{alltv} 'Nikita's' Maggie Q: About that Nikita/Ryan Fletcher kiss in 'Free'...

n the preview for "Nikita's" Jan. 27 episode, "Free," we see a few new things: Alex's (Lyndsy Fonseca) new apartment, Alex's new love interest Nathan (Thad Luckinbill) and Nikita (Maggie Q) kissing Ryan Fletcher (Noah Bean). Yeah, that last one through us for a loop.

Naturally, we had to ask (read: bug) Maggie about The Kiss when we caught up with her at The CW's winter television critics association press tour. Funnily enough, she didn't even know the kiss made it into the episode's preview. "How funny," she says with a laugh.

Maggie knows the kiss probably won't make fans of Michael (Shane West) and Nikita's sort of relationship too happy ("I bet!" was her exact reponse to fans' negative reactions), but attempts to clear the air without giving too much away: "What you'll under stand when you see the episode: The context of the kiss, what she puts him through. I like Ryan Fletcher and Nikita's relationship because they're definitely going to work together and I don't know that it's romantic in that she kissed him out of passion."

In the episode description, it says "While interrogating Birkhoff (Aaron Stanford), Nikita stuns Ryan by revealing a secret." We can only guess what kind of secret warrants a kiss as an apology of sorts.

"She puts him through a sh*tload in that episode and at the end he's just so mad at her and so exasperated and the kiss is almost like a promise," she explains. "Like, 'Listen, it's gonna be okay and I'm gonna make it better and I promise you that.' It's more along those lines." The man was set up by his own government as a terrorist. A kiss from a hot chick should be the least of his worries.

Maggie hints that while that kiss might not have romantic intentions, Nikita may have a few possible love interests this season, including Ryan Fletcher. "We are creating question marks for people," she says with a sly smile.

So what was her reaction when she learned Nikita would be kissing Ryan? "I was reading the script and I was like, 'I get to kiss someone! Awesome! Finally!' She's never kissed anyone. It's like the first time. I'm so excited."

Don't miss "Nikita's" all-new episode,"Free," Thursday, Jan. 27, at 9 pm ET on The CW.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ij3k7Sh5ZV4