The next day...

Midas yawns, waking up from his slumber. He finds himself in bed with Jones fast asleep beside him. He still looked a little under the weather, but not as bad as yesterday, so Midas slides out of his arms and wraps the bedsheets over him, making sure he was warm and safe.

"I'll go make you some breakfast dear. That'll be nice to wake up to."

He walks downstairs, scratching the back of his neck with a yawn. Flicking the light switch he gets two slices of bread and puts it in the toaster while also collecting butter from the fridge and jam from the cupboard and a knife.

Midas takes a seat near the dining table, waiting for the toast to finish. He suddenly catches a glance of a silver ring on the table, Jones' ring.

"Strange. He usually has it on no matter what."

Taking it he eventually notices why he isn't wearing it anymore. The I.O logo was there clear as day, staining the ring.

The ring made him remember something.

A couple of days before the aliens arrived Jones had given away Janice's old ring to him for safekeeping, knowing he could trust Midas with it.

He also mentioned that even if it was accidentally turned to gold, he wouldn't mind.

This gave Midas an idea.

----------

A few minutes later...

"Jonesy, wakey wakey."

The blond stirs in his sleep, hugging his pillow tightly. Midas hums, putting the plate in his hand aside on the bedside table.

"C'mon Jones your breakfast will get cold."

He continues to snore, burying his head in the pillow and pulling the blankets over himself. At this point Midas was sure Jones was messing around with him and smirks.

"Oh so you're saying we're doing this the hard way, hmm?"

It was clear Jones was half awake half asleep as he begins giggling into the pillow, failing to hide it. Midas smiles, going along with whatever it was he was doing.

"Alright my dear. You've asked for it."

He cracks his knuckles and...

... begins trying to tickle the blond where he was most ticklish.

Jones flinches with a snicker. Midas laughs softly, blushing slightly, and continues to tickle him until he turns around in the bed.

"Okay okay I'm up! Haha!"

"You asked for it Jonesy. I'm not the one to blame here." Midas hums, smirking with a raised eyebrow. "Anyway, I've made you breakfast."

He passes the plate. Jones thanks him and begins devouring every last slice. Midas smiles, gazing lovingly at him. He slides a hand through his golden locks of hair, feeling how soft it was.

"How are you feeling this morning?" Midas asks, feeling his head.

"Better than I was yesterday, that's for sure."

"Good, good."

Silence drifts between them as Jones finishes his toast.

"I wanted to ask something by the way."

"Okay. I'm all ears Midas."

"It's about... the ring you gave me and the one I found on the table downstairs this morning."

"You mean the ring I thought represented my marriage to Jan when in reality it meant my dedication to I.O?"

He nods.

"I was wondering... would it make you feel better if I turned both rings into gold?" He asks. "That stain of I.O would be cleaned away with a simple touch of my hand."

Jones thinks about it for a moment, until eventually nodding.

"Sure. Then whenever I look at it I won't be reminded of I.O... it'll make it easier to move forward."

Midas hums, proud of how Jones had finally been able to let go of the past, and taps both his ring and the other one he had in his other hand. The silver slowly begins to be consumed in gold, a few sparkles coming off them.

"Here you go." Midas smiles, putting Jones' ring back on his finger. "Back where it belongs."

In turn, Jones takes the other one and slides it on to Midas' fourth finger on his left hand, the exact same spot Jones' one was. He can't help but blush a little bit.

"Midas... ya think we can lie in bed for a little longer?" Jones asks, putting the plate aside and lying down.

"Jones I'd like to but we have stuff to do today remember?"

"Please?~"

The blond smiles at him, showcasing puppy-like eyes and practically begging him. Midas sighs in defeat, unable to resist that adorable look and lies down next to Jones.

"I suppose it couldn't hurt. Sleeping will help you get rid of your cold quicker."

Jones eventually begins dozing off in his arms, his head nuzzled under Midas' chin. Midas catches on and begins dozing off himself, wrapping his arms around him.

"Have a good nap blondie..."

"Mmm...you too goldie..."

-------------------

While they didn't intend to, their 'nap' lasted for 3 hours. Neither didn't want it to come to an end, but they had things to do. They had to release Jones' snapshots from their golden prisons, as well as Jules, Skye and TnTina.

Then, pay Doctor Slone a visit as the Mothership was getting closer to Corny Complex every hour.

As Midas finishes doing up the buttons on his waistcoat he knocks on the bedroom door.

"Jones are you ready yet? We don't have all day."

"Yeah. Just gimme a second."

Folding his arms he leans against the wall and patiently waits for the blond to emerge from the room. A couple seconds later he comes out wearing the same assortment of armour from yesterday.

"Okay, now I'm ready."

Midas nods, walking downstairs and grabbing the sceptre he left by the front door last night. Jones takes ahold of it, curious about something.

"Wait. Lemme hold it a second."

Midas lets go, so now Jones was the only one holding it. Sure enough, the sceptre falls onto the ground, dragging him along with it. And no matter how hard he tugged on it, he couldn't make it budge.

"Just as I thought. Since its returned to its rightful owner I can't carry it anymore." Jones sighs with a chuckle. "Just like Thor's hammer..."

The mastermind smiles and picks up the staff.

"Well I suppose the answers simple:

you're not worthy."

He winks at Jones, knowing how much he likes his Marvel movies, who in turn blushes.

The two of them head into the garage and are met with a ton of golden statues. Midas hums, filled with guilt and anger.

"That blasted imposter...look at what its done to my family and your snapshots."

"Well you can reverse it with the staff, right?"

Midas nods slightly, knowing he's correct about that.

"Alright. Want to help me drag them outside and line them up?"

Jones nods with a smile. One by one each statue is drag out into the open and lined up in a row.

Aside from Jules, TnTina and Skye, in total the boys determine that over 46 snapshots of Jones in all were turned.

Gripping on to the sceptre Midas begins channeling his power through it. Jones watches from a relatively safe distance, just in case. To play it safe and to make sure he gets it right, Midas focuses on just returning the first snapshot that was turned to gold.

"Alright. Here goes nothing."

He pokes the statue's head with the tip of the sceptre. A flash of light covers his vision, and suddenly a voice could be heard.

"Ugh...oh man... what happened to me?"

Cabbie lands on the ground, rubbing his head. Midas smiles a little, relieved.

"It worked! You're back!"

"Huh? Midas...why did you turn me to gold and then ungold me?" He asks. "H-How long have I been out?"

"A month or so." Midas answers. "Also I wasn't the one to turn you into gold. I'll explain when all of your buddies are released from their golden prisons."

Cabbie stands up only to be greeted by Jones giving him a hug. The blond couldn't help but love his snapshots. He had a kind heart and wanted to project that kindness on to them. It was his own form of self love at times.

One by one the snapshots are returned back to normal and Midas gives all of them the full story about his abduction and the imposter that replaced him and tricked them.

They seemed to accept that fact and forgive Midas for the confusion.

Then came the time for the girls to be brought back. Midas started with Skye and TnTina. They seemed happy to see him again.

"Bossman!"

Skye wraps her arms around him tightly.

"Hah, I knew that Midas we were talking to wasn't you. He was real suspicious."

"I sincerely apologize for letting all of this happen. It's my own fault for getting abducted in the first place." Midas sighs with a hum.

"Hey! Stop talking smack about yourself Midas!" Jones grins, patting his back.

"You're right Jones. It's in the past. Nothing I do now will change what happened." He agrees. "Besides, we have one last person to restore."

Midas turns to Jules' statue and points the tip of the sceptre on her head. The gold quickly reacts and begins fading away. The engineer gasps for air as the last of the gold goes away.

"I... I'm back. But how?" She questions. "I thought Midas' golden touch couldn't be reversed."

"Not unless you can wield Oro's sceptre."

She looks up at Midas and Jones, tears brimming in her eyes. She wraps her arms around her brother tightly, clearly grateful and also having missed him.

"Midas... y-you're back! Did Jones rescue you somehow?"

"Mhm. He did it all on his own. Had his own plan and everything."

She turns to the blond. He awkwardly clears his throat, and offers his hand.

"I suppose I'm probably still not forgive yet...but perhaps we could call it even?"

Jules pushes away his hand and instead wraps her arms around him, hugging the blond happily.

"You saved my brother and I'm grateful for that. For all the terrible things I said to you in the past... I'm sorry Jones."

He humbly accepts the apology. It would probably take a while, but Jules and Jones' friendship was finally showing signs of healing. Midas smiles, glad that things were somewhat back to normal.

But one thing lingered within his mind.

"Jones dear... did you ever find out what happened to Marigold?"