From the look on Fury's face, Phil was pretty sure the fact that he had bullshit his way through the mission debrief was not lost on the Director, but the man just thanked him and turned his eye onto his partner.
"Barton, medical informed me that you never reported to them after your first mission to Germany so head there now and don't even think about helping Romanoff escape from medical."
"Yes sir." Barton got up and turned to leave before stopping and turning to Phil. "I'm looking forward to our next mission together Coulson."
"So am I Barton, now get going to medical." Phil smiled as he watched the man leave the office.
"You two managed to bond during your time in Germany?" Fury asked when Coulson turned back to face him.
"Barton is a good agent and we communicate well which always makes a mission go smoother." Phil shrugged. "Plus, when you're running for your life with someone you're always bound to get close."
Fury nodded. "I'm going to be honest with you Coulson; I was going to be assigning Barton to you as soon as you got back from your holidays."
"Why is that sir?"
"Barton has a record of being a very difficult agent to work with as he doesn't follow orders every time and will either talk your ear off on the con or ignore you completely until he chooses otherwise. You might not be aware of this but Agent Mackie was his seventh handler, this year alone. Mackie came into my office last week and requested that Barton be transferred to another handler. Mackie told me that Barton is one hell of an agent but he needs more of the one on one which with four other assets under his command he couldn't provide."
"Sir, I have three agents that I act as handler for already."
"I'm aware of that Coulson, and while you were in Germany those agents have been re-assigned to Agent Sitwell. I trust this won't be a problem."
"No sir."
"Well you're free to leave the office until your vacation time is over." Fury said as he dismissed him.
Phil stood up and headed to the door but stopped when Fury said his name.
"I just wanted to remind you that if either you or Barton ever disobeys an order like that again you'll be suspended without pay for several weeks. Is that understood?"
"It is sir."
"Good, please pass that message onto Barton for me."
"I will sir." Phil said as he opened the door and made his way down the hall to the elevator. Getting in he hesitated between pushing the button for the parking garage, medical or for the floor his office was located on but after a moment he made his decision and pushed one of the buttons.