Little has been revealed about the past of the Contessa Valentina Allegra de la Fontaine. Formerly a member of the European "jet set," the Contessa sought a more serious role in life, and eventually entered a training program to become an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D., the international intelligence and law enforcement agency. She first encountered Nick Fury, the Public Director of S.H.I.E.L.D., towards the end of her training, when she impressed him by overpowering him in hand-to-hand combat.
As a result of her remarkable talents and skills in many areas, the Contessa soon became a leading member of S.H.I.E.L.D. Her first major assignment for S.H.I.E.L.D. was her participation in the battles against the robotic duplicate of the Yellow Claw.
The Contessa soon became Fury's lover and their relationship continued for many years.
At one point the Contessa was the leader of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Femme Force, an elite cadre of female agents. Nothing has been revealed about the Femme Force's activities in recent years, and it may therefore be presumed that the group was disbanded years ago.
The Contessa was among the small number of leading agents loyal to Fury who were not killed and replaced by one of the artificially created human beings called the Deltites. The Contessa was among the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents who struggled against the Deltite takeover, which was finally defeated by Fury and others.
Following the defeat of the Deltites, Fury persuaded the United Nations to disband S.H.I.E.L.D. Aided by the Contessa and a few more of his closest loyal aides, Fury traveled throughout the world, closing S.H.I.E.L.D. bases and destroying its most dangerous weaponry and technology.
The Contessa Valentina Allegra de la Fontaine, however, will become a member of the now, more efficient S.H.I.E.L.D. organization that Fury is organizing to take the place of the original agency.
