Natasha Romanoff and Clark Kent never believed they could find love. She had done too many things, taken too many lives. He had brought pain and suffering to those he cared for. All of that would change when their eyes met, and they were the only two in the room.

Natasha Romanoff sighed as she prepared for her first class, still unsure if she was doing the right thing. Teaching wasn't her strong suit, not unless the lesson involved sneaking past an enemy or eliminating a target. Teaching Russian to high school students was not something she would have ever imagined herself doing, and especially not in a small town in the middle of nowhere Kansas. The place was called Smallville for goodness sake! However, despite the name and admittedly strange events that took place there, it was also what Natasha needed most. Somewhere where she wouldn't be recognized by most people, someplace that was far away from the shadow cast by the Black Widow.

She remembered she had told Steve that she needed to find a new cover, but if she was honest with herself she didn't want a new cover. She wanted to find out who she was, if she had a chance to be someone besides the Black Widow. Oh she knew that she could have disappeared anywhere in the world, and she had been tempted to go much further than Smallville, Kansas. However, she had decided to come to Smallville, wanting to see a piece of the planet she had been fighting for, and just maybe, find some peace for herself.

The sound of the bell broke her out of her thoughts, and Natasha sighed before allowing her face to slip into an expressionless mask. Let the madness commence.

"Hey Clark, I hear the new teacher's a total babe." Pete said, and Clark chuckled while beside him, Chloe just rolled her eyes at Pete's words. However, Clark stopped laughing as soon as he walked into the classroom. Standing there in a black skirt and white blouse was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. With red hair that came down to her shoulders and piercing green eyes, their new teacher was most definitely a babe. For a moment she met his gaze, the young man having the strangest feeling, as though they were the only two in the room. But then that moment ended as she broke eye contact, and Clark moved to his desk, unsure what he was feeling.

"Good afternoon, and welcome to Russian 101. My name is Miss Romanoff, and I will be your instructor for the coming year."

Natasha was pleased that the vast majority of the students had almost no reaction to her name. Two of the students started when they heard her name, their reaction so small that most would not have noticed it, but years of training with the KGB and later with S.H.I.E.L.D. had made Natasha an expert at seeing things most overlooked.

Chloe Sullivan was no surprise. The editor for the school paper called the Torch, the young blonde seemed to constantly seek out trouble, and so too did her friend. Clark Kent. She had known about him for a couple of years thanks to her work on potential recruits for the Avengers Initiative. He had been one of the most promising, and the logical thing would have been to recruit him, or at least tell Fury. But something held her back. Something had stopped her from doing what was logical. Instead, she had destroyed any and all information regarding Clark Kent, believing that that would be the end of it.

Then again, she never expected S.H.I.E.L.D. to be compromised, never expected to end up in Smallville. And she most certainly didn't expect to lay eyes on Clark Kent. But the moment she did, it was as if they were the only two in the room. Then she broke eye contact, resisting the urge to shake her head. She didn't know what she was feeling, but she knew she didn't like it.

"Do you have a moment?"

His voice broke into her thoughts, and she resisted the overwhelming urge to look into his eyes. She wasn't sure how, but she knew if she did, if she looked into his eyes, then he would see everything. Her every sin would be laid bare, and he would despise her. And for some reason that unsettled her. She hadn't said two words to him, but for some reason the thought of his disgust filled her with a gut-wrenching terror that was even worse than the fear she felt during the Red Room program so many years ago.

"Only a moment." She replied, still keeping her eyes on her desk.

"I just wanted to thank you."

His words were so unexpected that she found herself looking up, green eyes meeting blue. And what she saw in his eyes surprised her even more. There was no disgust, no condemnation, no anger, no fear. Not even the lust that she saw in the eyes of every other male in her class. Instead, she just saw gratitude. Gratitude, respect, and dare she think...acceptance?

She didn't speak, just nodded in a silent acknowledgment. Clark smiled before turning and walking out the door, leaving a confused yet strangely hopeful Natasha Romanoff behind.

Please tell me if I should continue!