Natalie Reed

## Background

### 1983 - 2001: Natalie Gurdin

Natalia was born to Benjamin & Lucille Gurdin, members of the conservative party with far right beliefs such as fascism & religious extremism. Knowing nothing else then what her parents told her, she followed her parents' political learnings. Her parents knew their views weren't the most popular so Natalia was instructed to keep these opinions to herself.

Her views didn't change until Natalia was recruited to become a model when she was sixteen. Through the agency, she met a diverse group of people & realized there was no real reason for her parents to feel that way. She secretly started a friendship with a black model, Kerry Reed, who would actually become one of her closest friends. The woman helped correct Natalia's views without directly condemning her for them. After winning a beauty pageant in at seventeen, she would go on to star in some low budget films the next year. It was around this time that Natalie changed her name to Natalie Reed, after her good friend & cut off all ties with her close-minded family.

### 2001 - 2009: Natalie Reed

Natalie went on to attend college on a partial scholarship then used the money she invested from her work to pay for the remainder. During her freshman year, she decided to study aeronautical engineering. Her grades were so great that the school offered to give her more aid for the remainder of her years. She got an good paying internship at Chaykin Dynamics, an aerospace company, to keep some spare change in her pocket.

During her junior year, the company offered Natalie a part time job as a engineer with the guarantee to hire upon her graduation & pay for her master's degree. It would seem that this would be the dream but instead, Natalie decided to take a different route in her life.

Upon graduation, Natalie was recruited into the Blackhawk Program, an undercover military unit funded by the United Nations. They were named after the original Blackhawks, a group of pilots operating during World War I. She was chosen for her elite aviation & engineering skills, believing them to be highly beneficial to their team. She fit in well, as many of the operatives were pilots or had some background in engineering. During her training, Natalia learned combat & usage of various weaponry. The team's goal was to combat against threatening emergent technologies that could endanger the human civilization.

### 2009 - 2014: Natalie Hendrickson

The exact events that followed have not been confirmed due to the clearance needed for the Blackhawk Program. All that is known is that Natalie & her squad were sent on a mission in West Asia to deal with a group the UN deemed to be a threat. Sometime during the mission, her entire team encountered the elite assassin Deathstroke. He killed the entire team except for her though she did lose her left eye. Following the death of her teammates & her injury, the Blackhawk Program was scratched for the time being & Natalie was dismissed with little to no help from the government.

Arriving back in the states, Natalie began drinking herself into unconsciousness on a regular basis. She quickly fell into a downward spiral of depression & became close to Ritter Hendrickson, another lost soul that frequented of the bars. There was little to no love but there was plenty of lust between the two but they couldn't tell the different. The relationship went fast with marriage & with a pregnancy following shortly after.

With a child, Natalie tried to get herself together but Ritter stayed the same. He eventually became abusive & their son, Jimmy got to the point where he began trying to stop him when he was four. One day, Ritter attempted to leave the house with Jimmy after beating Natalie to a pulp under the belief she was cheating. Natalie attempted to go after them but as she stumbled out of the house, all she saw was the car get rammed into another. The police arrived, arresting Ritter for driving under the influence & manslaughter.

### 2014 - Present: Attila

With her son now dead, Natalie quickly lost her way again. She began drinking again & practically living out of the bar. Her home had become just a bad memory of her disgusting ex-husband & her beautiful child that was no longer with her. She began to feel alone again for some time before she

With the death of her son following the death of her teammates, she didn't really have anyone to turn to which is when she found the Birds of Prey. The women not only became her support system but her new family. Natalie grew exceptionally close with other newcomer, Nikki Nemzer. The two would form a sisterly relationship, leading to them getting an apartment together in the China Basin District.

## Romantic Relationships

* Andrew Lincoln: Boyfriend (2007 - 2009)
* Ritter Hendrickson: Boyfriend (2009 - 2010); Husband (2010 - 2014)

## Powers & Abilities

* **Aviation:** She received her degree in aeronautical engineering with a massive scholarship. She also spent three years working as an engineer then became the residential go to person on the Blackhawks.
* **Hand to Hand Combat:** As a former member of the Blackhawks, Natalie was highly trained in unarmed combat.
* **Marksmanship:** During her training, Natalie was commended for her excellent marksmanship, having rarely missed a target.
* **Mechanical Aptitude:** Natalie is an expert in the field of aeronautical engineering & helped to design the Gruman XFSF1 Skyrocket jets used by the Blackhawk Squadron.
* **Military Operation:** Natalie spent four years working with the military program Blackhawks.
* **Multilingualism:** She can speak fluent English & Russian.
* **Tactical Analysis:** Natalie is capable of forming plans, operating as the second in command of her unit.

### Weaknesses

* **Alcoholism:** After the death of her teammates, Natalie tried to drown herself in the bottle. She was able to become stable after having her son but his death led to her falling back down the rabbit hole. Upon joining the Birds, she has adjusted to her new life but still loves her booze.

### Ratings

* **Intelligence:** Unknown
* **Strength:** Unknown
* **Speed:** Unknown
* **Occult:** Unknown
* **Weapons:** Unknown
* **Range:** Unknown
* **Strategy:** Unknown
* **Combat:** Unknown
* **TOTAL:** Unknown

## Trivia

* She was second in command during her time with the Blackhawk Program.
* Nat was also in a relationship with the Blackhawk's leader, Col. Andrew Lincoln.
* Lilith Clay is her addiction counselor.

## Notes

* Her codename, Attila, is another character in the Blackhawk Squadron. In Earth-44, Zinda Blake is Lady Blackhawk.
* Deathstroke killing her entire team is a nod to Attila.
* In the comics, her parents are members of the Communist party.
* Chaykin Dynamics is a nod to Howard Chaykin, the creator of Natalie Gurdin.