She then put a plan in motion with Natasha Romanoff to destroy the Red Room. Later that night, she spoke with Romanoff and told her about how Dreykov ordered the death of her biological mother when she tried to expose the Red Room to the world. To demonstrate, she showed them Alexei, her pet pig that she could control. Inviting them inside, she admired Shostakov when he tried on his Red Guardian uniform and told them about her mind control experiment. In 2016, Vostokoff was reunited with Alexei Shostakov, Natasha Romanoff, and Yelena Belova in Saint Petersburg, after her sensors detected movement in her perimeter. Betraying Dreykov Reunion with her Family Sometime later, Vostokoff went off the grid and settled in a farm near Saint Petersburg. During this time, Romanoff and Belova were taken to be trained in the Red Room Academy as Black Widows. When the plane landed in Cuba, she was taken away to receive medical attention. Vostokoff on the plane with her daughtersĪfter getting on a plane, Vostokoff was shot and injured badly. and local police, which forced them to leave Ohio. Vostokoff and Shostakov wanted to defect but they were soon found by S.H.I.E.L.D. For three years, they lived a double life until the mission was successful in 1995. To make their cover more plausible, they adopted two girls named Natasha Romanoff and Yelena Belova, and raised them as their daughters.
In 1992, Vostokoff went undercover with Alexei Shostakov, who was Dreykov's business partner to steal data from S.H.I.E.L.D. "Never let them take your heart." ―Melina Vostokoff to Natasha Romanoff