Part I: She's Been Everybody Else's Girl, Maybe Someday She'll Be Her Own

Falling Down as the Winter Takes One More Cherry Tree

A/N: I forgot to mention this earlier, but titles are lyrics from Tori Amos' Girl (because redheads should stick together). And shout-out to the real Go Eun Choi, who is the reason I passed physics.

Go Eun Choi was a businesswoman, journeying home to visit a cousin, Jin-Taek. He was several years her junior, and was working on his Ph. D. in physics. They hadn't seen each other since they were children, so Natasha Romanoff was hoping to pass for the woman long enough to get him out of the country. AIM had been attempting to recruit him for some time, and was likely to step up their methods if he continued to refuse.

Wearing a hydrostatic mask to resemble her cover, Natasha boarded her plane and was pleased to find that her seat was in first class. It certainly paid off to work for someone else, she thought as she made herself comfortable. While she flew, she read up on the Choi family and Jin-Taek's projects. It was hardly surprising that AIM was after him, given the potentially violent nature of his work.

Fury had left the mask as well as an info packet with her ticket, and she'd been relieved to have so little to do on her own. After perusing the intel, she did her best to get some sleep – she didn't drop off quite as easily as Clint did in the field, but she managed. Going on an op tired was never a good idea, even with one as simple as this one. It was nice of Fury to start her out easy.

The plane landed in Seoul and she took a taxi to Jin-Taek's school. It was early afternoon, so she decided to search the labs first – it was unlikely he'd have gone home yet, according to her information. No one stopped her as she walked through them, enjoying the sight of all the interesting experiments being conducted. She was no tech-genius like Tony Stark, but she could appreciate what she saw.

"Go Eun?" someone questioned, and Natasha had the presence of mind to look up.

"Jin-Taek!" she called in response, walking across the lab. He was standing outside an office, having just pulled the door shut behind him.

"I didn't expect you until tomorrow," he said slowly, seeming suspicious.

"I caught an earlier flight," she responded, relieved that he was speaking English so her Korean didn't have to be put to the test yet.

"Hmm. Well, do you want to see what I'm working on?"

She smiled as she considered how to get him to leave the country. Her orders had not specified what should happen to his research, but she didn't feel comfortable leaving it here. "Of course, but then we need to talk," she told him quietly.

Frowning slightly, he nodded, and led the way into his office. She listened politely as he discussed his designs and she tried not to think about the kind of damage they could do to civilians. Much of her mission had been left up to her, without a specific time-table to get him out of the country. She felt that sooner was always better – tonight, if possible. Fury had given her coordinates to which to bring him after they landed in Poland. Why Poland she didn't know, but it was familiar enough to her not to be questioned.

"What do you think, Go Eun?" Jin-Taek asked, seeming concerned at her thoughtfulness.

"It's wonderful. But don't you worry about how it might be used?"

His suspicions seemed aroused again and he looked hard at her. "You are not Go Eun. I told you people before – I will not work for you!" he snarled, moving hastily back and reaching for a drawer in his desk.

She held up her hands. "You're right. I'm not Go Eun. But I am not from AIM, either. I'm here to get you and your work out of here," she told him slowly, gently.