This has probably been done before, but I watched CA: TWS two times in as many days and this popped into my head, and I decided, why not?

Note: I make a conscious effort not to have swearing in my stories cause I just don't swear yadda, yadda. My rule of thumb is not to use a swear word unless it enhances the story, or drama or whatever. That said this story relied on casual swearing. So warning there well be swearing but "light."

Now with the show.

It all started on a routine mission.

Nothing special. Get in, get intel, save any POWs they came across, get out. They'd split into groups so were communicating via a fancy communication unit Stark had invented. Steve had just been running down some stairs and happened to lose his footing.

"Shit!" he let out grabbing the railing so he wouldn't roll down three flights.

"Language!" came Bucky's static voice over the com. "You ok?"

"Yeah, just slipped," Steve answered, furrowing his eyebrows. Nah, he'd deal with it later. "Keep going," he ordered.

By the time they were done Steve had forgotten about the incident.

Two weeks later it happened again.

Another mission, bring the base down. It was going well until it wasn't. They hadn't counted on the sheer number of Hydra Soldiers there.

"Damn it!" Steve yelled after his shield failed to return to him. A rare occurrence.

"Language!" Bucky yelled, running past with his gun blazing. He got the shield and threw it back, then went back to the battle at hand.

Two days later they were in camp, laughing about some old memory when Steve tripped over his own feet. Despite how long ago the experiment was done, Steve was still not completely used to his goliath body.

"Shit!" he cried, hitting the ground like a sack of potatoes.

"Language!" Bucky laughed, not even bothering to help Steve up.

"Why do you keep saying that?" Steve asked. "We're in the army, we all have bad language. Yours is worse than mine."

"Yeah," Bucky shrugged, "but I'm not a hero."

"What?" Steve blinked at Bucky from his now seated position. Of course Bucky was a hero. Bucky had always been a hero.

Bucky smirked. "You're an icon now, Captain America. Kids look up to you. Can't have you corrupting their minds with your horrible language."

Steve blinked a couple of times, not believing his friend. Was this some kind of strange punishment? Because Steve had agreed to take the serum, Bucky was now gonna make sure his language was clean? He knew Bucky w as s mad about it but this was a weird way of showing it.

Bucky's smirk grew into a smile, then a chuckle.

Oh. No, it was just Bucky being Bucky. Ok then.

Steve smiled joining in.

"You son of a bitch," Steve laughed.

"Language," Bucky chided with a smile, offering Steve his hand. "And you love my mom."

"True," Steve accepted Bucky's hand. "But I'm not always too fond of her son." With that, he pulled Bucky down into the mud beside him.

Couldn't let Bucky get away with everything.

True to his word, every time Steve let out a cuss Bucky would respond with "Language!"

Steve always rolled his eyes and went on with the mission. Every time.

Until about three weeks later while they were all sitting around a fire cracking jokes. Monty had told a particularly bad one that had Bucky laughing so hard he couldn't make any sound.

Which was funnier than the joke.

Finally, Bucky recovered and gasped, "Damn. I haven't laughed that hard in a long time."

"Language," Steve called out.

Bucky looked at him, eyebrow raised. The other men watched eagerly as the old friends stared each other down.

Bucky leaned back with a smile, "You fuddy-duddy bastard."

"I'll bring out the swear jar," Steve threatened, which caused everyone to laugh.

And so it went. They'd go on missions one of them would swear, the other would call them out on it. Whenever Steve reprimanded Bucky, Bucky would proceed to say worse swear words.

The rest of the Commandos had two running lists. One of who got called out more, and another for how many times "Language!" was heard in one mission.

The record was 225.

That had been a very rough mission. All you could hear over the radio was a cuss then "Language!" Another cuss. "Language!" Truth be told they all lost track on that one.

Also, Steve called out Bucky more than Bucky called out Steve. But just barely.

They were actually tied before that final mission. When Bucky fell and Steve stopped smiling.

Dum Dum hid the lists and Steve never asked about them.

It was routine for the Avengers.

Use your talents. Take out the bad guys. Work together.

Steve forgot.

Missions like this were so similar to the war. And Bucky was still on his mind. Bucky was alive.

Steve wasn't even sure what had happened. Something didn't go Stark's way he heard it over the com.

"Shit!"

"Language!" It was 1945. Bucky had stubbed his toe or missed a shot. Next Bucky would call him a bastard or drop an F-bomb.

But in the next second Steve remembered where he was. It was 2015. Bucky wasn't here. He didn't know where Bucky was. He pushed those feelings away and continued, "JARVIS, what's the view from upstairs?"

The electronic voice answered, "The central building is protected by some kind of energy shield. Strucker's technology is well beyond any other Hydra base we've taken."

"Loki's scepter must be here," Thor agreed "Strucker couldn't mount this defense without it. At long last."

"At long last is lasting a little long, boys," Natasha quipped.

"Yeah. I think we lost the element of surprise," Clint added.

"Wait a second," Tony cut in, "No one else is going to deal with the fact that Cap just said 'language?'"

"I know," Steve groaned. How could he explain it was a joke between him and Bucky in a second? How could he tell them that he had gotten lost in the past on the heat of battle without sounding crazy?

How could he lead this team when all he wanted was Bucky fighting at his side again?

He flipped throwing the motorcycle he'd been riding at a jeep. "It just slipped out," he almost whispered.