Oswin and Smith

Van Gogh Gala

"Hands behind your back unless you want steel in your skull." The figure whispers into the man's ear. Draped in shadow, the figure looms over the man known as Juan Campos, one of Chicago's most wanted.

Minutes later when the police arrive they were greeted with the crook hunched over and tied up, his bag of stolen jewels lying next to him on the damp concrete floor of the abandoned building. But who had put him here?

All of the police knew, but decided to read the note anyways as Campos was dragged out of the musty room.

Thanks for cleaning up for me boys.

-Oswin

And at the left corner of the note was a simple, crimson kiss.

Clara Oswald entered her Chicago apartment, a two bedroom flat with a gorgeous view of Millenium park. Shedding her red stilettos at the door, she drops her mail on the coffee table and makes her way to the freezer. She certainly deserved a treat after her night.

Her toes meet with the fuzzy warmth of her chocolate carpet as she curls up on her couch. She's still in her red dress, but has pulled her favorite rainbow quilt over herself. She digs her spoon into the delicious carton of cookie dough ice cream, her crimson lipstick leaving a mark on the silver metal.

Grabbing a file on her coffee table that reads, THE SILENCE, Clara turns to the page with a picture of Juan Campos. Putting a big green check mark over the page, she tossed the file down and went through her mail. Juan Campos worked for The Silence, an undercover smuggling chain that stole art, jewels, and any other precious artifacts they could sell on the black market.

Clara Oswald, also known as Oswin, was one of the top agents at TARDIS, a secret agency ran by the United Nations. She had been on the Silence case for a while now, but still hadn't caught the ringleader of the criminal circus, Fernando Silencio. She was getting closer and closer with each henchman she imprisoned. Clara worked in the field to bring down crime lords and smugglers, and could go from a prestigious socialite to a mere passerby in a snap. She could seduce any criminal into a trap with her trusty red stillettos and sleek dresses, but she could just as easily knock them unconcious and cuff them so the police could collect their criminal.

Shuffling through dull taxes and an occasional catalouge, she was surprised by a rich, blue envelope. It had no adress, no stamp, almost as if it had been hand delivered... But who did she know who had her adress? She didn't have much family and she hadn't had the time to make friends... Clara was immediately intrigued. Mysterious letter, fancy stationary, unknown sender? This was completely up her alley.

Being careful to not rip the blue stationary, she opened the letter and two documents fell out. One of them landing on her rainbow quilt and the other one fluttered to the chocolate carpet. Turning the thick piece of stationary with her deep red nails, she was met with an image of Van Gogh's "Starry Night" framed by a gold border. Opening the card, she read the printed calligraphy.

We welcome you to join us on the starry night of December 31st for our annual New Years gala. At this black-tie event hosted by the Chicago Art Museum we will be auctioning off exciting items, and we'll also be providing a live jazz band for your entertainment. Before dinner, we will be treating our guests with an exclusive viewing of Van Gogh's finest work. Doors open at 6 for gallery viewing and drinks, and dinner begins at 8.

December 31st was... Tomorrow, and it was also New Years. Mysterious invitation to a gala? Clara was thrilled. She retrieved the second piece of stationary, its color identical to that of the envelope. Its message was only a few words sprawled in loose print.

Oswin,

Sunflowers and silence.

Sincerely,

The Doctor

The Doctor... Clara recognized that name. The Doctor was another agent at TARDIS who had almost an identical job to Clara's. His name wasn't "Doctor", but their true names were hidden away in the top secret files. Clara had chosen Oswin as a code name when she entered the field, in honor of her deceased mother. She had only ever heard murmors of the Doctor whispered around TARDIS headquarters... Some may think its unusual the two had never met, but it wasn't all that uncommon given the size of TARDIS headquarters. Especially there was a base in every country on Earth. Being a field agent, Clara probably had only met a few dozen people out of the thousands of employees. Not only did his identity puzzle her, but also his message. "Sunflowers and silnce." It obviously had something to do with the Silence, but sunflowers?

Making her way to her bedroom and returning her ice cream to the freezer, she was ready for whatever was to come the next day. And she couldn't help but admit she also looked forward to meeting the mysterious Doctor.

So, this story is basically going to be a compilation of all the Oswin and Smith stories I've written so far. They will be revised and edited, and I'll be updating every other day.

Thank you for reading this story, I hope you enjoy! Make sure to leave comments, there's nothing I love more than reading your feedback.