So how is it? Interesting thus far, I hope. If not totally compelling, then at least I hope that you find it well-written and free of annoying grammatical errors? Thank you if you have commented, and if you haven't, perhaps you will consider doing so. I appreciate any and all feedback.

...TanzFieber

"WAIT! STOP! NOT GOOD! STOP!" yelled Captain Jack Sparrow desperately at the sight of his ship pulling away from the docks. He continued his ungainly stumble down the remainder of the wooden mooring as fast as he could under the circumstances—the act being somewhat impeded by the screaming baby he still clutched in his hands. Just as he reached the end, however, he noted with increasing despair that his beloved Black Pearl was just out of reach and the gap was widening quickly.

"COME BACK YE SCABROUS DOGS! YE'VE FERGOTTEN YER CAPTAIN!" He shouted, shifting his unhappy charge roughly to the crook of one arm so that he could wave frantically with the other. Just as he believed himself truly forgotten, a head popped up over the railing of the ship.

"Captain Jack! Up here!" It was Gibbs and he was waving around a coil of rope. "Grab 'hold, we'll pull ye in!" He threw the rope outwards and down where it landed in the outstretched hand of his tardy captain.

Realizing that he was about to get very wet, Captain Jack glanced down at the baby with a troubled expression. However, a jerk of the rope in his hand sent all thought away as both parties were pulled unceremoniously from the dock and into the ocean. For his part, Jack had the foresight to hold the child by its shirt up over his head in one hand; so that while he floundered under the water for a moment, she was kept mostly dry, dangling barely above the crest of the waves from the pirate's fist.

"Glug—!" Went Jack as he was dragged from the sea. He spat water and let out a grunt as he bumped twice against the rough barnacle-encrusted hull of the ship during the ascent. Moments later, he was hauled roughly in by willing hands and found himself in a sodden heap on the deck of the Black Pearl.

"Nice of ye to wait, eh?" He grumbled and all of his crew glanced away and mumbled something or other about orders. Rolling his eyes and deciding to ignore them for the time being, Jack brushed seaweed from himself and readjusted his hat, seemingly having forgotten about his newest acquisition.

Not for long, however, because all activity on the deck froze as a certain gurgle followed by an unmistakable cry was emitted from Captain Jack Sparrow's person. The crew stared at their captain and only then noticed that he had a mysterious bundle clutched to him, halfway inside his coat. Gibbs was the first to speak up.

"Strike me, Cap'n… What's that ye got inside yer coat? 'Tis not what it sounds like… is it?" the mate asked carefully, eyeing the bundle as if it were some poisonous reptile.

Jack swallowed hard and also glanced down, praying that perhaps in the time it had taken to get aboard, the child had magically turned into something more palatable—a bottle of rum, perhaps! However, as he felt it kick out, his stomach twisted in realization that no, it was definitely a baby and very much alive. Feeling he could not delay the inevitable any longer, Jack Sparrow reluctantly pulled his occupied hand from his coat.

The crew gasped and stepped back, only Gibbs creeping closer with wide eyes. "Cap'n—! There's a… a… Ye had a baby in yer coat!"

In any other circumstances, Jack would have rolled his eyes at the incredible perception that his mate had shown, but he himself was feeling just as shocked. Many sets of eyes stared down, and one tiny pair of eyes stared upwards in the heavy moments that followed.

Now exposed to the bright Caribbean sun, the little one turned and buried her small face in her keeper's shirt, one hand holding onto the fabric tightly. Suddenly galvanized into action, Jack Sparrow scrambled to his feet and quickly plucked the child away from himself, once again holding it at an arms length. She cried and he stared.

The baby girl, for it was obvious that was what she was, had dark curls upon her tiny head, and her eyes were just as deep brown as those gaping at her. Her skin was fair, although with the promise of a golden tan if exposed to the sun. Perhaps two months old, she still seemed petite and light as a feather in his hands. She cried and Jack stared. Once again, Joshamee Gibbs broke the silence.

"Cap'n… When I left ye not ten minutes ago ye didn't happen to have the babe stashed up yer sleeve, did ye?"

Jack shook his head dumbly, not able to take his uncomfortable gaze off of the child in his hands.

"Then what in the blazes happened between then and now! Ye didn't… steal it—?"

The pirate captain snapped out of his daze and glanced in annoyance up at Gibbs. "Of course not, ye think me completely daft?" He didn't wait for the answer, it was a rhetorical question and he pressed on, explaining what had happened. "T'was Giselle. Ye remember, the wench with the yellow hair?"

The rest of the crew nodded and Jack continued, speaking to them if he was speaking to reassure himself as well.

"Well, I was lookin' fer me hat and had jus' found it when Giselle came outta nowhere. She went on for bleeding ages about how she 'ad been wronged by me and all… typical song and dance, eh mates. So I was jus' about to leave when she snapped somethin' about having been through nine months o' hell and that I would have t'take back what it was I had given her…" he stopped here, guessing that they could fill in the rest. Gibbs knelt down and peered closer at the child.

"I'll uh. I take it she's your child then, Cap'n Sparrow?" This question innocently put, and the answer rather obvious, but for some reason it sent Jack Sparrow over the edge.

"My child..? MINE? I don't care if the whelp is bloody well MINE or the mutant love-child of Davey Jones and Commodore Norrington! I'll have NOTHING t'do with the girl, d'ye hear me!" He suddenly thrust the child into the arms of a shocked Gibbs and stood to his full height, hands on his slim hips. "I'm Captain Jack Sparrow, Savvy? I don't DO babies! So ye can do what ye like with the whelp, Gibbs, an' the rest o' ye too! Chuck the thing overboard if ye want, keep it if ye want, but know this: if ye keep the girl aboard this ship, keep 'er outta me way!"

Gibbs and the crew remained frozen in shock as Captain Jack Sparrow whirled on his heel and stalked off of the main deck. The little girl's cries fell silent and she closed her eyes and burrowed in closer to Gibbs, who looked down upon her small form with pity. The girl's own father did not seem to want her, and being so small, what else could she do?

A resounding bang signaled the fact that the captain was now shut in his quarters, and rather vexed at that. Gibbs sighed resignedly.

"Looks like it's you 'n us now, lass," He murmured, getting to his feet with his new fragile charge and heading towards his own small cabin.