A/N: This AU is meant to be in the actual world, not half-cartoon, half-realistic. This is also an idea where Aunt Cass is not part of the picture and Tadashi was left to care for Hiro after their parents' deaths. And of course, we've got the amazing team of Scorpion in the mix as well - what's better than that?! Also, I'll be making minor tweaks to the Hamada brothers' stories to make the storyline more realistic.
Agent Gallo strode into Scorpion's headquarters (if you could call their workshop that), pulling off his sunglasses and whistling sharply to get the group's attention. They were all gathered around a table, watching Ralph and Sylvester play some incredibly complex game; he didn't care to know what they were teaching that young kid now. But as his whistle alerted them to his presence, the team turned away and looked at him.
"Hey, it's Captain Grumpy," Toby announced. "Gallo, you always look so unhappy."
"Call me that one more time and I'll kick you off this team. You won't like not getting your pay," Gallo sharply informed the cocky psychologist.
"You're only proving my point," Toby grumbled, and Happy elbowed him, shooting him a warning glance.
"What do you have for us, Gallo?" Walter O'Brien strode over, hands in his pockets and waiting for the man's instructions.
Gallo shoved the bolts, nuts, and dominoes off of the table that the team had previously been gathered around, and then spread a sheaf of papers out. "You might not take this very seriously, but we've got a first-class con artist to track down. Meet Hiro Hamada," he tapped the photo of the crazy-haired child.
"He's just a kid. Fourteen," Toby said. "How can a fourteen year old be a con artist? He'd be too busy trying to impress the girls."
"Maybe that's what you did when you were a kid, but look. He graduated high school when he was just thirteen. He's got to have a fairly high IQ," Walter pointed out.
Gallo nodded. "That's why we brought this to you. He was tested at the age of seven and has an IQ of 167. Apparently, instead of going to college, he's turned to scamming people and using handmade robotic devices to fight in alleys at night. That's illegal, as you might now."
"Bot fights," Walter nodded. "It's a fairly new trend. Get a good enough design for a little robot and you'll win big bucks."
"Walter, can you show me how to make the robots?" Ralph piped up.
Paige set a hand on her son's head. "I think it's time I get you off to school, buddy. I'll be back, guys."
Gallo nodded, and the team watched as the woman led her son outside. "Well, this kid's gone a little too far with his bot fighting. He's using the bot designs of a professor at San Francisco Technical Institute and making his own. While he's not selling them yet, it's a violation and he needs to be shut down before he gets into too much trouble being a little con-artist." Gallo said.
"Where are his parents during all this? A fourteen year old kid roaming the streets at night, entering in bot fights and coming home with armloads of cash...Who wouldn't notice that?" Toby asked. "I'll have to visit the parents, get an idea of if he's going through anything such as bullying or abuse, or if he's getting enough stimulation at home for his big brain. We all know that can get you in trouble if you don't."
Walter nodded, but Gallo shook his head. "The kid's an orphan. His legal guardian and only living relative is his twenty-three year old brother, Tadashi Hamada. He's a student at the Tech Institute and also cares for his brother."
Walter rubbed the back of his neck. "Okay, so we've got to look at his brother as a possible accomplice. If he's in the same school that that professor works in, he could've swiped the blueprints and helped his brother out. Maybe he's even putting him up to it. What's the brother's IQ?"
"He's never taken an IQ exam," Gallo flipped through some more pages and looked up. "But we may be able to track Hiro down and bring him in for questioning and a psych evaluation. He's supposedly entered into professor Callaghan's admission competition - whoever comes up with a brilliant invention wins a scholarship and is enrolled into SFTI. Who knows what the kid's doing, entering in the competition for a scholarship at the same college the professor works in. We'll have to find him there and bring him in."
"This place is amazing," Sylvester stared with wide eyes at an invention that caught his eye. "If this place had been around when I was a kid, I would've definitely attended."
Another voice filled the air. The students participating in the admission competition had been taking the stage all evening, but it seemed as though the team had arrived just in time. "H-hello. I'm Hiro...Hiro Hamada, and...this is my invention."
"That voice sounds anything but calm. He's nervous, which means that this kid isn't the best con artist in the world. He may have won a lot of bot fights by getting into the beginner's categories for some easy cash, and he might have stolen blueprints for the bots from Callaghan, but he definitely has yet to learn how to mask his emotions," Toby said.
"Enough shrink jabber and let's get over there. We need to catch him as soon as he gets off the stage, before we lose him in the crowd," Happy said. They headed quietly for the center stage, and watched as the young genius showed off his 'invention'. He had grown increasingly more confident. The crowd ooh-ed and ahh-ed and gasped at the daring stunts he performed with his invention: microbots, which were created to stick together to create anything you could think of; all of this was done using telepathy.
"Are you sure we have to take this kid in? I'm starting to like him," Happy grinned. "He's a smart kid. Could use some robotics prodigies like him in this world."
"He has a legitimate death wish, though," Sylvester cringed as the boy plummeted towards the stage floor, only to be saved by a net of his microbots.
And then poof - the microbots covered Hiro from head to toe and when they seemingly fell off of him, the boy was gone.
"They can turn into some epic camouflage, too," his voice rang out, and then the microbots fell away from him for real this time. "And this is my invention."
He stepped off of the stage and Gallo moved towards him, pulling his badge out and holding it up.
"Don't-" Walter yelled at Gallo, but it was too late. Hiro's eyes doubled in size and he bolted out of the expo hall. Audiences gasped in surprise as the team pushed through after the kid. Walter shoved Gallo to the side as soon as he caught up to him. "You let us handle him, alright? You don't show an illegal bot-fighter an FBI badge!" Before Gallo could throw anything back into the genius's face, he was gone, racing off after the kid.
"Hiro!" Happy yelled as she and Toby barreled down a back alley after the kid, who had pulled his blue hoodie up to conceal him. "We aren't going to arrest you, we just want to ask you some questions!"
"Don't say that!" Toby slowed and stared at the woman. "Do you think some fourteen year old wants to answer the FBI's questions when he's probably wanted for bot fighting?"
"He's not wanted," Happy threw back, "so he doesn't have an excuse." They watched as Walter passed them, and turned to see that Sylvester was trailing after him, wheezing and yelling something about how he preferred the indoor environment with the techy nerds over this chase. This unsanitary chase which led them into alleys with vomit, trash, and dirt and who-knows-what-else.
Hiro was terrified. He couldn't go to jail; and what did the FBI want with him, anyway? He knew full-well that bot-fighting was illegal, but it wasn't enough to send an entire group of FBI agents after him, was it? He looked back to see the tall, scariest one nearing him...and then tripped over his own feet, slamming face-first onto the hard, unforgiving asphalt.
He rolled onto his back, trying to get his spinning head to slow down. His eyesight was blurred and duplicated for a few moments, but then he focused on the tall menace approaching him. The man actually slowed and knelt by the boy.
"Wall," Walter said.
"I get that," Hiro sat up and rubbed his head grumpily. "But it's your fault. Where's Tadashi?"
"Tadashi's here?" Walter asked.
"He's at SFTI. I thought he'd follow me after you guys chased me out," he grumbled. "What do you want from me, anyway?"
"We just have to ask you a few questions about your bots. About the fact that you're using Callaghan's designs to create your own," Walter clarified. "Just a few questions at our headquarters and you'll be free to go unless something comes up."
Hiro nodded begrudgingly, but took the man's hand and stood stiffly. "Ow."
"We'll have Toby check you out, make sure that big brain of yours didn't get messed up when you slammed into the asphalt," Walter explained.
"My brain's bigger than what you think," Hiro grumbled, "and this FBI thing is just wasting my time."
"You have an IQ of 167. I have an IQ of 197 and hacked NASA when I was little," Walter said. "Happy, Toby, and Sylvester are all geniuses. Our friend Paige, she's normal, but her kid Ralph is special too. I'm fairly certain this FBI thing isn't wasting your time, and you'll be talking with us."
Hiro gawked at him. "Okay. Can you show me some cool robotics stuff while we're at it? Maybe some coding or-"
Walter laughed as they approached SFTI's entrance. "I don't know."
Then, an immense explosion rocked the ground underneath them. The team, as well as Hiro, were thrown backwards as shards of glass and debris scattered in their direction. Walter threw himself over Hiro to protect him from the glass, grimacing when some shards sliced through his purple dress shirt.
When they recovered from the initial shock, Hiro squirmed away, jumping up and staring at the mess of a building for a moment before screaming.
"Tadashi! Tadashi!" he cried, his voice cracking as he inhaled a lungful of smoke. Choking, he covered his nose and started to dash for the building.
"Kid!" Happy ran after him and grabbed his arm roughly. "Don't be stupid! You and I both know that's a death trap!" She pulled him back towards where the rest of the team stood in shock, watching people streaming away from the building as they screamed and cried. Toby immediately got to work aiding the injured and Gallo called an ambulance. "But - Tadashi," he cried. "He's the only family I have left!"
Gallo caught the team's attention and yelled above the chaos. "This case just got a whole lot bigger. Take Hiro to the headquarters and keep him there!"
