Elder was a veteran agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. whose protégé died during a mission led by Black Widow, which Elder believed his protégé should've guided. As a consolation, S.H.I.E.L.D. Director Maria Hill promised him that if Black Widow ever went rogue, it would be his mission to bring her in. A week after the burial of Elder's protégé, Black Widow raided the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier in order to steal personnel files, making her an enemy of the organization.[2] Elder follower her trail to the place where she was going to transfer several files to the henchmen of the person who blackmailed her into going rogue, the Weeping Lion, and attempted to confront her in a café. Black Widow had Elder follow her to a private lot, pretending to mistakenly believe he was the courier, to protect him from Weeping Lion's men posted in the vicinity of the transfer zone.