Author Note: Wow! It has been a long time since my last updated. Sorry for the wait and thank you everyone for the wonderful suggestions. Some of you had made some excellent arguments for making Willow a mutant or keeping her as a witch. I counted all the votes and placed the results at the end of this chapter so not to spoil the surprise. :)

'Italicized words with single quotation marks indicate thoughts.'

Chapter 4: The Results

Willow had been unconscious for over twenty-four hours and everyone was anxious for her to wake but no one more so than Kurt. He spent every waking moment beside her bed staring forlornly at her still form. The professor had reassured him that Willow would be fine once her body recovered from using too much energy, but Kurt would not be detoured. It wasn't until later that night that the first rays of hope broke Kurt's unusual grim mood.

Willow sighed. It was barely audible and Kurt had almost missed it, but it was the first sign of consciousness she had exhibit since she passed out days ago.

"Professor! She's waking up!" shouted Kurt excitedly. Scott, Jean, Logan, Ororo and Professor Xavier crowded around the bed in at Kurt's proclamation.

"Willow…Willow," whispered Kurt earnestly.

"Hmm," mumbled Willow quietly with her eyes still closed.

"Willow it's time to wake up now," said Kurt quietly as he gently shook her shoulder.

"Just five mo minuts," mumbled Willow sleepily into her pillow as she turned over to her side.

"I think you slept enough kid," grunted Logan in amusement.

At the sound of the man's unfamiliar voice Willow's eyes popped opened in surprise and she was greeted to sight of several curious faces staring down at her.

The redhead clutched the thin white linen sheet to her chin and stared at everyone in confusion. "Um… hi," squeaked Willow nervously as everyone continued to stare at her with open curiosity.

"Where am I?" asked Willow timidly.

"The med lab right here in the mansion," smiled Professor Xavier reassuringly.

The redhead's brow furrowed in confusion. "Oh…um why?"

"We tried contacting your parents but no one answered the phone. So we thought it was best to keep you here while we monitor your health, considering the circumstances in which you became ill. But now that you are awake maybe you would like to call your parents?" asked the beautiful dark skinned woman as she checked over the small redhead for any signs of weakness with a critical eye. Once she was satisfied that Willow was well she allowed her to sit up in bed.

"That's okay they're in Europe for a conference. They won't be back for months," dismissed Willow as if it was nothing out of the ordinary. Professor Xavier frowned as waves of bitterness, sadness and finally the sharp pain of rejection radiated from the small redhead. Xavier sensed that this wasn't the first time the girl was left alone to fend for herself by her parent and he suspected that it won't be the last.

Willow cleared her throat at the sudden silence that descended the group and thought that she ought to change the subject before they ask her more awkward questions about her parents. "Err…so what happened?"

The Professor shook himself from his revere and smiled knowingly at Willow. "You over extended your powers past their limits causing your body collapsed from exhaustion."

"Oh," replied Willow is confusion.

At the confused look on the girl's face Xavier tried to elaborate. "Think of it as a sprained muscle. Without proper training or exercise strenuous activity could cause pain and even permanent damage. It was very dangerous for you to use so much power so quickly when you have never done so before. You could have caused yourself irreparable damage," chided Xavier disapprovingly.

'Wow, he sounds just like Giles,' thought Willow in amusement and then suddenly she felt the sharp pain of loneliness. God she missed him. She wished that he was here. Giles would have known what was happening to her. But she guessed what Professor Xavier was saying made sense. She had never used that much power before and she was use to doing smaller spells.

Suddenly Willow's face turned bright red and she shifted uncomfortably in her bed. "Okay now I have just one more question. Um…where's the bathroom?" asked Willow urgently.

She was now sitting on the edge of the bed with her legs dangling off the side with Kurt perched on his hind quarters close beside her. The professor was explaining the results of the blood test that they have taken while she was unconscious, without her permission she noted. She was still slightly peeved about that. But Willow found it hard to concentrate to what the man was saying when Kurt's leg kept brushing ever so slightly against her arm, sending tingles up and down her spine. 'How anyone could possibly ignored those powerful firm muscled thighs?' wondered Willow dreamily.

"The analysis of Ms. Rosenberg's blood was puzzling," said the Professor contemplatively as he laced his finger together with his elbows resting on the sides of his chair.

"How so Professor?" asked Scott impatiently. Everyone was eager to find out what sort of mutant Willow was. There had been some speculation on the nature of her powers from telekinesis to mind control, but nothing really substantial.

"We found no traces of the x-gene responsible for mutation," said Xavier in bewilderment as his forehead creased in thought.

'Well duh. I could have told you that,' thought Willow exasperatedly. Oh great, now everyone was staring at her like she was some sort of alien and she really didn't like the way Professor Xavier was eyeing her as if she was an interesting puzzle that needed be solved. Nope she didn't like it at all.

"So if she isn't a mutant than what exactly is she?" asked Logan gruffly. His question was directed towards Xavier but his cold dark eyes never left the redhead, pinning her like a bug on the wall and Willow tried hard not to squirm under his gaze.

"I honestly don't know? She may in fact still be a mutant, but all the tests indicated that Willow is nothing more than a normal healthy teenage girl. However we did detect a slight energy field around her body, but nothing that would account for her powers," puzzled the Professor thoughtfully. "Ms. Rosenberg if you would consent to more test maybe we could learn more about this phenomenon. Meanwhile we would be glad to teach you how to control your powers."

Willow blanched. "W…what sort of test?"

The older man smiled reassuringly at her, trying his best to ease her fears. "I'll assure you nothing more extensive than you would have experience during a routine physical."

Willow wasn't too thrill with the fact that they wanted to run more test on her and she still didn't know what the whole battle on their front lawn was all about, but the offer to learn control over her powers was just too enticing to ignore. Kurt's eyes pleaded for Willow to say yes and in the end Willow reluctantly agreed. She didn't quite trust the professor but she did trust Kurt.

Professor Xavier smiled approvingly at her. "Welcome to the X-Men Miss Rosenberg."

Witch 29

Witch/Mutant 7

Mutant 3