#goddamnitgar

Two amber eyes stared directly into his. The biggest lion he’d ever seen was pressed against his side, watching him, his black mane crowning his head. On his other side, a lioness, just as large, slept. 

He was dinner. They were saving him from dinner.

Jason could feel his heart pound through every painful inch of his body; feel the blood rushing through his ears. His breath caught in his throat as the king of beasts opened his mouth and loomed over him. This was it.

A warm, rough tongue washed his face. Then, the lion lowered his head and closed his eyes. 

Jason couldn’t identify the noise that came out of his throat. It vaguely reminded him of Alfred’s tea kettle. 

Alfred. 

Bruce. 

Shit. Sheila. 

What happened? Where was he? 

He tried to move; get an arm under him so he could look around. Agony shot through him and he hissed in pain. The lion opened an eye and rumbled at him, glaring reproachfully. He stilled and the cat closed his eyes again.

“What the fuck.” Jason whispered and closed his own eyes. What even was his life? What could he do? He couldn’t move. He couldn’t run. He couldn’t call for help… Jason closed his eyes and wished, desperately, that someone would find him. That Bruce would come.

Before he knew it the sun was beating down on him. Jason cautiously opened his eyes again. How did he even go to sleep? Movement at his side sent adrenaline racing through him again. Shit, were they going to eat him now?

Unwillingly, a whimper worked its way out his throat as the lioness jostled him while getting up him. He didn’t want to know how badly he was hurt but it must be pretty awful. How was he even alive?

She turned to regard him where he lay on the grass and Jason just… surrendered. You know what? If he was going to die, at least being eaten by lions was a good way to go. She came closer and he prepared himself for the bite. It would be quick, right? He hoped.

Instead, she just… butted her head against his and he felt that rough sandpaper tongue on his face again. 

What the ever-loving fuck.

She butted him with her head again, this time in the shoulder.  And again, a little more forcefully. He groaned and tried to move away. He noticed he didn’t hurt as much as he did the night before. She followed, gently bumping him with her head until he’d rolled over, half on the male. 

He turned one golden eye on Jason, regarding him calmly. 

The lioness trotted to the other side and reached over her mate to gently nibble at Jason’s side.

“What do you want?” He asked, plaintive, but she’d hooked one canine in his Robin uniform and pulled him over the back of the male, ignoring his squawk. Almost immediately the male rose, leaving Jason to scramble for a hold with his good arm wrapped tightly in his mane.

This was a whole new level of weird. He had to be hallucinating. 

The lion started to walk and then he started to trot, sending fire through the boy’s very bones. His mate kept close, ever vigilant. Against what, Jason didn’t know and didn’t have the mental capacity to wonder. He squeezed his eyes tight and prayed for an end to the pain. 

As they rounded the edge of a hill, something in the air changed. He opened his eyes on instinct and nearly let go of the lion in surprise. They were in an oasis. Lush vegetation and lined their path, the air thick with the scent of clean water. 

The lions slowed as they rounded another bend and Jason’s breath was taken away as a temple came into view. Gleaming white stone and gold glinting in the sunlight. The cats trotted right through and into the courtyard of the temple where men and woman gowned in diaphanous cloth, gold, and jewels looked on curiously. 

Jason whimpered as gentle hands reached for him, carefully pulling him from animal cradling him in their arms.