Kestrel was a freelance agent hired to kill Black Widow along with her partner Max Hunter. She is also a lesbian. After Kestrel and Max severely injure one of the Widow's companions and kidnaps the other, she swears revenge. In retribution she kills Max and publicly humiliates Kestrel, leaving her tied up with her lesbian lover for the police and paparazzi to find. Kestrel deeply affected by the death of her partner whom she considered family after he took a bullet for her swore revenge upon the Black Widow. She teams up with Martin ferris, a man whom the Widow had "wronged" in hopes to kill her. They used Natasha's ward Sally Anne Carter as bait and captured her. They beat her but waited before delivering the killing her, wanting her to suffer. However the intervention of Yelena Belova and Daredevil prevented them from completing their task. They attempted to flee, but the Black Widow caught up and killed them both.