He figures it out.

Jax couldn't accept the fact that he'd lost his powers. There had to be some detail that he had overlooked. How had he even gotten his powers?

He thought back. When did things start getting weird? Helen getting the tattoos had been the tipping point, the thing that proved he had powers, but was that the beginning? No, he's started getting suspicious with Dr. Walker. She hadn't had a wedding ring, then he'd asked her if she'd been married, she'd said yes, and suddenly she'd had the ring.

The thought of her suddenly having a ring tugged at his brain. That seemed meaningful. Then he remembered that he'd gotten a ring recently too. He looked down at the gold band on his right hand. Thinking hard now, he realized he'd gotten it just before this all started! Had he been wearing it when he talked to Jessica? He couldn't remember. This called for a test.

"Hey, Jessica!" he called out.

The girl walked into the living room. She was combing out one of her red pigtails. "Yeah, Jax?"

"Have a seat, I'd like to continue our talk from yesterday."

"Um, I'd love to, but I have to get ready for class. Don't you have to go to work?"

Jax patted the seat cushion on the couch next to him. "Would you please sit and talk with me?"

She shrugged. "Okay, sure."

Jax smiled as the young college student sat down. She seemed to accept his request without hesitation, but that wasn't much of a test. "Hey Jess, are you really a natural blonde?"

A part of him expected her to turn up her nose and deny dying her hair. Instead, her hair changed color to a brilliant shade of blonde! She smiled proudly and said, "Yep, all natural! But, don't call me Jess. I don't like nicknames."

The powers were back! He felt relieved and excited. However, he needed to confirm his suspicions. He slipped the ring off his finger and said, "Are you a natural redhead, Jess?"

She rolled her eyes at him. "No, I just told you I'm a natural blonde! And my name is Jessica!"

Jax smiled so big his tongue slipped through his teeth a little. He put the ring back on. "Hey Jess, are you a natural redhead who loves being called nicknames?"

"Oh, yeah, I'm sorry, I misunderstood your question," said Jessica as her pigtails changed back to red. "Yeah, my hair is naturally red, and I really do like nicknames. You can call me whatever you want."

Jax's right hand curled up into a fist as he looked at the terrific little ring that was going to change his life. Literally!