her body was doing physically and besides her feet she was fine.

"Hello?" Lanie called, swinging her feet off the bed. There was a little slack on the handcuffs but not enough for her to use the toilet or the sink. "I can't use the bathroom with these handcuffs on!" She shouted again, jiggling the chain for effect.

The steel door to her cell opened slowly and Lanie braced herself for anything from a full-on fight to her handcuffs actually being taken off. What she wasn't expecting was Mushu.

"Mushu? What are you doing here?" She gasped.

He held up the key and laughed as he unlocked her handcuffs. "I'm here to save you. Sort of. Your grandmother filled me in on everything." He held out his hand and Lanie stood up slowly, her feet screaming in protest but at least the slippers were soft.

"My grandmother? Why am I in a cell? Where am I? How did you get here?" Lanie asked as he led her out. The hallway was just as plain and boring as her cell, all cement and very cold and incredibly quiet.

"She called me, I don't know how she got my number but she told me what you were doing down at the Capital and I knew she was pulling in every favor she had to make sure you didn't get locked up for treason. They, of course, did have to lock you up anyways to run background checks but I, of course, cleared those for you. You are currently in the basement of Harley, the military base outside of the city? I got here by van," he explained, stopping in front of the elevator. They passed a desk where a man sat behind a plexiglass wall but he didn't even look up at them.

"Wha- What happened?" Lanie asked softly as the entered the elevator.

"The HUNS have been eliminated thanks to you. And everyone lived, also thanks to you." Mushu gave her a warm smile and Lanie let out a breath she didn't know she'd been holding in. Alive. Everyone was alive. The President was safe. Shang was safe.

"That... That's- Oh shit." The doors opened and Lanie starred into a crowd of hundreds of people she didn't know. As soon as the doors opened they all started clapping and cheering and taking pictures. Lanie clung to Mushu's arm who soaked up all the attention, smiling and waving like he was the one they were cheering for. Lanie, on the other hand, was mortified at the attention and the fact if any of these pictures got out her mother would kill her for ruining her suit; among other things. 

"You should have let me change! I look ridiculous!" Lanie hissed at Mushu as he pulled her down a roped-off hallway.

"I am." He stopped abruptly outside a door labeled "uniforms" and pushed her in. Laid out on a folding table was a woman's military uniform: dark green skirt and matching jacket, starched white shirt, polished leather shoes, and a collection of medals already pinned on.

"Mushu what is this?" Lanie hesitated.

"Something the President thought was long overdue after I had finished explaining to him your... Situation. He knows about the DA and well, about everything else too. I'll let you change." He closed the door softly and Lanie stood there staring at the uniform, her eyes welling with tears. A military uniform. All for her. It was just missing one thing.

+_+_+_+_+_+

"Pants? Really? I should have guessed." Mushu laughed when Lanie walked out of the room, wearing tapered green pants instead of the green skirt.