Biography - Page 2
Bobbi spent months recovering in a S.H.I.E.L.D. hospital, while Nick Fury cleared her name and put her evidence to use rooting out corruption in S.H.I.E.L.D. When she was healthy, Bobbi chose 
not to re-enlist in S.H.I.E.L.D., having become used to working as a freelancer. However, she recognized that her lifestyle in the spy world may one day put her family at risk. With the help of Nick Fury, she cut all ties with her family and faked her own death, giving her mother the cover story that Bobbi never came out of the coma she suffered after her injuries. Feeling her mother and brother would be less likely targets if they thought she were dead, Bobbi Morse left her old life behind and become solely Mockingbird. [Hawkeye & Mockingbird #2] As part of her cover story if anyone asked, she claimed her parents were dead and that she had been uncomfortable at funerals ever since. [Avengers West Coast #88]
Pursuing her own leads, Mockingbird learned of a dangerous criminal enterprise possibly being run through Cross Technologies. While investigating their plant, Mockingbird crossed paths with Hawkeye, Cross' resident Avenger and security chief. The two of them had a playful tete-a-tete as 
he caught her during her burglary. She tried to explain her mission and the concerns she had about Cross, but Hawkeye wouldn't listen to the slander against his employer and turned her over to Cross's regular security.
Still, enough of what Mockingbird said nagged at Hawkeye's conscience, and he returned later that night to do his own investigation. Hawkeye's own men turned against him and threw him into a septic tank with Mockingbird. Worse, he learned the woman he loved, Cross' PR director, was a plant intended to seduce him and keep him from paying too much attention to his work. Hawkeye was nearly broken by these revelations, but Mockingbird pushed him not to give up, and together they escaped from industrial waste being dumped on them in the tank. [Hawkeye (1st series) #1]
Mock and Hawk continue to pursue the case to find out what Cross was up to. As they grew closer, Bobbi was openly flirtatious with Hawkeye, but he was closed off at first due to the cruel rejection he just received from his last lover. They crossed paths with several hitmen including the Silencer, Oddball and Bombshell before being captured by Crossfire, the man behind Cross Technologies' efforts. A former C.I.A. brainwasher and counter-intelligence agent turned terrorist, Crossfire was perfecting an ultrasonic weapon that unleashed uncontrollable, murderous aggression in anyone exposed to it. He intended to eliminate the superhuman population by gathering Earth's heroes at a funeral for Hawkeye and setting off his weapon. To test the device, Crossfire locked Hawkeye and Mockingbird in a room together without their weapons and turned on the power. The two new partners nearly succeeded in killing each other. However, when Crossfire briefly turned off the effects, Hawkeye used an ultrasonic arrowhead to blow his own eardrums, leaving him deaf but immune to the device's effects. Able to use his wits, he tricked Crossfire into opening the cell and defeated the villain.
Afterwards, Mockingbird told Hawkeye how well she thought they worked together and suggested they continue their partnership, and possibly make it even more. Hawkeye, being a macho idiot, wanted to avoid pity and didn't clue Bobbi in that he was deaf. He brusquely walked away from Mockingbird without even hearing what she was 
saying. Fortunately, Bobbi Morse doesn't put up with that sort of thing. She went after him and forced Hawk to fess up about what was bothering him. One week later, in the honeymoon suite at a resort in the Poconos, Hawkeye made it up to her. At her suggestion, Mockingbird and Hawkeye eloped and Bobbi became Mrs. Clinton Francis Barton. [Hawkeye (1st series) #2-4]
Once Clint and Bobbi Barton finished celebrating their nuptuals, they returned to New York. Hawkeye carried Mockingbird over the threshold at Avengers Mansion, hoping to introduce his new bride to his friends and maybe secure a spot for them on the roster. The Avengers were in the middle of a membership shake-up, and so Mockingbird got to meet many of Hawkeye's more famous teammates, like the Wasp, Thor, Vision and Captain America. She also met Hawkeye's ex, another S.H.I.E.L.D. spy called the Black Widow, but fortunately the two seemed to hit it off. With a number of powerful members waiting around the mansion, Hawkeye confessed his fears to Mockingbird about not getting picked for the team, and she saw how much being an Avenger meant to her new husband.
Attempts to finalize the membership were interrupted when the Beyonder whisked a half-dozen Avengers away for the Secret Wars on Battleworld, including Hawkeye. Not knowing if her newlywed husband was alive or dead, Mockingbird stayed in Avengers Mansion with associate status while waiting for news, thanks to the good graces of Vision and the Scarlet Witch. Hawkeye and the other Avengers returned from the Secret Wars safe and sound a week later, reuniting the happy couple. Vision had taken charge as Avengers chairperson during the crisis when chairwoman Wasp and the others were on Battleworld, and retained the position to make major changes in the Avengers' organizational structure. With too many potentially active members 
available, Vision coordinated with the federal government to authorize a second roster of Avengers to be active on the west coast. Vision nominated Hawkeye as founder and leader of these West Coast Avengers, with Mockingbird as his first recruit. [Avengers (1st series) #239, 242-243]
Hawkeye and Mockingbird flew out west and met up with Bill Foster, an old friend of the Avengers, to coordinate with searching for a new headquarters. Bill directed them to the Palos Verdes estate of Moira Brandon, the silent film star. When they met with Moira at her home, however, the couple were caught in an ambush by Crossfire. The villain had escaped prison and came looking for revenge, holding Moira Brandon's butler hostage. During the scuffle that followed, Ms. Brandon found the courage to use Crossfire's own crossbow against him. Delighted at their survival, Hawkeye and Mockingbird made Moira the first honorary member of the West Coast Avengers. [Avengers (1st series) #244-246, Avengers West Coast #100]
With the new Avengers Compound secured, Hawkeye and Mockingbird went to work assembling the Avengers. The Vision made some phone calls, engineering the arrival of past Avengers now living in California, such as Wonder Man, Iron Man and Tigra. As Hawk and Mock put the team together, their first major threat came in the form of Graviton, a powerful foe who once held the 
entire Avengers roster at bay. With some planning and teamwork, however, the leaner West Coast Avengers team managed to overcome Graviton and nabbed their first big victory. Hawkeye instituted a new tradition of a celebratory barbecue after their win, and the West Coast Avengers were truly established in California. [West Coast Avengers (1st series) #1-4]
Hawkeye was riding high on the responsibility of his first solo outing as Avengers chairman, and Mockingbird supported her man in fulfilling his dream. Still, in her private thoughts, Bobbi remarked she likely would never have wanted to become an Avenger if Hawkeye hadn't insisted. Nevertheless, Mockingbird grew into the role of an Avenger, backing up Hawkeye when he needed it but also not afraid to stand up to him when she felt he was wrong. One of their first tiffs regarded the team's sixth member. Government regulations mandated a six member roster for Avengers teams, and Hawkeye was eager to finalize his group. A chance encounter left Hawkeye convinced he could get the famous Benjamin Grimm to join the Avengers now that he had left the Fantastic Four. Mockingbird, however, supported the demure heroine Firebird they met around the same time. Although she was too respectful to ask, Firebird clearly desired Avengers membership, but Hawkeye had stars in his eyes for the Thing and ignored Bonita entirely. Mockingbird went to bat for Firebird (literally, taking her battle staves to Hawkeye's thick head) but ultimately both Thing and Firebird chose not to become permanent members of the team.
Mockingbird also took notice of and supported her feline female teammate, Tigra. Greer Nelson had two souls, that of a human woman and a warrior of the Cat People, creating a great deal of internal conflict. Mock helped research the Cat People to find a way to put Tigra back in touch with her creators. While a supportive teammate, Mockingbird was also a spy at heart. The Cat People quietly asked Tigra to kill their enemy, Master Pandemonium, in exchange for removing one of her 
souls. Killing was against Avengers by-laws and so Tigra hid this deal from her teammates. She even knocked Bobbi unconscious from behind once to get a clear shot at the Master, but failed. Mockingbird began to notice something was wrong with Tigra's behavior, and became suspicious of her intents. Still, when Tigra's deal was revealed and she ultimately chose not to go through with killing Pandemonium when given a chance, Bobbi was forgiving and accepted her as a friend and teammate again. [West Coast Avengers (2nd series) #1-15]
Although she adjusted well to her new life with the Avengers, Mockingbird also learned a lesson about how you can't go home again. After reading about scandals that continued to plague S.H.I.E.L.D. even after her efforts as Huntress, Bobbi wanted to reach out to Nick Fury. She 
learned he was visiting the Los Angeles S.H.I.E.L.D. branch, and stopped by with Hawkeye and Iron Man to offer support. Nick didn't want any help, however, and treated his former protege as an outsider. Mockingbird was hurt by Fury's dismissal, not expecting the doors to her former life to be so firmly closed to her. [West Coast Avengers (2nd series) #11]