Season 3: Chance of a Lifetime

S3 AU, S2-compliant. S3 began airing after I posted chapter 14 (episode 7), so some bits of S3 canon may feature in later chapters.

Disclaimer: Glee belongs to its writers/producers and actors as well. I do not own any of it, and am just extending a figment of my imagination upon theirs. All music will also be credited at the end of the relevant chapters.

A/N: The actual chapters follow the style of the show, including musical numbers and all, but the prologue and intervals give a more in-depth look into a few characters. This fic attempts to focus on all the glee club members (some more than others) as well as new arrivals, to keep in line with the spirit of the show. Hope you enjoy it!

Pairings: Artie/Tina, Kurt/Blaine, Puck/Quinn, Finn/Rachel, Brittany/Santana, Sam/Mercedes, Will/Emma

Regarding pairings, Artina and Tike are given a good amount of screentime each, but I am only featuring Artina in the synopsis - for obvious reasons :p

Warning: Mild profanity and mild violence (mentions of aftermath, but no explicit details). Otherwise, pretty much in line with what Glee is able to get away with on the telly.

PROLOGUE: Tina & Santana

"I'm not sure if this is a good idea."

Tina stared into the mirror as she fingered the orange strand in her hair that Santana had just finished with. Santana slapped her hand away and curled a strip of foil around it.

"Blue, totally. Pink, sure. Green, when I'm feeling extremely rebellious. But orange?"

Santana made an exasperated noise. "Any colour goes with a raven's feathers. What are you talking about?"

"Actually, I'm referring to you doing anything to my hair in the first place."

Santana purposely yanked at a good handful of Tina's hair, causing the Asian girl to yelp, and proceeded to streak the dye all over.

"What the – Santana!"

"If you'd shut up and let me do my work, I'd guarantee you'll totally turn Other Asian on."

"His name is Mike."

"I didn't know that."

Tina huffed impatiently, picking at her hairbrush. "Tell me why you're doing this again."

"Look, Gothica, it's not like I've had anything productive to do over the holidays, alright? Just let me mess with your do, get my fingers a little dirty, and like totally make you over."

"This is not a makeover," said Tina, firmly. "And if you're not finding me anything good to match this with, it's definitely going back to blue."

"So last season," said Santana, derisively.

"Santana, I'm not stupid. You're only here 'cos you and Britt can't get the mack on since she's in France. And no other girl – or boy, for that matter – is going to entertain your dirty-fingers-obsession."

She watched as Santana stared at her a little too hard for a split second before snorting. "I'd have you know for a fact that a hundred boys and girls are queuing outside my front yard waiting to gets it on 'cos they need a little hand on these two big–"

"Argh, Santana, that's enough."

Santana smirked as she yanked again, and Tina winced. "Come on. I watched Fondue for Two. You're no Lady Prude yourself."

Tina flushed red. "It was Britt's fault. She messed up soda with fizzy vodka. Although I'm starting to think she does that to all her Fondue guests..."

Santana clipped Tina's fringe to the side. "So is he good?"

Tina swallowed. "What?"

"Woman, you need to learn the art of girl talk. Nothing gets repeated unless you're cutting someone down."

"I... well, wouldn't you know."

"Surprise, surprise. Other Asian's one of those dudes I used to peg as capital G-gay 'cos he'd rather date his mom than accept my offer to totally get down on it in the janitor's closet."

Tina distinctly remembered eyeing Mike rather suspiciously while he ogled at Santana's ass during her suggestive dance in "River Deep, Mountain High", but shook the image away. "Oh. He's fine."

"Fine?" Santana whipped around to stare Tina in the eye. "That's all?"

"Why are you so excited?" Tina glared at her.

Santana put the dye bottle down and folded her arms. "Well, there was a reason why I'm here, really. I'm here on a mission."

Tina rolled her eyes. "Okay, girl talk also means you spill what you've got without hanging me on a hook."

"Do you like him?"

"Mike? Of course."

"Do you love him?"

Tina narrowed her eyes. "What the hell are you getting at, Santana? This isn't funny."

"Why're you avoiding my question?" Santana asked, slyly.

"Do you love Brittany?"

Santana looked at Tina thoughtfully. "Y'know, if Yentl Wannabe says anything like that, I'd put a needle into my Rachel Berry voodoo doll straightaway. But strangely enough, I think I'm just going to calmly ignore your question."

Tina was surprised. In the first place, she hadn't expected Santana to even acknowledge that she was getting close to Brittany in a way that went beyond friendship. When Artie and Brittany had broken up, she had just assumed it was because they were mismatched. But when Santana had spent the entire flight back from New York positively beaming despite the lash-out she had given Rachel and Finn the day before in the hotel room, Tina couldn't help but think it had something to do with Brittany snuggling against her throughout the flight. Then when term ended, she had spotted the two of them exchanging a furtive, light kiss behind Brittany's car. Santana had stood up, only to find Tina staring back at her.

Tina remembered that it was the first time she ever saw Santana looking scared. Then, instantly, the familiar smirk came on and she was sauntering away.

Now, today, Santana had popped a surprise visit (she had come over before to practice that hilarious Trouty Mouth of a song) and was being civil by offering to switch up her do a little.

"Don't give me that puppy look, Asian."

"Wait, I totally don't get it. Britt's single now. What's the issue?"

For a moment, she thought Santana would lash out at her for assuming so much.

"Well aside from the fact that I'm not only going to get forced out of McKinley like Kurt was, I'm also gonna get beaten up, Britt's car tire-slashed, and the two of us probably stripped and tied up in the closet by the end of the day," said Santana, calmly leaning against Tina's dresser.

Tina's jaw was hanging open. Wow, I didn't see that one coming.

"And plus the fact that Britt still can't forget Stubbles McCripplepants."

"Don't call him that!" Tina said reflexively. Then she bit her lip as Santana smirked. "Britt still likes Artie?"

Santana shrugged. Then she leapt back into action, tugging at another few strands of Tina's hair and shaking the dye bottle. "So, are you gonna help me?"

Tina glared at her. No wonder she's being so open in front of me. "Artie and I are over, Santana. I'm with Mike, and I love him."

"It's a new year in high school – come on, senior year – it's a time to put things behind and start afresh! The Glee club might even get new people, and you know that's just crack for all of our relationships."

"Given last year's auditions, I'm not so optimistic. And no, Santana. Just no."

There was a hint of hurt in Santana's eyes before her cockiness washed over again. "Let's see how long you'll last with the Changster then. I hope you regret it when your name becomes Chang-Chang."

"I'll keep my name," said Tina, affronted. Then she softened. "I'm sure there'll be other ways for you to get Britt. And if Kurt can survive the end of junior year–"

"He's not going to saunter down the hallway with his boy, hand-in-hand," said Santana, bitterly. "And there's no way I'm taking all that eyeballing and whispering and sniggering crap people give him when he's not looking."

Tina helped to wrap one of her orange strands with foil when Santana was done dying them. "Well, if Karofsky could see the light, you'll be surprised what happens to the rest."

Santana snorted. "Please, Karofsky sees the light, but can't come out to it. What's the use of that, seriously?"

"Santana, you came here to get some hope. I'm giving it to you now. Just take it, alright?"

Santana sat down at the edge of Tina's bed. "So looking forward to another stupid year."

Tina smiled as she turned around. "Remember your raincoat and umbrella."