The dreams woke me up, for the third time this week, far more than the once or twice a month frequency I'd dealt with before. I've been having these dreams for years, and never the same one twice. Some are set in the Middle Ages, others in places like Egypt, maybe even Greece. The World History major in me has tried to decipher the images, but they always fade too fast. Lately, an increasing number of the dreams are just of me sitting around a giant table with some people in truly bizarre costumes. But for all of their differences the dreams all have one thing in common; they feel breathtakingly real. So real, in fact, it's like I'd lived each and every moment of them. The maddening part is that the more I tried to remember the details, the names, places, and dates, the more the dreams slip away from me. In the end all I'm ever left with is the feeling that my life just wasn't quite right. Not to mention that half the time I woke up from the dreams my adrenaline was spiking or my bed was soaked with sweat, often times both.

Swinging my legs out of bed, the cold morning air rather rudely reminded of my own stupidity in not closing my bedroom window last night. Late October nights, with overnight temperatures dipping closer to freezing each passing day, are not exactly the time of year to do such a thing. And it also didn't escape the notice of my father, as the pounding on my bedroom door, and his voice, made painfully clear.

"You know Michael, I don't mind you crashing here from college on the weekends, but unless you're gonna start paying my heating bill, you had better get that window shut! It's freezing up here!"

"Sorry dad!" I replied as looked down my bed at the open window, the red curtains blowing softly into the room from the morning breeze. As I wiped my eyes trying to wake myself up, I trudged along the floor, nearly tripping over the jeans I'd worn yesterday, and made my way over to the window. I pulled the window down, though maybe a bit more forcefully than I intended, and the old wood frame thudded against sill. My dad definitely heard that through the door.

"When you're done trying to break my windows, and have pants on, I made some bacon for you, left it on the stove. I'm heading to work."

"Thanks, talk to you later!" I heard my dad's steps fade away down the stairs as I rummaged around for a clean pair of pants. While having a free weekend sounded awesome, I didn't plan on spending the day in my underwear all day.

Once I made it down the short flight of stairs to the dining room I smelled the bacon my dad had mentioned. While he liked it floppy, I was more of a crispy bacon guy, and my old man didn't disappoint, leaving me a small pile on a plate in the middle of the table. As I reached over the table to bring the best breakfast ever closer to my mouth I noticed the book beside the plate. It quickly dawned on me that this was the history book I'd been looking for since the start of senior year; Stolen Legacy: The Egyptian Origins of Western Philosophy. Not exactly a light read, but one that I had hoped would lead to some insights for my World History Capstone research project at Star City University. Too bad I managed to misplace it after having it shipped home instead of my mailing address at school like a dumb freshman. As it stood I guessed I was about a third of the way through my research. My father had given me hell about being so far behind, but with my lifelong interest in the subject, and the place I was going today, I knew I wouldn't have a problem finding the paper I wanted to write. I already had a good lead as well, the murder of a Middle Kingdom ruler and his wife nearly 4,000 years ago by Hath-Set, one history's more well known priests from that time. As it happened, the tomb of the man Hath-Set murdered had been uncovered 23 years ago and, after a careful period of cataloguing and preservation, was beginning its nationwide tour today at the Star City Museum. Needless to say I was rather eager to check it out. And maybe my excitement was a little amplified as the exhibit was hitting the road with the Justice League's travel exhibit as well, but whatever this feeling of energy was, it was a bit more than just me scratching my history itch.

As I read through the foreword of my re-discovered book I polished off the last of the bacon, checking my watch to see I wasn't going to miss the opening of the exhibit. With breakfast gone I headed back upstairs, showered and quickly got dressed in a plain red shirt and jeans before grabbing my old brown leather jacket and headed for the door. A 20 minute Uber ride later and I walked through the doors of the museum. The main entry was decked out in an Egyptian theme, somewhere between tacky and charming. Then again, my appreciation for Egyptian art styles was probably a bit more fact based than most people's. At least the museum had enough to space to show both the Egyptian and Justice League Exhibits in their entirety, unlike a few of the smaller stops along the tour. The historian in me wanted to take a left and start pouring over the unearthed pieces of history, but the other part of my had me taking a straight line, well, maybe more of a meandering line through the crowd milling around the floor, in the direction of the Justice League's main attraction, Superman.

For quite literally my whole life Earth has been kept safe by our alien hero. To this day I still listen with rapt attention as my dad tells me how he was actually in Metropolis when Superman showed himself to the world by literally moving a planet back into space! There was a strong rumor that the big man himself was going to do a fly by, to kick off the tour in style, but I kind of doubted it. I clearly wasn't the only one interested in the Kryptonian part of the exhibit though, as I quickly found myself pressed in by the crowd, all looking to get a closer look at the man they all looked up to. I slowly shifted right along the glass, finding the crowd drastically thinned out the farther I got from Superman's section. I came to a stop in front of another glass case, much like Superman's, though a bit smaller in comparison. This one was just as recognizable to me though, full of a collection of bows, trick arrows, and the familiar green leather of the first Green Arrow. As I read the plaque detailing the heroics of Star City's current mayor I heard someone talking. It took me a moment to realize he was talking to me.

"You know, I thought this being in my hometown I'd at least get a case as big as the boy scout's. Heck, I'd settle for one as big as Batman's. You know what I mean kid?"

There's something about hearing a voice in person that you've only ever heard through TV or on YouTube. It takes a second to work through how you know the voice, but it hit me like a freight train when I figured it out. Oliver Queen was standing right behind me.

I turned around slowly, still kind of in shock. I mean, I'd grown up listening the stories of Green Arrow and Superman, the world's first superhero duo, founders of the Justice League. When I was in high school his retirement was a big deal, and only got bigger when he announced he was running for mayor, an election he'd won is two straight landslides since. I think it's safe to say I wasn't alone in Star City thinking that Oliver Queen was their hero, Superman be damned. I'm not sure what I was expecting, but when I made the turn I didn't think I'd see Mr. Queen's face resort to shock when he saw my own.

I quickly panicked, thinking I'd already screwed up my first face-to-face time with one of my idols. "Do-do I have something on my face sir?"

Mr. Queen quickly resumed the professional, but surprisingly laid back demeanor I was used to seeing on TV, running a hand through his short silver hair. "No, not at all kid. You just look a lot like someone I used to know."

"I'm Michael Jameson, sir." I extended my hand. "It's an honor to meet you."

Recognition seemed to click with Mr. Queen as he shook my hand. "You wouldn't happen to be the Jameson kid that Professor Rosenberg has in one of classes, would you?"

I was a little dumbstruck that the freakin' Green Arrow knew my name. "Yes sir, at least I think so. It's a big school."

Oliver snapped his fingers, clearly trying to remember something. "Got it. You're studying ancient Egypt, right? When I approached the professor to help me and the exhibit's curator plan this whole thing he was particularly excited about your proposal for senior project, if I'm remembering right."

I wasn't sure how to respond, mostly I just stood there alternating my eyes from Mr. Queen the suddenly fascinating off-white marble floor of the museum. Thankfully the awkward silence only lasted a moment before the mayor continued.

"So, what's the focus of your paper?"

This time I had something to say. "I'm studying the relationships between ancient Egyptian rulers and the priests in their region. One section in particular is actually going to be about the prince in the other exhibit opening today, he was apparently murdered by the High Priest of his era, Hath-Set."

"You're joking." The deadpan look in the mayor's eyes kind of threw me off.

"Dead serious, sir."

"Huh." He said as I watched him fiddle with the chin of his goatee. "As it so happens, I have a collection of the prince's personal artifacts that we didn't put on display, a bit too delicate for the public eye. But given the rather crazy coincidence of your research I think I could talk the exhibit's curator into letting you take a peak, assuming you can translate the hieroglyphs from that era."

I broke into a smile at that. "I found I've got a pretty good eye for hieroglyphs. I actually spent a summer with Professor Rosenberg in Khandaq examining artifacts supposedly belonging to Teth-Adam."

Oliver turned and motioned for me to walk beside him. "Khandaq is a pretty rough area, I'm surprised the college let him go, let alone with a student."

"It, uh, wasn't exactly a 'sanctioned' school trip."

Oliver shook his head. "Of course it wasn't."

"And since they didn't know we were there we didn't have to report how several of the weapons we were examining literally vanished from our hands while we were studying them." Queen didn't break stride as I dropped the bombshell. "Dead serious, by the way."

"Oh I don't doubt it. That name, Teth-Adam, I've...got some experience with him, so does the rest of the Justice League."

I didn't know what to say to that so we walked silently back toward the main entrance, heading for the side door of the hall, but a woman, in her late 40's or early 50's by my guess, stopped us, seemingly on a warpath to talk to the mayor.

"Oliver, I appreciate you flying me out here when you know how easily I could have gotten a lift, but that doesn't mean you get to stall me out of the interview Perry sent me out here to do!"

Oliver almost looked nervous as the woman bore down on him, straightening his blue tie. "Easy Lois, I was just busy is all. Being mayor keeps a retired superhero pretty pressed for time." I saw his tilt rather subtly in my direction. "Besides, something came up a few minutes ago so I kind of had to clear my schedule on the fly."

This Lois woman didn't look too happy, but she looked over at me. Just like Oliver earlier, a look a surprise and shock quickly ran over her face. Her head snapped back to Oliver, and the mayor nodded in answer to her unspoken question.

I was just happy that she wasn't directing any anger my way when she glared at Oliver. "Fine, go do your thing. But keep us in the loop, OK?"

I wanted to laugh at Oliver's mock bow, but thought better of drawing the anger of this Lois lady. "Yes ma'am."

We both stood and watched her leave. The whole situation was weird. First meeting my childhood hero, and then this woman. I couldn't shake this feeling in my gut that I knew her, but I brushed it off as someone who'd probably been in a special about Oliver I watched over and over as a kid, it seemed like the two had history, something the mayor confirmed as he watched the doors swing shut behind Lois.

"Man, how Clark has handled her for two decades is beyond me." It seemed his reminiscing was done because he quickly closed the gap between the side access door and unlocked it with the palm scanner on the door. He pulled back to the door for me. "I figured I'm going to fund the exhibits I should probably upgrade the security a bit. Let's go check out those writings, shall we?"

As the door shut behind Oliver we both were stopped by a young woman, another woman who seemed angry at the mayor. I got the sense this wasn't very uncommon for him. Unlike Lois, though, this woman was much closer to my age, maybe even exactly my age.

"Ms. Jones, I thought were heading back to Hudson University."

The girl gave me the once over, quickly spoiling her admittedly stunning face with a look of disgust at what she saw. "Mr. Queen, you know how long I worked on cataloguing these artifacts. Sure, if Professor Anderson's wife wasn't sick he would be the one to oversee the collection, but he left me here to oversee the proper care and shipping once the exhibit leaves town."

"His wife's sick? I didn't actually know that." He gestured to me. "This is Michael Jameson, he's actually studying at Star City U with Rosenberg and researching the prince and his murder, among other things. I thought he could maybe take a peek at some of the tablets you've catalogued. Supervised, of course."

The girl didn't even uncross her arms as she rapidly replied. "No."

Her answer shocked me, to say the least. "And why not?" I'll admit, it came off more defensive than I'd like, but I was on a roll. "Is little Miss Hudson not wanting a lowly Star City U kid to take a look at her collection?"

Her expression changed from one of annoyance to amusement in a flash. "So you don't remember me?"

I was a bit taken back by the question. "I think I'd remember if I'd met you before. Self-obsessed people kind of stick out in my memory."

Our conversation didn't get a whole lot further because as Ms. Jones started to laugh all the light went out of the room. It got cold at the same time. I was suddenly grateful I hadn't shed my jacket yet. Thankfully Oliver pulled out his phone and activated the flashlight. He started back to the door, but when he got there it refused to budge. For a few seconds the three of us stood there, sharing the same bad feeling, articulated best by the former superhero.

"We're in a warehouse of artifacts belong to a murdered Egyptian prince, once rumored to have been cursed. This isn't going to go well." He arched his phone above his head, plotting a course through the warehouse. "Follow me. There should be an exit on the far side. Experience says it's pointless, but we won't know until we get there."

Being the guy with the light, Oliver took the lead, which left me walking next to the woman who not two minutes ago I was pretty rude to. Surprisingly, she apologized to me.

"Sorry about getting all possessive. I've been working on the collection for nearly two years now. It's personal, in more ways than one. And letting someone else look at it for a glorified research project.." She trailed off, but I knew what she meant.

"Hey, I've been studying Egyptian history since I was 5, even gone on a few digs in Egypt and Khandaq. I know what I'm doing, so I do get not wanting someone to play in your sandbox. We both could have been a bit nicer about it I guess." I couldn't see it, but I could feel she agreed with me. We walked in silence for a bit, walking passed a sign that I only barely read as Artifacts of Hath-Set.

"My name's Sara, by the way."

"Nice to meet you Sara. So, about that whole looking at the writings thing?" I let the question hang, hoping she laugh it off and say yes, but when I looked over I saw one of the stone statue's eyes glowing. In the dim light Sara must have caught my stare, and she turned to look.

"Oh shit!"

Oliver turned back, almost blinding us with the light. "What? Is it mummies? Tell me it's not mummies."

Oliver trained the light on the statue we pointed at, and within seconds a black smoke billowed out of the statues while the yellow eyes only glowed brighter. Sara was slowly backing away from the statue, like she knew what was happening. The fear on her face made that pretty clear to me. After a few seconds the smoke sort of, I don't know, balled up, and rushed at Oliver, striking him in the chest and sending him flying away from Sara and I before it uncoiled and spilled out across the floor again. The cloud kept growing, thick and black, and it quickly smothered the light from Oliver's phone, lying where Oliver dropped it when he thrown backward. I felt Sara's hand grab mine and I squeezed it tight, both to keep her, and myself calm. The creepy, high pitched voice coming from the statue didn't help.

"Both you...here! But only one remembers what you are...and what I am." The smoke enveloped me. It was like all the light and sound were gone from the world, and suddenly I couldn't feel Sara's hand. "This is going to be too much fun."

And in the blink of an eye the smoke, and Sara, was gone. The lights quickly blinked on, like nothing had happened. I ran over to Oliver as he was getting to his feet. "What the hell was that?"

He rubbed his chest. "I was kind of hoping you'd be able to tell me that actually."

A/N: Not 100% sure I'll be continuing this piece. I recently re-watched seasons 9 and 10 of Smallville now that it's on Hulu and I've had this intro stuck in my head ever since, mostly I think because of how awesome Michael Shanks was as Hawkman. So if you like this beginning, let me know, I'll keep tinkering away at an actual outline in the meantime.