Author's Notes: Ok guys, this is my first "published" fic, although I'm working on writing a few others. None of them however are other stories for PotC, but since I'm enjoying this one I think that if you all like it I may write some more after this. Actually, I've already come up with an idea, but I'm not sure… Please R/R this one though! Constructive criticism is very much appreciated and flames will most likely be either ignored or laughed at. Almost forgot… This is a response to what Bitchy Little Pixy requested. Yes, there's an OC, but it's not a Mary-Sue or even a Jack/OC because the OC is a little girl!

Disclaimer: I don't own PotC or anything related to it. All I own here is Abby. The idea isn't even originally mine! I know, shame on me. *sigh* I wish I owned Jack though! Hehe.

Chapter 1: Abby

Captain Jack Sparrow staggered through Tortuga on his way to his regular pub: the Poisoned Dove. However his mind, actually, all of Jack, was rather preoccupied with either his thoughts or trying to remain standing what with his sea legs and the added liquor to his system, so it came as quite a shock when he nearly fell over a small girl.

The girl looked up at him with large, nearly black eyes. Her dark brown hair hung about her face in curls, although a bit greasy as if she had not washed in a few weeks. Her fair skin was covered in dirt as well, and the dress she wore was ripped in quite a few spots and was now a dirty brown color instead of the original white. From the looks of the child, you could tell she was living on her own in the streets. Jack stared right back at her, utterly shocked. Shaking his head to escape the small girl's hold, he made shooing motions with his arms.

"Go on! Get away from me!" he growled.

The girl simply continued to stare up at him. Jack scowled. He roughly pushed past her, yet not enough to knock her off her feet, and continued on his way.

After a few minutes, a crowd forced Jack to stop. He was about to inquire what was happening when he felt a small tug on his breeches. Jack looked down, and to his dismay, there stood the little girl again, staring up at him with her doe-like eyes. Jack scowled for the second time and began to push and shove his way through the crowd, no longer caring what had caused it, only wishing to escape from the little hell-child.

Finally, Jack arrived at the Poisoned Dove and ordered a rum. As the bar keep set the tankard down in front of Jack, he quirked his eyebrow.

"What?" Jack asked him.

The burly man merely nodded his head to the spot on Jack's right, and then turned to attend to other customers.

Dread filling his eyes, Jack slowly turned his head to look down at the spot beside him. There once again, stood the small girl, staring up at him.

Growling at her and letting his hands fly around for emphasis, Jack said, "Won't ye just leave me alone? Get out of 'ere, child! Go back to yer mum and tell her ye couldn't find her any work today!" This seemed to strike a cord in the small girl. Her eyes got even larger, though Jack had thought it impossible, and they filled with tears. Jack simply turned away from her and attended to his rum. When he looked to see if the girl was still there just a second later, she had fled.

Jack smirked to himself, glad to finally be rid of the persistent child. His victory was short lived though a voice suddenly spoke up from across the room. It would appear that the girl had not gotten very far.

"What's a pretty li'l thing like ye doing in here, huh? Looking for yer mum?" a large, filthy man roughly grabbed the girl by her upper arm and pulled her over to the table he and two other equally as dirty and large men sat at over by the entrance of the pub. Jack stood and walked closer to them to better hear what they were saying over the noise in the room.

"Maybe ye should go look in one of the rooms upstairs for her? We could help ye, too," sneered one of the other men.

The third one spoke up, "I'm sure she'd do a lot for us for no price at all to keep her pretty daughter safe. And if she wouldn't then ye would just have to do!" The men all laughed at this and stood up, beginning to pull the girl towards the stairs to see if they could find someone to claim her before giving up and taking the girl off somewhere.

Jack quickly walked over and pulled the girl from the man's grasp.

"Hey!" he shouted as he turned to face Jack. His companions turned around as well.

"What are ye trying to do, mate?" Jack growled at them.

"Why would ye care?" the man who had been holding the girl spat. "She ain't yer child."

"And what's that have to do with it?" Jack asked him, un-phased by his tone.

 "It's no concern to ye. Why do ye care anyway?" the man stepped right in front of Jack, their faces inches apart, eyes glaring daggers at each other.

"And that is no concern to ye," Jack said. With that he picked up the girl and settled her on his hip before walking out of the pub.

Stomping along angrily, he soon arrived at the Black Pearl and walked up the gangplank. Gibbs noticed Jack come onboard and went over to him.

Shocked at the small child planted securely on Jack's right side and clinging to him as though her life depended on it, Gibbs decided not to ask where the child came from and generally questioning the captain, but instead merely commented, "Cap'n, even though a miniature one, it's still bad luck to have a woman on board… OW!" Gibbs rubbed the back of his head where Anamaria had smacked him as she heard his comment while walking over.

"What was that Gibbs?" she glared at him.

Gibbs grumbled something unintelligently under his breath.

"What? I didn't 'ear ye," Anamaria continued to glare.

"Can't ye two be quiet?!" Jack half-yelled. They quickly turned their heads to look at him, wide-eyed. Normally Jack would have found their arguing humorous.

"We set sail for Port Royale in the morning," Jack informed them, then grumbled about how a pirate's crew could be incredibly stupid at times as he walked to his cabin, slamming the door behind him.

Once Jack closed the door, he set the girl down on the floor. He looked her over, head to toe as she continued to stare straight at him.

Shaking his head, Jack mumbled to himself. "Not old enough to do much of anything on a ship, but could most likely find something till we get to Port Royale." After continuing to stare at each other for a few more seconds Jack asked, "What's yer name, girl?"

Her eyes grew just a bit bigger and just a bit rounder and her lips narrowed into a thin line when he asked her that, but she spoke not a word. After a few minutes Jack repeated, sounding rather annoyed, "I asked, what's yer name, girl!"

A slight fear appeared in her eyes and her mouth fell open a little. She squeezed her eyes shut and shook her head, as if trying to shake something out and when she looked up again there wasn't even any traces fear, but a set determination in its place. Jack raised an eyebrow as he noticed this.

"My name is Abigail Lawrence," she said assuredly.

"Well then Abigail, what were ye doin' wanderin' th' streets of Tortuga?"

"I was trying to find something to eat."

"Can't yer mother do that for ye?"

"I ran away."

"And why would ye do something like that in a place like Tortuga? To annoy people ye've never met such as, oh I don't know, me?" he glared at her.

She held up her head defiantly. "No. I did it so she wouldn't let men… use me so she could get money."

Jack stared at her, slack-jawed and in shock now. "And yer father allowed this?"

"My father," she spat the word, "is some pirate who happened to come through and get my mother pregnant. I've never met him and I doubt I ever will. I don't really care to either. My mother didn't even know who he was, and how would she?"

Jack simply continued to stare at the girl. Such a small child having seen so many of the harsher things in the world... She seemed much older than she looked. Jack would have said she was five, maybe six-years-old.

"How old are ye, lass?" he questioned.

"I'm five, but I'll be six in eight days," she stated proudly, a grin lighting up her small face as her mood quickly changed.

Jack nodded. "And I'm sure that the people I'm taking ye to will be thrilled," He said absent-mindedly, still thinking of how she was so young and had seen so much from how it sounded. Then again, he had grown up in Tortuga himself, with his father beating Jack and his mother either cowering in fear or sobbing in a corner, afraid her husband would return home. Jack shook his head, clearing out the memories and looked down to see a puzzled look on Abigail's face.

"What is it now?"

"You're taking me to someone? You mean, you don't want to… Who are you taking me to?"

Jack shook his head. "No, I don't want to do that to ye, lass. And I'm just taking ye to some good friends of mine. They can take care of ye, I certainly don't want ye around here. The last thing a pirate ship needs is a little girl."

She lowered her head and stared intently at the ground for a few moments. "I can cook," she said suddenly, raising her head and startling Jack.

"What?"

"I said, I could cook."

"Well, then maybe we'll have ye do that while yer aboard." Jack tugged one of the braids of his beard as he considered it. Suddenly, there was a knock at the door.

"Who is it?" Jack called. Gibbs opened the door partially and poked his head inside. "Gibbs, what do ye want?"

"Jack, some of the crew is wondering why exactly there's a little girl onboard …" Gibbs trailed off, staring at the girl who now had her large eyes looking at him with the stare she had first given Jack. Gibbs felt like he was being turned inside out.

"Because we're takin' her to Port Royale, and that should be all ye need!" Jack said, slightly angry.

Gibbs jerked his head up to look at Jack. "Aye, Cap'n!" With that, Gibbs was gone, anxious to get away from the little girl's stare and Jack's anger.

"Why are you so angry?" the girl looked thoughtful. "Is it because of me?"

Jack looked down at her. He hated children. Of course, he didn't feel he should be that mean to the poor girl. She was still alone on a ship full of strangers. "I've… had a bad night. I ran into some unfriendly faces," he gingerly touched his still slightly sore right cheek. It wasn't completely a lie. And he hadn't even gotten to finish his first rum.

She looked up at him as though she was trying to decide if he was lying or not. Jack didn't give her the chance. Instead he walked over to the door and flung it open.

"Anamaria!" he yelled. Anamaria arrived just as Jack was stepping back to where he had previously stood, near the center of the cabin. "Take Abby to a cabin down below, and-" Suddenly a look of complete and total shock crossed his face. He looked down to see the little girl hiding behind his legs, peering around them at Anamaria. Anamaria could hardly contain her laughter, but managed to in order to avoid the captain's wrath. Barely. She couldn't hold in the grin though.

"I think she's takin' a liking to ye, Jack."

"Captain! How many times do I have to tell ye? It's Captain Jack Sparrow! And she has not!" Jack shouted, adding the last almost as an afterthought.

"I don't wanna go with her! She's scary!" Abby wailed from behind Jack's legs. This time Anamaria had to laugh.  Jack glared at her.

"And I'm not scary?" Jack half-growled at the girl, twisting his body to try and see her.

"You saved me. And you called me Abby. No one's ever called me Abby. My mother just called me 'girl'. So did everyone else." Abby stated, like it was the most logical explanation in the world, which to a five, nearly six-year-old, it was. Jack stared down at her in disbelief.

"Well I'll just be leavin' ye two alone now," Anamaria said as she slipped out the door. Once outside Jack heard her start howling with laughter. If looks could kill, the door would have burned and Anamaria would be burning herself from the glare Jack was giving. He then turned to look for Abby, since she had run from behind him as soon as Anamaria had left. He saw her jump onto his bunk, where she then sat and kicked her feet against the side.

Jack shook his head. This was going to be a long trip. Unbeknownst to him, it would be a fairly short trip. Just a little over four days to be exact, but in those four days, a lot would be changing for Jack…

More A/N: Hope it wasn't all too horribly OOC. Or just plain horrible for that matter.  Tell me what I could do to make it better! And sorry, I know it was sorta long but ya. Was it too long? Seems like it to me… You guys tell me! Reviews are greatly appreciated! Hell, even flames! Me continuing depends on if people like it.