The Team (YJ Oneshots)

Chocolate Bar (Traught)

Her father wasn't home very often. Ever since her mom was put in prison and her sister had ran away, he was taking more missions and working longer hours. Artemis got bored quickly, like any eleven year old who was home alone most of the time. It wasn't long before she started sneaking off.

That day she had gotten lucky. There was a circus in town. A lot of people were going to go, trying to brighten up their day or week. Artemis didn't see why she couldn't go too. She managed to find five dollars under her mattress and headed to the park where the circus was set up.

There was a man dressed in a clown costume handing out tickets and taking the entry money. There were hundreds of people walking around the grounds. You could smell the cotton candy and popcorn in the air. Artemis didn't have enough money for sweets though. She wondered to the clown guy to get her ticket.

"One ticket please," She asked as she held out her money. The man raised a brow at her.

"Aren't you a little too young to be here?"

"I'm a pretty mature kid!" Artemis smiled at the man.

"Mature enough to pay full price?" He smiled back at her.

She shook her head, "I am utilizing my right as a child to receive my discount. If not, that's a valuable five dollars that you aren't making. And one less smile on a child's face, which is even more precious."

"Fine, fine. I'll let you in, Kid. Enjoy the show," He took her five dollars and handed her the ticket. She thanked her before running off. She ran past the candy since she couldn't afford it but was stopped when someone questioned her. 

"Why are you running past the candy?" Artemis turned around to face a boy around her age. He was dressed in a leotard and sweatpants. He had a very thick accent from somewhere she didn't know. He had to be a part of the circus.

"I can't afford candy. I'm an independent woman so I paid all by myself," She responded to the boy. He laughed at her."

"You aren't a woman. You're a girl!"

"And you're a boy!"

"A boy who loves American candies!" He walked up to her and grabbed her wrist, "Follow me!"

This was the part where she should've said no and listened to stranger danger rules. However, Artemis was an independent woman who could make her own decisions. Plus, she had taken down full grown adults two times her size before. She could certainly take down a little boy in a leotard.

"We have a whole box of candies!" The boy cheered as he brought into the circus ring. Artemis was quickly distracted though. The circus ring was huge, with hundreds of seats and trapeze equipment in the air.

"This place is awesome!" She exclaimed, still looking around.

"Yeah, this place is my home. Tomorrow, I'll fly for the first time!" He pointed to the trapeze, "Can you come tomorrow to see me fly?"

"I'll try.  I'm sure you'll be awesome," She smiled at him. She looked at the big box of candy in front of the two. The boy stood on his tippy toes and grabbed her a large chocolate bar. Artemis had never heard of the brand before.

"This one is my favorite," He told her.

Artemis chuckled to herself as she peeled open the chocolate bar in her hands. Dick raised a brow at her as he opened his. "What are you laughing at?" He asked his girlfriend as he took his first bite.

"I just remembered the first time I tried this brand of chocolate. It's probably why this is my favorite candy to be honest," Artemis shrugged slightly as she took her own first bite.

"Really? I've never met anyone else who liked this candy that much."

"Yeah, I visited a circus when I was eleven. I had snuck out and found a few dollars laying around the apartment. I didn't have enough money to buy candy so I kinda just ran past it. But one of the performers stopped me. He was around my age and wasn't from America. He asked me why I didn't buy candy and I gave him some excuse. He dragged into the circus ring and snuck me a large chocolate bar," Artemis smiled at the memory.

"You told him you were an independent woman," He laughed. Artemis raised a brow at him. Before she could ask how he knew that, he explained, "That kid you met was me. Haly circus was having a two night show. I remember you because I thought you were really pretty and told my parents that my new friend might come see me fly in front of a crowd for the first time. The first time I performed, my parents died. But every time I have this chocolate bar I think of the girl I thought was really pretty. I wished I had asked for her name but I guess it all worked out in the end."

"I guess it did," The blonde smiled. The two ate their chocolate bars in silence for a few moments before Artemis said, "You're technically a criminal, Babe."

"I was nine and trying to make moves on you. Give me a break."

"Fine."

AN: Yeah, this definitely isn't my best piece of work but I'm having extreme writer's block right now. :/