AN: Aaaaaalright, so this is certainly a change up from my usual brand of fanfiction, which thus far on this account has been nothin but Merlin. But I saw Big Hero 6 and absolutely, fully, immediately, fell in love with it. The story was wonderful, the action well paced, the characters compelling, all of this despite the flaws that it had (that everything has. there are flaws in everrrrything.) I have fallen so hard. And I decided, what better way to show my appreciation for such a great film than write a fanfic and examine the universe further in ways that Disney never will be able to do. My speciality tends to lie in AU's as well, so I thought, well, why not give it a shot?

So, here's the first taste of my first Big Hero 6 fanfiction! The next chapter probably won't come for awhile after this, since I do have two currently ongoing Merlin fics to be working on, as well as the sad thing called reality that demands my attention sometimes. I hope you all enjoy this idea I've got cooking though! I'd love to hear your thoughts in the reviews! Thanks!

Disclaimer: I do not own Big Hero 6

Enjoy!

The bot fight was loud, a cacophony of sounds of screeching metal on metal. Tadashi did his best not to flinch at each devastating crunch he heard, knowing he'd be noticed immediately amongst the bot fighting crowd for his odd reaction. Walking through that alley was like walking through a minefield for the older Hamada, and he bobbed and weaved through the people accordingly, searching for the messy head of hair that was more familiar to him than his own face.

His brother, Hiro, was addicted to bot fighting. No matter how many times Tadashi lectured Hiro on the multiple dangers of the illegal sport, Tadashi somehow always found his little brother back at the edge of a ring, controller gripped tightly in his hands, and a large smug smile on his young face. The smile would stay until Hiro would win, and then, the thugs prowling around the edge of the ring would descend.

Tadashi failed to hold back a wince at a sudden loud shriek of metal, gaining a few odd looks from the people closest to him. The shriek tapered off as the robot making it died, and the scattered cheers and conversation of crowd faded with it. Something about the fight had shocked them; the rowdy rebels of society who fought with robots in back alleys, and Tadashi began to hope over and over that it wasn't what - or rather, who - he thought it was.

"Hey, nice try! I will admit will admit though, you gave a better fight than a lot of other people."

All that hoping, for nothing. At the familiar voice of his younger brother breaking through the sudden silence, Tadashi started, and began to force his way straight through the crowd instead of sliding around the patrons like he had been earlier. It was rather rude of him to go plowing through like he was, as many of the people decided to let Tadashi know, shouting "Hey!" and "Watch it!" or elbowing at him sharply as he pushed them from his way.

Because there, standing just outside the ring and collecting his winnings from the pot, was Hiro Hamada. He was holding his robot controller in his hand, just like he always was, and was smiling smugly, just like he always was. The tiny robot Hiro had won with that night was doing a small dance in the center of the ring around the mutilated body of the much larger, far more impressive-looking bot that it had defeated, it's dance an automatic code that Tadashi himself had helped Hiro to work into the bot so that at a push of a button it would begin to hop around cheerily. Though now, it was definitely more of a mocking dance than a joyous one, and the face of the large, older man that Hiro had beaten rather thoroughly was steadily growing red as he watched the small bot's actions.

"Wanna fight again maybe? I mean, if you've still got money of course." Hiro goaded, shoving the last wad of cash into one of the zipper pockets on the side of his pants. Hiro's opponent huffed like a mad bull, and heaved his bulk up off of the ground in a very threatening and frightening manner.

Now, Tadashi realized as he finally pushed the last few people away and stood at the edge of the crowd, would be a good time for him to intervene.

"Woah woah hey-!" Tadashi yelled as he reacted, breaching the unofficial barrier around the bot-fighting ring and stumbling to a full stop a few feet in front of his brother, now standing firmly between the smaller fourteen year old and the larger man.

"Tadashi!" Hiro said in surprise from behind him, but Tadashi didn't respond, far too busy trying to make sure he and his brother didn't get pummeled into the brick walls of the alley any time soon.

"Hey, calm down there." He held his hands out placatingly, recoiling slightly as the thug's face went even redder. "Aha..." Getting pummeled into the bricks was looking more and more likely, and as the man snapped his fingers, prompting a few grimy henchmen to detach themselves from the crowd and start closing in on the Hamada brothers, it was looking more like it was time to run rather than time to stay and talk it out.

"Let's go Hiro!" Tadashi shouted, spinning and grabbing Hiro by his thin wrist, pulling him forward and nearly jerking the smaller Hamada off his feet as they plunged back into the crowd. The bot fight loser roared in rage as they fled, but Tadashi didn't look back, concentrating solely on getting his younger brother and himself out of that suddenly very small seeming alley. Hiro's bot stopped dancing the moment Hiro's controller crossed out of range, falling limply to the ground beside the bot it had destroyed, just as lifeless.

"Wh- Tadashi no! I just built that bot!" Hiro shouted, trying to twist in his brother's grip and get back within range of his robot so he could command it to leap to its feet and follow behind them.

"Forget it, Hiro!" Tadashi snapped, voice tight, as he jerked hard upon Hiro's wrist to keep the boy from trying to turn them around. It was a harsh action, but necessary, as they were still being chased by a large group of henchmen who were likely gang members. The crowd of viewers had all but fled at that point, all heading the same direction Tadashi was pulling Hiro, sweeping the two brother's up in the panicked river of motion. The police would surely be there soon, brought in by the noise and violence. Tadashi had to have himself and Hiro out of there before the police arrived.

"Get back here with my money you cheating little piece of scum!" The man Hiro had beaten roared from a distance, still standing by the bot-fighting ring. It was the last thing the brother's heard before Tadashi shoved Hiro in front of him at another thin alley way that branched off from the main one they had been in. The bricks were slick, wet, and far too close together, and Hiro winced as his brother continued to push on the center of his back to get him to squeeze his way down the small space.

"Ugh, Tadashi, I feel like toothpaste." Hiro groaned, his free hand braced against the bricks, his other hand still holding his controller.

Tadashi didn't respond, listening intently to the now pretty far-off sounds of the frenzied crowd and the gang-members clawing at the small alley that Hiro and Tadashi had squeezed into, far too large or far too uncoordinated with the rest of their group members to follow the brothers.

"I think we lost them. Ha, that was too easy." Hiro whispered with a snicker after a few more moments of being squeezed down the alley, "Tadashi, do you think we-"

"Quiet, Hiro."

Hiro's satisfied grin fell off his face, and he pulled his free hand from where it still ran along the wall so that he could grab his now useless controller with both small hands. Tadashi was angry, as he normally was after catching Hiro at a bot fight, and so Hiro decided to go along with his older brother's command for the moment until his older brother's anger faded. The anger normally faded fairly quickly, the older Hamada never having been one for holding onto rage or upset emotions, but there was something in the stiff pressure of Tadashi's hand pushing against his back that had Hiro actually nervous for the lecture that he would surely get.

They broke out the other side of the thin alley with great twin gasps of air, as if they were resurfacing from underwater rather than merely running in a thin space between buildings not meant for people to squeeze through. Hiro shoved his controller back into his side pocket as soon as possible, and then turned to look at Tadashi, who was still staring down the thin alley they had just come from.

"Are you ok?" Tadashi asked without looking at Hiro.

"Uh- yeah I'm-"

"Are you hurt?"

"No, no I've got no injur-"

Then Tadashi was spinning towards Hiro, face alight with anger born from concern. He reached out and latched onto his younger brother's thin shoulders before Hiro could leap away, hands stiff and holding on like vices.

"Then what the hell were you thinking you knucklehead?" Tadashi snapped, staring eye to eye with Hiro, Hiro's brown eyes wide like those of a deer caught in front of a car. Tadashi jerks him once. "Bot fighting is illegal, Hiro."

Hiro stared at Tadashi, stunned at his older brother's reaction, before responding, "Bot fighting's not illegal, betting on it is though. But I thought we could use the money soooo..."

Tadashi growled in a way Hiro has never seen him do before, gritting his teeth and his hands tightening ever further on Hiro's shoulders. "You could have been hurt, or caught by the police. Then I wouldn't have been able to do anything for you Hiro, do you understand?"

Hiro began to nod, but was cut off by another jerk from Tadashi, "Yes! Yes I understand." He said, reaching up to grasp at Tadashi's wrists and try and pull his brother's hands away.

Tadashi wasn't having any of that though, and his hands did not budge, "No, I don't think you do understand, because this is the fifth time you've been bot fighting." Hiro ducked his head and turned his eyes down from Tadashi's, and Tadashi shook him one more time to get Hiro's eyes back to his, "Do you not get it that every moment you spend in the spotlight is another moment I could lose you?"

Hiro's eyes were wide again, and Tadashi unexpectedly slumped forwards toward his little brother, his grip on Hiro's shoulders softening. "Please Hiro, just... don't run off again. Don't bot fight anymore." He smiles weakly at Hiro and finally let's go, "we'll find other ways of getting money than bot fighting, okay?"

Hiro said nothing, but his face was set in a rather childish, frustrated pout, and Tadashi's expression twisted as if he had just eaten something very sour, "Look, I'm sorry for yelling at you. Let's just... Let's just go to where I stashed our stuff and get moving again, ok? We can talk more about this bot fighting problem of yours later."

"...Fine." Hiro answered eventually, shoving his hands in his pockets, resisting the urge to rub at his sore shoulders.

Tadashi smiled faintly, and after a beat he ruffled Hiro's dirty hair, "I'm glad you're okay, little brother."

Hiro gave a small smile of his own, but quickly went back to frowning and batted Tadashi's hand away, "Yeah let's just get our stuff and go, this city was boring me anyways." He sauntered on ahead down the street, leaving Tadashi to smirk in his wake and then half-jog a bit to catch up.

He had a feeling that when they talked later though, that Hiro would be hard pressed to give up his bot fighting. As much as the younger Hamada liked to say that Tadashi didn't understand, Tadashi did. They'd been on the run for awhile now, going from city to city, street to street, cheap apartment to cheap apartment, and Hiro wanted not only to help with the money, but also prove himself at something he was good at and didn't need Tadashi for. The problem came with the fact that all types of people could slip into bot fights and see Hiro, especially the ones Tadashi didn't want Hiro to be seen by. Not to mention what would happen if the police got ahold of his baby brother.

No, Tadashi would never let that happen. Though he had told Hiro that at that point there would be nothing he could do, Tadashi knew he'd never give up on Hiro. He'd blow up the police station if he had to, just to keep his brother out of the hands of those who might want to do him harm.

"So hey, where'd you stash our stuff exactly?" Hiro asked from a few steps ahead of Tadashi.

Tadashi smiled at his little brother, before nodding in a different direction than the one they'd been heading, "This way."

In the distance, police sirens wailed while they walked hurriedly, with a subtle note of franticness, away.

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