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“If I activate it, you stay here until I confirm the other side is clear.”

She crossed her arms. “That sounds familiar.”

“Yes.” I forced myself to continue. “Or we abandon this route and take the external path.”

Her gaze sharpened. “You’re asking again.”

“Yes.”

She studied the gate, then me.

“If you cross and it flags you, can I get back out?”

“Yes.”

“You?”

“Possibly.”

Her face hardened. “That is not acceptable.”

“It is the system limitation.”

“That is not what I meant.”

I knew what she meant. “If I get trapped,” I said, “you can retreat.”

“No.”

“Talia—”

“You asked for my choice.” She stepped closer so there was no room to misunderstand her. “Yes. My choice is that we don’t use a route where your failure condition is ‘I stay and you leave.’”

I stared at her.

“That is tactically inefficient,” I said.

“Probably.”

“It may be the safer option for you.”

“I know.”

“Then why⁠—”

“Because partnership is not you sacrificing yourself more politely.”

That stopped me completely.

She held my gaze without blinking. “I’m not asking you to stop protecting me.” Her voice softened, but only a little. “I’m asking you to stop assuming the only acceptable outcome is the one where I survive and you don’t.”

I had no response. Because she was right. Again. I disliked how frequently that occurred.

“External route,” I said.

She nodded. “External route.”

I shut down the gate attempt—no biometric scan, no alert—and we turned back. The detour added almost an hour. I said nothing, and Talia did not apologize.