His hands reached and held both of hers between his palms before she had finished making herself stay still. Feel the absence. Yes, he was going to, too--

But before he could find the right words for that, she asked what she did, and his eyes flew open wide while his body turned rigid with the strain of conditioning combating overwritten knowledge.

Very, very carefully, he made sure he wasn't squeezing her hands too tight. He didn't let go, though, because the warmth of the touch was like an anchor. A very, very necessary anchor. "I... I don't..." The words came out labored, hard. "I don't know."

But even as he was saying it, a name floated up that didn't match any of the aliases that he had used. So he took a deep breath and tried it out. "James. I think my names is James."

Suddenly, his mind was quiet again. Calm.