Thanks for all the great reviews! This next chapter is a bit rough and deals with an attempted assault/rape sitaution, just to give you a bit of warning. I think the ending will surprise you...at least I hope it won't make you run and hide! Anyway...here we go again!

Chapter 7: Revenge

"I've got to be dreaming…" Jo found her voice as she reached out and touched the lips that had so ardently kissed her own moments before, a look of wonder on her face. "Either that or I'm experiencing their weirdest Valium induced hallucination known to man…this can't be real."

Jack nipped at her hand briefly and grinned before raising her back to a standing position, the gold caps of his teeth gleaming in the dim light. He took her hand and put it to the warm skin of his chest beneath the linen shirt and vest, covering it with his own. She could feel his heart thumping steadily, and he chuckled aloud at her expression.

"Well, lass, you're definitely not sleeping, and since you kissed me and seein' as how I kissed you back, I would think that rules out my being a figment of your vivid imagination…" He reached out to steady her when she swayed dangerously and almost fell, an almost delirious grin on her face. Jack smirked and shook his head sadly…"Careful there, darlin'. It appears that my first order of business here is teaching a certain young woman how to hold her rum, ay?" She leaned up and kissed him again, a brief happy smooch, before wrapping her arms around him and resting her head on his chest. He took a moment to look around the room for the first time, and his heart skipped a beat when he saw the figure of his former first mate leering from the corner. "I could stand a pint or 4 of rum meself, truth be told. Care to point the way, luv, or am I going to have to go off and drink all by me onesies, hmmm?" Silence. " Luv?" A soft groan was the only reply he got before she went completely limp and would have hit the deck if he hadn't caught her.

Jack rolled his eyes heavenward and shook his head as if to say, "Why me, Lord?" He was about to pick her up when a sudden noise from across the room stopped him cold. The door was swinging open and he was barely able to lean Jo down gently against the wheel and return to his original position behind the wheel before Michael Dixon entered the room.

Like the woman at Jack's feet, he had removed his hat and wig, and his dark hair was slicked back with sweat. Spotting Jo's red coat, he climbed the steps two at a time, knelt down and grabbed her arm, shaking her roughly. Jo moaned and slid down further and her limp arm knocked over the empty rum bottle, which rolled off the deck and smashed on the floor below.

"Drinking on the job, Josie? That's not gonna look good on your job resume, baby, not good at all.. " His eyes took on an evil glint as a plan formed in his devious mind. Standing, he nudged her with his boot and getting no response, grabbed her by the feet and began to pull her from behind the wheel, her head hitting the deck with a resounding thump. Once she was clear, he looked around to make sure he was alone before he picked her up and walked down the steps, strolling through the open doors into the replica of the Captain's cabin.

Tossing her roughly down on the hard foam mattress, Michael turned and removed his cape, gauntlets, sword belt and vest, throwing them carelessly onto the table. Rolling up his ruffled sleeves, he turned back to the unconscious woman on the bed, who was stirring restlessly on the replica embroidered counterpane. Reaching the bed, he climbed astride her and chuckled with enjoyment at seeing her wince. "I'm really, really going to enjoy this, you sanctimonious little bitch!" he growled as he grasped the red coat and eagerly tore it open, sending the shiny brass buttons every which way.

One of the flying missiles hit Jo in the face, which roused her enough to realize that something wasn't quite right. As her eyes tried to focus in the gloomy room, she recognized who was on top of her and uttered a soft cry of horror. She tried to roll him off her, but only managed to make him laugh at her feeble attempts. "Just lie quiet and keep your mouth shut, whore, and you just might keep your job---hell, you might even enjoy it!" He spit out, dealing her a vicious backhand to the face that left her reeling. Sliding a small dagger out of the sheath at his side, he sliced through her ruffled white shirt and concealing undergarments from neck to waist, leaving a long scratch that bled onto the pristine white shirt.

"Guess you were wrong when you said that your ass was the one thing I wasn't going to have, weren't you, Josie?" he whispered maliciously to the semiconscious woman beneath him. He was about to rip the shirt away when he was stopped short by a length of cold, sharp steel resting against his jugular.

"I don't think you want to be doing that, mate…."

Those were the last words he heard before a hard object made contact with the back of his head, sending him flying off the bed and into darkness.

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Tossing the replica pistol on the table, Jo's rescuer spied a bit of coiled rope and quickly tied her sadistic soon to be ex-boss up, kicking him a few times for good measure. That task completed, he returned to her side and gently turned her head to examine her cheek, which was already turning a deep purplish blue. When he saw the blood, his eyes darkened, and he leaned over to take a closer look. Jo chose that moment to come back to awareness, and lashed out in desperation before she realized it was him, whimpering in terror.

"Easy, m'luv...no worries, ay? He'll not be laying hands on you again, or me name's not Captain Jack Sparrow, savvy?" Jack caught the flying hands and patiently held them until she calmed somewhat, her eyes finally coming to rest on him, widening in shock. "You….it's not possible….. you're…."

"Real? Aye, I told you that earlier sweetheart, but the quantity of rum I estimate that you had consumed prior to the time when you made my acquaintance this evening appears to have had a detrimental affect on your short term memory." Having said all that in one breath, he smiled down at her bemused expression. "Something tells me that you believe explanations are in order, 'm I correct?" At her wincing nod, he sighed. "Well, Miss Perry, I would happily oblige you if indeed I knew the answer to this mystery meself 'ere, and sought out some other place of safety before that bastard," nodding to the prone man in the corner "comes round and causes a fuss. Can you walk?"

Jo sat up and winced at the pain in her head and face, and gasped when she felt the sting of the cut on her chest. Feeling more than a little dizzy and nauseated, she sat up and swung her legs over the bed. As the room spun, a thought crossed her mind and she gave Jack a weak grin. "I'll live. I have an apartment about a mile from here….we'll….take a cab." Reaching for Jack's arms to steady her, she stood up shakily. He started to help her to the door but she put up a hand on his arm."Wait…there's something I want to do first." Turning back, she walked slowly toward the man who had assaulted her and tormented her for months. "I've put up with this asshole's harassment for a year and a half….it's time for a little payback." With that, she used one foot to roll him on his back before applying her stocking-clad heel to his genitals. When he lay there gasping for air, his back arched in agony, she leaned over him with Jack's help, took a deep, trembling breath,…………….

...and promptly threw up all over the front of his fancy white shirt.

(Jack's mental note to self: Never piss off an artist while she's bleeding or has a wicked hangover……)