The Nail consisted of five women assassins chosen for their extraordinary fighting prowess that served the Hand for thousands of years. When Daredevil (Matthew Murdock) briefly lorded over New York City's Hell's Kitchen as the Hand's leader, Colleen Wing was invited to lead a new incarnation of the Nail; soon discovering her mother led the Nail twenty-five years prior until enemies of the Hand uncovered their identities and murdered the women one by one. Daredevil promised to reveal more of her mother's mysterious past with her acceptance, but whether or not this information was shared is undetermined.
The Nail's first assignment was to stop a truck employed by Coyote Inc. from smuggling human slave labor into New York. Successful, Colleen led a raid on a massage parlor where the women employed there were kept prisoner, and she previously failed to free them. The Nail defeated the thugs guarding the women and shut the parlor down permanently. Their next target was a corrupt councilman, responsible for running Coyote Inc.'s slave ring, but his capture led to the imprisonment of all his employees including Colleen's friend Tig, who only just started working at the councilman's offices. Refusing to allow the Hand to ruthlessly interrogate Tig, who knew nothing about the councilman's operations, Colleen attempted a rescue, but Black Lotus ambushed Colleen as she was about to free her friend.
Lotus wounded Colleen with a strike to the neck, leaving the rest of the Nail to finish her off. Colleen was captured, but Cherry Blossom cleverly helped Colleen escape from Daredevil's Shadowland fortress as to not arouse suspicion where her loyalties lied. Colleen returned, determined to free Tig, but she was confronted by the Nail again. Her only recourse was to challenge Lotus to a duel for group leadership. Colleen defeated Lotus and was allowed to leave without further incident, and she took Cherry Blossom and Tig with her. Yuki and Makro appeared to remain loyal to Lotus and stayed behind.
