BIOGRAPHY - Page 4
Natasha was finally separate from her old masters and wanted to pursue a genuine relationship with Clint. To Hawkeye, this meant getting the Black Widow accepted onto the Avengers and bringing them both full circle on their villainous path. Natasha wanted the redemption which being an Avenger would signify, but privately she wondered whether she would really fit in with Earth’s Mightiest Heroes. Some of the Avengers felt the same, and the active founding member Goliath was particularly vocal about his concerns. The Black Widow assisted the Avengers against the Sons of the Serpent and later the alien conqueror Ixar. When the other Avengers were knocked out, Black Widow and Hawkeye were responsible for defeating Ixar. However, Natasha claimed victory by threatening to murder Ixar’s human host, a violation of the Avengers bylaws. Hawkeye failed to deter Ixar when he made the same ploy because the alien knew it was a bluff. Looking into Natasha’s eyes, though, Ixar knew she was not joking. [Avengers (1st series) #32-37]
Hawkeye continued to push for a vote on Black Widow’s membership in the Avengers, while discreetly covering the full details of how she defeated Ixar. On the day the vote was to be held, however, Black Widow was contacted by S.H.I.E.L.D. Natasha had reached out to Colonel Nick Fury, believing his peace-keeping espionage force might have better use of her abilities than a team of colorful crime-fighters. Fury agreed to give Natasha a chance, but as a double agent. He instructed the Black Widow to steal America’s plans for an atomic submarine in order to buy her way back into favor with her Communist benefactors. The plans were obsolete, but the theft needed to look real in order to convince foreign spies watching her moves, and so Natasha couldn’t even tell Clint and the Avengers what she was really doing. In order to prove herself to her adopted homeland, the Black Widow lied to Hawkeye and withdrew her application for membership. [Avengers (1st series) #38]
[Note: Black Widow (3rd series) #6 revealed that Red Room agents were treated to respond to a particular bio-chemical pheromone. Anyone wearing the scent could pressure Black Widows for obedience, and the Widows could not commit violence against that person. According to a Red Room scientist, Nick Fury stole the chemical and used it to engineer Natasha’s defection. When confronted, Fury didn’t deny it.]
Black Widow carried on with Fury’s plan, attacking the defense installation and making off with the submarine blueprints. She was declared an enemy of the state in America as she stole a jet and fled back to Communist China. Natasha made contact with Colonel Ling, the man responsible for 
her brainwashing and Nick Fury’s intended target. Ling was suspicious of Black Widow’s return, and had her subjected to the Psychotron, Doctor Yen’s ultimate creation. The Psychotron subjected a victim to living nightmares, a hallucinogenic madness designed to break any subject. S.H.I.E.L.D. had subliminally prepared Black Widow to withstand the Psychotron’s effects, and her ultimate goal was the destruction of that dread machine. Natasha recovered faster than her captors expected, but they still held her in their clutches. [Avengers (1st series) #39-42]
A dispatch reached the Avengers, alerting them that Black Widow had been undercover with S.H.I.E.L.D. all along, and was now held captive. Guilt-ridden, Hawkeye recruited their guest Hercules to launch an impetuous rescue mission. Hercules was trapped by the Psychotron, and Hawkeye was beaten by the Red Guardian, the chief of security used by the People’s Republic to guard the device. The Guardian unmasked before the shocked Black Widow and Hawkeye, revealing to Natasha that her husband, Alexi Shostakov, had faked his death those 
many years ago. The other Avengers followed after Hawkeye and Hercules, and the arrogant Red Guardian finally had the chance to pit his strength against his opposite number, Captain America. Black Widow used the fighting to make a break for the Psychotron’s delicate nerve center, and Colonel Ling shot to kill. The Red Guardian was an honorable foe in the end, and he would not let his employer shoot a woman in the back, much less the wife he still carried for. Alexi was fatally wounded, but Natasha took a bullet as well. Hawkeye secured the unconscious Black Widow as the Avengers escaped from the exploding Psychotron facility, leaving the Red Guardian and Colonel Ling to their fate.
Once they returned to the United States, Natasha went into surgery and narrowly recovered from 
her injuries. She told Hawkeye and the Avengers the full story behind her mission for S.H.I.E.L.D. and her history with Red Guardian. Nick Fury spoke up for her, publicly arranging for the Black Widow to receive a medal from Congress, a full pardon for past crimes and citizenship in the United States for her efforts. The Avengers even intended to finally bestow full membership status on the Black Widow in honor of all she had struggled. It all felt like an ending, though, and Natasha decided instead to retire from her career as the Black Widow. Her injuries needed time to heal regardless and (at the time) she believed avenging Alexi’s death was the reason she became a spy to begin with. Since that was no longer true, Natasha thought she and Clint might be able to live together happily. [Avengers (1st series) #43-46]
Unfortunately, it wasn’t long before Natasha and Hawkeye began to drift apart. Their relationship had been based on mutual experiences and a passion for adventure together. Hawkeye might have been comfortable sharing a life of danger with the Black Widow, but coming home to confide in Natasha about his day wasn’t something that came easily to Clint. [Avengers (1st series) #47] 
Natasha became restless and realized retirement wasn’t going to suit her, either. She was soon back in costume as the Black Widow and back in action taking assignments for S.H.I.E.L.D. This did not mend her relationship with Hawkeye, though, for they were still following different paths towards redemption from their separate pasts. [Avengers (1st series) #57] The timing was off in their relationship and they were both too occupied to put effort into fixing it. Realizing they would only be hurting each other if they kept trying to make it work under these circumstances, the pair decided to go their separate ways. [Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes II #2-8]
[Note: Clint and Natasha had an oddly disjointed parting in the original series. The couple effectively broke up in Avengers (1st series) #57 when Natasha became Black Widow again and joined S.H.I.E.L.D. When she appeared in #63-64, however, she addressed Clint as “my darling” and “my love,” as if they patched things up behind the scenes. Black Widow didn’t appear again until #76, where she showed up at the mansion just to dump Clint and tell him she never loved him in the first place, then leave without explanation. The retcons from EMH II decades later made their break-up happen more realistically over the limited series.]
Despite her efforts, Natasha felt unfulfilled with S.H.I.E.L.D. and stepped back from active espionage work. She returned to the international jet-set, becoming a high society party-goer and frequent companion to the rich and famous. Natasha still had access to considerable resources and set herself up in an expensive Manhattan penthouse. Ivan got back in touch with Natasha around this time, publicly acting as her retainer and chauffeur while they reconnected. What Natasha was trying to accomplish during this period is unknown, but she soon became restless once more. Natasha personally redesigned her Black Widow costume to suit her own aesthetic, and decided to test herself against Spider-Man. Although she couldn’t beat the web-slinger one-on-one, the Black Widow left the encounter confident in her abilities again nevertheless. [Amazing Spider-Man (1st series) #86]
Natasha’s appetite for danger was whetted when she noticed her housekeeper Maria was upset. It seemed Maria’s son Carlos had borrowed money from a loan shark and was now dangerously 
in debt. Black Widow saw the opportunity to help the common man instead of her normal area of international intrigue and government affairs, and had Ivan drive her out to Spanish Harlem. She found the gangsters threatening to kidnap and murder Carlos, so she intervened. The loan sharks were beaten and left for the police, and the Black Widow was officially back in action. [Amazing Adventures (2nd series) #1] Natasha briefly considered attempting to maintain a secret identity but, after Carlos had already seen her unmasked, she decided there was no point trying to keep Madame Natasha and the Black Widow’s lives separate. She became an activist in the community, helping Carlos and his Young Warriors negotiate for a community outreach program and battle the corrupt House candidate, Anthony Scarola. [Amazing Adventures (2nd series) #2-4]