So once again I'm reusing an idea I got from the fanfic 'A Handful of Dust' for a special house Crane uses to store his books that he doesn't use as a base for his crimes
Jonathan obviously keeping safety in mind kept his strange new companion's duties limited to carrying boxes with empty beakers and test tubes not the things he came for but it didn't hurt to have extras of those things but having this strange Animal Child with him presented new problems, he realized he had to put his original criminal plans on hold, and he couldn't go to the place he was originally planning to use as his base of operations...No he needed someplace far safer...A place so secret he had never used when planning to commit crimes and had never even worn his costume within the walls, however he knew this child who had the ability to do with her mind what he needed rare and precious chemicals to do was too golden an oppritunity to squander, and because she was not an inanimate object but a living creature with a mind similar if not completely the same as a human he knew it would take time to mould her into the living weapon he was already dreaming about, he would take her to his special santuary to begin her apprenticeship, but first he would have to get groceries, it had been a while since he went to his sanctuary.
After they placed the supplies they had gotten from the warehouse, in the bed of a beat-up old pick up truck, they got in, Enna seemed to be struggling, her front half was latched onto the passenger seat, but her back half was struggling to climb in, from what he had seen watching her locomotion as they were moving supplies, Scarecrow guessed that her legs were shorter and more similar to an an otter, where her arms were long and human-like Jonathan grabbed the back of the gray hoodie, Enna was wearing to pull her in, which caused the Otter-Girl to give a small surprised squeak, but she quickly composed herself and closed the passenger door, as she buckled her seat belt, Jonathan notched she had to postion herself so she was sitting sideways because of her long muscular tail.
"You should put up your hood." Jonathan said "It may be a dark night, but in case someone should peer into the window."
Enna quickly put up her hood, it seemed that her species was a blessing as her short muzzle and small ears meant that her face was well concealed by the hood.
"On that note..." Joanthan said "...I probobly shood put on my disguise too."
He took off his hat and mask and gloves and put on a hoodie of his own, being not as reconizable as Joker or Two-Face did come with certain advantages.
"I have to stop and get groceries..." Jonathan said as he began to drive "...Shood only take a few minutes, I can trust you to wait in the truck quietly until I'm done right?"
"Oh Yes Sir!" Enna chirped happily "Very much Sir! I'm very good at keeping quiet!"
There was something about her childlike enthusiasm in obeying him that made Crane smile as he imagined his usual henchmen being as cheerful in obeying his orders as this Animal-Child, despite the fact he normally found such displays of cheerfulness nauseating unless it was from Harley Quinn, but then he took it that this creature was so obedient to be a good sign.
'She's probably so compliant because she's desperate for safety and security...' The old Psychologist part of Jonathan's brain whispered 'Remember, she's a runaway lab animal...She's trusting you because she fingures you're better than whatever she's running away from.'
Jonathan tried to quiet the part of his mind thinking about Enna's the possibilities of Enna's past although he feared he would have to learn more about it to better harness her powers and what he might find...It wasn't so much he feared what he might learn as he feared...His own possible reaction to it...He had come so far he didn't want to get soppy now, especially not for some freak of nature!
They pulled into the parking lot of some strip mall in the shabbiest part of Gotham.
"All right." Jonathan said as he exited the truck "Rememebr, keep quiet and keep your head down."
As Jonathan shopped, Enna culred into a ball and did what she often did in times like this, retreat into her imagination...Dreaming about places and things she had seen on her TV or in books, dreaming of bright sunny skies and bright and colorful plants. She heard Jonathan's distinctive footsteps appraoching the truck so she wouldn't startle when she heard the door open,
"Now I can take you to my santuary." Jonathan said as he buckled up.
Traveling to the outskirts of Gotham...Enna gazed at the waves of yellowing Autumn grass with amazment as this was her first time seeing something close to wilderness having lived her entire life in captivity!
"It's so beautiful..." Enna quietly whispered, causing Jonathan to feel another disquieting tug on his heartstring, if this dreary landscape was beautiful to her what had she been seeing before? Was this really her first time ever outside? Exactly how old was she? She seemed to be in the upper Elementery school age range around eight or nine years old, but most animals don't age like humans do, potentially she could have been born this year!
Pulling into the driveway Jonathan and Enna got out Jonathan took a grocery bag, and he had Enna take one to.
"Why are the windows blacked out?" Enna asked
"You have good night vision." Jonathan said genuinly impressed "I have almost all the windows blacked out because this place is where I keep my precious books, the windows are blacked out to keep the sunlight from fading them, only the kitchen and the bathroom have windows that aren't blacked out,
"You must really like books." Enna said as they entered the house
"Indeed I do." Jonathan said "I might let you look at some of them when I'm certain you won't clumily tear the pages or get them dirty."
"Yes Sir." Enna said a little bit somberly which Jonathan knew meant she was hurt that he didn't trust her yet with his precious things.
"You don't have to call me Sir." Jonathan said as they entered the kitchen "You may call me Professor Crane."
Thus they had a midnight supper, Jonathan heated up two TV dinners.
"You can eat more than just fish right?" Jonathan said "Just wanted to make sure, I did buy some canned tuna at the store because I knew you would like that."
"Oh yeah, Otters eat more than fish." Enna said as she took her seat at the table "And my mutated digestive system can eat anything a human can eat including chocolate!"
That got the wheels of Jonathan's mind turning some more, did they test to see if chocolate was toxic to her? What exactly were they doing that led to such a creation?"
They sat down to eat their TV Dinners...Enna licked her lips, the simple Salisbury Steak meal was the most delicious thing she had seen for a while.
"While at least you know how to eat with silverwhere..." Jonathan remarked as he watched the Otter-Girl devoured her food "Your table manners still leave much to be desired...When was the last time you ate?"
Licking a bit of mashed potatoes off her lips Enna quietly said "Yesterday."
"No wonder you're so ravanous." Jonathan said a bit of sympathy creeping into his voice.
"Do you have a TV?" Enna asked
"I have a small TV I keep in one of the upstairs rooms." Jonathan said "I only ever watch it to watch the news in case there is something I need to be on the look out for."
Enna lowered her head "I guess you're really more of a book person."
"Indeed I am." Jonathan said "I think it's best if we turn in for the night. You can sleep on the living room sofa."
As he watched Enna wriggle with delight on the plush red sofa trying to stave off more thoughts about what her past was like he asked "Do you need a blanket?"
"I don't need one." Enna said "I got my fur, we...I...always thought how humans must feel cold all the time with no fur."
Jonathan felt a chill go down his spine, not only the fact she said 'We' revealing she was not the only one of her kind but the fact she felt she had to cover up feeling that it was a slip up, hinted there were things she didn't want to reveal.
Jonathan got a spare blanket
"I know what you said..." Jonathan said quietly as he covered her up, "But I realized maybe you should have a blanket anyway to conceal you...Just in case."
Enna seemed to gratefully accept the blanket, despite what she said she seemed to have actually wanted a blanket as she wrapped it around herself.
Jonathan quickly went upstairs feeling these pangs of sympathy in his heart he thought back to the last time he felt geniune connection with someone else...His Student Molly Randall.
So I do admit that Guardians of the Galaxy 3 was probobly what inspired me to redo this story however Enna is not an otter as because she's specifically inspired Lylla, the choice for her species will be revealed later