MOCKINGBIRD: Page 7 of 9

Publication Date: 9th Apr 2020
Written By: Monolith.
Image Work: Douglas Mangum.
Biography

Biography - Page 7

Bobbi continued working with her team of Avengers through their war with the X-Men. Afterwards, however, Luke Cage and Jessica Jones retired to care for their baby, and that Avengers unit went their separate ways. [New Avengers (1st series) #34] Mockingbird was recruited by S.H.I.E.L.D. to work with a new initiative of "secret Avengers" off the books. Memory implants and psychic call-and-response signals called “Reverie” tech kept the team oblivious to their membership and activities during their down time. Mockingbird returned to her origins as a spy, operating with a Camotech belt that used solidogram technology to create audio, visual and even tactile disguises for undercover work. [Secret Avengers (2nd series) #2]

Mockingbird worked with S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Initiative alongside Hawkeye, Black Widow, Nick Fury Jr. and other assets, like Hulk and Jim Rhodes. She used the Camotech to retrieve Taskmaster from the rogue nation Bagalia so he could be planted for S.H.I.E.L.D. on Barbuda, A.I.M. Island, as a double agent thanks to the memory implants. After Scientist Supreme Andrew Forson orchestrated the death of Senator “Reb” Ralston and the release of co-opted Iron Patriot drones into the field of war, S.H.I.E.L.D. Director Daisy Johnson ordered Forson's assassination. This would be a rogue operation, since Barbuda had been recognized as a member nation of the U.N.

Once they got on-island, Fury, Hawkeye and the Widow prepared for the assassination, while Mockingbird made contact with Taskmaster and activated his memory implants. They retrieved data on the Iron Patriot drones while the other mission was going on. The assassination failed, however, and Fury's team was forced to evacuate the island under fire. Mockingbird was moving to her escape point while under Camotech disguise as an A.I.M. scientist when she spotted Forson. She radioed S.H.I.E.L.D. command ops that she was going to take the shot. While the team was in the field, though, Daisy Johnson's rogue op had been uncovered and she was removed from command by new acting director Maria Hill. Hill told Bobbi to abort her mission, but Mockingbird didn't recognize her authority and prepared for the kill shot. To stop her, Maria Hill remotely activated her Reverie tech and removed Bobbi's memories. [Secret Avengers (2nd series) #4-7]

Mockingbird spent the next few days living on A.I.M. Island as “Harold Bainbridge,” unaware of how she got there or even what the Camotech belt was and how to disable it. She was finally caught when Bainbridge had to give a presentation on his latest project before the High Council of A.I.M. What happened next is... murky. Andrew Forson had access to his own version of the Reverie tech, called “Oneiric.” Forson brought to the surface a second personality in Bobbi's mind, who answered to “Barbara.” Barbara Morse had joined A.I.M. back in college after her low-level psychic abilities led her to see the truth behind the teachings of A.I.M.'s Cult of Entropy, a long-standing sub-faction to whom Forson had always belonged. Working together, Barbara Morse and Andrew Forson used Oneiric tech to create her “Bobbi Morse” persona and planted her with Wilma Calvin, leading Bobbi to join S.H.I.E.L.D. This led directly to Bobbi bringing down Victorious, Forson's rival in the A.I.M. Cult of Entropy, and she had served as Forson's double agent in the years since.

This is, apparently, but not conclusively, a lie. Andrew Forson is hardly a trustworthy source and, with the Oneiric tech, he was in a position to make Mockingbird believe (or “remember”) anything he wanted. At this time, Forson's other rival in A.I.M., M.O.D.O.K., had come in to S.H.I.E.L.D. and was providing intelligence in exchange for sanctuary. M.O.D.O.K. indicated Forson had had a double agent in S.H.I.E.L.D.'s employ for the last year, suggesting the Barbara personality may have been implanted prior to Mockingbird joining Johnson and Hill's initiative. So, Mockingbird may have been secretly providing intel to Forson for some time. And the possibility does remain that Barbara IS the true personality and “Bobbi” was the implant, but the sum total of information SEEMS to discount that.

While Forson was trying to coax the Barbara personality to the surface, Taskmaster attempted to help Mockingbird escape. At Forson's direction, however, Barbara shot Taskmaster with what seemed like a fatal wound. (In fact, the gunshot wound appeared to be perfectly made in order to give the appearance of fatal injury while leaving Taskmaster alive.) Acting on M.O.D.O.K.'s intelligence, Fury, Hawkeye and Black Widow were also raiding the A.I.M. facility where Mockingbird was held. Clint got Bobbi to her feet, but she was waffling between her Bobbi and Barbara personalities as she tried to run. Yelena Belova, A.I.M.'s Minister of Defense, attempted to stop their escape and got into a brawl with Mockingbird. While out of sight, Bobbi snuck the Camotech onto Belova, making her look like Mockingbird, and then tossed her out into the open. A sniper commanded by Andrew Forson shot and killed Belova while she looked like Bobbi. Unaware of the switch, a horrified Hawkeye pulled Belova's disguised body onto the submarine where the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents made their escape. [Secret Avengers (2nd series) #12-15]

Back in the A.I.M. facility, Mockingbird stalked Andrew Forson. Both Bobbi and Barbara were in agreement on Forson, for Barbara recognized he tried to have her killed because she knew too much to be allowed to leave. Mockingbird grappled with Forson and they both injured each other before she escaped, alone, questions about her identity not fully answered. Sometime later, she made contact with Daisy Johnson and the Winter Soldier, also free agents now, and prepared to go underground. [Secret Avengers (2nd series) #16]

Mockingbird eventually got her head on straight and resurfaced, working for S.H.I.E.L.D. again. [S.H.I.E.L.D. (3rd series) #8] She also began a casual affair with Lance Hunter, formerly of the British intelligence agency S.T.R.I.K.E. When word reached Bobbi that her mentor Wilma Calvin had been killed in what appeared to be a home invasion robbery, she decided to investigate. After some preliminary investigation, Bobbi arranged to meet Doctor Calvin's adult son Percy at the morgue. At Bobbi's insistence, they conducted an off-the-books autopsy of Wilma to gather more clues. When they were done, Bobbi was smugly satisfied they had proven her initial hypothesis: Percy was the real killer. However, Percy had also laced the surgical gloves with a neurotoxin, knocking Bobbi out.

Bobbi woke up cuffed to a table, and Percy explained his motivations in full. Typical mother issues aside, Percy strongly disagreed with his mother and S.H.I.E.L.D. about keeping the Super-Soldier Serum a secret. He believed the scientific community could do wonders with the formula if it were open source. And yet while Nick Fury insisted on keeping it under wraps, he was more than willing to hand out samples when one of his people needed it. Percy thought the Super-Soldier / Infinity Formula in Mockingbird's body made her a biological marvel, and he killed his mother in order to draw her out to be captured and experimented on. Percy underestimated Mockingbird's strength, though, and she broke free from his restraints and turned him over to the authorities. [Mockingbird: S.H.I.E.L.D. 50th Anniversary #1]