M E N D A C I O U S

-flatulent hitmen-

Eli hadn't learned a damn thing about Time Wraiths.

They were mysterious and strange, elusive as they weaved throughout time. They could kill on contact, and only attacked speedsters who interfered with their past selves. As much as he knew about their skillset, he couldn't find a way to entrap a time demon from a mysterious force accessible by Barry Allen and Roscoe Hynes.

And Jaime Hilliards was still alive, thank God. Eli made Roscoe promise not to try to fix the timeline yet, just to keep an eye on him. Eli knew nothing about fixing timelines, and Roscoe was just as inexperienced. Eli had been stressed these past two weeks, with the roiling sickness and the strange afterimages. He had been good at covering it up, but he wasn't sure what to do about it.

As far as the sunglasses-and-bandana costume he'd been wearing to catch other metas, they hadn't been touched since Multiplex. The Streak had taken over the city's conspiracy media, and there weren't other metas to be caught, either. Other than your typical crimes and fires, Central City was calm.

Of course, Simon Stagg's untimely death had been on the forefront of the media as an unsolved case for the CCPD, but it had fallen into the back of the community's minds as the Streak came forwards.

And on the topic of learning how to control or erase these 'afterimages', Eli was clueless. They'd been nothing but a hindrance to him--having to limit his movement was becoming increasingly difficult, and Roscoe was adamant on keeping his affliction from Dr. Wells and the others.

And so when he went to STAR Labs on this particular morning, he had to deal with a very frustrated Cisco and Caitlin fussing over the stiffness of his casts.

"Are you sure they aren't bothering you?" Caitlin asked, monitoring his blood flow as Cisco unscrewed a component of the casts. "You've been hesitant to help upgrade Barry's suit."
"They aren't bothering me," Eli said tiredly. "I've just been really exhausted lately."

"Yeah?" Cisco asked. "Whatever you've been doing on my computer lately must be keeping you up."

Eli struggled not to choke. "What?"

"I'm not dumb," Cisco muttered. "I know you've been looking at some strange files on my computer. Porn?"

"No!" Eli yelped. "Ew!"

"What is it, then?" Cisco raised an eyebrow. "You dealing drugs?"

"You wouldn't believe me," Eli wheezed through laughter.

"Try us," Caitlin smiled, crossing her arms.

"I'm researching immortal and unstoppable time demons out for a friend's blood," Eli muttered to himself. "While also trying to not strangle said friend for lack of information."
"You're kidding me," Cisco fixed up the casts. "What are you actually doing?"

Eli let out a wild laugh. "Writing a blog."

"On what?" Caitlin laughed. "Quantum energy?"

"Uh," Eli tilted his head side to side. "Yeah, actually. Or the effects on the human body."

"Huh," Cisco said as Eli hopped off the gurney. "Cool."

Eli turned to Wells, who had just wheeled in, and waved jauntily. "How's it going, doc?"

"Very well, thank you," Wells smiled. "You're writing a blog, I hear?"

Eli hummed. "Yeah. Quantum mechanics."

"Interesting," Wells smiled cryptically. "I'd like to read it. Quantum mechanics were always an interest of mine."

"Huh," Eli flexed his arms. "I'll send you the link."