BIOGRAPHY - Page 25
A shocking turn of events struck the world when Captain America was revealed as a deep cover loyalist to Hydra. Haling from a distorted version of history he intended to impose on this reality, the Captain manipulated himself into a position of legitimate, uncontested control over America thanks to the S.H.I.E.L.D. Emergency Powers Act. One of Rogers’ first acts was allowing the murder of Bucky Barnes by his new chief ally, Baron Zemo. Many heroes were contained beneath a Darkforce dome over New York or corrupted into Hydra’s service. Black Widow and Hawkeye came together and led an Underground resistance movement of heroes and dissidents that eventually made camp at the Pantheon’s abandoned base at the Mount. The extreme circumstances surprisingly rekindled the old feelings between Natasha and Clint. They quietly became lovers while trying to hold together the shellshocked remnants of Earth’s defenders.
Steve Rogers tried to toe the line of maintaining order in Hydra’s America while allowing an “acceptable” level of personal freedom. Resistance activity reached the point where he pushed back, executing Rick Jones and ordering the devastation of Las Vegas, a hotbed of civil disobedience. Hawkeye and Tony Stark had a plan to gather the lost fragments of the Cosmic 
Cube to restore the real Captain America, but the Black Widow could no longer afford to be sentimental. Clint still could not condone the idea of premeditated murder, but Natasha knew “the real Steve” would rather die than be used to cause the deaths of innocent people. She kissed Clint good-bye before knocking him unconscious and fleeing the Mount to carry out her own plan to assassinate Rogers.
Natasha received surprising aid from Miles Morales, the teenaged Spider-Man, and his teammates in the Champions. The NuHuman oracle Ulysses shared a vision months prior of Miles standing defiant over the beaten body of Captain America, a prophecy that only made sense after the Captain’s heel turn. Miles believed it was his destiny to help Natasha defeat Rogers and the Champions came to support their friend. The Black Widow gave the Champions strict training in black ops and spy craft, recreating her own version of the Red Room for their indoctrination. Training on the run, Black Widow and the Champions learned the Supreme Leader’s schedule from fellow revolutionary Maria Hill and arranged for the ambitious Viper to look the other way as they prepared to ambush Steve Rogers at a planned speech. 
Natasha’s hard discipline began to weigh on the Champions, and Miles asked whether the severity of their training was necessary. If the Black Widow harbored any doubts, they were put aside when reports came in that Hydra destroyed the Mount, making her and her students their last hope. As the Champions took their places around the Capitol for Rogers’ speech, though, Natasha chose to lock Miles in in her modified transport. She refused to let Spider-Man convince himself that becoming a killer was necessary, when she could take up the burden for him. With the help of the NuHuman, Mosaic, she started a riot to begin clearing the crowd, and Viper’s tacit assistance kept security from reaching Rogers in time. Unfortunately, Black Widow’s sniper perch 
was interrupted by Frank Castle, as the Punisher had sworn to Hydra and the Captain’s promise of a safer world, by any means necessary. This distraction spoiled her shot and gave Miles Morales time to break free and confront the Captain as destiny foretold. Natasha hobbled Castle and raced through Hydra and the crowds to reach Miles’ side. She succeeded in pushing Spider-Man out of the way as Steve Rogers delivered a killing blow with his shield. The strike hit Black Widow in the neck and spine, and she was already dead before her body hit the ground. [Secret Empire event]
Surprisingly, this was not the end of Natasha’s story. An old Red Room protocol existed to revive agents if they fell during missions. A Russian telepath named Epsilon Red covertly maintained a psychic link with the Widows and other agents, “backing up” their memories through telepathic contact. A cloned body was prepared for Natasha after her death, and she awakened in the Red Room with her memories intact. The Red Room intended to strip Black Widow of the inconvenient memories of her defection and heroism, but Ursa Major of the Winter Guard was at the Red Room facility and objected to Romanov being mistreated this way. Instead, he covertly arranged for Epsilon Red to upload Natasha’s full recollections to her mind, and discreetly warned Natasha to play along with the Red Room operators.
Posing as a loyal agent, Black Widow intended to bring down the Red Room from the inside and prevent their latest crop of young Widows from being exploited as assassins. However, several missions performed by the Red Room caught the attention of Hawkeye and the Winter Soldier, who got involved to determine if Natasha was somehow still alive. Nat was forced to plan around the boys as they interfered with her carefully orchestrated timetable. She framed Barnes for killing her current handler, Alexander Cady, while using his death to reaffirm her loyalties and take his 
position in the Red Room. By the time Clint and James escaped her traps and found the Red Room, Natasha was prepared to take the Room apart. Most of the commander council was killed while Ursa Major got the Widow trainees to safety. Epsilon Red was killed by Natasha, at his own request, to ensure the resurrection protocols could not be revisited. Natasha had reclaimed her life, but she chose to remain legally “dead” for the time being, operating in the shadows instead of the light. [Tales of Suspense #100-104]
Natasha was understandably unforgiving when it came to Hydra. Nick Fury, Jr. made the dubious call of giving the Punisher access to War Machine armor for a mission in Chernaya. It turned into an international incident and Fury gathered a bunch of super-heroes to help capture Frank and retrieve the armor. It took little convincing, as most remembered Castle siding with Hydra and took issue with him abusing their friend’s armor. Black Widow and Winter Soldier were more practical, though – they helped Punisher escape the dragnet to continue making use of him. They brought Castle to the prison where Hydra’s Steve Rogers was being held, and an escape attempt was in progress. Baron Zemo’s extraction failed, but the baron himself escaped. Frank was taken into custody too, with the War Machine armor recovered by Jim Rhodes. However, Natalia and James released Punisher from the prison van so he could continue his hunt for Zemo and the remaining figureheads of Hydra. [Punisher (2nd series) #226-228]
Natasha’s death left her angry and in need of an excuse to vent her violent urges. She traveled to Madripoor expecting to find those who deserved her attention. She located Logan’s old friend Tyger Tiger and learned about No Restraints Play, a dark web site where anonymous members paid to direct the torture and murder of young children. Those children were going missing from the streets of Madripoor, and Tiger wanted them stopped. Tyger Tiger’s cybersecurity employee, Tech Ed, gave Natasha support tracking down the physical location of NRP. The new Prince of Madripoor held a gathering of villains and criminals on his yacht to preach about the new Madripoor, and Natasha suspected him of funding NRP for his “new order.”
Posing as Madame Masque after beating up the original, Natasha negotiated through the likes of Taskmaster, Sabretooth and Baron Zemo before meeting with the Prince. He refused to give up much, but his chief of security Vlad Dorchik proved to be the masked perpetrator who carried out the mutilations in the No Restraints Play videos. Natasha was captured and used as the victim of 
a new NRP life-stream, giving Tech Ed time to trace the private members tuning in. Black Widow freed herself and took revenge on Vlad, killing him during the live feed. While Natasha kept security busy, Tyger Tiger found her location thanks to Ed and freed the other children still held in captivity. Natasha burned down the No Restraints Play warehouse and got the children back to Tyger’s Princess Bar for recuperation.
In order to get the evidence necessary to bring down the Prince, Tech Ed told Black Widow and Tyger Tiger they needed to access his personal network manually. When they confronted the Prince and hooked up Ed’s hard drive, though, the device actually turned out to be a homing beacon for a remote-guided missile. Tech Ed proved to be the true mastermind behind No Restraints Play, manipulating the Prince and Tyger Tiger against each other while he reaped the benefits. The Prince died in the missile strike, but Tyger and Natasha escaped. Black Widow tracked down Ed’s 
private yacht where he claimed to be the survivor of child abduction himself. He said his entire scheme was meant to bankrupt the voyeurs behind sites like No Restraints Play, and he didn’t care who got hurt along the way. In his own tortured way, Ed wanted Natasha to kill him now that he’d stolen all the clients’ money. He turned his gun on her, and she obliged. Black Widow brought the electronic record of the stolen billions to Tyger Tiger, as monetary support for helping the victim children start new lives and recover from their ordeals. [Black Widow (7th series) #1-5]
At her dead drop in Madripoor, Natasha was surprised to find a “gift” from Wolverine – an Infinity Stone. These stones were back in play and being hunted by various figures, so Logan left the Space Stone with Nat knowing she could keep it safe. Not fond of the new target on her back, Natasha did enjoy having the ability to teleport for a time. Her stone was sought after by Jamie 
Braddock, using children as trackers thanks to the dark arts. Natasha rescued the children with the help of Merlin and got Braddock off her tail. [Infinity Countdown #1, Infinity Countdown: Black Widow #1] She was also paranoid enough to recognize that somebody was listening to her through her stone, and she brought it to Doctor Strange. Stephen had the Time Stone himself and determined that the formerly low-rate criminal Turk Barrett was the eavesdropper, now holding the Mind Stone. [Infinity Countdown #5]
This increase in Infinity Stone activity on Earth meant that Thanos or other cosmic powers would inevitably seek them out. Doctor Strange arranged for a new Infinity Watch to gather and discuss how best to protect the six stones, including Captain Marvel with the Reality Stone, Adam Warlock with the Soul Stone and Peter Quill and the Guardians with the Power Stone. Natasha acted as a spotter and sniper during the meeting, keeping Turk and the other players honest. However, the Power Stone had already been stolen and replaced with a fake by Gamora of the Guardians. Driven to obsession to possess all the stones, Gamora became Requiem and killed Thanos with the Power Stone before traveling to Earth to gather the rest. Despite the Infinity Watch’s efforts, she proved successful. [Infinity Wars #1-3]
Although still officially dead, Black Widow remained active in the shadows and supporting her allies. At Captain America’s request, she infiltrated RoXXon to keep an eye on a potential asset, the Hulk & Wolverine hybrid known as Weapon H. [Weapon H #8-12] When Malekith and the Ten Realms invaded Midgard, Black Widow and Weapon H were among the “War Avengers” who helped Captain Marvel hold the line on Earth while the Avengers led strike teams into the other Realms. [War of the Realms event] She also hired Domino and the Posse to help prevent a Celestial artifact known as the Creation Constellation from falling into the wrong hands. [Domino: Hotshots #1-5]
The Punisher’s hunt for Baron Zemo turned hot again when the villain made a deal with the Mayor of New York, Wilson Fisk. Retreating into his old hero identity as Citizen V and the Thunderbolts, Zemo publicly presented himself as part of a task force to bring in nefarious serial killer Frank Castle. With the arrival of 400 United Nations soldiers as support, Frank was facing legitimate resistance, in more ways than one. Black Widow got involved to help Punisher reach Zemo, first by informing him the “U.N.” troops were actually Hydra and not innocent soldiers, and second by recruiting allies like Moon Knight, Night Thrasher, Rachel Cole-Alves and Ghost Rider. In the end, Zemo was seemingly killed, but Frank was ready to finish the job on the Kingpin, too. Nick Fury stepped in with his own hero support, and Black Widow seemingly took the shot to kill Punisher and protect the Mayor of New York. As he fell over the side of the building, though, Frank’s body was never recovered. Fury rightfully suspected the Widow helped the Punisher escape. [Punisher (12th series) #13-16]
As time passed, Natasha felt her memories slipping away. She feared something had gone wrong when her memory impulses were uploaded into the cloned body she currently inhabited. Around the same time, somebody began killing off the benefiting parties of Natasha’s old Red Room 
missions, the hereditary millionaires who rose to prominence after Natasha murdered their competition years, or even decades ago. While hunting down the killer, Black Widow crossed paths with many former allies like Iron Man, Winter Soldier, Hawkeye and Yelena Belova. She discovered the killer was posing as her using an image inducer and was left to defend her name when she was caught on the scene of several incidents.
In time, the killer revealed herself as Recluse. Anya disclosed she had a DNA virus introduced into Natasha’s clone at the Red Room, a delayed activation which would slowly cause her memories to fade away. She hoped to destroy Natasha’s reputation and her mind before taking her life. 
Unfortunately for her, Recluse underestimated the Black Widow. She had expected Natasha to go it alone, fighting to clear her name without any help. The modern Black Widow was a very different woman than the one Anya grew up with, however. Instead, Natasha had quickly opened up about her memory concerns and the possible imposter to all her friends along the way. Rather than hiding and compartmentalizing intelligence, the Black Widow trusted her allies with her secrets and enlisted their aid. Iron Man cleansed the nano-inhibitors blocking her memories, and together the Black Widow and her friends set Recluse up for an easy capture. [Web of Black Widow #1-5]