Title: Creature of a Magical Kind

Pairing: Kirk/Spock

Rating: PG

Summary: Jack Sparrow is on a magically-aided scavenger hunt, which leads him to the Enterprise.

PART 1

Jack pulled the small leather pouch that he'd been given and drew out the small bottle it held. He pulled the small cork from the bottle's top, took a small sip, sucked his upper teeth with his tongue, and gave the bottle a suspicious stare before corking it back up. He closed the pouch with the bottle back inside, replacing it in his pocket while making wet smacking noises with his mouth trying to get the taste in it to change or leave. When nothing seemed to happen, he looked back down at his compass, snapped his neck to look straight forward in severe consternation, then frowned. With determined focus, he began to walk with his attention back down on the compass face...

The compass had been pointing straight forward as he stood in a quite impressive part of the unusual ruins he'd nearly just arrived at.

Well, to be more precise, he only deduced that it was pointing forward. In actuality, the half of the needle that was suppose to be pointing towards him when he was aimed in the right direction was pointing towards him, but the other half was utterly absent.

Like breaking the surface of water, the point of Jack Sparrow's hat brim emerged, followed immediately by the rest of the hat and Jack, himself, right in front of the Captain's chair on the Enterprise.

Finishing the one step out of nowhere, Jack stopped, still giving his full attention to the compass cupped reverently in his hand.

Now that he'd taken the one step that reached much further than he had yet to realize, the compass needle was pointing in completely the opposite direction, both ends where they should be.

"Possible, of course," Jack touched the spot just below his chin with his right index finger and muttered with a pleased smirk, "although one would, however, have reasonably expected it to have started out that way thusly."

Spock heard the unfamiliar voice, and had to fight the impulse to order a Red Alert after turning around and seeing and unfamiliar humanoid on the bridge standing with disturbingly close proximity to the Captain. It was the Captain's place to do so. It was quite apparent that the Captain was very much aware of the intruder...who was directly in front of him.

"Excuse me-" Jim had cautiously raised himself out of his chair after the human form had seemingly poured into the space just in front of him. The human form had it's back turned to him when it had finished it's unexpected appearance.

Jack raised his head up with the expression of a man who was just having an epiphany, and then turned it so that he was looking at Kirk over his shoulder.

Jim found himself slightly startled by the intense brown eyes amplified by a heavy coal outline.

Jack blinked once, scanned the unfamiliar surrounding with only the movement of his eyes, then rotated the rest of his body to face the wary looking Starship captain.

Jim's eyes briefly swept up and down the figure, taking in the design and colors of the humanoid's attire. His mind brought up a related image of ancient Terran history within his memory, summed up in a single word: pirate.

The intruder twitched the corners of his mouth upward briefly, and then replied, "But of course, by all means, it would be my pleasure."

The pirate-y being leaned forward in a slight bow, straightened immediately with his right index finger pointed upward and stated casually, "It was completely beyond any control of your own, I'm quite certain, and will never happen again if it soever is within your power and additionally at all possible, as it were, to prevent ."

It/he? remained still at the end of his strange statement, glanced down seemingly in thought, glanced upward slightly to one side as if examining something in his mind with a great deal of effort, back downward with a doubtful frown, and then straight forward with a nod of pleasant self-assuredness into Kirk's frozen stare.

Jim's brow collapsed and nearly replaced his upper eyelids as he tried to process what had just been said to him. He also tried to deduce whether or not he was dreaming this absurd situation. Failing on both counts, he chose to go with something reassuringly familiar, "Um, right. I'm Captain James T. Kirk- "

Jack looked down at the compass again, moving the position of the hand that held it to the right, to the left, and then in front of himself again. His head whipped up to face Kirk directly again. As if realizing that he had just been greeted by a long-lost relative that he'd never met before, his face lit up with an enthusiastic smile.

"Captain James Kirk!" Jack thrust his right arm out to his side, before raising it to place his palm over his heart. "It is, if I might say, a pleasure and a distinct honor to make your acquaintance." Again, he bowed and straightened, this time capturing his hat and swinging it expertly in a graceful arc toward the left side of his body, and back in place atop his head.

"The name's Sparrow, Jack Sparrow, Captain of the austere," his expression contorted slightly in mildly troubled confusion as his eyes darted briefly over the bridge, "although somewhat inexplicably absent ship, christened by the ever most fitting title, The Black Pearl!" His attention seemed to refocus more attentively on his host. "And you, my dearest Captain Kirk!" He closed the distance between them, deftly caught up Jim's right hand and began shaking it in lengthly enthusiasm." You look absolutely, unequivocally, and beyond any shadow of a doubt- utterly ordinary!"

Uhura coughed a laugh, which drew her captain's brief, mutually amused glance.

Contrary to his statement, Jack's eyes were brimming with awed admiration.

Jim was so surprised into confusion, that he could merely stand and let his cordial assailant whip his half-limp arm up and down. "Well, thank you, so much, Captain Sparrow."

Sparrow's expression went from formally magnanimous, to sincerely engaging. "Not at all, not at all, you're quite welcome indeed- " he suddenly halted the overly zealous handshake on the down-stroke and closed any space that existed between them, pressing himself bodily to Jim's right side and leaning his face uncomfortably close to Jim's ear, he lowered his voice to nearly a whisper, "how ever are you managing to do it, if I might so inquire?" He gazed into the side of Kirk's right eye with a crazed sort of intense expectation.

The Federation Starfleet captain, James Kirk, stood without making any moves of his own as he gazed back at his eccentric "guest", slash, "intruder" with a look of restrained annoyance. In truth, however, he was committing a very Vulcan-like act of masking his true feelings.

Was this humanoid insane and potentially dangerous, or was he merely unusual in relation to everyone he'd experienced up until now? There was a very real fear knifed within his consciousness that this being could turn out to be more than he appeared and threaten his people. In that light, he tried as best he could, to respond without sounding provocative. " I am ordinary."

Again, Jim glanced up to where Uhura stood, just in time to see her eyes widen in disbelief.

Jack's own eyes flared wide and then began blinking spasmodically. "Wh-bu- You are?" He sputtered in mild horror.

Jim blinked, once, smoothly, otherwise keeping a cautious watch on his 'guest'. "Yes."

Everything on Jack's face migrated towards his nose. "Are you certain?"

Very clearly, very carefully, and with undeniable certainty Jim replied,"Yes. I am...on both counts."

With a change of expression as that of one who was frequently given in to distractions, Jack tightened his grip which he still had around his victim's hand and unexpectedly, stepped back, yanking just hard enough so that Kirk was caught off balance slightly and did a slight turn that put his back partially in Jack's view.

Still gripping Jim's hand, Jack yanked the Captain's arm upward, tilting his head severely to the side while examining the gold-clad side exposed to him. He straightened, lowered Jim's arm, and leaned back, examining him up and down in a bird-like manner. Again, he straightened, dropping Jim's hand with a solemn sort of distress, then looked back up into Kirk's eyes as if for a clue as to what to do next.

To Jim's growing unease, Jack's face suddenly broke into a disturbingly self-satisfied grin. He sauntered up to Kirk, until they were toe-to-toe, and then he pivoted and moved himself to Jim's side in a dancer-like spin. He chuckled wickedly, and rocked on his toes with a blatant leer from the side of his nearest eye. "Of course you are," he appeared to acquiesce with a loud, sultry whisper. His hands came together and clasped lightly in front of him before he growled low in the back-most part of his throat, "... sly little thing, you..." He nudged Kirk's arm with his elbow, eyeing him with conspiratorial admiration.

Kirk sighed, an assumption building that this person was definitely crazy, but not dangerous. "Would you be so kind-as to explain the purpose for your being on my ship?"

Sparrow blinked, dropped his head down abruptly to look at the floor directly beneath his feet, and then whipped his head back up to search the bridge with darting eyes. His eyebrows arched upward briefly as he blinked in visible bewilderment. Revealing the ability to recover from his unexplained confusion with a single sigh, he turned himself to face Kirk again and explained quite pleasantly, "I'm here to find and liberate a very rare and elusive creature-of a magical kind."

Jim's eyes narrowed in accompaniment to his expression of distaste. "You're looking for a 'magical' creature?"

Sparrows brow jumped, and he began rambling pleasantly while walking a full circle around Jim. "Magical creature, creature of a magical kind, six of one, half-dozen of another, potato/potatto, tomato/tomatto-" The ruffled cuffs of his shirt flopped and fluttered impressively as Jack waved his hands around for emphasis.

"And just why would a magical creature be here on my ship?" Kirk was not to be hypnotized by impressive cuff ruffles.

Sparrow blinked, dropped his head down abruptly to look at the floor directly beneath his feet, and then whipped his head back up to search the bridge with darting eyes. His eyebrows arched upward briefly as he blinked in visible bewilderment. He shrugged slightly with his face as well as with his shoulders. "Well, I don't know. Why ARE you here on your ship?" He stilled, an new epiphany assaulting his mind. "For that matter, WHY do you even HAVE a ship? It isn't as though you were in any need of one..."

Spock inserted himself into the conversation with just, ever so much, the slightest sound of challenge in his voice. "Are you meaning, by that question, that you believe the Captain to be the creature for which you seek?" His gaze fixed on Jack intently.

Sparrow gave Spock a very visible once-over, before he replied with an air of indignation. "Well I suppose that depends."

As if exposing the hilt of a sword in order to show that he was ready for either battle or justifiable homicide, Spock raised a single eyebrow to one third of it's limit. "It depends, might I inquire, on what?"

Jack's eyes seemed to bore into the depth's of the Vulcan's soul. He shifted and took three short, carefully measured steps towards him, then stopped. There seemed to be a Delta Vegan ice-wind underneath the purr of his voice. "On whether or not YOUR intention is to steal the claim to my acquisition."

"You can't CLAIM me!" Jim practically shouted with indignant outrage. Without realizing it, he'd fastened both hands at his hipbones, and tensed his entire body, making himself into a living statue of petulance.

Sparrow whipped back to face in Kirk's direction. "Ah-HA!" His arm thrust outward to point at the captain with a grin of gleeful triumph.

Jim gaped in stunned confusion, blinked, frowned with great effort to sort out what was just said in his mind, then scowled fiercely "Wha-? Wait! You're- Do you honestly think you're gonna trick me into some sort of admission?"

Sparrows face softened into his most charming smile. The purr of his voice was nothing but deepest warmth. "Most reliable way of flushing out a creature possessing of magical qualities-" He sauntered the previous three steps back to Kirk, almost leering at the captain.

"I don't HAVE any magical qualities!" Kirk thrust his arms downward, hands clenched into fists with his exasperation.

Again, Sparrow boldly closed the distance between them, bringing the tips of his fingers over the shocked captain's lips. "Sh-" He purred ever more warmly in a soothing whisper. "Not to worry, my precious little treasure..." His head whipped to fix his gaze on Spock with a challenging glare, and he stepped in front of Kirk with an arm raised slightly as if to shield Jim from his own First Officer. This time, his voice took on a bit of a growl wrapped in a hiss. "I've no intention of letting any scoundrel forcibly part us, least of all likely," he lowered his head forward slightly as if to better aim his declaration at the Vulcan, "-that opportunistic individual there."

Kirk had to catch himself before unintentionally agreeing with the reference the intruder was using for Spock. "That-THAT is my second in command!"

"You should have such a scoundrel replaced." He grumbled with a sour scowel at Spock.

There was a long pause as Kirk looked down at the floor, looked at Jack again, and shook his head. "I can't."

There was another long pause as Jack stared at Kirk as if he'd just been told that the Black Pearl had just turned into a gigantic bar of soap. "Why not?"

One side of Jim's mouth turned upward slyly, and his eyes gleamed wickedly. "There aren't any scoundrels that I'd consider qualified!"

Another long pause as Jack blinked at Jim. "No?"

Another long pause as Jim smirked at Jack. "No."

Jack blinked several times. "Really?"

Jim waited to blink slowly, once. "Really."

With a contemplative look at the floor, Jack inhaled loudly through his nostrils and flexed his mouth into a well-practiced smile. "Well. It isn't as though I didn't try to propose a potentially useful idea for consideration."

With a tilt of his head, Jim returned to his previous question. "You still haven't explained why...you don't believe I'm ordinary."

As if considering how best to respond, Jack seemed to consider something with great thought...just before looking away and strolling slowly past Kirk.

"Perhaps-" Jack Sparrow looked down intently into his compass, and began moving foreword with slow, aimless steps as though he'd become completely oblivious to everyone's presence. "...perhaps the magic you've been using for subterfuge has wrapped an illusion so tightly 'round you per the sake of others, that you've actually come to believe in it yourself."

Sparrow's musings halted when his inattentive wandering of the bridge introduced his shin to the edge of the captain's chair. After looking up and identifying what was blocking his path, he shrugged, and then flopped himself into the conveniently placed obstacle, legs thrown up to drape over one arm. "-leaving you thusly as to be but a newly hatched fledgling...or even unhatched..."

Kirk made his way around his wrongfully occupied chair in a rather impassively casual manner, almost as if he was totally uninterested in said chair and said invader. Arriving directly behind his invaded chair, he continued his casual movement, lightly placing his hands on the top of the back, and then smoothly leaning down until he was resting his chin in his hand and looking carelessly down at Sparrow as if patiently waiting for him to solve The Ultimate Mystery of the Uni-Multiverse.

Sparrow looked up to find Kirk gazing at him in much the way people sometimes gazed at the setting sun across the expanse of ocean while leaning against the side rail. His mouth instantly assumed smiling duty after staring into Jim's undisturbed baby-blues.

Kirk's mouth mirrored the smile with a jump. After a few seconds of mutual staring/smiling, Sparrow began blinking repeatedly and turned away as if he couldn't remember why he looked at Kirk in the first place.

Jim continued to watch him, not saying anything. When Sparrow's eyes wandered to a spot on the deck that was in the opposite direction of his nearest observer, Jim carefully slipped his hand forward and gracefully plucked the antiquated object that Jack had been slightly obsessed over right out of his hand.

"Th-Th-That's MY compass."

"It's pointing at Spock.". He moved to different locations on the bridge, turning his body this way and that as well. "Why is it pointing at Spock? No matter where I go or which way I'm facing it homes right in on him."

Jack sent another scowl in Spock's direction. "I still say you should have such a scoundrel replaced."

Kirk glanced at Spock, put his hand to his chin, and made an overly exaggerated facial wince. "Weeeeeell, I'd have to think about it. U-m, NO!"

With a roll of his eyes and a disrespectful huff, he crossed his arms in front of him. "Well, suit yourself, then, by all means, and if it wouldn't be too much trouble and you would so kind as to return my compass back into my possession."

Jim's mind made a leap forward. "Is Spock a magical creature?"

"Not hardly." Sparrow bolted up out of his-Kirk's seat and purposely made the few steps to stand in front of Kirk as though for emphasis. "And if you won't replace him, why not at least find the version better suited to yourself?"

"Version?" Jim's face screwed up as if he'd been told he would have to eat one of the foods he most disliked. He caught Sparrow's left hand unexpectedly and nearly slapped the compass back into it. He marched over to his vacated chair and practically crammed himself back into it, as if it were a shield from the disturbing topic.

"Well, of course. There are countless other versions of every time and every place. You could transverse to whichever one had the version of whatever or whomever it was that would fully meet your desires...every last one-precisely." Jack had stalked around to place himself behind Kirk, leaning over to finish his statement right next to Jim's ear.

"With my 'magical' qualities." Kirk glanced sideways at him dubiously.

Jack's face lit up. "Precisely."

Jim blinked, and rose from his seat again, folding his arms and growing more annoyed. "That I, precisely, DON'T have-because I'M not."