Akela Amador became one of the best agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., trained by senior agent Phil Coulson. He would describe Amador as, "smart, talented and fearless", with skills comparable to the legendary Melinda May. However, Amador never saw the value of teamwork and trusting others, but Coulson felt that he could nurture these qualities in her. Coulson pushed Amador, perhaps too much. In 2006, Amador led a team into one of the gulags run by the criminal Vanchat, where she was captured and lost an eye. The rest of her team was killed. Amador would later lament that if only she had trusted her team, they would be alive today.