Author's Note: Katbybee and I have been working through the Falling for Hogan's Heroes challenges together, and when we came to the one for Felix, this rather odd idea popped into my head. I guess I've been having a lot of those odd ideas lately (my current Emergency story in progress, The Marked, is a good example of that). Kat is a good sport and puts up with a lot from me, and she let me run with it! This first chapter is for the challenge and will be cross-posted on katb357's tumblr, but we decided we needed multiple chapters to bring it to a resolution. So, here you have it: Another Mouse in the House. Katbybee and I are co-authoring this one. We hope you enjoy reading it as much as we are enjoying writing it!

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No one knew exactly how it happened. Even Carter couldn't explain it, and he was the one who had managed it. He was working in his lab, mixing chemicals, when something popped and went up in a puff of… well, not smoke, but dust… right into his nose. He blacked out a few seconds later and when he woke up, he found himself nose to nose with his pal Felix, who had been hanging out in the lab with him that afternoon. Yeah… nose to nose… while standing on his two feet. Well, came his first thought on the matter, at least my clothes and shoes shrank with me. Carters were not prone to panic, at least not over things that would work up most people. His second thought was, Hmm… now how do I get out of this one? He put that thought into words, directed at the mouse.

Felix just squeaked. Loudly.

Andrew pressed his hands over his ears. "Lower the volume a bit there, buddy!" He stood back for a moment and studied the situation. He needed to get back upstairs, but it was going to be a difficult feat. Then again… maybe he could hitch a ride at least to the bottom of the ladder. "Whaddya think, Felix?" He stepped up next to the mouse and stroked its fur. "Gonna let me climb on?" He eased his way onto the mouse's back and wrapped his now miniature hands into the animal's fur. "Hmm… I guess you don't work the same as a horse, do ya?" Even so, he gave the mouse a slight kick and it lumbered out of the lab and into the tunnel. "Good job, pal!"

While Andrew was busy figuring out how he would get up the ladder, Felix veered into a mousehole. Soon, Andrew realized that they were heading upwards. The mouse carried him out another hole right next to his bunk. "Ahh, yeah… this is where we met! Guess I'd better find Newkirk."

The other men were all sleeping now. Andrew had been suffering from insomnia and had gone down to the lab in hopes that a bit of experimentation would help him get sleepy. Clearly, things had not gone to plan. He hopped off of Felix's back and crossed the short distance to Newkirk's bunk. "Peter!" he shouted, but he wasn't sure if his friend could hear him. He might just have to do a bit of climbing after all.

When Newkirk didn't respond, Andrew grasped the edge of his blanket, which, thankfully, was hanging down low, and tugged hard. He wasn't able to pull it off, but he was able to climb up it. Then he positioned himself right next to Newkirk's ear. "Peter! Wake up! I've got… um… a little problem!"

Peter heard something next to his ear and opened his eyes. He knew he had to be dreaming because a miniature Carter was standing there and staring at man was shorter than his thumb. He thought about what Carter had just said to him. "Yeah, you do 'ave a problem at that, mate." He was convinced he was dreaming.

"Shut up, Newkirk," the man next to him moaned. "I'm tryin' to sleep here!"

Carter just shrugged. "I know what you're thinking, Peter, but it's not a dream. Something went wrong in my lab. Um, I think you prob'ly oughta wake the colonel for this one."

His nose twitched and his mouth watered. Something smelled delicious. Then he remembered. LeBeau had cooked chicken cordon bleu for dinner. There must be crumbs lying around, making his newly mouse-sized stomach growl.

Newkirk just closed his eyes again. He was still convinced he was dreaming.

Carter finally resorted to pinching his pal's ear until he sat up with a roar. The other men groaned. "Knock it off, Newkirk!"

Andrew jumped up onto Newkirk's hand and gave his thumb a squeeze. Peter picked him up and stared at him. "You… you're serious, ain't ya, mate? I really am awake?"

Carter nodded solemnly.

"What happened to ya?" Even though Peter had dropped his voice to a whisper, there were still complaints. Finally, he'd had enough. "Shut up, ya ruddy blokes! Me mate here's in trouble!"

And that was how the rest of the men found out about Andrew's little problem. Kinch fetched Hogan and the others just stared down at the tiny sergeant in disbelief. He waved up at them as if he weren't particularly worried. Olsen reached to pluck him off Newkirk's hand, but Newkirk shook his head. "No way. Leave 'im be. Don't want 'im gettin' lost or jostled."

LeBeau bent to give Andrew a closer look. "Uh… have you noticed he is growing whiskers? Like… mouse whiskers?"

Carter yawned and stretched. "I'm awful tired. Can't really help figure this one out, either. Just… I was working with a new compound in my lab and suddenly I woke up like this. Think I could get some sleep?"

"I gotta box here that would make a safe bed for him," Baker volunteered. He handed the box over. Soon it had been transformed with blanket remnants into a comfortable little cot for a mouse-sized man. Peter set Carter into it just as Hogan came out to see the situation for himself.

"Hi, Colonel," Andrew said with a yawn.

Hogan just shook his head. "Andrew Carter, what have you gotten yourself into this time?"

Andrew didn't answer, so Hogan decided to send for the one most likely to know what was going on. "Olsen, go get Wilson. Newkirk, what the hell happened to Carter?"

Peter looked up at the colonel with an injured air. Was he getting the blame for this?! "Guv, I just woke up an' found 'im 'ere like this! 'E said 'e was workin' wiff some new compound in 'is lab, though."

"In that case," Hogan ordered, "everyone stay out of his lab. We don't need a bunch of us turning into mice."

A murmur of agreement went around the room. "How do ya think he's takin' it so well? If it were me, I'd panic," Baker said.

Wilson came in from the tunnel in time to hear Baker's question. He had already been briefed by an excited Olsen, and so he approached the small box ready to take on the strangest case he'd ever encountered. His brow wrinkled as he took in Carter's current condition. He wanted very much to figure out the answer to this. "If his brain is changing the way his body is, it might not seem as strange to him as it does to us," he suggested.

Kinch spoke up then. "Or it might just be that he's Carter. Nothing much bothers him."

Wilson nodded. "True enough." He bent over the box to look in at the sleeping sergeant, noting the growing whiskers LeBeau had pointed out. He noted something else, too. A small patch of Carter's hair had changed in color and texture. It was starting to look like mouse fur. He straightened up. "He was in the lab when this happened?"

Newkirk nodded. "Workin' wiff a new compound."

Wilson sucked in a deep breath. "Well then, I need to figure out what it was if we're going to help him get back to normal. Permission to access the lab, sir? I can take precautions. Gloves, jumpsuit, bandana over the mouth and nose."

Hogan thought about it. He wasn't happy about the risk, but he knew Wilson was right. They needed to know more. "Okay. But just you. And be careful. Just, try not to spend too much time in there."

"Yessir." Outside, Wilson noticed, the sky was just beginning to lighten. "I suppose it'll have to wait till after roll c—" He stopped short. "What are we going to do about roll call?"

Hogan frowned. "If we say Andrew's sick, Schultz will want to check on him. Same as with the infirmary."

Wilson shrugged. "You know Schultzy. He'll see nothing, say nothing. Probably think he's still asleep and dreaming."

Hogan chuckled. "Yeah. Let's just tell him the truth and let him worry about it."

"Should I bring him to roll call then?" Peter asked.

"No, I don't want Klink to catch sight of him accidentally. Show him afterwards."

"All right, then." Newkirk cast his gaze about for a good hiding place for the box. It was just the right size to slide into the mouse hole next to Andrew's bunk. "'E'll be safe there till we get back. Sure hope he won't get up an' wander off, though. We'd never find 'im."

"Box has a lid. Poke some holes so he can breathe, though." Baker handed the lid over and Newkirk put it in place after poking the requisite holes.

"You should tie a string on his leg," LeBeau suggested. "Just in case he changes all the way, so we won't mix him up with all the other mice in the barracks."

Until that moment, the others hadn't really thought about Carter changing all the way into a mouse, indistinguishable from all the other little pests that inhabited their barracks. The thought was sobering. "Good idea," Hogan said. "Though you ought to tie it around his neck. A mouse would chew a string off its leg." He paused for a moment. "Not too tight, all right, Newkirk?"

"Yessir."

It was understood by all that Peter would take charge of caring for his best friend. No one expected, though, that another friend of Andrew's would hover over him. While the men were at roll call, Felix managed to nose the lid off the box. Then he climbed in and snuggled up against Carter. He didn't even run away when Peter pulled the box out of the hole after roll call to make sure Andrew was still there and safe. He just looked up at Andrew's human pal with his beady black eyes as if to say, "He'll be all right. I'll make sure of it."