A/N: Begins with a partial "Flooded" rewrite and goes AU fairly quickly. Some scenes and dialogue have been taken directly from that episode. I own absolutely nothing from the Buffyverse, I just like to play with the characters. No copyright infringement is intended.

The prompt "Astrology" was issued by Geliot99 to cd85 who created the "stellar" banner (on EF) and inspiring title as a "banner prompt" for me to write the story based on the banner.

A note on Astrology: I am not an Astrologist. I have tried doing a fair amount of research for this story and honestly, all I've come up with is a whole lot of conflicting information for most of the characters. In the end, I essentially decided "This is fiction, just have fun". To that end I essentially decided to choose one compatibility chart I found online and chose Sun signs from that according to what we know about the characters. Buffy is the obvious exception to this.

Massive thanks to Geliot99 for putting up with my ever changing mind insane ideas and helping me nail down a cohesive direction for this story.

Slow burn ahead.

Chapter 1

(*)

Buffy stood on the back steps trying to find a modicum of the peace she had lost. A task that she was finding nearly impossible as the sound of Giles and Willow's voices filtered out from inside the kitchen. It was all too much.

They're in there arguing about my life when all I want is to go back— I'm buried alive here and no one seems to notice— or care…

A cigarette butt landed at her feet, and she felt the tug of a meager smile on her lips as she crushed it under her toe. "Hello, Spike."

"You hear all that noise in there?"

"Just enough to make me feel crappy."

"You know Watcher-boy doesn't mean anything by it."

She shrugged. "I guess…" She found herself unsure of what she wanted to say but it didn't seem to matter, the words just came, spilling out on their own.

The next thing she knew, he had taken up a position next to her. "You want me to take them out? Give me a hell of a headache, but I could probably thin the herd a little."

She couldn't help it, the ghost of a laugh bubbled forth.

"Knew I could get a grin," Spike said, pride evident in his tone.

Buffy chanced a glance at him and her heart skipped a beat before plummeting again and she desperately tried shaking the feeling off, taking a seat on the steps.

"Why are you always around when I'm miserable?" she asked as he settled in on the step next to her.

"'Cause that's when you're alone, I reckon. I'm not one for crowds myself these days," he admitted.

"Me neither."

Spike gave her a small smile. "That works out nicely then."

She tilted her head to look at him. "If you say so."

"Course, I could think of more interesting ways to be alone together."

She snorted a laugh. "Way to ruin the moment."

"Got another laugh out of you so I can't have cocked it up too much."

She pressed her lips together, suppressing another little laugh.

How is it possible the only one I can stand to be around is an old enemy I made a truce with years ago?

A comfortable silence fell between them and Spike rocked is head back to look at the sky. "Clear night. Can see Cetus, just there—" he pointed with a lazy hand.

"Cetus?"

"The Whale-" he shifted a few inches closer, drawing lines in the sky with a black-tipped finger, "- just there. You see?"

She followed the tracks his finger made, connecting the dots and it struck her when she realized she was staring at his hand. He had surprisingly nice hands. She swallowed the odd intrusive thoughts creeping into her mind and gave a tight nod. "I'm pretty sure the only one I know is the Big Dipper."

Spike's eyes seemed to almost shine as he laughed and proceeded to point out stars. "See that one there? Big sort of squarish shape— and you follow the lines there— that's Pegasus."

"What's that one that's supposed to look like a 'W'?"

He gave her a quizzical look before realizing what she meant and turned back to point to the sky. "Cassiopeia. See how it makes a chair, like a throne?"

"Oh, yeah, I guess it kind of does…" she murmured, taking a deep breath and letting some of the tension unwind from her body as she gazed at the stars. She was surprised by the way Spike's presence seemed to calm her down and feel almost normal. "Know any more?"

"Quite a few, actually—"

A scream ripped through the air from inside the house cutting him off abruptly.

"Oh my God, Dawn!" Buffy exclaimed as they rushed into the house. A dull anger roiled in her chest at the sight of the front door the demon had demolished and it only got worse as the fight continued into the living room, wrecking her mother's lamp. Spike grabbed hold of the demon and at Buffy's request helped her force him through the kitchen and into the basement.

Buffy's emotions spiked into a moment of rage as she beat the demon with a length of pipe. By the time the beast finally drowned in the flooded basement, her temper had leveled out to an oddly numb anger that sank in around her shoulders and constricted her chest.

How the hell am I supposed to do all this adult stuff? I don't even know how to do half of the things I'm supposed to do— plus slayer crap! I mean what the hell am I even supposed to do with another stupid demon body!?

She thought as she stared at the freely running pipe.

What am I supposed to do with any of it?

All of it—

Spike's voice broke her trance and she turned to see him staring at her from the middle of the stairs looking bewildered.

"Huh?"

"I asked if you knew it was flooded down here, but eh, seems like it was a dumb thing to ask," he replied.

She took a beat to steal herself before she dared to speak. "Duh…"

He took a few steps down the stairs towards her, conceding the point. "Course you did."

She eyed him, crossing her arms as though to say "Ya think?" and took a smidgen of pride at his wince.

He cleared his throat gesturing towards the body of the demon. "Need some help with that?"

She pressed her lips together, and cast a glance at the body, giving him a nod. "You're right, it's totally wrecking the swimming pool vibe in here."

"I can't see it making a great floaty," Dawn muttered from the top of the stairs.

Giles rolled his eyes with a sigh, escorting Dawn away from the carnage. "Come along, let your sister tidy up."

Spike stopped on the step just above the water level, inclining his head expectantly. "Well come on now. Hand'em up here, I'll pull it out back and we can figure out how to get rid of the thing."

Buffy gripped the body by the back of its shirt and belt, heaving it like a battering ram and knocking Spike on his ass on the steps. "Bloody hell, Slayer!" he complained as he pushed the soaked corpse off of himself, glaring at Buffy. "I'm on your side here!"

He rolled his eyes as he pulled himself up onto his feet then grabbed the body from under its arms, dragging it up the stairs. The demon's boots clunked on each step as Buffy followed behind. They had only gone five steps when Buffy started to get annoyed and grabbed the thing by the ankles to help Spike lug it up and into the backyard.

"Any ideas? My usual demon dumping grounds are getting kinda overpopulated," she huffed.

"Could try the docks." He shrugged.

"You want to lug this mook clear to the docks?"

He glared at the corpse. "Could throw him in the ground or down the sewer for all I care, pet."

She gave a sigh and massaged her shoulder uncomfortably.

Why can't all the nasty beasties dust as considerately as vampires?

"Let's try the woods on the edge of town," she said finally.

Spike hefted the demon's corpse over his shoulders, gripping a leg and an arm in each hand, while Buffy got a shovel from the shed.

(*)

Using her shovel, Buffy attacked the ground at the base of a tree in the woods not far from Restfield. Spike dropped the dead demon unceremoniously on the ground as he watched her. She was digging quickly, cutting through the heavy dirt like it was nothing more than dry sand.

"So what's with the basement swimming pool? Can't see you taking up water polo."

She paused, drawing a hand across her forehead. "Burst pipe… Xander's plumber guy says I need a full copper repipe."

"Guess that explains your little tirade back there."

She started digging again without answering.

"Copper— that's not gonna be cheap," he continued.

"Thank you Captain Obvious," Buffy ground out as she kept digging.

"You should take a look at your house insurance policy, Joyce was always good about that stuff, bet you're covered for something like that."

She paused, gaping at him. With the pressure of everything else bogging her down, she hadn't even thought about the home insurance. It was one of the bills draining her account after all. No one else seemed to think about it either… "I'll have to give them a call."

Spike jumped down into the shallow hole she had been digging and grabbed the shovel, pulling it from her grasp. "I'll take it from here. No offense, Slayer, but you look like you're about to combust."

Buffy blinked at him dumbly.

Is he actually trying to be chivalrous? Weird… seriously weird; but hey, I'm not going to argue. I like these boots.

She thought as she climbed out and leaned against the tree trunk watching him for a moment. He tossed his coat over a log and got to work digging.

"I sort of feel like it too," she said, voice flat, "like I'm going to just burn up or fade away… Everything just keeps piling up. I keep waiting to find out what else is going to be dumped on me."

Spike only glanced at her for a second without pausing and bobbed his head in an exaggerated nod as he dug deeper. "Hopefully the insurance thing works out for you. Take care of those pipes good and proper."

"Yeah…" she swallowed dryly, shifting against the tree.

Buffy watched him in silence as he dug down deeper. She had to admit, he was more methodical in his approach than she was and had managed to dig a decent grave in no time.

"Look at the bright side, Slayer, at least you got your little group of friends. They'll help you sort it all out."

"I don't know… I sort of feel like I'm still buried and they're trying to dig me out with chopsticks while more and more dirt keeps getting dumped on top."

Spike tossed her the shovel and pulled himself out, brushing dirt off. Smudges of dark earth decorated his pale skin and Buffy couldn't help but notice the wiry muscles in his arms.

"Don't imagine the nightmares help with that," Spike replied.

She bristled at that. "How- how do you know I've been having nightmares?"

He rolled his eyes, mildly annoyed by her reaction. "Don't get all twisted about it, it's just an educated guess, pet."

"A uh- a guess?"

"Been there myself, remember? Just cause I'm evil don't mean that sort of thing doesn't make an impression."

Their eyes locked. Buffy could feel a sort of soft shift happening between them. She had felt it the night she had returned, in his crypt when she had gone to talk to him, in the alley behind the Magic Box, and most recently tonight on her back porch. Something was changing between them and she was a little afraid of what it might be.

She tore her eyes away from him and shifted the demon to the edge of the hole before giving him a shove with her booted foot. The demon landed with a wet, squishy, thump and Buffy immediately started filling in the hole while Spike slipped back into his coat.

Task complete, they made their way back out of the woods.

Spike pulled his flask from his pocket as they walked and cast her a furtive glance. "You feel like having a nip?"

She pressed her lips together, accepting it from him and taking a swig. She coughed and pulled a face. "What is that, lighter fluid?"

"Bourbon." He grinned. "Got a few bottles of wine in my crypt if you'd prefer—"

"Oh, I- I think maybe I should get home. I kinda have to be extra-responsible-girl tomorrow." Her face flushed and she began to sputter, "I- I just mean Giles wants to help me figure out the financial stuff and house stuff and— not eh— you know," she stammered.

He smirked. "I knew what you meant, Luv." Spike cast a glance over his shoulder at the cemetery gate and back to Buffy. "You need any more help at the house? I don't exactly have a sub-pump on hand but I might have a couple of five-gallon buckets laying about."

Buffy shook her head. "Xander's guy is coming back in the morning. I'm really hoping he doesn't ask for money until I… eh… get some kind of money."

"I can get money," Spike insisted.

"Did I mention that the guy we just buried robbed a bank and I kinda failed to stop him? Not really an option."

He laughed as he pulled out a cigarette and lit it. "Wasn't gonna steal it."

"Sure you weren't," Buffy teased with a soft smile.

Why do things seem so much easier when he's around?

Taking a deep breath of damp night air, she turned her gaze to the sky just in time to see a shooting star.

"Did you see that? Should make a wish, Luv," Spike said thickly through a cloud of smoke.

Buffy narrowed her eyes at him. "A wish? What are you, like twelve?"

He snorted a laugh. "Hardly. Killjoy. Fine, I'll make one then," he replied, closing his eyes like a little kid about to blow out their birthday candles.

While he wasn't looking, Buffy did the same.

I wish everything could be this easy all the time.