Abigail Brand's father was an alien. She is a Special Agent of the United States Government and the head of S.W.O.R.D., a subdivision of S.H.I.E.L.D., charged with defending the Earth from extra-terrestrial threats.

It was in this capacity that Brand encountered the alien Ord, who was convinced that a mutant from Earth was destined to destroy his planet. In order to avoid an interplanetary war, Brand acquiesced to Ord's plan to avert the destruction of his world by creating a cure for the mutant condition. It was later learned the mutant prophesied to destroy Breakworld was Colossus. After her involvement in this plan became known to the X-Men Brand faced a board of inquiry to face charges against her conduct. She defended her actions on the grounds that averting interplanetary warfare was a responsibility so great as to justify courses of action that would otherwise be considered immoral or illegal.

Despite their past differences, she attempted to work with the X-Men to find a solution to the crisis. In an attempt to draw Breakworld's forces away from the Earth, Brand had the X-Men, Ord, and Ord's ally Danger, teleported aboard a S.W.O.R.D. starship and travel to the Breakworld itself. Ord, with the assistance of Danger, was able to contact his homeworld to alert them of Colossus' location, unaware that this was all part of Brand's plan. However, Breakworld forces caught up with the S.W.O.R.D. vessel before Brand had predicted they would, forcing the X-Men and the S.W.O.R.D strike team to use the ship's escape pods to finish their journey to the Breakworld. Once on the surface, Brand and the X-Men made last ditch assault on the Breakworld's doomsday device before it could be fired at Earth. Brand dove into the path of a laser blast meant for Beast and was wounded.

After the Breakworld mission ended, Brand offered Henry McCoy a job with S.W.O.R.D., needing someone who would question her actions. Brand was attracted to McCoy. She also revealed to him that she was an alien (on her dad's side). Despite the antagonistic relationship she and Nick Fury demonstrated toward each other, she is considered a Nick Fury loyalist by new S.H.I.E.L.D. director Maria Hill. Brand has made no effort to hide her dislike for Hill.

During the Skrull Invasion, Brand broke into one of the Skrull armada's ships and witnessed the destruction the Skrulls were causing all over Earth. She managed to free their prisoner, Mister Fantastic.

Abigail recruited Jessica Drew into S.W.O.R.D. On Jessica's first mission, Brand sent her to Madripoor.