AUTHOR'S NOTE:

I know, I know—three parts all in one day, but I really love this story and I still have three other chapters written that will go up later.

WARNINGS: Language, Violence, Sex, Dirty Thoughts, Innuendo, Dark Themes

ENJOY!

xxxx

When Victoria Davis opened up the door of her small house outside of Tree Hill, she was surprised and yet happy to see Dean Winchester standing there. She hurriedly invited him in, offering him a drink and then nodding slowly and leading him into the living room when he turned it down.

"I take it you have an answer for me?" Victoria asked him.

Dean nodded slowly. "I've been thinking over your offer, yes. I've decided to accept. Someone tried to hurt your daughter and I want to find the culprit and bring them to justice. No one wants her to end up dead."

"Thank you, Officer Winchester—I really appreciate you doing this." Victoria told him. "I assure you that the pay is good. The Davis' are very well off."

"It's not about the payment, Ms. Davis, it's just the right thing to do." Dean explained to her, trying to remind himself that it was just that—the right thing to do.

"Still, you'll be well compensated…when can you start?" She asked him.

Dean nodded slowly and started to go over the details with Victoria, Brooke at home listening to the messages that she had on her answering machine. Peyton was due to come back in a week, bringing Jake Jaglieski and his daughter, Jenny, with her. Jake and Peyton had been in love in High School and then she was with Lucas, Brooke's ex-boyfriend, and now she was back with Jake because Lucas was getting married—to Lindsey Strauss, his publisher.

"How in the world am I supposed to have a bodyguard when I already have a roommate?" Brooke asked herself, getting some ice out of the freezer and then applying it to her aching eye. "Besides, how am I supposed to live with a man?"

Brooke had never actually thought about what it would be like to live with a man—in fact after a while she had simply decided that she was going to adopt a kid and that would be that. She hadn't had much luck with men since High School because she had walls up since Lucas and no time for relationships because of running her company. Add in that now she had been attacked for no good reason by some random man she didn't know, and Brooke Davis was pretty certain she wanted nothing to do with the male sex.

Thinking about her attack was making her feel really upset, so she grabbed some food out of the freezer that she could throw into the oven, shaking the thoughts away. Still, there was the blackness of the man's eyes…that wasn't normal. It could have just been a shadow of course, and there was a chance that there was something else going on here…

"Wait a minute, Brooke, wait a minute—black eyes? You are seeing things." She told herself, sitting down slowly at the dining room table as Dean answered his phone.

He had left Victoria's and was headed home so that he could get a good night's sleep and wrap up his case to watch over Brooke. She still had a couple cops watching the house outside, but the point of having a bodyguard was different and he knew he needed to do it. It was just that he was going to have to uproot his whole life to live with her for a little while—he was going to have to find a way to balance looking after Brooke and finding the man or demon behind her attack.

"Bobby?" Dean asked as he answered his phone. "I haven't talked to you in a few years."

Bobby nodded slowly. "Yeah…it's been awhile, Boy. Talked to you father just last month though."

"I'm glad you two are still in contact," Dean said with a small smile on his face. "Do you need something from me? I'm on assignment at the moment—maybe Sam can help you."

"Actually, that's not why I'm calling, Dean…I'm calling about Brooke." Bobby admitted to him slowly.

He had never told anyone about Brooke. He had kept his past to himself, but right now the most important thing to him was his daughter's safety. It was about time that he told someone that he had a daughter…it was important that he make sure that Brooke was in capable hands while he figured out what was happening and why she was in the middle of things.

"Brooke?" Dean asked him. "How do you know about Brooke?"

Bobby took a deep breath. "She's my daughter, Dean. Victoria has been keeping me in the loop with what is going down and if you're going to be her bodyguard, then I need to know that you're taking this seriously."

"Wait a minute…you have a daughter?" Dean asked him, genuinely surprised. "How in the world did you become rich and in turn have a daughter?"

"You don't really know anything about my past, Dean…just acknowledge that I have a daughter and promise that you're about to protect her." Bobby told him, shaking his head. "She's made a name for herself and she's incredibly stubborn and independent—but she needs help. Don't take 'no' for an answer."

"Stubborn?" Dean asked him, sighing a little bit. "Must be a family trait."

Bobby raised his eyebrows. "Don't sass me, Boy—just get the job done."

"You have my word, Bobby." Dean promised.

He hung up when Bobby did, glancing at his cell phone and then pocketing it, taking a deep breath and getting into his car. The car ride to his house was pretty silent other than his Metallica cassettes in his Impala, and when he got to his small, empty house, he got himself a frozen dinner made and watched a little television. Then when he was getting ready for bed, he went over some of his research and tried to figure out how to close the current case that he was working on.

While he was brushing his teeth and getting ready to turn in, Brooke was looking at her bedroom window the police car out front. Part of her wanted to invite the officers inside not just because she hated the idea of them spending the night out there on watch in a car, but because they'd be closer to her in case the man came back to finish the job—if that was what he really wanted. Brooke was in her pajamas though, so she took a deep breath and got into her bed, trying to ignore the fear that she felt now that she was alone and not in a hospital surrounded by guards, patients, nurses and doctors.

She had a rather fitful night's sleep, getting up in the morning and applying some make-up to try and hide her bruises. Even though she didn't want to, she had to go to her store and clean up a bit, hoping that too many policemen wouldn't be there while she was going through her inventory and re-setting up displays. Haley was supposed to be there with her to take care of things, and she liked being followed by the policemen, but at the same time she felt like they stayed too far away from her.

When Brooke arrived at her store, Victoria used her spare key to get into Brooke's house, greeting the man setting up the alarm system. Dean was going to meet her there and get a small tour of the house that he knew every detail of it before he focused on helping Brooke. In fact for the next week he looked at the house and worked on wrapping up his case while Brooke was busy at the store with Haley, until one day when he was getting ready to leave and Brooke walked right in the front door.

She stopped in her tracks when she saw Dean standing there, but he was in uniform and she had a feeling that she knew exactly who he was. It wasn't new news to her that Dean had been familiarizing himself with the house since he was going to be moving in until they found the culprit, but he wasn't supposed to start being her bodyguard until the next day…so why was he still here? Brooke didn't even want a bodyguard—she wanted to take care of herself.

"You must be Dean." Brooke told him, nodding a little to acknowledge his presence, Dean taking in the sight of her.

She was much less bruised than she had been when he had gotten her to the hospital. He was certain that her bruises were still there, and he could very visible see that her left eye was in more pain than the right, but she was healing quite nicely and he was thankful for that. He still couldn't believe that she was attacked and that the man hadn't been back yet—though he had left a warning for her and Dean wondered why Brooke wasn't more scared.

"Yeah…your mother let me in." Dean told her with a small nod.

Brooke smiled a moment and then it faded. "She would, hey, look: I don't want to sound ungrateful for what you did for me—I'm really not. You saved my life, really. You were at the right place at the right time and you got me to the hospital and I'm doing better, so thank you."

"But you don't want my help." Dean added for her.

Bobby had been right—the girl was stubborn and independent and the moment that she made eye contact with him, Dean was impressed. She was so strong and collected, and yet he could tell that she was scared. She didn't want to do this on her own, but she didn't want other people involved either no matter the fear that she was feeling. Brooke Davis wanted to take care of herself and yet Dean Winchester wasn't about to let her do that.

"I'm used to taking care of myself and just because I was beaten in my own store doesn't mean that I can't prepare myself to be better equipped next time to handle things on my own." Brooke told him slowly, wanting to make sure that he knew that she was strong enough to take on her own burdens, but incredibly thankful to him.

She knew that he had saved her life—there was no telling what could have happened had she woken up on her own the next morning…if she had woken up. The man that had beaten her the week before and then in turn threatened her via note the day before could very well have killed her had Dean not shown up when he did and rushed her to the E.R. So she wanted Dean to know that she was thankful for him, and she knew she needed him, but at the same time she didn't want to drag anyone else into her messed up life.

Dean nodded slowly as silence fell between them a moment. "You strike me as a woman that can take care of herself, Brooke, but to be honest here, you need some help. You were attacked and we don't know who by, but we know that they'll be back and this is my job. I'm here to protect you whether you want me to or not—I'm not trying to get in your way."

Brooke smiled a little at him. "Well, I was told that you were persistent. You're a good officer and my mother is paying you, so…the least I can do is accept your help. I guess I owe you that much."

"I'm here because I care about what happens to you—don't feel like you owe me anything." Dean told her honestly, knowing that this was the right thing to do and keeping his promise to Bobby to protect his only daughter.

"You don't even know me." Brooke told him slowly, her voice soft and unsure.

"I know that you don't deserve this kind of hurt." Dean added honestly.

Whether he still thought her to be a spoiled brat and a rich snob was beside the point—she was human and she needed help and her strength impressed him. For all Dean knew a demon was behind this and it was his job as a hunter to take her into his care. Besides, her whole face softened when she smiled and it made Dean feel strangely calm as he looked at her. She was a beautiful woman even bruised and Dean had a hard time believing she was single—it would be easier for him to walk away if she had another male to lean on to keep her safe.

"I kind of feel like we're standing around feeling sorry for me and I'd really like to not do that." Brooke said suddenly, moving past Dean towards the kitchen. "I have some work to do so feel free to leave, or stay if you so choose."

Dean nodded slowly, recognizing the shutting down technique—he was quite familiar with it. He didn't like to talk about his feelings much and someone who had a rather dangerous side job he had learned not to really let people in, but growing up with his mother had made him able to admit that he at least had feelings, and it had made him respect women even though he had his share of heartbreak behind him…especially in High School. Brooke didn't want to get emotionally attached or talk about her attack and Dean was going to respect that—besides…his only job was to protect her from another attack.

"I have some paperwork to finish up but I'll see you in the morning." Dean told her with a smile. "I'll make sure to lock the door behind me."

Brooke nodded and then watched him as he went for the front door. "Thank you for stopping by, Dean."

Dean gave her a smile and then headed out, locking the door behind him and pausing a moment on the other side. Brooke quickly hurried over to arm the alarm system as Dean tried to put his hormones in check for a moment—he was going to be living with a beautiful, single, rich, young woman until he found her attacker. How in the world was he going to manage that?

Note: So they've met and the real story is just about to start. More characters next chapter! Feedback is always appreciated!