It's all AU.

People needed to stop watching him, or he was going to get paranoid. He looked up from a street vendor's cart, with red ribbons he'd been thinking of giving to River in his hand.

"Lucy."

He knew her face. Still, she was a cypher, a part of a life of his that could have been and he didn't understand, right in front of him.

A sudden burst of light often meant a visit from his Lord and Master. Owen hissed, hand flying up in front of his eyes as he tightened around himself, the ball that he was curled up tensing as his eyes adjusted to the light, and he realized that it was not just from the door to his prison opening as the Master entered. It was, instead, the constant flood of light that came from being outside.

Outside. In the open. Under the sun.

Owen trembled as his arm fell away from his eyes, his eyes going wide as they took in the surrounding area. It wasn't a town he recognized, but it was a town. He hadn't seen anything other than the four walls of his cell for...for...had it been a year yet? It felt like ten, but every time the Master came, he'd provide Owen with an update on how long he'd been there. Last time, it had been somewhere around 10 months, 2 weeks, and 3 days.

Shaking, his already lean frame having being emaciated over his captivity, Owen pushed himself to his feet and staggered forward, falling against a nearby tree as he looked up at the sky. The sky. The open sky! And he was holding onto a tree. A real tree.

If he hadn't been positive that all of this was just in his head, and that he would wake up any moment back inside his own cell, he would have cried.

The Master was bored. The entire town seemed deserted and he was starting to doubt the both Doctors' assertions that they'd actually met other people here.

And nothing was any fun without people to torment.

He saw a pub ahead and decided to give it a try. If there were people anywhere, a pub was a good place to look for them.

He pushed open the door and stood for a moment in the doorway, letting his eyes adjust to the dim interior. He sighed with relief. At last. Someone to talk to.

Lane finally found a library - volumes of books from floor to ceiling, couches, overstuffed armchairs and tables with lamps scattered here and there. The lack of dust was a clue to something, but he couldn't place it just yet - other than everything appeared a bit too perfect. Best way to make an uneasy crowd was to give them everything they wanted... lull them into a state of complacency.
With a shrug he perused the titles until he found one that would at least make him feel like he was doing something about figuring out what was going on with this place and settled onto one of the couches.
After while he saw movement near the door and glanced up, flicking a polite grin in greeting.