Khan called Higher for Hire first thing when they returned. They might have dashed for Khan tower that very second, had he not told them to give her a day's rest. He had also called in a doctor to set her wrist in a sling and make sure she hadn't contracted any diseases. Fortunately, the former was all they had to worry about.
When that was settled and Eliza felt more herself, Khan called in the family. Kit was the first to enter the office, speeding like a bullet and slamming into a hug. Eliza grunted upon the impact.
Kit cringed. "Sorry." He stepped away, only for his friend to pull him back into a gentle hug with her good arm. Rebecca and Baloo huddled in, with Molly clinging to her waist. They spent the next hour listening to her story. Rebecca's face reddened with each mention of Covington, but this time it wasn't from being flustered.
At the part where Covington tried feeding Eliza to the crocodile, Baloo slammed his fists on the desk. "Where is he now? I'll fix him!"
"Calm down, Baloo," Rebecca coaxed, only to grind her teeth. "Let me handle it!"
"He's currently held in CS Penitentiary," Khan replied. "And I can assure you, he practically begged for a life sentence after our meeting."
"I'm surprised you didn't throttle him on the spot," said Baloo.
Khan looked at his niece. "So am I."
Eliza addressed Rebecca with sympathy. "I'm sorry Covington turned the way he did. I know you really liked him."
"Well, you know," Rebecca shrugged. "I got caught up in a fairy tale." She snuggled Molly on her lap and nuzzled the tiny nose. "Guess I was so desperate for romance and adventure, I forgot I had all I needed."
"Yeah," Eliza gave a small laugh. "I know what you mean." This earned a thoughtful hum from her uncle.
At that moment, they heard the office doors open. Eliza paid no mind, until a familiar voice called her name. "Dad?" She barely had time to question his presence before he scooped her up into a hug. Eliza clung like a koala on a tree, burying her face into his shoulder and not caring that her wrist was squashed. "I missed you," she choked.
"I missed you too, baby girl." This time, his warmth was real and comforting. He finally set her down to grasp her shoulders and look her in the eyes. "Are you alright?" Both his voice and his eyes filled to the brim with horror. "Are you hurt?" Now, his grip on her shoulders was like the snake's.
"What?" He was scaring her. Surreal, considering that it used to be her uncle who scared her. "Uh, I sprained my wrist but I'm fine. You're hurting my shoulders."
Silas eased his hands and dropped his head. "I'm so sorry." He had never sounded so helpless.
"Dad, I'm fine."
"No, you're not." His tone was firm now. He then sprang away from her and toward his brother, seizing the lapels of his jacket. "What is this, Shere?" he demanded, though his brother showed no sign of reaction. "I trusted you to look after my daughter, and you let her get kidnapped? Twice!"
"Wait," said Eliza. "You told him?"
Although the elder Khan was rarely fazed, his bored expression indicated that he was used to his little brother's antics. "Considering that I had little notion of your whereabouts, I deemed it necessary this time."
"You should've told me the first time!" Silas tugged the jacket, drawing his brother's face lower until their noses nearly touched, razor-sharp glowers mirroring.
"Easy, boys," Baloo said softly, approaching with caution. Clearly not enough caution, because both tigers gave him a look that said "Mind your own business. Baloo suddenly felt cornered, until a gentle hand touched his arm.
"Baloo," Rebecca coaxed, "I think this is a family matter."
"But, Becky."
"Come on." She nudged him toward the door. "You too, kids."
Kit hesitated and looked at his friend. Molly threw her arms around Eliza's waist.
"I'll be fine," Eliza smiled from one bear to the other, ruffling Molly's hair. "I've had worse."
Kit smiled back. "Yeah, you're right." He squeezed Eliza's good shoulder, then tried dragging Molly by hers. Except her tiny arms were surprisingly strong.
"I'm staying!"
Kit rolled his eyes, but Eliza knelt to the younger girl's level. "Come on, Molly. We both need to be Danger Woman right now."
At first Molly stared. Then she grinned and nodded. She then pranced after Kit, who shook his head. Her father's ranting had faded to background noise. When she looked back at the brothers, they were in the same position, with Shere making no effort to resist. Silas might as well have argued with a statue. Danger Woman? Yeah right. Still, she could tell her father was tiring.
"I can't believe I trusted you!" Silas belted.
"I can," Khan spoke for the first time, his monotone contrasting with his brother. "Because you could hardly trust yourself."
"Why you!" Silas hissed through clenched teeth. Before he could say or do anything he might regret, a small hand tugged at his jacket.
"Dad, it's not his fault!"
At his daughter's voice, Silas relaxed. Her innocence was all the reminder he needed. He finally let go, taking long breaths to steady himself, then crouched to put his hands back on her shoulders. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you, but it's the adults' jobs to protect you. You shouldn't have to deal with this sort of thing on your own."
"I know, but you can't predict everything."
"I probably could've." Silas glared back at Shere who was straightening the creases he made in the expensive jacket. "I should've predicted how big a target money would make you."
"In hindsight," said Shere, "she might have been more prepared had you not been hiding her heritage."
Silas stood abruptly, but he didn't attack this time. "I did it to protect her!"
"And look at how well that turned out." Even for Shere Khan, there was no hiding the sarcasm.
Before Silas could protest further, Eliza asked, "What heritage?"
Khan allowed a slight smile. "Why don't you show him your new skill?"
Silas wondered if he was imagining the pride in Shere's voice, geared toward someone other than himself.
Eliza smiled. "Oh yeah." Hoping to lighten the mood, she proudly fanned out her claws.
Where she expected to see a proud father, stood a horrified one. He then rubbed his forehead his with his thumb and forefinger muttering, "Oh cripes."
"So that's where she heard it," Shere grumbled.
"What?" Eliza dropped her hand, knowing she sounded as hurt as she felt.
Silas sighed and moved his hand to look at her. "I wanted you to have a normal life."
For once, Eliza found herself irritated with her own father. "Normal? If I knew how to use these, I could've defended myself sooner."
"Not to mention," Shere added, "Karnage might not have been the one to bear the brunt of your discovery." He turned to Silas. "Did it not occur to you she might have hurt someone in a tussle? Perhaps at school?"
Eliza's stomach turned. She wouldn't admit it, but even before her claws emerged, she had the occasional urge to attack school bullies. Now imagining the real damage she could inflict made her queasy. Silas patted her head, chasing that feeling away. At least until he said, "She's not a fighter." Eliza frowned. He knew she could speak for herself, didn't he?
"Right," Shere drawled. Even he wondered if Silas knew his own daughter. Did he even know himself? "And how's the scar?"
Silas scoffed, but when Eliza asked, "What scar?" he flushed, fiddling with his sleeve to keep his arm concealed. As Eliza put two and two together, her irritation boiled. "You told me a thorn scratched you!"
Silas glowered at his brother. "I wasn't lying about the thorn."
"Amusing," Shere muttered.
Eliza sighed and rubbed her own forehead. And Uncle Shere says I'm a headache. "What happened between you anyway? You're family. You're supposed to look out for each other." Both adults paused, still eyeing each other. She wondered if they even heard her until they looked at her in resignation.
"We used to," said Shere.
Silas snorted. "If you could call it that."
Shere ignored him. "We grew up in hard times. Our father left us, and our mother had to work long hours. As the elder sibling, the responsibility fell to me to grow up for both of us."
"You didn't have to," Silas pressed.
"But I did anyway. I wanted us both to have a better life, so I took extra jobs myself. Even at a young age I had to learn the hard way: Only the strong survive."
Eliza had trouble picturing the sturdy tycoon at a vulnerable stage in life. Then again, he was still a person.
"You think I didn't know that?" Silas interrupted. "Did it ever occur to you that I was living in that jungle too?" His voice cracked. "That I needed you?"
Shere's eyes softened, as they did when he reunited with Eliza after the pirates' abduction. He put a hand on his brother's shoulder. "I could only help you in the way I knew how. Once I enrolled us in business school, I knew you had a promising future."
"Yeah?" Silas scoffed again, shrugging Shere's hand off. In his frustration the older man's brows part. Eliza had noticed. The changes in his expression were always subtle, but this was a new feature. Was he…hurt? "By then, it was too late. Like you, I had to learn an important lesson early on: you can't rely on anyone."
"No," said Shere blankly. "You can't."
"I've been living in your shadow since the day I was born. Once you hit top of the class and became Mr. Bigshot, I was practically drowning in that shadow." He paused, letting the information sink in. "I wasn't just Silas Khan anymore. My only identity was 'Shere Khan's brother'. I decided then and there if you were going to make a name for yourself, I wanted to distance myself from that name."
It all made sense to Eliza. Even before meeting her famous uncle, she knew she was entering a world of high expectations. But her experience was limited to a few months. She couldn't imagine dealing with that her whole life. "Dad, why didn't you tell me?"
Silas put a hand on her shoulder, sighing. "That's not a burden you needed to carry."
"And yet," said Shere, "you gave it to her anyway."
"Shere!" Father and daughter snapped simultaneously, although in Eliza's case it came out as "Uncle Shere!"
Shere folded his arms. "It's true, isn't it?" He met his niece's eye. "You had to endure your father's absence, but won't say anything because you don't want him to feel worse, right?"
"That's enough, Shere!" Silas demanded. But when he looked back at his daughter, her eyes were downcast. "Eliza?"
At first, Eliza said nothing. Feeling her father's gaze on her, she replied in a tight voice, "You were already struggling, Dad, what else was I supposed to say? Before Mom died, she was always putting others first. No matter how bad things got, she was smiling. I wanted to be brave like her." Eliza swallowed. Her voice cracked with each word as her eyes welled. "I wanted to be like you."
"Sweetie!" Silas broke into a sob and pulled her into a hug. "You were always stronger than me." The office went quiet for what felt an eternity. Only the sniffling from the huddled pair and the occasional sigh from the stonelike Shere Khan could be heard. Silas gently pressed his forehead to Eliza's, merging their tears. "I should've known. I tried to keep your life from turning out like mine. Instead, I became my father. Can you ever forgive me?"
Still unable to speak, Eliza nodded, rubbing foreheads together.
Silas pulled away to smile through his tears. "Had I opened my eyes sooner, I would've seen how fast you were growing up. I couldn't be any prouder."
Eliza's face lit, warmth spreading through her.
Shere interrupted the moment with a tsk. "You're proud? I'm the one who trained her." Silas rolled his eyes. Eliza, however, collided at her uncle's waist in a waist-high hug. Shere grunted at the imact. Honestly, she's as unpredictable as her mother. He tsked again. "Did I mention you're a pain?"
"Once or twice," Eliza giggled.
Silas watched wide-eyed, blinking to ensure he wasn't imagining things. He couldn't decide what was more surreal: his brother, the cold, stoic tycoon going soft. Or his daughter, who at one time could barely look said tycoon in the eye, bravely affectionate. When he got over his shock, Silas found himself smiling. "Feeling your age, old man?"
Shere gave him a look telling him to shut up, but casually patted the girl's head.
Eliza looked from one brother to the other and grinned. "I think I know why you two are always at each other's throats."
"Did I not explain why?" asked her uncle.
"Yeah, but when you get right down to it, you guys are too much alike."
"Like him?" the brothers chorused pointing at each other. For Silas, his reaction was nothing new, but it was the first time Shere Khan broke character.
Their reaction only sent Eliza in a fit of giggles. "Face it, you're both stubborn mules!" Their jaws dropped, making her reel over clutching her stomach. She didn't even notice the confused look they exchanged.
"This surreal to you too?" asked Shere.
"It shouldn't be," Silas replied. "But it has been a while since I've been called that."
"Yes, I suppose it has been." Shere's voice had taken a melancholic trimming. Considering how serious he always sounded, that was something. "I've come to accept that she made the right choice." He didn't need to explain which 'she' he was referring to this time.
Perhaps his daughter was having as much influence on him as she did on his brother, but Silas put his hand on Shere's broad shoulder. "She cared for you too. Just," he trailed, searching for the right way to put it.
"Not the way I hoped," Shere finished. "Perhaps it was for the best."
The next sight cut off Eliza's laughter. Now she was the one blinking to make sure she wasn't imagining things. Her father had his forehead pressed to his brother's just as he did with her. "What do you say, brother? Think we can start over?"
Shere pulled away to look him directly in the eye. "What's there to start? We have the future to think about."
Another giggle interrupted them. They looked back at the girl bearing a familiar triumphant smirk, hands on her hips in a familiar manner. "Told you!"
The brothers just stared at each other in confusion.
