He was fine when they started. He could hear it, the voice, almost humming happily in his head when he left the house.

Good, good. Turn down here, it said, just as Justin turned the way the voice told him.

And for a while everything was fine. They scurried along the streets in shadow, heading for 21st, Joey’s street.

At the corner of 17th and Main, the voice said, turn down here and JC almost did and Justin grabbed his arm and wrenched him backwards, pushing into the wall of a recessed doorway.

“You out of your mind?” Justin hissed, pressing him back, holding him with his arms and legs as JC pushed to get free. “Lance, clamp his mouth.”

He felt Lance’s hands press against his mouth, heard his voice in his ear. “JC, be quiet.”

Go go go go.

His eyes moved to the side, watching the street, and saw the lights of a Guard vehicle.

Go go go go. The voice in his head became insistent and he felt the first brief licks of pain, up and down his spine.

NO! He forced himself to relax against the wall. “No,” he muttered against Lance’s hand, and felt the pain flare up and down his body. Justin was the only thing that kept him upright.

“What’s wrong?” he heard them both whisper, urgently but quietly.

“They called,” he rasped. “It wanted me to go.”

Justin held him up when they stopped. When they were moving, inertia was enough to keep him upright, keep him moving. But he couldn’t stop.

The pain was almost something he didn’t notice anymore. The brief moments of respite only served to remind him of how much pain he would endure when it came back.

Still, he wouldn’t be left behind.

He almost didn’t notice when Lance yelled; Justin clapped a hand over his mouth so quickly that JC thought he might have imagined it. But he slumped heavily against the wall and barely stopped himself from sliding down it and Justin hissed, “shut up” at Lance while Lance struggled against Justin’s hands.

JC leaned around the corner. He knew Joey was down there, that was why Lance had yelled, why he was still fighting against Justin, trying to get free. He saw Joey’s body a little further down the street. Joey wasn’t moving.

He didn’t remember how they got there, but when he opened his eyes again, Lance was holding Joey, crouching against the wall behind a dumpster, and Joey was singing. Not really singing, so much as gasping out words while Lance cried.

“How bad is he?” JC asked Justin.

“Shot in the stomach. He’s gonna die.”

Save him.

With the words, he noticed that the pain was gone, totally gone. How? he asked himself.

He didn’t look down, but he could feel it, feel the swelling of his cock under his coverall as he stared down at Joey. The fuck?

Save him.

He looked at Justin, at Lance and Joey, down at himself. Class three, class three what?

Healer. You can heal him.

Joey stopped singing and Justin looked over and saw his hard on all in the same moment.

“No, Joey,” Lance gasped as Justin pushed him and said, “What the hell?”

“I can save him,” JC said. “I’m activated; I’m a healer.”

“How?” Lance asked, never taking his eyes off Joey’s face.

“Sex, I think its sex.”

“Think?” Justin hissed.

“I know.” He knelt next to Lance and rested a hand on his shoulder. “Will you let me?”

Lance nodded.

Joey lay across Lance’s chest, his breath shallow and fractured against Lance’s neck and his legs spread outside of Lance’s. Justin had pulled his coverall down over his ass and JC knelt behind him, looking into Lance’s eyes.

Do it now.

“You ready?” he asked.

Now.

Lance’s arms tightened around Joey’s torso, hitching him up and closer. “Yes,” he whispered.

JC nodded, closed his eyes, and pressed forward. The moment he entered Joey, the voice took over, seemed to control his thoughts, his movements, everything.

Keep going it said, and he could feel something stirring inside him, warm and tingling but different from sexual tension or pleasure- similar, but different.

He moved in and out, pushing into Joey and he caught Lance’s eyes once, but looked away, shut his eyes so all he could see were the patterns on his eyelids. He could feel the warmth gathering inside him, low in his belly, eager and pushing forward, flowing through him into Joey.

He opened his eyes and saw Joey’s lips move, forming words he couldn’t hear or understand. He felt the big body stirring under his, squirming and healing and accepting.

Faster it said and he didn’t think he could, didn’t think Joey could stand it, but he couldn’t stop himself anymore and moved faster and faster until all at once the energy moved from him to Joey, rushing with his climax and he couldn’t see, hear, or feel anything anymore.