Prompt: When tragedy strikes, help sometimes comes from the most unlikely of places.

Characters: Quinn Fabray and Neal Caffrey/Cooper Anderson (Verse: What's In A Name – A White Collar/Glee Crossover)

Word Count: 926

Author's Note:

For those of you who don't know White Collar: Neal Caffrey, a con man, forger and thief, is captured after a three-year game of cat and mouse with the FBI. With only months left while serving a four year prison sentence, he escapes from a maximum security federal prison to find his ex-girlfriend, Kate. Peter Burke, the FBI agent who initially captured Neal, finds him and returns him to prison, but Neal has a better idea: He will help Peter solve white collar crimes. Peter agrees and Neal is fitted with a tracking anklet that keeps him within a two mile radius, under Peter's close supervision. The last episodes of season 3, Neal has a hearing to request that his anklet be cut and he be set free.

For those of you who don't read "What's In A Name": In this story, when Quinn texts while driving, she collides with Blaine's parents who are rushed to the hospital, along with Quinn, and die the next day. Blaine has Burt call his brother, Cooper Anderson, who goes by the name Neal Caffrey, an alias he established after leaving Ohio for NYC at the age of 18. As luck would have it, Neal is released from his ankle monitor the day his parents die and rushes to Ohio to be there for Blaine in any way that he can.

This story below takes place after graduation on Glee. I hope this all makes sense, especially to those of you who don't watch White Collar!

Unlikely Ally

Neal slipped off his belt and dropped it along with his wallet and keys into the small tray as he stepped through the metal detector. His skin bristled. He hated courthouses more than almost anything other than jail. Although, one had always led to the other for him, so it was really no surprise.

He headed up the stairs to criminal court and checked the easel where, instead of the fine art that belonged there, hung a large poster of case listings. He located the hearing and headed to courtroom 14.

Quinn stood before the judge, wishing she was still in her wheelchair as she had been during her arraignment. She'd been far more sympathetic then. Now she was back to being the spoiled, popular, blonde looking to get away with murder. Literally.

"I have your plea agreement here, Ms. Fabray," the Judge began. "I want you to understand that if I should choose to do something harsher than what you have agreed to, you may take this agreement back and continue with a trial by jury. Do you understood?"

Quinn stated that she did, her heart beating a mile a minute. This was it. Her life as she knew it could end today.

The judge looked up at the District Attorney, eyes hard and unsympathetic. "Please read the charges."

The DA read the events of February and the charge of vehicular homicide. Quinn bit her lip and avoided everyone's gaze. She heard the judge clear his throat. "Is there anyone here to offer a victim impact statement?"

"I am Your Honor," came a voice from the back of the courtroom. Quinn turned to see a man she had not met, but knew from her friends' descriptions. He slowly made his way forward to the gate that separated the spectators from the officials.

Neal took a deep breath. Using his real name was still difficult for him, but today, like at the funeral, it was absolutely necessary. "My name is Cooper Anderson. The victims were my mother and father. Miss Fabray is a classmate and friend of my brother, Blaine. I know I speak for him as well when I say that what happened the night our parents were killed was a horrible tragedy. But sending this young girl, with a bright future ahead of her, to the education of the prison yard, isn't going to bring them back. It won't ease our pain. It won't teach her more than the months in a wheelchair have, and it won't help society in any way." He took a breath and looked at her, his eyes sad but filled with warmth and kindness and a hint of understanding. She didn't know why he was doing what he was but she was grateful whether it worked or not. "She is to blame for their death, that's true. But they were not innocent. My father was a reckless driver, neither of them were wearing a seatbelt. Should she pay the price for their mistakes as well? She's headed for Yale, Your Honor. Surely she can do more good there than in a prison cell."

He walked quickly out of the courtroom, eager to escape the constricting walls and shallow air of a building that did more harm than good.

"Wait," Quinn called behind him. She placed a delicate hand on his shoulder but quickly pulled it away as if it burned her. He stopped, but did not turn. "Please," she pleaded.

Neal turned to her, his crystal blue eyes icier than they had been only moments before. The weight of what he had just done was beginning to rest on him. He could only hope Blaine wouldn't find out.

"Why would you lie for me in there?" she asked.

Neal's eyes shifted down as he smiled wryly. So she had known that Blaine's forgiveness wasn't heartfelt. He looked back up, their eyes meeting and he shook his head slightly. "Blaine doesn't know what it's like. But I do," he said squarely. "I know how it feels to kill someone with the horrible mistakes that you've made. It's prison enough."

Quinn's eyes brimmed with tears, but her face was strong. "Thank you," she started, but he cut her off.

"Don't thank me," he said harshly. "You have a one year suspended sentence, you're on probation for 2 years, use it. This is borrowed time you've been given. Don't ever take it for granted. Do something good with it." He had taken his own borrowed time for granted more times than he could count and it had cost him Kate and had almost cost him Blaine. Quinn was a reminder that being out of prison when you deserved to be in was a gift not to be forgotten.

She lowered her eyes and stared off into the distance. "I don't even know if Yale will still take me," she said, indicating with a shrug the court proceedings.

Neal stared at her hard, his thoughts drawn to his own past and his brother's future. Peter had given him a second chance even when he didn't deserve it. He had to do the same. "I'll make sure they still take you," he assured her without explanation. "All you have to do is use it to make this right. You'll owe it to me. You already owe it to Blaine."

Quinn's mother came up behind her and placed an arm on her shoulder to lead her away. "I promise," Quinn said, not knowing how, but knowing she would make it right.

A/N: And now, if you don't read What's In A Name, please go start! And if you don't watch White Collar, what are you waiting for?