Disclaimer: Thankfully, someone with clout owns this character, and does her greater justice. I'm only borrowing her for a non-profit purpose.
Always With Her
Kara had known him all her life.
When she was a child, and her father used to beat her mother, he was right by her side. He stayed by her as she huddled in her room under the covers. He ran with her when she fled the house to escape the echoes of her mother's screams. After her father left, her mother took to drinking, pills, and anything else that would help her forget. When Mother would forget her, he was always there. He never forgot her, and Kara never forgot him.
As Kara aged and changed, she grew to resent him – his constant company. He was too demanding; he left her so little time for anything else. She tried to leave him behind. At first, he would appear uninvited in the middle of the night, dragging her from sleep to preoccupy her mind. She wrestled with him for her freedom, and won. Kara developed a life of her own. She had friends, she had goals, and she had a future with someone she loved. From time to time, she still ran into him, but now she was in control. She could tell him where to go. She could tell anyone where to go.
Now, he was back. He came to her the day the Cylons attacked, clearly here to stay. He accompanied her every time she faced them, every thirty-three minutes for five days. In truth, it was he that drove her on. Without him, the exhaustion would have overtaken her. He kept her alert and alive.
But he wasn't one to respect boundaries. He didn't leave her when she didn't need him anymore. His ceaseless presence wore on her. It made her begin to fray at the edges. She wondered if anyone else noticed his effect on her. Did they notice as the cockiness and humor that defined Kara Thrace were replaced with bravado and bluster? Or did they take her at face value, and never notice the hollowness inside?
She didn't know what to do. There was no way to escape him. He was a part of her life now, and she supposed he always would be – unless they managed to find Earth, to find safety and hope. Until then, he would be with her every moment.
Fear was her intimate acquaintance and her constant companion.