Five minutes later, Clark and Nikita were sitting across from each other at Clark's kitchen table sipping coffee, both waiting for the other to break the silence. Finally Clark did.

"Who are you and why were those men trying to kill you?"

Nikita laughed; trying to kill her, now there was an understatement; instead of answering his question, Nikita responded with one of her own.

"How is it you got me from Metropolis to this farm in seconds?"

Clark looked into her green eyes, meeting her gaze with one of his own.

"Why should I tell you? After all, you won't even tell me your name."

"It's Nikita" she finally said, deciding to trust the young man with her name. After all, it wasn't as if she had told him anything of actual importance.

"All right Nikita. Now how about you explain why those men were trying to kill you?" he asked again, his gaze telling her he wouldn't be answering any of her questions until he was given a few answers of his own.

"What I'm about to tell you is something very few people know about. This information will paint a target on your back so large that every major government agency in America will be hunting you down if they find out you know this. Are you sure you can handle that?"

Clark looked into Nikita's eyes as he thought about the question she had just posed to him. Could he handle the fact that the government could be hunting him for possibly the rest of his life all because he wanted answers from a woman he had just met? Clark thought about it and was sorely tempted to just leave his questions unanswered and allow Nikita to go wherever she was planning on going; he wouldn't fool himself, he knew the beautiful woman in front of him(and yes, he could easily admit she was beautiful) would not stay in Smallville any longer than absolutely necessary. He could see it in her eyes. She would be leaving as soon as she possibly could; if it wasn't for her curiosity about Clark he was sure she would've already been miles away. However as he continued to stare into Nikita's eyes he realized that he didn't care if the government was hunting him. Nikita's eyes showed pain, much as his own did most days, especially after losing his father the previous winter. He knew he wanted to help her, to take away her pain if he could and he knew that the only way he could do that was if he heard whatever secret she was about to share.

After all, when's the last time I haven't been keeping secrets?

"I can handle it" he replied and Nikita looked into his eyes, impressed at the determination she saw there. She nodded once before she began to speak.

"The people who were hunting me are part of a government group called Division. They take people who are down on their luck, typically criminals and offer them a chance to 'serve' their country. These people are typically pretty girls or handsome guys, possibly bilingual but they all have one thing in common. They're all declared dead and then they get trained."

"Trained for what?"

"Trained to be an assassin. Guns, knives, nails, blow darts you name it, they're trained to use it to kill. I was one of them until I broke one of their rules."

"What rule?"

"I fell in love with a civilian. They killed him and that was when I decided that I wasn't going to be a pawn in their games anymore."

Clark reached over and put his hand on Nikita's, attempting to comfort her. He knew what it was like to have someone you loved killed. He thought of Alicia and how Tim had killed her and he couldn't help the look of pain that crossed his face.

"So now they want you dead" Clark said and Nikita nodded her head again before looking down at Clark's hand covering her own. Typically she would've broken someone's hand for so much as touching her but as she looked up from their intertwined hands, she saw that Clark also knew the pain of losing someone he had loved. She smiled at the young man across the table, appreciating the fact that he was attempting to ease some of her pain. It had been seven years but she still carried the pain of Daniel's loss with her every day.

Clark smiled in return before standing up and taking their now empty coffee mugs to the kitchen sink.

"Thank you for saving my life Clark but I've got to go they could already know I'm here."

"Answer me this Nikita. When's the last time you had a decent night's sleep?"

Nikita thought about it and realized that it had been months, no years since she'd had a full night's sleep. Even when she'd gotten her apartment she'd only had a few hours a night before she would wake up to continue attempting to destroy Division. Clark didn't wait for a response, he just motioned for Nikita to follow him.

"Go ahead and get some sleep, I'll keep an eye out."

"What about you?"

"I'll be fine, goodnight."

"Goodnight and thank you again for saving me Clark."

Nikita kissed his cheek before walking into the room and collapsing on Clark's bed. She was asleep in minutes.