1. Stefan and Linda

A/N: I thought it would be interesting to write a collection of short stories and oneshots exploring the relationships between the various characters in the Wallander films. For me, one of the most interesting aspects of each episode is the way the characters interact together and the influence they have on each other, so I though this would be fun to write! First up, Linda and Stefan (who else?) As always, comments and suggestions are always welcome :)

"You're the only shoe that fits

I can't imagine I'll grow out of it."

– Sophie B. Hawkins

She tells herself to be firm with him. It's over. But when he turns up on her doorstep with a bottle of wine, why is it that she can't seem to resist the pleading look on his face?

It's not her job to look after him, worry about him, nurse him when he has a hangover, but she's always the one he turns to when he needs the kind of help he can't get from anyone else.

And she's glad. She does worry about him, care for him, watch his back for him. She once shot a man to save him. In the end, she'd do anything for him, just as she knows he would do for her. When she's not with him, part of her is always thinking of him, wondering what he's up to. The idea of him with another woman makes her irrationally jealous. Yet she has no reason to be. No matter what happens, he always seems to end up back with her.

She sighs and steps aside, allowing him into the house. Stefan is a habit that Linda just can't kick.

He'd like to be able to play the field like he used to, but when it comes down to it the only one he really wants is her. He regrets not making a commitment to her. Why did he let his cold feet dictate his course of action when he knew she was a keeper? He was an idiot, but it took him a little time and several scares to realise it.

He sits with her in the hushed and sterile hospital room, having come so close to losing her, and draws a ragged breath into his lungs. He wraps his fingers around hers, swearing to himself that he'll always be there for her if she needs him. She squeezes his fingers back and he smiles.

Much later, when he feels that his head is about to explode, he knows who to go to, even if he can't quite articulate what's troubling him. He knows the concern she will feel. He knows she will try to understand. Going to Linda feels like going home, and there's nowhere Stefan would rather be.

In the end, after all the ups and downs they have suffered, there is still an unspoken agreement between them that whenever one of them needs something the other can give, it will be given.

Linda still remembers how tightly Stefan held onto her that awful day in the forest, when she had put a bullet into the man she once loved, how he held her hand when she was lying in hospital, a bandage over her eyes.

And Stefan still remembers the many times Linda has been his backup, his confessor, his friend.

If they believed in guardian angels, it would be clear to them that they are each other's angel. They are two halves of the same whole.