Ezra tucked his knees up to his chest, staring at the wall of the detention cell and trying to figure out what he was going to do. Any other time it would be easy, it barely qualified as a cell. It was more for holding drunk or unruly workers… or people without a proper ID until things got sorted out. He could have been out of it in a matter of minutes, even feeling horrible. He just wasn't entirely sure if that would be the best thing to do.
If he stayed there was a chance they'd find out something was up, they were specifically trying not to attract attention. But escaping might attract even more attention and then if anyone remembered that he was working with Kanan and Zeb it could blow it for all of them. He felt a fat drop of water splat against his shoulder and tried to tug the raincoat and hood a little better around himself. They weren't particularly concerned with the comfort of anyone tossed in the cell and there were scattered drips from the rain seeping through the building material and adding to the puddles already on the floor. Ezra really hoped the puddles were just rainwater, but he wasn't about to go investigating too closely. It was horribly unfair that he was still thirsty, and the dripping and condensation just seemed to taunt him.
He couldn't tell if the cell was kept uncomfortably cold or if the weather had just turned cooler outside. Either way his clothes felt clammy and cold against his skin, refusing to warm. He shifted, putting his legs down so he could kick at the metal leg of the hard uncomfortable chair, trying not to wince when he swallowed. It always felt like swallowing might ease the ache in his throat, and every time it just turned into a stabbing pain that faded back to the ache after a moment. He didn't even know if anyone else knew what happened to him, or how long it would take someone else from the Ghost crew to even realize he was missing. He'd finally decided that no matter what, if he didn't hear from someone by nightfall he was breaking himself out when he heard voices outside, straightening up when he could make out Kanan's voice on the other side of the door.
"A kid forgetting his ID once hardly seems like a good reason to lock him away all day long. Do you know how much longer it took without him? You want to be the one to explain why the boss has to authorize overtime like this?"
"Rules are there for a reason, if I'd overlooked a security breach of someone wandering around unauthorized…." The other voice was unfamiliar, but the accent was unmistakably Imperial.
"Well he's authorized now, next time maybe take five seconds and ask someone who knows what's going on, eh? Coulda been cleared up hours ago." Kanan used rougher speech patterns on the job, not the exaggerated accent he used when he played at being drunk, but something that fit in with the other human workers. At the moment it was thick with irritation and Ezra shifted on his feet, unsure how much of that was actually directed at him and how much was just for show. Finally the door was opened up and Kanan and the security officer stood framed in it.
Kanan took several quick steps inside, tugging Ezra's hood back roughly and then waving the ID slip in the security officer's direction. "See, it's Cal."
"Fine, he can go. But don't make a slip up like that again." The last was directed at Ezra and he just nodded. Kanan put a hand to his back, urging him out of the cell and into the hallway. Ezra yanked the hood back up before anything else could drip on him and reached for the ID, putting it in its proper pocket.
Ezra waited until they were halfway to the speeders before he spoke. "Thanks." He kept his voice down, as much because a whisper hurt less as because it attracted less attention.
Kanan kept his voice just as low "They like finding some excuse to make an example of someone every couple weeks at least, I'm not exactly happy you forgot your reg card and gave them a reason, but it wasn't entirely your fault."
Ezra flinched a little at that and then straightened up, patting the pocket. "It won't happen again."
"I know it won't." Kanan patted his back lightly. "And the loading job was finished without a problem, you just worried us until we heard they'd dragged someone off for being on site without a reg card and figured things out."
They made their way to where the one speeder bike was parked in relative silence.
"Zeb went ahead and took the other back." Kanan looked like he was waiting for some sort of protest, but Ezra just nodded, climbing up behind him. Normally he preferred to drive and Zeb preferred to ride, but there was no reason the Lasat had to stick around when he wasn't needed. Ezra was just as glad he'd gone on, it meant he wasn't there to tease him just yet about forgetting, and it gave him an excuse to just relax, wrapping his arms loosely around Kanan's waist and ducking his head down where Kanan's body blocked the rain.
He didn't exactly doze, falling asleep probably would have meant falling for real, but the ride out to where the Ghost was parked was uneventful enough that he could relax and let himself drift a little. It seemed to take nearly no time at all before the speeder was slowing and then coming to a stop at the ramp. He peered around as he slid off the side of the bike so Kanan could walk it in, spotting Hera waiting for them and swallowing with a wince. He was used to being able to at least try to talk his way out of situations.
"How did it go on your end?" Hera's voice sounded concerned, but not the tight sarcastic tone she got when she was angry and Ezra relaxed a little.
"It went fine. As best I could tell it was an ordinary arrest and no one suspected anything was off about it. Have you heard from Sabine?" Kanan pushed the bike into the hanger to drip and started tugging off his rain gear to keep from tracking water all over the ship.
"She said it looks like they were due to make an example of someone and there's no unusual activity in or out, so we should be clear." Hera helped get the gear away then turned to take Ezra's coat, frowning a little as she looked over him. "Ezra? You're being awfully quiet."
Ezra shrugged, fighting with the fastenings to his boots, they seemed to be extra stubborn.
"Ezra, look at me?" Hera moved closer, starting to sound worried.
"Sorry, throat's kind of sore, hurts to talk." Ezra tried to smile, speaking softly and then trying to move around her to put his boots away.
She didn't let him get too far, peering at his face and then quickly tugging a glove off to reach out and feel his cheek. "Ezra, you're burning up."
"He's what?" Kanan startled at that, appearing beside her quickly enough that it nearly looked like he'd discovered a way to teleport. "He didn't have a fever this morning."
Ezra felt torn between embarrassment at the close scrutiny, and a sort of weirdly triumphant feeling at being vindicated. The second didn't last too long when his body reminded him that the price of being right was wanting to curl up in a little ball until everything stopped feeling horrible.
"Wait, you knew he was sick this morning?" Hera's eyes narrowed and she leaned forward to stare up at Kanan.
"He said his throat was sore, there wasn't anything else and he didn't have a fever, so I thought…"
"So you thought you'd drag him out in the rain and make sure he got one?" Her voice was sharp enough that Kanan took a step back.
"You're right, it was a dumb move and I'm sorry, but none of this is going to help Ezra right now." Kanan gestured to his fairly bedraggled looking padawan.
Hera nodded, not looking entire happy, tugging her glove back on sharply and reaching to take Ezra's shoulder and steering him towards the ladder. "Go get dry clothes on and Kanan will get the first aid kit. Don't worry about putting your gear up."
Ezra nodded, climbing up the ladder, not going to argue if it meant he could get dry and warmed up faster.
Ezra held still while Kanan shined the light down his throat, looking in and wincing.
"Yeah, it looks pretty bad now, and you've got the fever to go with it." Kanan put the light away and unwrapped a couple pills. "These should help with both of those. Any new symptoms bothering you?
Ezra shook his head, taking the pills and the glass of water, swallowing them and unable to hide the flinch as it felt like they scraped over raw skin going down. "No, just hurts and I feel horrible." His voice was a rough whisper, it didn't really hurt his throat any more that way. If he wasn't forced to he had no intention of trying to talk normally for a while.
"At least you've got the next few days off?"
Ezra rolled his eyes, reaching to get the blanket and unfold it, wrapping it around his shoulders and hunkering down.
"Sorry, however long you need to get feeling better is fine. Is there anything you need?"
Ezra thought for a long moment, then shook his head. He wanted a lot, most of it completely impossible.
"Then if you change your mind, no one's going to be too far away, and we'll be checking in on you. Try to get some rest." Kanan patted his shoulder, dimming the lights for him and stepping out.