"What's gotten INTO you??" Bree complained as Edwin hauled her up the side of the mountain as fast as he possibly could.
"There's bears in there," he huffed as he climbed.
"...What?? Where? I don't see any -- oh, wait a minute...aww, I see him! He's just a little one. Just a little fuzzball! Awwwwwww!!" Bree gushed, smiling sweetly as she watched the bear cub amble out of the cave curiously. "Come on, all that fuss for THAT little thing?"
"Yes," Lifeline said simply.
"But...but...!! But that doesn't make SENSE!"
"Sure it does."
Before Bree could respond, the furious mother bear charged out of the cave with a fierce, guttural roar. Bree shuddered, staring down at the sharp-toothed maw some distance below them. "The mother! Oh, that's why..."
Lifeline said absolutely nothing; he just kept climbing.
"...Edwin? Are you annoyed with me? You can be honest. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make it sound like you didn't know what you were doing."
More silence from the rescue medic, who continued silently climbing. The bear's roaring grew fainter as they gained vertical distance.
"Aw, come on, please talk to me? Don't give me the silent treatment, let's talk," urged an extremely uncomfortable Bree.
"I don't want to fight with you," Edwin said simply, as he strained to reach the next slippery foothold.
"We're not going to fight, we're going to talk," Bree said as she shut her eyes. The vertigo was really bothering her from this vantage point. "There's a difference."
"Not when you're angry, there isn't," he replied in the same mild, slightly uninterested-sounding tone that was threatening to drive Bree crazy.
Feeling extremely frustrated and upset at this point, Bree fought back tears. Why was he blocking her efforts to make up? Had she really pissed him off that much? "I'm sorry," she sniffled, burying her face in his sleeve so the tears wouldn't freeze on her cheeks.
"It's okay...don't cry, please," Edwin said uneasily. It was hard to be reassuring when they were clinging precariously to the side of a mountain. "Look, it's just...this is a bad time to have that kind of talk. I'm trying to concentrate on getting us to a safer place. I also have to think about locating these beacons, too, you know?"
"I want to help, Edwin. Don't shut me out," Bree insisted, looking him straight in the eyes. "This isn't about you rescuing me. It's about us working together."
Realizing that she wasn't going to take no for an answer, he decided to yield a little bit. "...Alright," Lifeline conceded, much to Bree's satisfaction. "How close are we to the next beacon?"
Bree smiled cheerfully, as she checked the device in her hands. "It's about 25 feet up," she announced. "See? Teamwork. We'll get this done quicker when there's two of us working on the solution!"
Lifeline sighed, and hoped that Beach Head never, ever found out about this.
