Enzymatic N-2 reduction proceeds along a reaction pathway composed of a sequence of intermediate states generated as a dinitrogen bound to the active-site iron molybdenum cofactor (FeMo-co) of the nitrogenase MoFe protein undergoes six steps of hydrogenation (e(-)/H+ delivery). There are two competing proposals for the reaction pathway, and they invoke different intermediates. In the 'Distal' (D) pathway, a single N of N-2 is hydrogenated in three steps until the first NH3 is liberated, and then the remaining nitrido-N is hydrogenated three more times to yield the second NH3. In the 'Alternating' (A) pathway, the two N's instead are hydrogenated alternately, with a hydrazine-bound intermediate formed after four steps of hydrogenation and the first NH3 liberated only during the fifth step. A recent combination of X/Qband EPR and N-15, H-1,H-2 ENDOR measurements suggested that states trapped during turnover of the alpha-70(Ala)/alpha-195(Gln) MoFe protein with diazene or hydrazine as substrate correspond to a common intermediate (here denoted!) in which FeMo-co binds a substrate-derived [NxHy] moiety, and measurements reported here show that turnover with methyldiazene generates the same intermediate. In the present report we describe X/Q-band EPR and N-14/15, H-1,H-2 ENDOR/HYSCORE/ESEEM measurements that characterize the N-atom(s) and proton(s) associated with this moiety. The experiments establish that turnover with N2H2, CH3N2H, and N2H4 in fact generates a common intermediate, I, and show that the N N bond of substrate has been cleaved in I. Analysis of this finding leads us to conclude that nitrogenase reduces N2H2, CH3N2H, and N2H4 via a common A reaction pathway, and that the same is true for N-2 itself, with Fe ion(s) providing the site of reaction.