A/N: so i received this prompt on tumblr: "Hello! I so appreciate you taking prompts, thank you! I've been thinking about something like musicians!cs, maybe just killian or them both idk, they could either be super famous or still struggling when a video of them singing at their wedding (kinda like we saw in the show with a happy beginning) goes viral? Anything along those lines, thank you!"

Lucky for this person, i've been tossing around the idea of a rock band! au for years. so this gave me the perfect opportunity to begin it. this'll be more of a series of one shots in this universe, rather than a full on multi chapter fic. it'll show the progression of the band's fame and Emma and Killian's relationship.

Enjoy and let me know what you think!

Savior had been Emma's band since she was sixteen years old and had decided to team up with a few of her close friends to make a band. Of course, Emma didn't take it too seriously at the time; she just thought it would be something fun to do with her friends. Her parents had been in the music business and she had a niggling hope to go into it when she grew older (when her parents would allow her; they had always said she could do it when she was eighteen and still wanted to do it). But Emma didn't dare to hope that anything would come of her time in Savior, only gathering in her basement three times a week to arrange their music, which had solely been covers.

But, after only a short period of time, Emma realized how much the band had meant to her. Emma constantly looked forward to the days where Mulan, Lily, and Elsa could come over and practice their songs. She loved the way it felt when she was strumming her guitar and could imagine crowds cheering their names. Her skin buzzed long after their practices ended, the feeling of performing settling into her bones and into her heart in a way that Emma could not shake it.

She wanted to be on a stage, so desperately that Emma could cry from the want of it. She wanted to be known as one of the greatest guitarists of all time-not only as a female guitarist, but period. She wanted to be a household name, not just appearing for one good song and then disappearing, like her father before her. She wanted to be remembered and displayed in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. She wanted to feel as though she made an impact on the world.

But, Emma wanted to do it on her own, without the assistance of her parents paying her way through the business.

And Emma felt as though she could make it, until she and Lily had a falling out their junior year of college. Lily had stolen Emma's money that she was saving up to do a mini-tour because Lily had a strung out boyfriend that needed the money for 'rent.' In a blink of an eye, they had no bassist. And then just a year later after college graduation, Elsa had to leave the band for a new career in Norway, back where her family lived.

And Savior was down to only the lead guitarist and drummer, which does not make a band. And Emma thought her plans were dashed.

It didn't take too long to find Robin Locksley, however. Mulan had met him at a coffee shop, where he would simply strum on his bass as others performed on the small stage. When Robin auditioned for the spot of bass player, it took Emma 0.2 seconds to invite him to the band, seeing the talent behind the simplicity of his strums. Savior returned to practicing at least three times a week, depending on everyone's schedules of course and still borrowing her parents' basement, even though Emma had moved out her sophomore year of NYU.

Yet, they were still down a lead singer.

Which was what brought them to this point, auditioning whatever person was interested in being a lead singer of a band that had hopes of becoming big.

And Emma being thoroughly exhausted of tone-deaf men and women that simply had no idea how untalented they were. She remained on the plush, white sofa in the formal living room of her parents' house, waiting for the next person to wander into the house. Mulan sat at Emma's side, twirling her drumsticks in her hands, and Robin stood by the ornate fireplace, hands in his pockets as he stared at the old family portrait over the mantel. Emma was about fifteen when the picture had been taken, in the midst of her awkward phase with braces and crimped hair and she was still begging her parents to switch the photo out with something more respectable.

And they constantly refused.

Her parents were in the kitchen, on the phone with whom Emma assumed was the next audition. She hated that they were even orchestrating the auditions to complete her band, but her mother was insistent and Emma knew she would just arrange everything behind Emma's back if Emma held her ground. Emma groaned and dropped her head against the back of the couch, staring up at the perfectly done tray ceiling.

"Twenty bucks the next person sings Aerosmith," Mulan spoke, and then popped her chewing gum.

"I'll shake on that," Robin spoke from the fireplace with a smirk. "Twenty bucks the next person sings AC/DC."

"It'll be neither. I bet you both Journey," Emma spoke up, turning her head to look at her bandmates.

Robin whistled impressively, reclining against the mantel with his arms crossed over his chest. "That's one I didn't think of."

Emma heard the clacking of her mother's kitten heels against the hardwood flooring as her parents returned from the kitchen, their hands together between the two of them, and they stepped into the carpeted living area. Mary Margaret Nolan's pixie cut was perfectly coiffed, freshly done this morning since they were having company and Mary Margaret Nolan can never look unfinished by anyone other than her husband and Emma. David Nolan looked perfectly relaxed in his cable-knit sweater that Emma knew her mother had bought him for Christmas last year and the look in his eyes told Emma that he wanted this over as much as Emma did.

"The last one is on his way," Mary Margaret spoke excitedly, looking around at also Mulan and Robin. "He just got off work, so he's heading over here from there."

"What's his name?" Mulan asked from the couch, staring at her twirling drumstick.

"Killian Jones."

Emma's eyes widened as she lifted her head from the couch and stared at her parents. "Killian Jones?"

Emma's mother nodded. "Yes, and he seems very excited about auditioning."

"Because he just got tossed out by The Lost Boys two weeks ago!" Emma exclaimed, sitting up straight on the couch. "He's an egotistical jackass that likes to drink and then go on stage and ruin everything!"

"He did that once, Emma," Robin spoke from his place, then glanced over at her parents for a moment before looking back at Emma. "Obviously, we don't know the circumstances behind what happened and obviously it's still bad that he did it, but you can't deny that he is incredibly talented and we'd be lucky to have him join us."

"He's also a major piece of ass."

"Mulan," Emma said sternly, but also questioning her friend.

Mulan stopped twirling her drumstick and shrugged. "I may be a lesbian, but I'm not blind. He's damn fine and you know it. Everyone in this room knows it. And it would definitely help with the audience turn out."

Emma sighed and ran her hand over her face, pushing her stray hairs from her face. "It also doesn't help that he's super promiscuous. I went to one of their shows and I saw him go to the back room with three different people."

"Since when did you judge people for sleeping with a ton of people?" Mulan asked with an eyebrow raised.

"That's something I didn't need to hear, Mulan," Emma's father spoke up from the edge of the living room, shuffling uncomfortably on the carpet.

"Sorry, Mr. Nolan, but it's true," Mulan replied, leaning back against the couch. "I don't care how many people you sleep with. If you're talented, then you're talented. That's it. But the meltdown is a bit much."

"Thank you," Emma stated, then looked around at her parents and Robin. "We can't risk Killian Jones having another meltdown. We want to go big and we can't risk have him doing that in the middle of one of our sets. If he does that, we'll be dead in the water."

"It's something we can keep an eye on, Emma," Robin spoke. "He was with them for what? Four years? And that's the first time anything like that has happened. I think it was the exception and not the rule to how he acts."

"We can have this discussion after he auditions. He should be here any minute," Mary Margaret stated and walked away to stand by the front door.

Mary Margaret Nolan may have stated that they would discuss things after the audition, but Emma had already made up her mind; she would not allow Killian Jones into her band without a fight. They would become the laughing stock of the rock music world in New York. It would plague them, no matter where they went.

She wasn't going to let this ruin her band, when she knew they were capable of going big. She wouldn't let Killian Jones shoot them in the foot, like he did with The Lost Boys. She just hoped that no matter how well his audition went, Robin and Mulan would be able to understand what Emma was talking about.

It was fifteen minutes later when there was a knock on the front door. Mary Margaret graciously opened the door and Emma saw a motorcycle boot step in, contrasting against the oak floors of the house. She slowly gazed upwards and found Killian Jones standing inside of her childhood home. He looked around the foyer of the house, probably staring up at the obnoxious chandelier that hung over the dramatic staircase in front of the door. Emma's mother and father greeted him and introduced themselves, to which Killian responded easily. An acoustic guitar was slung over his shoulder, which surprised Emma; she had figured he would go with an electric guitar for a rock band audition. From what Emma could see, it was a worn guitar, as if he had owned it for years upon years.

Something about that was endearing to Emma.

And then Killian's eyes fell onto the living room and those stupid ass blue eyes landed on Emma. A smirk spread on his face and immediately, Emma felt her face burn. She wasn't sure if it was from anger or from embarrassment. She knew he was an attractive guy (just like what Mulan said-Emma also wasn't blind), but his ego and promiscuity were major turn offs to her. But still, Emma was able to state that objectively, she would fuck him in a heartbeat.

And it seemed that Killian could just see that on her face, which Emma did not like.

"You must be Emma Swan," Killian spoke, stepping into the living area with a hand outreached. "I've been a big fan of yours since I first saw your band four years ago."

Emma stood and allowed Killian to shake her hand, ignoring the way his hand was so warm against Emma's cold skin. She was impressed that he used her stage name-she went by Emma Swan instead of Nolan because she didn't want to be connected to her family, with the famed music producers as her parents and her aunt the stylist to the stars.

"It's nice to meet you," Emma told Killian, removing her hand from Killian's after a moment. Emma waved her hand at Mulan, and then Robin. "This is Mulan Yee and Robin Locksley, which I'm sure you already knew."

"You saw us four years ago?" Mulan asked with her eyebrows furrowed.

Killian nodded as he hitched his guitar higher up on his shoulder. "Yes, before Robin came along, when Elsa Arendelle and Lily Starr were in the band. It was Battle of the Bands at The Rabbit Hole by NYU."

Emma raised her eyebrows as she glanced over at Mulan. Emma hadn't thought of that show in years. She supposed it was impressive that he remembered all of that, but she also had a suspicion that Killian was just trying to kiss ass to get into the band. But Killian's tactics appeared to be working on Mulan and Robin, whom had glanced back at each other and raised their eyebrows. Emma didn't want to trust a thing the man said, knowing exactly how he had ruined the rise of The Lost Boys, the very band Emma had bet would make it big before Savior.

She wouldn't risk the band's livelihood for a pretty face who seemed to have a taste for alcohol, no matter how talented he was.

"Would you like to set up for the audition, Mr. Jones?" Mary Margaret spoke as she and David walked into the living room, her hands clasped gently in front of her.

"Oh yes, of course, Mrs. Nolan," Killian responded, apparently distracted by his own thoughts for the moment before Emma's mother brought him out of his mind.

Killian stepped away from Emma and Mulan, toward the second archway, which led to the formal dining room. He sat at the stool there and arranged his guitar on his lap, resituating himself on the stool to find a comfortable spot. Emma's parents joined her at Emma's side, with Emma standing with her arms tightly crossed over her chest and everyone else appearing relaxed as they prepared to see the final audition.

And Emma really desperately hoped that he blew it.

Killian cleared his throat and Robin, Mulan, and Emma were all caught by surprise by the song he had chosen. It wasn't Aerosmith, nor AC/DC, nor even Journey. It was a song that Emma was familiar with. Actually, it was a song that she listened to when she felt like truly feeling, which was a rare occurrence for her. She listened to it after Neal dumped her with the baby growing inside of her and she listened to it after going through with the procedure she had fought with for a solid week.

Killian Jones didn't even know Emma and it was as though he already knew her.

As he strummed the gentle notes of an acoustic version of "Snuff" by Slipknot, Emma could feel her heart knot tightly. Yes, the song was already quite solemn, but with how Killian simply strummed the notes on his acoustic guitar, it added an additional layer of emotion that typically came with acoustic songs. And Emma hated that she was already changing her mind about the man in front of her. She wanted to hate him. She wanted to kick him out of her house without allowing him the one thing he wanted. But as he began to slowly sing the lyrics of a love that went wrong, Emma could see the soul behind the talent.

Yes, the talent was an important part of becoming a great band. But, the audience needed to be able to relate to the band and see where they're coming from and that they've been right where the audience has been.

And with Killian Jones, Emma knew they would see it. She could see it herself.

"Dammit," Emma whispered under her breath and Mulan nudged her shoulder against Emma's.

"Not so against him now, are you?" Mulan asked just as quietly and looked back to Killian to continue watching his audition.

And Emma wasn't. Which was why Killian Jones soon became the lead singer and rhythm guitarist for Savior and left Emma hoping to God that everything would go right and he wouldn't pull another stunt like he had with The Lost Boys.

But with the way he joyously smiled when she announced he was in the band, Emma knew that he wouldn't allow himself to fuck up another chance.

But only time would tell.