A/N: I needed a "three" for a Twelve Days of Christmas challenge. Naturally, I thought of "three ghost kids" and wrote a bonus chapter for this. It's set after Ziva returns in "Little Girl Lost."

Fornell spewed his drink halfway across the basement. "You're joking."

Gibbs kept sanding the boat. "Nope."

"Three ghosts." Fornell shook his head in disbelief. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"Rule four. Best way to keep is a secret is to keep it to yourself."

"Or to tell one other person," Fornell said sourly.

"That spot was already filled." Twice over from the start, then three times over when his dad found out.

Fornell shook his head. "But they're registered," he checked.

"Yep." They were now.

Fornell's eyes narrowed. "Wait a minute. The ghost that hacked the FBI, was that - "

"Not your division," Gibbs reminded him.

"Right." He eyed Gibbs narrowly. "So DiNozzo's dead, McGee's dead, and Ziva's dead. Anything else you're not telling me?"

"Kate was dead," Gibbs said quietly, finally pausing in his work.

Fornell let a respectful moment of silence pass before saying, "I'm starting to think you recruit for that."

A smile tugged at Gibbs' mouth. "Tony kept talking me into it." He started sanding again.

Fornell let the silence stretch before saying, "That's not the only rumor that's going around."

"Never is."

"Someone said they were just kids." Fornell laughed a little.

Gibbs didn't answer.

Fornell stopped laughing. "Gibbs - " He stopped himself. Took a long drink. "This isn't healthy."

"Stop drinking, then."

"You know what I meant! You pulled me out when I let the grief take me too deep, and I can't just - "

"I'm not grieving," Gibbs interrupted.

Fornell looked at him incredulously.

"This isn't part of me grieving," he corrected himself. "They're family, Tobias."

"If this goes bad," Fornell began.

"I trust them."

"You're better off than I am then," he admitted. "I trust my team about as far as I can throw 'em, and my arms aren't as good as they used to be." He frowned. "Wait a minute. If DiNozzo's dead, how'd his blood end up at that crime scene?"

Gibbs swallowed a sigh. This could take a while.