I hereby apologize in advance.

On with the fic!

Red Pill

It was her.

His Rose Tyler.

She was here.

The Doctor turned away from Donna and ran, a grin stretching across his face.

It was as if everything else in the universe had disappeared. The Daleks, Shadow Proclamation, the end of the world – everything seemed to fall away once he saw her. Who cared if the universe was doomed – Rose had returned. She was right here, right now! He wanted to shout it to the whole universe.

Rose was back. Rose was back! Rose was back!

Blimey, he loved the way that sounded.

The two collided, flinging arms around each other in the tightest hug imaginable. Rose buried her face in the Doctor's shoulder, sniffling slightly. The Doctor rested his head in the crook of her neck, murmuring to Rose while stroking her hair. "Rose, Rose, it's okay, it's alright, I've got you-"

"I thought I'd lost you," Rose sobbed.

"Doctor?"

The Doctor grimaced, feeling a sudden twinge of pain inside his head. Some sort of loud ringing noise…had he heard that before? And that voice…it sounded so familiar…

"Doctor?" Rose broke in, moving back to get a better look at him. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing, nothing," the Doctor reassured her. "I'm fine."

"Doctor?"

The pain hit him again, erupting in several spasms. The mysterious voice echoed through his head, repeating its one-word question endlessly through his throbbing brain.

The Doctor massaged his forehead with one hand, trying desperately to maintain his composure. "So," he said in a strained voice, "how've you been? You seem…aagh," he cried out as a particularly violent spasm erupted, "fine."

Rose peered closely at him, looking concerned. "Doctor, you look…sick."

"It's nothing," the Doctor managed through gritted teeth. "Just a…headache…"

"Doctor, can you hear me?"

The inside of the Doctor's head exploded with pain, stars swirling in front of his vision. He broke away from Rose, stumbling further down the street. Eyes squeezed shut, he pressed both hands to his face and screamed in pain.

"Doctor!" Rose cried out, hurrying to his side.

"What's happening to him?" Donna called over.

The Doctor tripped and sprawled on the ground, convulsing in pain. He clutched his head like it was about to fall apart, giving small yelps of pain. He couldn't think, couldn't move, couldn't breathe – it just hurt everywhere.

"Oh no – Doctor! DOCTOR!"

The Doctor's eyes snapped open. Recognition blossomed inside his head, temporarily blotting out the pain. He knew that voice! He remembered that voice!

"Mel?" he gasped out. "Melanie Busch?"

Rose's voice spoke to the right of him. "Doctor? Who's Melanie Busch? What's happening to you? Doctor!"

The Doctor didn't hear her, listening hard for the voice of his former companion. He could do little else, as the agony inside his head was rapidly becoming unbearable.

"Mel? What is this? Is that you? Mel? Mel?! AAAAAGH!" he yelled, screwing his eyes shut as another burst of pain threatened to rip his skull open.

"Doctor, listen to me. Concentrate on my voice. Can you do that?"

"I'll try," The Doctor grunted, barely moving his lips. Sweat poured down his brow as he attempted to focus on Mel. Even the smallest of thoughts were proving to be a Herculean task in his state.

"Doctor, what's happening to you?" Rose cried out, sounding very far away.

Concentrating with all his might, The Doctor managed to filter out everything but Mel's voice.

"Good. Now, try and open your eyes. Can you do that?"

The Doctor managed a tiny nod. He didn't know if Mel could see him, but it would have to be enough. With some difficulty, he strained to open his eyes – and screamed again.

A cavalcade of pictures and sounds assaulted him. Colors merged and blended together. Lines focused and then faded. Images passed by too fast for him to comprehend. Ten thousand voices shouted in his ears, coming out as a stream of incomprehensible noise. It was all too much.

"STOP IT!" The Doctor yelled, throwing his hands over his eyes. "MAKE IT STOP!"

A hand reached out and grabbed his arm, pulling him through a doorway. The noise faded as he moved away, growing to a dull murmur and then silence. Free of the overwhelming sensation, The Doctor collapsed to the floor in exhaustion. There was the sound of a door shutting.

Voices sounded above him.

"Oh, thank goodness! He's okay!"

"Hang on, we're not sure of that yet. For all we know, he could be dead."

"Don't talk like that! The Doctor's fine!"

"Well, if you want to invest in false hope, go right ahead…"

"Glitz! I can't believe you!"

The Doctor stirred, opening his eyes. "Mel…? Is that you…?" he mumbled, blinking.

Melanie Busch appeared in his field of vision, smiling. "Doctor! You're alive!"

"Well, of course I'm alive!" The Doctor said a tad irritably. "Did you really think a mere headache would kill me? I'll have you know-" He broke off suddenly, eyes going wide. "My voice! It's changed somehow!"

Mel shook her head. "No it hasn't, Doctor. It's exactly the same. You're still on your sixth regeneration."

Stunned, the Doctor sprang to his feet, looking himself up and down. Curly blond hair, multicolored suit, question mark umbrella – there was no question about it. He was the Sixth Doctor to the life.

"Well, so I am!" the Doctor declared. "Would you mind telling me exactly how I managed to imagine over 300 years of my life?"

"It was the Valeyard, Doctor!" Mel declared. "He tricked you! He trapped you in the Matrix and made you believe you'd escaped! If we hadn't gotten you out, you'd still be in there!"

"And who is we?" The Doctor asked, his eyebrows raising.

"That'd be me, Doctor," a new voice said. "And you're welcome, by the way."

The Doctor turned to see Sabalom Glitz, reclining against a pillar and grinning.

"Glitz!" The Doctor exclaimed, bounding forward and pumping the other man's hand enthusiastically. "It's been far too long!"

"Uhh…not really, Doctor," Glitz said uncomfortably, stepping back a little. "It's really only been about two weeks."

"Two weeks?" The Doctor yelled, looking positively stunned. Had it really only been that long?

"Yeah, two weeks," Glitz repeated. "Time seems to move faster when you're in there. One minute you're still traveling with Mel here, then we look away from the screen for a few hours and bam! Your body's different, you're with someone else, and there's this great big robot made of marzipan chasing after you! It's madness!"

The Doctor smiled. "Ah, yes. Him. I'd always hoped that little escapade was just a bad dream." He shook his head ruefully. "I must admit, it is a lot to take in. So the Time War never actually happened? Gallifrey is still here?"

"Look around you, Doctor," Glitz said snidely, indicating the ornate hallway around them. "Looks real enough to me."

"Glitz, stop it," Mel scolded before turning back to the Doctor. "Yes, Doctor, Gallifrey is still here. They're fine. We're all fine."

"Thank goodness for that," the Doctor declared. "I actually missed this place. Can you believe it? Me? Getting homesick? The idea!"

"Now, Doctor," Mel said, smiling good-naturedly. "This is your home, after all. You should show it some respect."

"I'll start respecting it when it starts respecting me, how about that?" The Doctor sniffed. "Besides, it's so awfully dull around here. Nothing ever happens."

A Gallifreyan guard rushed into the room, uniform disheveled and clutching a wound in his side. "Doctor, help!" he shouted. "Skelloids have landed on Gallifrey! They're almost to the Citadel and we don't know what to do!"

He ran out of the room, leaving a stunned silence in his wake.

"You really should stop tempting fate like that, Doctor," Glitz sniggered.

"Oh, shut up, Glitz," The Doctor snapped, looking sullen as he began his walk outside. "I swear, this place would completely fall apart without me."

Mel and Glitz fell into step beside him. Their conversation continued as they strode towards the door.

"Doctor, we all know you're happy Gallifrey needs you again. Look! I can even see you smiling!"

"I am not!......Well, maybe a little."

"Say, Doctor, any chance I could stick around? No offense to Dibber or anything, but this is much more exciting than bounty hunting!"

"Why, Glitz, whoever said you had to leave? By all means, stay with us. If you're good, there might even be some Arcadian jewels in the mix!"

"Arcadian jewels! Really, Doctor?"

"No."

The Doctor and Mel's laughter intermingled, drowning out Glitz's dark mutterings.

With a strong push, The Doctor heaved the door open. With his companions by his side, he stepped out into Gallifrey's wilderness, ready for all the adventures that still lay ahead of him.

Yeah...Really sorry if you thought this was going to be pure Doctor/Rose fluff. I needed to think of some way to get this story read, and if that meant disguising it as a more popular genre of fic, then so be it.

I found the idea that the Sixth Doctor is still trapped in the Matrix on an online forum, and it fascinated me. It would explain some of the plot holes and inconsistencies in Who since the Sixth Doctor era: The Doctor is Merlin, The Doctor is half-human, The Time War was said to kill off both the Time Lords and the Daleks yet members of each race seem to keep popping up, The Doctor falls in love with a completely average human, etc. None of it is believable or makes any sense, and now we know why. IT'S NOT REAL!

Calling all hardcore Whovians in the audiance! How many references can you find? (I didn't make up any of the species or planets you see here. They all came from somewhere.)

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