A/N: And a nice warm welcome to Hotch, everybody! This has been the hardest chapter yet. I don't know his character is really difficult for me to write. Probably because he's the polar opposite of my own personality.

I do not own Pirates of Penzance. I do, however, suggest that anyone reading this should totally check it out. It is hilarious. Anyway, if anyone has no idea what the Pirates of Penzance is or doesn't want the whole thing spoiled, the director of the play sorta ruins that, so warning!

Thanks to everyone who favorited and followed last chapter. Now! To the reviews!

CriminalOutsider'sGirl14: JJ doesn't have a problem with smoking itself. She's just upset that Emily promised Spencer she'd quit, yet she's still doing it.

Mossnose173: I'm so happy you liked it so much. Spencer is one of my favorite characters. The UnSubs were the main reason it took so long to write that chapter. Tobias and Kat were being difficult.

jayjrat: I can't wait to get started on the mystery part.

Etolrah: I'm glad my story could break you out of your reviewing habit. ;-D

On to the story! Enjoy!

Date: Wednesday, 8/26/2015

Anyone who knew Aaron Hotchner would not describe him as nervous. Stressed, maybe. Definitely an overachiever. Workaholic. But not nervous. However, on this Wednesday morning, nervous was the best word for what Aaron was feeling.

The auditions were today.

Hotch pulled into school, put his truck in park, and turned the engine off. He glanced over at Sean, sitting in the passenger seat, and sighed. The sophomore was totally zoned out. He had his earbuds in and looked to be asleep.

The senior shook his brother out of his daze. Sean blinked blearily. "What?" he slurred.

"We're here," Hotch sighed.

The sophomore immediately awakened. He grabbed his stuff from the floor, hopped out of the truck, and jogged over to one of his many groups of friends.

Aaron shook his head. It astonished him how quickly his brother's attitude could change just by the mention of his friends.

The senior checked the clock: 7:46. School started at eight o'clock. He snatched his backpack from the backseat and slowly got out of his truck.

He walked inside the school and was greeted by a poster for the play, reminding him of his earlier nervousness. Aaron would have to find Sean later and remind him of the auditions.

He arrived at his locker and checked his watch again. The five-minute bell rang seconds later. He had wanted to talk to Dave before class, but it looked like the other senior would be late.

Again.

Aaron sighed. He had to get to Civics.

Aaron hated Civics. He had been excited back when he first signed up. He had known Strauss was the teacher, so that was not the problem. What he had not known, what the problem was, was that George Foyet had also signed up for the class.

Aaron took his seat and pulled out his books. Foyet was already in the room and approached his desk.

"Hey, Hotchner," the other senior sneered. When Aaron did not reply, he continued. "You'll never guess who I ran into the other day." Still no response. "Two little friends of yours. The name Derek Morgan ring any bells?"

Aaron's head snapped up. If Derek was there, then Spencer had probably been there too. "What?"

Foyet's menacing grin only grew. "Him and your pet genius." Foyet looked him in the eyes and saw the surprise that Aaron tried so hard to hide. "Oh? He didn't tell you?" he sneered. "We had a little 'encounter' yesterday."

Hotch did not even blink. "So what?"

Foyet growled at the lack of reaction. "So, I beat your friends. He ended up on the ground and me standing."

"You beat up to juniors. Your point?"

"My point, Aaron, is that, unless you want your buddies getting hurt, keep them out of my way." The two held eye contact until the bell rang and Strauss demanded that he take his seat.

Once the other senior was gone, Hotch finally let his poker face drop. Why would Derek and Spencer not tell him about meeting Foyet? Spencer knew the two had a history, even if he did not know what that history was. No one but Dave knew what went down in freshman year and Aaron intended to keep it that way.

After Civics came Anatomy and then Calculus. Those classes went by quickly. Something Aaron was thankful for. All he could think of was Foyet and the drama auditions.

He found Sean in between classes and asked if he could find himself a ride home. His brother assured him that he could and ran off.

Hotch was glad lunch was next. He needed to talk to Dave. He hated to pull his friend away from the others but with Foyet threatening their group, the two seniors needed to talk.

Aaron approached the lunch table and tapped Dave on the shoulder. "Hey, can we talk?"

Dave raised an eyebrow but nodded. He stood and followed Aaron out of the cafeteria. The rest of the group staring.

"What's going on, Aaron?" Dave asked as soon as the two were alone.

"Foyet beat up Derek and Spencer yesterday."

"What?! I thought we told Spencer to stay away from him. We told all of them!"

"I know. But we never told Derek."

Dave looked confused. "What do you mean?"

"Foyet told me to keep 'my buddies' away from him if I didn't want them getting hurt."

"He threatened them!?" Hotch nodded.

"What are we gonna do?" Dave pressed "I know you don't want to tell them but-"

Aaron cut him off, "No, Dave. We've talked about this."

The other senior sighed. "Fine. We can play it by your rules for now but if he seriously hurts anyone, I'm telling. I don't care what the consequences are." Dave turned on his heel and marched back into the lunchroom.

Hotch did not end up going back into the cafeteria. Instead, he went to the library and got onto one of the school computers. He plugged his school flash drive into the computer. If he was skipping lunch, he might as well get something done.

When the bell rang Aaron gathered up his stuff and headed to his locker. Dave was not waiting for him. He was probably upset. It was not the first time they had that conversation. The other senior always suggested that they tell and Aaron always shot him down. Dave was usually angry afterwards.

Hotch sighed and slammed his locker shut in an unusual display of aggression. Dave was not the only one upset this time. Foyet was an annoyance, but one that Aaron knew how to deal with. He had never gone after his friends before and, frankly, it was worrying.

But he could not dwell on it now, he had English 4 to get to.

Aaron had calmed down by the time he got to class. He even managed to brush off the nasty glare Foyet gave him as he entered.

He took his seat just as the bell rang. Mrs. Blake started class moments later.

Next came Gym. Dave was still upset with him. The two seniors barely spoke to each other and Derek noticed. When he tried to ask about it, Dave brushed it off and went over to his soccer friends. Aaron sighed.

"We had a… disagreement," he explained.

"You mean at lunch?"

"Yeah."

Derek looked concerned. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"No!" Aaron said forcefully.

Derek took a step back and held his hands up in surrender. "Sorry, man."

Aaron shook his head. "No. Don't be. This is between me and Dave. We can handle it."

Gym went by mercifully quickly and Behavior arrived. Hotch had nearly forgotten about the interviews today. He was reminded of it when he walked into the classroom and saw the typical English sub, Tara Lewis, chatting amiably with Mr. Gideon.

The bell rang and the class took their seats. Ms. Lewis left and Gideon began.

"Here's how today's going to work. I'm going to pick a number between one and ten, then each group is going to guess a number. The closest group goes first, next closest, second, furthest guess goes last. Understand?"

The seven students murmured their agreement.

"Good. I'll give you a minute to pick your numbers."

Aaron tuned to Dave who was still giving him the cold shoulder. He sighed.

"How are we going to play this?" Hotch asked.

"Depends. Do we want to go first?"

Aaron thought it through. There were advantages to going first. Ms. Lewis would be fresh and eager. However, her answers would not be as sure as they would be if they went last.

"I think we should try for the middle."

Dave nodded. "Let's go with five. Gideon seems like a guy who would go for one of the ends."

Aaron did not really see how his friend had come to that conclusion, but he was not going to question it right now.

"Alright," said Gideon, pulling everyone's attention to the front. "We'll go in order of seniority. Rossi?"

"Five."

Aaron heard a hiss of annoyance from the girls' group. Apparently they had stolen their guess.

"Morgan?"

"One."

"Prentiss?"

"Six."

Gideon nodded. "The number was five. Here's the order. Rossi, Hotchner, you're going first. Then the girls. Morgan and Reid are last. Ms. Lewis is waiting in the library."

The seniors stood and made their way to the library.

"You still want to take point?" Aaron asked Dave.

The other boy rolled his eyes. "Yeah."

Dave's attitude was really starting to annoy him. Aaron opened his mouth to confront him, but he held up a hand.

"Not now Aaron. We need to focus." Dave pushed open the library door. Lewis was waiting in one of the conference rooms. The seniors came in and sat across from her.

"Hello, Ms. Lewis," Dave greeted and shook her hand. "I'm David Rossi and this is my friend, Aaron Hotchner. How are you today?"

"I'm doing well, thank you." She smiled. "How are you, Mr. Rossi?"

"I'm fine and, please, call me Dave."

"Alright then, Dave, I hear you have some questions for me?"

Dave nodded and immediately launched into their list of topics and questions. If Aaron did not know better, he would have never guessed that there was any tension between them. They finished just as the girls showed up. As they left the conference room, Emily told them that Gideon dismissed them from class.

Both seniors were surprised, but they did not question it. They turned to a nearby table and sat. There was a tense silence for a moment, then Aaron spoke.

"Is now a good time to talk?"

Dave shot him a pointed glare from across the table. "Not really."

"Fine. Let's discuss the interview." Aaron looked over his notes. "She did not give a lot away body language wise."

Dave nodded. "Most of our details are going to have to come from her answers."

Aaron checked his watch and nodded absent-mindedly. "Right."

The older senior frowned, but continued, "When I asked about her family, she mentioned her fiance and that her parents lived in town. She also mentioned that…."

Aaron was not paying attention anymore. He had spotted another Drama poster hanging on the side of a bookshelf. His thoughts were focused back on the auditions and Haley. She was the kindest person he knew. Not to mention the prettiest. She loved everybody and even though she was incredibly popular, she did not let that stop her from being friendly towards everyone.

"Aaron? Aaron?" Dave waved a hand in front of his friend's face. "Earth to Hotchner?"

He snapped out of his thoughts. "Huh? What?"

Dave frowned angrily. "Have you been listening to a word I've said?" Hotch just gave him a blank look. "You know what, Aaron, I'm done here." Dave quickly packed up his notes. "You don't want to do this, fine. I'm going."

"No. Wait. I'm sorry," Aaron apologized.

Dave just ignored him and walked out of the library. The senior did not follow. He buried his head in his arms. Nothing had gone right today. And he still had those auditions. He lifted his head to look at his watch, 3:02. Auditions did not start until school was out at 3:30. Aaron groaned. He could not wait for this day to be over.

Aaron walked into the auditorium and saw a small gathering of drama students. He was surprised at how many people were there. He never realized how many people it took to put on one of these things. He was knocked out of his thoughts with a tap on his shoulder.

"Excuse me," said a female voice.

Hotch turned to see Haley standing there. "Oh! Hi Haley." He flushed light pink. "Sorry." He moved out of the way.

Haley smiled. "I never took you for a thespian, Aaron."

The senior blanched. "A what?"

She giggled. "A thespian. It's a fancy word for actor."

"Right." Hotch cleared his throat, trying to be impressive. It did not seem to work because Haley only laughed more.

"So are you here to audition?" she asked.

"Yeah. I decided since it's senior year, I have nothing to lose." He shrugged.

Haley looked at him incredulously. "Do you even know what we're putting on?"

"The Pirates of Penzance, right?"

She was about to respond when, the director called everyone's attention.

"Hello drama students. I'm glad to see many familiar faces and even more new ones. My name's Adam Rain and I'll be your director this year. I know many of you are not here for the stage itself, so when I'm done speaking I ask that you go meet with our stage director, Mr. Cochran, in the left wing. As for the play itself, The Pirates of Penzance, also called The Slave of Duty, is a musical, so I have brought in Ms. Kane, the choir director, to help with that."

Aaron gasped. Dave did not tell him this was a musical. He could not back out now though. Not only had Haley seen him, but he had told her that this was not a big deal.

Mr. Rain continued. "This is a star-crossed lovers type story with several confounding plot twists. Here's the simple version. Our main character is Frederic. He's an apprentice to the Pirate King. Because of this he has never seen any other woman besides his nanny, Ruth. He ask Ruth to marry him, but quickly dumps her after meeting Mabel, on of the daughters of Major-General Stanley. The other pirates try to kidnap Mabel's sisters. Stanley finds out and stops them. He lies and tells them he is an orphan and they return his daughters. He runs off with his daughters and Frederic. Frederic plans to lead an army of policemen against the pirates, but before he can, the Pirate King and Ruth show up and tell him that because he was born on February 29th he is not technically 21 and is still a pirate apprentice. Frederic reluctantly returns to the pirates and reveals that Stanley is not an orphan. This enrages the Pirate King and he swears revenge on Stanley. A fight ensues between the pirates and police which the pirates win. However, Ruth reveals that the pirates are actually noblemen and the police take everyone prisoner. In the end the pirates are forgiven and Frederic and Mabel marry."

There was silence for a moment as the students attempted to process what they had just been told.

Rain clapped his hands. "Alright then, the crew can go see Mr. Cochran and we'll get these auditions out of the way."

The stage hands dispersed and they were left with about twenty students.

The director smiled as he looked over the crowd. "Good. We have enough that everyone should get a part." He looked down at his sign up sheet and called out three names Aaron did not recognize. Two freshman and a sophomore walked up and Rain handed them each a paper and directed them to the stage. "Read the parts I gave you."

They did not do to bad in Aaron's opinion. Another group went up and then Rain called, "Aaron Hotchner, Haley Brooks, and George Foyet."

Hotch's eyes widened in horror. Foyet could not be here! Absolutely not. The only reason Aaron did not run out at that second was Haley.

She stood and he followed her to the stage. Foyet came up from the right side of the theater. Rain gave them the sample scripts and pointed out their parts. Aaron was playing the Pirate King, Haley was given Ruth, and Foyet was assigned Frederic.

They went through quickly and Haley smiled at him when they were done. He hoped that meant he did well.

Another group went and then it was time for singing. The girls sang first and then the boys. Aaron was mesmerized by Haley's voice. It was beautiful. She was sure to get the part of Mabel. Foyet sang as well and, regardless of Aaron's dislike of the other senior, he had to admit that Foyet could really sing.

Finally it was Hotch's turn to sing. He was thankful that he was last, otherwise he would have been at a complete loss of what to do. The play had few songs that were complete solos, so Rain would play a specific song without the words of whichever part was being sung. The director handed him the lyrics as Aaron approached the stage. He climbed the stairs and stood at the front of the stage. He nodded to Rain and the music started up.

The song only took a few minutes to sing, but when he was done a silence filled the room. He cleared his throat nervously. The director blinked and shook his head as if coming out of a daydream.

"Uh, yes. Thank you, Mr. Hotchner. You may take your seat," he said after gathering his wits. Aaron nodded and took his seat next to Haley. She stared at him like he was some type of alien. Rain stood and spoke, "Thank you, students. The cast list will be posted outside the theater next Wednesday, please check it. Our next practice will be on that day as well. You will receive your scripts then as well. Good afternoon."

Students immediately began to gather their stuff and head out. Haley was still looking at him strangely.

"That bad?" Aaron asked.

Her eyes widened. "No! I-I just never knew you could sing like that."

Now it was Aaron's turn to be surprised. "What?"

"Your solo," Haley gushed. "It was amazing. I was sure George would get the part of Frederic, but you're some harsh competition."

It took Hotch a minute to figure out who Haley was talking about. He had forgotten that Foyet's first name was George. He flushed at the praise. "Thanks."

She smiled her beautiful white smile. "You're welcome." She headed into the aisle and out of the auditorium.

Aaron stood there with a dopey little smile on his face. He shook his head and decided he needed to get moving, but he could not wipe away that smile.

Once out the door, a voiced asked, "I'm guessing they went well, then?"

Hotch turned to see Sean standing there. "I thought you were getting a ride home?"

"Yeah," Sean said awkwardly. He rubbed the back of his neck. "I didn't really think that answer through."

Hotch chuckled. "Whatever. Let's go."

UnSubs:

Adam Rain - 8:10 (Puppet dude-not the multiple personality guy from Conflicted)

William Cochran - 11:5

Megan Kane - 4:16 (She doesn't actually have anything to do with music, but I couldn't find a UnSub/character that did...)

The song Aaron sings is called "Paradox". Copy this link and you can watch a video of the song. (Hotch sings the part of the dude in the sailor outfit.) watch?v=XXhJKzI1u48

In other news, what did ya'll think of Hotch? I'm not sure how well I wrote him, so if you think he's too OOC, let me know. I may rewrite the chapter.

Thanks for reading!

Next time on Quantico High: Lauren - Emily Prentiss