Thank you for the reply KB2ZTX. After reading your reply, the light bulb went off around the TX/RX frequencies on the radios vs repeaters. When using a repeater channel on the Midland and BTech...it must go through a repeater to complete the TX Freq - RX Freq/TX Freq - RX Freq chain (Radio 1 OUT > Repeater IN/OUT > Radio 2 IN).
This guy, while not using GMRS frequencies, does a pretty nice job of explaining how a repeater functions.
scottnicely's post in Midland MXT400 to BTech GMRS V1 was marked as the answer