Natasha's expression hadn't changed when Smith described what Whitehall had done, but her eyes had. "She survived that and came to you herself?"
"Her regeneration kept her alive. Whitehall apparently didn't know about it."
"And the authority question—" Sharon started again.
"Covered," Smith said. "You're operating as my investigation team. That classification sits above the rank of anyone you'll need to question. Whatever you encounter during the investigation is on me, not you."
The residual tension in the room dropped a degree. Morse gave a small nod. All three of them understood the implicit promise — that they wouldn't be left exposed.
"Three of us isn't enough to run a regional investigation with this scope," Morse said. "We need more bodies for the documentation work alone."
Smith looked at the two of them. "Where's the rest of the inspector general's team?"
Sharon and Morse exchanged a look that contained a small history.
"Sir," Sharon said carefully, "it's been over a year since the last active investigation. The members were reassigned during the New York crisis — temporary transfers while the organization was short-staffed." She paused. "They were never sent back."
"Also," Natasha said, "I'm an Avenger. I was never technically part of your department to begin with."
Smith processed this. He'd assembled the oversight team for the initial S.H.I.E.L.D. audit, used it, and then redirected his attention to the Brotherhood, the Dragon Ball cycles, and everything else that had accumulated. The team had simply dissolved in the institutional current while he wasn't watching. Sharon and Morse had held their posts by some combination of stubbornness and Sharon's personal connections within the organization.
A year and a half.
"I'll have you two rebuild the team directly — transfer orders through my office, your selection, reliable people only." He looked at Natasha. "You'll form a third squad under this department. Avengers affiliation stays — there's no conflict."
Natasha's eyebrows moved slightly upward. "I wasn't expecting a promotion today."
"The oversight function needs to be permanent, not ad hoc. Three squads running continuous internal investigations means there's always something active, which means Nick Fury can't quietly dissolve the department again by rerouting personnel." He looked at all three of them. "It also means you have standing work rather than being reassigned the moment someone senior decides you're available."
Sharon visibly relaxed. That had been the problem — without active tasking, her position was perpetually vulnerable to exactly the kind of casual reallocation that had gutted the team in the first place.
Smith picked up the phone. "Connect me to Director Fury."
The transfer took seconds.
"Fury."
"Director. My department has two agents left. The rest were transferred out during the New York crisis and never returned. I need them back."
A beat on the other end. "Right. Yes. That was — the resurrections should have resolved the staffing issue, I can send them back—"
"Sharon Carter and Barbara Morse will rebuild the two existing squads using transfer orders from my office. I need you to ensure department heads don't block the transfers."
"Of course. And the third thing?"
"Natasha is joining my department as a third squad lead. Her Avengers status is unchanged."
A longer pause this time. Smith could hear Fury's thinking — Natasha was a high-value asset, she'd been performing well inside the Avengers structure, and she was one of Fury's direct recruits. The question of whose person she was carried institutional weight.
"Three squads seems like a lot for internal oversight," Fury said carefully.
"Corruption doesn't run on a schedule," Smith said. "Treating this as a permanent function rather than a task force that gets assembled and disbanded means the work actually happens between crises, not only during them." He kept his voice even. "Unless you'd prefer I send Steve Rogers instead. Though I'd argue using a super-soldier for internal audit work is an inefficient allocation."
Natasha, across the office, looked at the ceiling.
On the other end of the line, Fury processed the offer and correctly identified it as not an offer. "No, you're right. Natasha is a better fit." A pause. "I'll send the authorization to all department heads today."
"Thank you, Director."
Smith hung up.
Natasha lowered her eyes from the ceiling. "Not a superhuman, and therefore appropriate for internal investigation. I'm going to remember you said that."
"The logic is sound."
"The logic is completely sound. That's the annoying part."
Morse was already pulling out a notepad, shifting into operational mode. Sharon had her tablet out, starting the list of personnel she'd been mentally drafting for the last five minutes.
Across the building, Fury set down his phone and immediately called Barton to run a quiet verification — when had Natasha last had any substantive contact with Smith Doyle outside of group settings? Barton confirmed the answer was essentially never, just the party two days prior.
Fury sat back.
Still one of ours, he concluded. Probably.
He sent the authorization to all department heads and went back to his own work, quietly noting that Smith Doyle had now formally expanded his institutional footprint inside S.H.I.E.L.D. by one full team, with clean procedural justification, during a visit that had lasted less than two hours.
He filed that under watch this space and moved on.