This series consists of a present-day story interspersed with flashbacks sequentially telling Black Widow's history.
This issue opens with an action sequence like the beginning of a James Bond movie, which appropriately won't have anything to do with the rest of the story. Two agents have stolen an experimental US plane. One reveals 'himself' to be a ringer - the real agent is being interrogated by the CIA. The other agent triggers a suicide bomb in his captured partner. The ringer switches off an image projector, and further reveals herself to be Black Widow. They fight, and then eject from the plummeting plane. But the enemy agent takes a suicide pill.
Now this is where the story really begins. A Russian computer activates something called the Icepick Protocol, which mentions Black Widow. Next we see BW's old comrade Ivan on the run in Volgograd. He calls Natasha to warn her about Icepick, but is killed before he can say much.
BW goes to Russia to be sure he's dead. She finds that the morgue has been invaded and Ivan's head has gone. A message has been scrawled in blood, saying that she is a traitor and everyone she loves will die.
At the end of the issue she is joined by James Barnes (Bucky, Winter Soldier and presumably at this time Captain America), who is referred to as a boyfriend.
The long flashback in the middle of the issue describes BW's early life, explaining her relationship to Ivan, and culminating in her first meeting with Winter Soldier.
In 1928 a soldier Ivan Petrovich is searching the ruins of Stalingrad for his sister when a dying woman gives him her baby Natalia Romanova. Ivan brings the girl up, but in 1938 he going away on military service, so he hands her over to Taras Romanoff. Stalin himself takes an interest, because Taras runs a special training school for agents.
In 1940 Natalia is being trained near Moscow by Logan (the future Wolverine), at the school run by Taras. She calls Taras her father, and Logan is 'Little Uncle'. She claims not to remember Ivan. (Logan also has his memory problems.) But then Logan kills Taras. 3 months later an AWOL Ivan finds Natalia surviving in the snowy wilderness. She coldly says she didn't try to kill Logan because she liked him better than Taras.
Ivan and Natalia go on the run. A montage of war-time scenes includes Captain America fighting ninjas.
In 1956 in Berlin Ivan is fatally wounded. Suddenly Winter Soldier pops up and offers them a chemical that will heal Ivan. It will also confer longevity. Ivan can have it as long as they both take it, and if they will return to working for the Soviets. Natalia accepts.