History

Born in France, Josephine Tautin had no siblings. Both of her parents were dead by the time she turned twenty-one, at which time she was recruited into France's Directorate-General of External Security. She excelled in her courses and training despite having the occasional bouts of insubordination. She became a decorated field operative with such experiences as spending three years on an undercover assignment in north Africa. Eventually, she fell in love with a man named Thierry Desmarais, and he loved her as well. He even asked her to marry him. However, during the same time, she was being recruited by Madame Sabin Roth, who was the latest bearer of the name Mademoiselle Marie. She was prepared to pass on that name to Josephine, if Josephine could forfeit all else to commit to the responsibility to France it came with. This meant her potential life with Thierry. At first, she could not. It was not until Thierry's proposal that she realized what she wanted her life to be. She had to leave him and become the next Mademoiselle Marie, the spy who would always protect France.

Years later, Josephine also became an agent of Checkmate. When Jonah McCarthy the Black Queen's Knight was killed in action, she was among those who entered into the selection process to replace him. She was among dozens of other candidates, and they were all eliminated as the process continued. She exhibited her ruthlessness during the tests, showing she was prepared to do whatever was necessary. When an objective was to climb a mountain to acquire a package, she cut her own partner loose when they were attacked by Count Vertigo, forcing him to save the man while she completed the objective. She would later fight that man in the final test, coming out victorious and presenting his bloodied number tag to Jessica Midnight and Sasha Bordeaux. She was then the new Black Queen's Knight.

When Checkmate went after the Outsiders, Josephine was assigned one of them as a target. She seduced Captain Boomerang in a London nightclub, getting him to take her back to his hotel room. Unfortunately for him, he did not get any farther with her than that. She took him by surprise with a syringe and sedated him for capture. She later took part in their joint operation to Oolong Island, having to put up with Captain Boomerang's advance during the mission. She was forced to leave her queen behind when the situation became too heated, allowing her to be captured. She was not happier with this than anyone else, but that was what her queen had ordered her to do. To her relief, Sasha Bordeaux would soon be rescued.

Josephine would later accompany her queen on a operation in Metropolis investigating Amanda Waller's backroom dealings. The operation turned out to be a setup. Amanda Waller had some of her Suicide Squad waiting, and Josephine was shot by Deadshot from a hidden sniper nest. She nearly died there but proved to be both tough and lucky.

A new crisis related to her past caused Josephine to cut her recovery short. The daughter of none other than her old lover Thierry Desmarais had been abducted by terrorists in Bialya. As his old lover and as Mademoiselle Marie, she felt strongly it was her duty to rescue the girl. She went in alone and successfully recovered the girl. In the process, she executed a man with two gunshots while on camera, causing some political trouble for Checkmate. However, Sasha Bordeaux only pretended to officially punish her but in fact congratulated her on a job well done.