Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds nor am I making any sort of profit from writing this.

This is a AU in where some members of the CM team is in a rock-band. It will be Reid/Hotch SLASH and future chapters will contain sexual situations (thus the reason for the M-rating). I have also decided to alter the age-differences between the characters.

Jan. 22 2014 - Found a typo that really bothered me, thus the edit. Nothing else has been changed (for anyone who's possibly following this story)

Chapter one

Joining the band

"Fucking hell!"

"Hotch? What's going on?" Emily Prentiss asked as she walked into the space they rented as a rehearsal-place, only to see an enraged Aaron Hotchner.

"It's Elle. She's gone. Her key had been shoved under the door and her guitars are gone. Oh, and she left this." Aaron said, handing Emily a piece of paper.

It was a note from Elle Greenaway.

I am leaving and I'm not coming back. I do realize this is inconvenient timing for you guys, and for that I apologize, but I can't stand this anymore. It's just no fun. Good luck.

Sincerely
- Elle

When Emily handed back the note to Aaron he simply glared at it.

"Alright ladies and gentlemen the greatest drummer of all time, the amazing Derek Morgan has now… Hey, what's going on?" Derek Morgan had jus walked in.

"Elle" was Aarons only reply.

"Elle left. She took her stuff, left her key with a note saying she won't come back" Emily explained sourly.

"She left? Now at this incredibly horrible time? Does she realize we have a career-breaking gig coming up?" Derek asked shocked.

Aaron handed the note to Derek. What the hell were they going to do? They had managed to get a spot playing at a music-competition which was to take place in two weeks. The winners were to win free studio-time with one of the top producers in the music industry, Jason Gideon. For every aspiring musician or band this was like a dream come true. Their dream seemed to have been shattered instantly as they now were left without a guitarist.

"Hotch? Are you listening?" Derek asked, demanding Aaron's attention.

"Sorry. What did you say Derek?"

"I know your dark mind probably was thinking about how we're screwed or something along the lines. I was telling you guys that there might be hope. A few weeks ago Penelope, you know, my friend from across the hall, was telling me about this guy she knew. According to her he is supposed to be an incredible guitar player, but currently he's not in any band."

Aaron stared at Derek for a while.

"Well?"

"What?"

"Call your friend Derek! We really don't have any time to loose, the sooner we find someone the better! We don't even know if this guy actually is any good."

With a sigh Spencer Reid sat down in his room in the apartment he shared with a dingy guy called Jonathan. He knew Jonathan had all sorts of problems, from alcohol too drugs, but unfortunately Spencer couldn't afford his own place at this point. At the moment he was working at a local bookstore which wasn't paying much. From time to time he considered accepting the job-offers he received to be a professor, but even though at 21 he had managed to receive two PHD's his passion was music.

Spencer was a skilled guitar player, but he also played the piano well. He had just returned from selling yet another one of his guitars, all so he could afford rent and paying for his mother's care. He was now left with two electric guitars, an old Fender Telecaster his father had left behind when he left and his favorite, the black Gibson Les Paul. He had also kept an acoustic guitar, however the acoustic was a cheap non-existing brand. Spencer rarely played acoustic anyway.

Penelope Garcia had once asked him why he didn't sell the Telecaster that once belonged to his father, since Spencer didn't have any fond memories of the man. The truth is, as much as he hated that his father had left he couldn't sell the guitar. Also, it was very comfortable to use.

Spencer jumped slightly in surprise when his phone rang.

"Reid" he answered.

"Well hello Boy Wonder!" Penelope Garcia said on the other end.

"Hi Pen" Spencer smiled.

"Remember the friend I told you about, Derek Morgan?"

"Yeah, the one playing drums for some rock band, right?"

"That's the one! He just called me and told me their guitarist bailed, leaving them without a guitarist for an upcoming gig. I have told him about the genius guitar player that is my junior G-man and he asked me if he and his band could meet you!"

"Meet me? They want me to play with them?" Spencer asked, feeling hopeful. He really did want to play with a band, but he didn't know too many musicians and he was too shy and socially awkward to try starting a band on his own. He had played a few gigs in the past, and standing on stage performing was no problem, on stage he felt comfortable and confident. Meeting new people however, always made him feel uneasy.

"Well, they want to hear you play, but honestly sweetie, the way you handle your guitars I doubt they'll hesitate to ask you to join them."

"I' not too worried about the playing bit" Spencer began, he knew was skilled. "But Pen… What if they don't like me?"

"Oh honey, why would they not? They are all really nice people. At least meet with them? I know you want to play music, here you have a chance! Anyway, Derek said they would like to meet you right now!"

"N-Now?" he asked, his voice suddenly unsteady as he felt a stream of nervousness flushing over him.

"Yes, now. Text you the address, get your cute butt over there now! Garcia out!"

A few seconds after the call ended Spencer got a text with an address. He took a few deep breaths before he stood up, grabbing his Gibson Les Paul and walked out.

Aaron watched Derek while the drummer was on the phone. He tried to figure out by the other man's expression if the guy would show up. When Derek's face lit up Aaron let go of a breath he hadn't realized he was holding.

"He's on his way here!"

"Great!" Emily replied. "Do you know anything about him Der?"

"Not more than Baby Girl told me about him. He's young, 21 I believe she said. Apparently he's really smart and has a PHD or something. She also said he is incredibly talented musician. Now, she has a tendency to exaggerate from time to time, but she knows music so I think there might be hope. Oh, and she also mentioned that he is a bit awkward when it comes to meeting new people."

"Well, as long as he plays well we can work with anything" Aaron said. "At this point we do not have the luxury of being picky."

The others nodded in agreement.

"What's his name?"

"Umm… I honestly don't remember."

A soft knock on the door interrupted their conversation. Aaron who was standing closest went to open the door to their rehearsal-space. On the other side of the door stood a nervous looking young man with light brown hair and hazel eyes, carrying a guitar case.

"Uhm… Hi. I'm Reid… Ehm… Spencer Reid. I'm supposed to… I'm Penelope Garcia's friend" he stuttered.

Aaron stared at him for a few seconds. The guy had completely taken Aaron's breath away, he was almost stunningly beautiful.

"Oh, yeah. Hi" Aaron replied, his composure regained. "Welcome! I'm Aaron Hotchner, but most people call me Hotch. Come on in!"

As he stepped aside as Spencer nervously walked into the room only to be greeted buy a very excited Derek Morgan.

"Hey Kid! Guess you're Penelope's friend who is here to save our asses!" the drummer exclaimed.

"Kid?" Spencer mumbled, mostly to himself. "Yes I'm Pen's friend, and about 'saving your asses', as you so nicely put it, you can't be sure. You haven't heard me play" he continued.

"My Baby Girl knows her music, and she says you're incredible. I am Derek Morgan by the way, I play the drums."

Spencer felt surprisingly comfortable, even though he had only been at the bands rehearsal-space a few minutes. Derek seemed nice enough, but he hadn't been able to get a proper read on Hotch. The female had yet to speak.

"Nice to meet you" he said shaking Derek's offered hand.

"I am Emily Prentiss, I play base. You met our singer Hotch."

"Hi" Spencer replied shyly. "Uhm… I guess you want to hear me play?"

"Straight to the point, I like it!" Derek joked. "Sure kid, you can set up over here."

"There he goes with the 'kid' again" he thought, but decided not to say anything. He was used to nicknames; Penelope had about a dozen or so nicknames for him, but being called 'kid' made him feel like child.

"Holy shit! Is that a Gibson Les Paul?!" Emily exclaimed.

"Uhm… Yes?" Spencer replied looking up from plugging in his guitar.

"Damn! I'm impressed!" she smiled.

"Yeah…" he said awkwardly. "Should I… just start playing something?"

"Go ahead" Aaron said with a small smile.

Spencer took a deep breath before he started. As he hadn't been given any time to prepare, he decided to play a solo he had been working on. When he started to play all nervousness he had been feeling disappeared, this was his comfort zone.

After a while he stopped and looked up, only to meet three stunned faces.

"Damn kid, Baby Girl wasn't kidding. That was something all right!" Derek said. "Let's play something together, see how you sound playing with us?"

Spencer and the others nodded in response. "This is good, if they want to try playing with me they can't hate my playing" he thought. Being called 'kid' by Derek almost didn't bother him anymore either. The drummer was clearly about to stick with the nickname.

"You know 'Iron man'?" Emily asked.

"Sabbath? Sure."

"Alright, that was brilliant!" Emily said excitedly when they finished the song.

"No kidding, Spencer you are really talented!" Aaron said.

Spencer could do nothing but smile in response. They sat down at a small table and Aaron walked over to the fridge and pulled out a couple of beers, one for each of them. Spencer accepted the offered beverage even though he wasn't much of a beer-drinker.

"So, what happened to your last guitarist?" he asked the others.

"Gone" Aaron replied sourly.

"She just up and left. Took her stuff, left her key with a note saying she wanted out" Emily explained.

"No explanation to why?" Spencer asked.

"None whatsoever. Honestly though, she have been acting strange lately, always in a bad mood. Maybe we're better off. Horrible timing though" Derek replied.

"Oh yeah right, you're entering that competition, right?"

"We were. But as we now find ourselves without a guitarist nothing's certain" Derek sighed.

Spencer looked at the others. None of them had said anything about them wanting hi to join and he was too shy and awkward to ask.

"I think we could still compete" Aaron began, all eyes landing on him as he spoke. Spencer suddenly felt a twinge of hope. "If you join us Spencer, I think we'd still have a chance."

"Really?" Spencer asked weakly.

Derek and Emily beamed at Aaron's words.

"I guess that means welcome to Wicked Spirit! If you want in of course?"

"Yes!" Spencer beamed in response.

This had turned out great it would seem. The others seemed really friendly and Spencer had really enjoyed spending time with them. He reminded himself that he had to thank Penelope for suggesting him.

"Wonderful! With you joining this band has it all!" Morgan said.

"Huh? What do you mean Derek?" Emily asked with a slight frown.

"Tall, dark and handsome" he began, gesturing towards himself. "Quiet and mysterious" he continued, nodding towards Aaron. "Beautiful and slender, and Pretty Boy!" Derek finished.

"Hey, you forgot 'sexy'!" Emily exclaimed with mock hurt.

"Oh right, sorry. Tall, dark, handsome and sexy then!" Derek laughed as Emily threw a drumstick at him.

Spencer stared at the drummer. "Pretty Boy?" he asked.

"Well yes. You are our Pretty Boy!" Derek chuckled.

"You better get used to it Spencer, when he decides he likes giving someone nicknames they just keep coming." Aaron said with a small smile.

Spencer shrugged slightly and smiled.

"I understand your friendship with Pen" he said.

"How's that?"

"Well for one you both seem to like coming up with nicknames. I've heard her call you all sorts of nicknames and she has a lot of them for me too."

"That's my sweet-cheeks for ya alright!" Derek laughed; causing the other's in the room to laugh as well.

Spencer felt like this could turn out good. For the first time in a while he felt really good about himself.

Alright, what'cha think? This is my first attempt at an AU-fic and reviews are loved!

I had a hard timing choosing a name for the band (this chapter was actually finished over a week ago)
Since I didn't come up with anything good I decided to go with the name of a band I played in when I was younger. (We never made it out of the garage, quite honestly we were very bad)

Hugs and kisses
-ZandiiLii