River didn't look away when the blood seemed to take the last one, standing there transfixed but knowing in her own quiet way. Her eyes, eyes that seemed so hollow and empty as she held the gun over the man, suddenly filled with too much emotion the moment Ripper wrapped her in a hug. She'd been steady and graceful as she dealt with the would-be assailants, never trembling or hesitating, but her small body shook the moment she was embraced. The gun fell to the ground, her vice-like grip on it released. She'd done it again.
"I was supposed to be River again. This wasn't supposed to ever happen again," she spoke, her voice quivering as her eyes filled with tears. "Needles. Stuck needles behind my eyes and asked me what I could see. Liars. They were all liars, and they cut it out. They cut it out! Please don't hate me. I can be River again. I promise." It was odd that, in spite of what she'd just seen him do, she seemed vastly more afraid of herself than anything else. "Drowning in blood. We're all drowning in blood."