BIOGRAPHY - Page 18
The final notes of Daredevil’s secret identity crisis came to a head when Kingpin offered Murdock’s identity to the FBI in exchange for immunity. Fisk had been arrested months earlier, but the Feds had been unable to assemble evidence for a solid case against him. Meanwhile, Murdock had been thumbing his nose at the authorities constantly, all-but admitting he was Daredevil, but suing and defying anyone who claimed it publicly. The FBI Director had begun taking Murdock’s behavior personally and was willing to deal with Fisk in order to have SOME case to hang his reputation on. To ensure the deal was kept, Kingpin insisted on leaking the existence of their negotiations and his “Murdock Papers,” proving Daredevil’s identity to the press through Ben Urich.
When Black Widow learned about the negotiations, she tried to arrange for S.H.I.E.L.D. to quash the FBI’s efforts. However, Nick Fury had been replaced by Maria Hill, who had no existing relationship with the Black Widow and was extremely by-the-book. Hill refused to interfere in another agency’s case on her behalf. Natasha recognized this was the end of Murdock’s private life, and she visited Foggy Nelson in an effort to have him and Matt permanently relocated before everything fell apart. She found Matt conversing with Elektra, who knew about the Murdock 
Papers from her time as Kingpin’s assassin. Black Widow had little respect for the assassin to begin with, and knowing she recently took over the Hand only made it worse. Black Widow and Elektra squared off as Daredevil tried to decide what to do. Former FBI agent Angela del Toro, the new White Tiger, also met with them outside the lawyer’s office where the papers were kept. However, Elektra revealed Bullseye also knew about the Papers.
Daredevil wasn’t playing around when it came to Bullseye. Matthew broke Angela’s arm and threw her off a roof rather than let a rookie hero try to fight the assassin. While Daredevil and Elektra engaged Bullseye, Matt begged Natasha to find Mila Donovan – with whom he had just reconciled – and get her to safety. Only as she found Mila’s hotel did they learn via television that Daredevil was shot after defeating Bullseye. Elektra brought Daredevil to the Night Nurse, and Natasha and Mila caught up with them there. Natasha remained suspicious of Elektra as she called in Hand mystics to help speed Matt’s healing. All parties converged on the Night Nurse’s clinic, and 
Daredevil ultimately turned himself in to the FBI for crimes of conspiracy, obstruction and more trumped-up charges. There was nothing more Natasha could do for him. [Daredevil (2nd series) #77-80] In the aftermath, she tried to make good with Angela del Toro, who didn’t deserve Murdock’s treatment of her. Black Widow helped White Tiger get some proper costuming as a masked vigilante and helped her fight the Chaeyi organization. [White Tiger #1-6]
When the Superhuman Registration Act was brought before Congress, super-heroes began choosing sides over whether to support the law with Iron Man or oppose it with Captain America. Natasha chose to stand with S.H.I.E.L.D. and the American government as a registered hero. [Civil War (1st series) #3] She believed in Tony’s ideas but had a bitter parting with Steve Rogers over her reasons for supporting the Act. He thought she was too in favor of being controlled by the State, in order to avoid making decisions for herself. It only made things worse when Natasha suggested she needed to be close to Tony in case it became necessary to take him down – a spy’s logic, but a preemptive betrayal in Cap’s eyes. [Black Widow: Deadly Origin #4] The final battle of the Superhuman Civil War spilled over into the streets of New York and Captain America finally surrendered, paving the way for the 50 State Initiative. [Civil War (1st series) #6-7]
Deputy Director Maria Hill did not seem impressed by Black Widow’s show of loyalty to S.H.I.E.L.D., and kept her out of the field, leading training regimes for new recruits. Fortunately, 
Senior Director Tony Stark and Ms. Marvel decided to recruit Natasha for the registered Avengers team, acting for the New York Initiative. This new roster was barely in place when Mole Man attacked Manhattan and the worldwide weather patterns were thrown into chaos by Ultron. When Ultron’s attack incapacitated Stark and Hill, S.H.I.E.L.D. protocol surprisingly dictated that a Level Ten clearance agent like Black Widow superceded command authority of other officers. Natasha assumed control of the Helicarrier during the crisis, forced into demonstrating her impressive leadership skills for perhaps the first time since her tenure as Avengers chairwoman. [Mighty Avengers (1st series) #1-6]
While the registered Avengers fought to defend the country and the law, they also worked as rotating training officers for the Registration Act’s new recruits at Camp Hammond. Black Widow instructed many trainees in the art of combat, especially a promising young sniper named Cloud 9. [Avengers: The Initiative #3] Not all of their missions were comfortable to perform. Many of Captain America’s allies remained unregistered vigilantes, a second team of Avengers on the run from S.H.I.E.L.D. and the Initiative. Natasha and her team set a trap for Wolverine and the other outlaw Avengers and tried to hunt them down at Doctor Strange’s sanctum. [New Avengers (1st series) #28-30] When Black Widow, Wonder Man and newly recruited Avenger Ares, the God of 
War, were sent to bring in the recalcitrant Hercules, Natasha had to think hard about her allegiances. Ares deliberated poisoned Hercules with hydra blood to drive him into a berserker rage with the pain, giving him an excuse to kill his hated brother. With Ares out of the fight temporarily, Natasha burned the poison from Hercules, restoring his sanity. Remembering her own time together with Hercules, the Black Widow allowed him to leave unmolested, regardless of what Ares or S.H.I.E.L.D. thought. [Incredible Hercules #112-114]
Captain America was assassinated by agents of the Red Skull after being detained for resisting the Registration Act. As head of S.H.I.E.L.D. and the Initiative, Tony Stark declared there would be no new Captain America to replace him and kept Cap’s shield in S.H.I.E.L.D. custody. In recent months, however, Cap finally learned his old partner Bucky Barnes had survived and been brainwashed as the Winter Soldier. One of his last acts before the civil war was restoring Bucky’s mind to him. The Winter Soldier held a grudge against Stark for Steve’s death and wouldn’t let anyone else carry on Captain America’s legacy. He made a strike on the S.H.I.E.L.D. facility 
holding the shield, forcing them to move it. Black Widow was assigned to make the delivery after the decoy convoy left, bringing Natalia and James face-to-face for the first time in decades. Natasha had never quite believed the rumors about the Winter Soldier back in the day, and Bucky hadn’t realized before now that the modern Black Widow was the same Natalia he once knew. Black Widow tried to stop Bucky from claiming the shield, but he was still one of her finest trainers, and he succeeded in recovering the shield from her. [Captain America (5th series) #27]
Iron Man surprised the Avengers one morning by adding the unregistered Spider-Woman to the team, bringing her in from their rival vigilante Avengers. Natasha in particular found Jessica Drew’s sudden change of heart to be suspicious and was concerned Spider-Woman intended to betray them to Luke Cage’s Avengers. Jessica defended herself, citing her own history as a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent and Natasha’s tendency to change sides as counterarguments. They were drawn into a crisis situation when a “symbiote bomb” began mutating people in Manhattan into Venom-like creatures. The Avengers solved the problem and traced the technology back to Doctor 
Doom in Latveria. The Avengers and S.H.I.E.L.D. successfully raided the country and captured Doom, thanks in part to Spider-Woman’s electro-projective abilities overcoming Doom’s equipment. Afterwards, Black Widow lightly probed Spider-Woman about this, for the effect she generated didn’t match S.H.I.E.L.D. files about her “venom bursts.” Jessica was unable to provide an explanation which satisfied Natasha, and her suspicions began to grow. [Mighty Avengers (1st series) #7-11]
Natasha remained involved in the Winter Soldier case for Iron Man and S.H.I.E.L.D. She determined Barnes intended to go after Tony Stark personally but was also hunting the Red Skull for his involvement in Cap’s death. Natasha discovered Falcon and Sharon Carter were also investigating the Skull, and they joined forces. However, Sharon had been compromised by the hypnotist Doctor Faustus, and she disabled Natasha and Sam before fleeing to her new masters. They tracked down Faustus’s lair, where Bucky had already been captured after brazenly confronting the Red Skull. Faustus and Sharon escaped, but Bucky was recovered and taken into S.H.I.E.L.D. custody. [Captain America (5th series) #29-32]
Once aboard the Helicarrier, the Winter Soldier escaped his restraints and attacked Iron Man directly, but Stark gave him a letter written by Steve Rogers in the event of his death, begging Tony to save Bucky if he needed it. Stark agreed that no one but Bucky could be trusted to fill Steve’s shoes, and he outfitted James with a newly-designed Captain America uniform to use as 
he saw fit. Because their deal was personal, Stark could not openly support an unregistered hero. However, Black Widow agreed to work with James in his role as the new Captain America, providing him aid as he made a public debut fighting against R.A.I.D. and other forces orchestrated by the Red Skull and Aleksander Lukin. Once he caught the media’s attention, Black Widow had to pull back from working alongside this unregistered Captain America. As they parted, though, Natalia let James tentatively know she hadn’t forgotten him, or their time together. [Captain America (5th series) #33-36]