"I wouldn't tell anyone."

He's quick to say it, but that doesn't make it any less true. He can't imagine who he'd tell, and he can't imagine why he'd want to. Because the scenario Ned describes is all too easy for him to imagine, people coming after Ned, wanting to use him for their own bizarre purposes, wanting to take him apart to figure out how how he works.

"I know I can't... I mean, I have no idea of possibly imagining how you have to live your life so nobody finds out. I can't imagine that. I'm an imaginative guy but my imagination fails me there because even though I have a lot of secrets they're not like that. But I know how people can be. I know what they..."

He swallows hard, because all of a sudden all kinds of thoughts are occurring to him, unpleasant ones, springing into his head completely unbidden and unwanted. He closes his eyes for a moment, taking a deep breath. "I know what people are capable of. Believe me, and I can't necessarily tell you why right now, because this isn't about me, but I know. And I know that you're right, that they might do that to you. So I'm not telling anyone. Not ever."

And he's still not pulling away his hand, either.