It's not that Zach has never not been a Jedi. It was just that he'd decided that hiding this from his colleagues was the most logical course of action, as they would likely—as some say—"freak out".

There is a reason why he took the lightsaber hypothesis so seriously, of course (his own is hidden under his bed along with all of his Firefly DVDs, several manuals, and an old copy of The Country Woman with his favorite macaroni & cheese recipe). He'd built his first 'droid when he was thirteen, too, but using Earth technology was a far greater challenge.

Only Hodgins had ever guessed correctly, of course, but then he was fairly certain Hodgins was only jesting when he called him an alien.

There comes a time in any man's life, however, when absolutely idiotic ideas start to seem logical. Like scientifically studying the Force with lab equipment—it's not as if he has the right tools in his apartment, after all.

It was several months between when he started studying it in the lab and when the Incident occurred.

Zach was very tired, you see. And he walked in as Hodgins was waiting over the toaster for some pop tarts to bounce up.

A quick thought flicked through his mind.

Question: How would Hodgins react to being levitated?

Hypothesis: He would flail and yell expletives

There was a ding and the strawberry tarts popped up.

"Hey, Zach-man," Hodgins said with a smug, easy smile, reaching over to grab one, "I'll buy you more later, kiddo."

Before he could grab it, though, Zach blearily jerked his hand up and Hodgins flew near the ceiling with an exclamation of surprised.

And lots of swearing and flailing.

Zach munched his poptart and peered up at Hodgins thoughtfully.

His hypothesis was clearly correct.