[center][img]http://s30.postimg.org/wekde1cel/2000px_Captain_America_Shield_svg.png[/img][/center]

Bucky glanced at the radio that Fury had embedded into the wrist of his prosthetic arm and pondered radioing him before shaking his head. He kept the shield pressed against Stephanie's neck and watched as her face began to grow discoloured and she started to visibly gasp for air but looked no closer to going back on what she'd told him. Could it be true? Could she [i]really[/i] be Steve's daughter? It made no sense. Then again, nothing that had happened over the past twenty-four hours made any sense when he stopped to think about it. They'd told him that when they'd found him he'd been perfectly preserved in ice for the past sixty years. That was as unbelievable as what Stephanie was saying. Maybe more so.

He pulled the shield away from Stephanie's neck and she gasped for air. He stepped away from her, careful to keep the shield at his side and away from where she was sat on the ground attempting to catch her breath. Stephanie rubbed her throat a little and looked up at Bucky with an unimpressed look on her face. As much as he hated to admit it, she [i]did[/i] look like Steve.

"Let's say what you're saying is true," Bucky said ponderously. "What makes you think you deserve this thing? You didn't know Steve from the next guy over and running around calling yourself his daughter isn't going to change that. Maybe you [i]are[/i] Steve's kin but that doesn't make you any more worthy to carry this thing than anybody else. If Steve were here, he'd be the first person to tell you that."

Bucky looked down at the shield, felt its weight in his hands, and thought of all the times he'd held it before. It was different now, it felt lighter in his hands, but there was a sense of familiarity to it that spoke to him. "Carrying this thing is about more than the blood running through your veins, kid, and if you don't know that by now then you definitely don't deserve to carry it."