Disclaimer: Chopper, Zoro and the Straw Hats belong to Oda-sensei. I am borrowing them without permission and for which I gain nothing but the joy of writing.

Note: This story is rated T, mostly for Zoro's language. It takes place right after Enies Lobby, so there are minor spoilers for that arc. After watching it for the first time in a few years, I was struck by something and just couldn't get the idea out of my head. I couldn't concentrate on any of my other stories until I wrote this. I haven't read the manga, only watched the anime, so I apologize if something like this was already done.

Do What I Can't
by Mako-clb

It had been a long, exhausting day…days? Zoro wasn't sure at this point. It all ran together—the fight on Water 7, the sea train, Enies Lobby.

The Merry.

All of his other nakama had made it. They were back at Water 7. Despite the threat of reprisal from the World Government, Galley-La had picked them up and taken them in. For now they had food to eat and beds to sleep in, which was good because every one of them was tired, hungry, and injured. By the time Zoro had carried a sleeping Luffy to his room, Usopp had slipped away. Zoro wasn't ready to take him back, yet, but he did wish the sniper had let Chopper check him out before taking off.

Speaking of Chopper, the doctor was the last one Zoro needed to check on before he got some much-needed sleep. The little reindeer had seen to everyone's injuries. He had been very worried about Luffy, whose vitals were all over the place, whatever that meant. Chopper insisted on treating every single cut and bruise on every single one of them while at the same time constantly checking on Luffy, even though he was sleeping like the dead and wasn't likely to go anywhere anytime soon. But with his captain temporarily out of commission, it was Zoro's responsibility to make sure everyone was really okay. Chopper had confirmed that the rest of the crew, Franky's gang, and the Galley-La team were more-or-less fine. Zoro had asked for a full report on any nakama who were seriously injured or ill, but other than Luffy's and Zoro's own injuries, Chopper had only been mildly worried and not frantic with worry.

Zoro had been just about ready to pull off his boots and drop into bed when he realized that the little reindeer hadn't said a single word about his own condition. Groaning in frustration and exhaustion, Zoro had hauled himself up and gone looking for the doctor. After what felt like forever—who the hell had designed this shitty maze of a place—Zoro found Chopper in the Galley-La infirmary.

Chopper was sitting in a chair, his head lolling to one side.

"Chopper!" Zoro crossed the room in two quick strides. Grabbing the reindeer's shoulder, Zoro gave him a gentle, but firm shake. "Oi, Chopper!"

The reindeer started, looking around in confusion for a moment before relaxing back into the chair and rubbing his eyes. Zoro let out sigh when he realized Chopper had just fallen asleep, probably as drained as the rest of them.

"Um, Zoro, did you need something?" Chopper asked around a yawn.

"You should get some sleep." Zoro realized how ridiculous that sounded considering he had just woken Chopper up, so he added, "In a bed."

"Ah, okay." Chopper yawned again. "I was just making this anti-inflammatory."

"Can it wait?"

Chopper looked up at Zoro then to the mortar and pestle on the table next to him.

"I barely started." Chopper looked up at the clock. "I guess it can wait until tomorrow."

"Good." Zoro knelt down so he was eye-level with Chopper. "You forgot to check someone."

"Who?" Chopper's eyes went wide, all traces of sleepiness gone. "Are they hurt? Where are they?"

Zoro reached out to rest his hand on top of Chopper's hat, holding the little reindeer still.

"You never told me about your injuries."

Chopper sighed. "I'm fine." When Zoro looked him directly in the eye, Chopper added, "Really. I've got some minor abrasions and some bruises, but it's nothing serious."

"Don't lie."

Chopper opened his mouth, closed it, then looked around, eyes focusing anywhere but Zoro.

Zoro removed his hand from Chopper's hat and shifted so he was sitting cross-legged on the floor, looking up at the doctor.

"You were unconscious for a long time. When you woke up, you couldn't move. I'm no doctor, but that doesn't sound fine to me."

Chopper bowed his head.

"It's not…"

"I don't care what it's not," Zoro said when Chopper didn't continue. "I want to know what's wrong."

Chopper didn't answer, just stared at his hoofs, which he kept twisting around. Chopper clearly didn't want to look at Zoro, but from his position on the floor, the swordsman could still see Chopper's face, and he could read the shame and guilt in his body language.

"Oi, look at me." Zoro tapped Chopper on the hoof to get his attention. "Does this have something to do with that new, giant form you had?"

Chopper gasped and his eyes went wide.

"You…you saw that?" Chopper jumped up in his chair, nearly tumbling onto the floor. "Did anybody else see? Did I hurt you? Did I hurt somebody else?"

"Chopper."

Zoro didn't shout, didn't even raise his voice, but that one name was said like a command and Chopper froze. The reindeer glanced at Zoro who gave a single nod. It was enough, and Chopper sat back down.

"Nami, Uso…uh, Franky. We all saw." With each name, Zoro noticed that Chopper gave a little shudder. "You didn't recognize us. You didn't seem to know who you were."

Chopper remained silent.

"You know what happened, don't you?" When Chopper still didn't say anything, Zoro practically growled, "Are you hurt? Sick? What?"

"Not really," Chopper whispered as he curled in on himself, as if trying to hide from Zoro.

"That's not an answer," Zoro said, the frustration clear in his voice.

"I guess sick would be the closest." Chopper swallowed, hard. "You know about my rumble balls."

Zoro grunted an affirmative. The longer Chopper took to tell him what was wrong, the more worried he got.

"Well, it's sort of like medicine. It changes my body chemistry a little. That's what lets me have extra transformations, but only for three minutes."

Zoro knew that much. Despite what the damn cook thought, he did pay attention to his nakama, especially their combat strengths and weaknesses. If he didn't, Zoro wouldn't know when he could trust his nakama to protect themselves and when he had to interfere.

Chopper was still curled up on the chair, but he lifted his head enough to peak at Zoro as he spoke. "But even though the transformations only last three minutes, the medicine stays in my system for six hours. If…if I use another rumble ball before the six hours is up, I have too much medicine in my system. That changes my body chemistry too much." At Zoro's confused look, Chopper added, "It's like being overstimulated. I can still change into my other four forms, but I can't control the transformations. I don't always get the one I want."

This Zoro didn't know. He didn't understand a heck of a lot about medicine, but if Chopper said too much was bad, he trusted the doctor. What he didn't get was what any of this had to do with what happened to Chopper, and it wasn't doing anything to reassure him about the little reindeer's health.

"Dammit, Chopper, just tell me if you're okay."

"I…" Chopper started to cry. "Even though I promised Doctorine I would never do it again, I used three rumble balls. I didn't know what else to do. Sanji…Sanji was hurt and Nami was fighting that CP9 lady. And you…and…I was all alone…"

The reindeer tucked his head back down so the only thing that was visible was his pink hat and antlers. Zoro was vaguely aware that Chopper was sobbing now, but he was more concerned with trying to figure out what he was saying. If using two rumble balls was bad…

"What do three rumble balls do to you?"

"It's too much," Chopper said between sobs. "It's too much for my body. For my mind. I turn into a monster, a real monster. I get big, almost giant size." Chopper gasped for breath. "But the worst part is that I don't know what I'm doing. I don't remember anything. I just go crazy and attack everything. The first time I did it, I destroyed an entire village."

Chopper was still crying, still curled up in the chair, still hiding from Zoro as much as he could. And even though the doctor had told him what happened, he still hadn't said what Zoro wanted to hear. The swordsman shifted to his knees, grabbed Chopper's arm and physically forced the reindeer to look at him.

"What does it do to you?"

Zoro hated the look of fear on Chopper's face, but he hated even more the idea that his nakama was sick and hiding it from him.

In a voice Zoro had to strain to hear, Chopper said, "My body can't take it for long. My mind is already…Eventually my body gives out. I collapse. My body shrinks down to this form. The only other time, Doctorine said…I almost died."

Zoro dropped his hold on Chopper and sat back to the floor. "Damn." He ran a hand through his hair and took a few deep breaths. "You knew that? You knew and you still…Damn." Zoro looked at Chopper. "Why the hell would you do something so stupid?"

"St-st-stupid."

"Yeah, stupid."

"What was I supposed to do? I couldn't beat him the way I was. And the second rumble ball didn't help." Chopper was still crying, but he looked almost desperate now. "I couldn't just let him go. But I was all alone. And I couldn't let everyone down."

"Damn." All the anger and frustration drained from Zoro. "And we needed the key."

Chopper whimpered. He said something that was so quiet, Zoro couldn't make it out.

"What?"

In a voice barely louder than before, Chopper said, "Nami already had his key."

Zoro's eyes snapped up, sure he hadn't heard right, but one look at Chopper's face told him he had. And all the anger, frustration and—no, that was not fear, he didn't do fear—it all came rushing back.

Zoro growled as he slammed his fist into the floor.

"I had to help her get away from him earlier," Chopper said, as if now that he started the tale, he couldn't stop. "He was too strong for her. For us. But she stole his key before we escaped."

"Then why the hell did you fight him?"

"He attacked. And everybody else was fighting. Everybody else was helping to save Robin."

"Well, everybody else isn't you."

"I'm a Straw Hat, too!" Chopper half sobbed, half shouted. "Robin is my nakama. I had to fight."

"No." Zoro got to his feet so now he was looking down at Chopper.

The little reindeer looked up, almost defiantly. "I am. I am a Straw Hat."

"You're a Straw Hat," Zoro said. "The Straw Hat doctor. How screwed do you think we'd all be if you died for no reason?"

"I can fight, too."

"You're a pirate. All pirates have to fight," Zoro agreed. "And we're a small crew, so we all have to be able to fight more than most. We all have to do what we can."

Chopper took a breath and wiped away his tears.

"Which is why we can't afford to be stupid," Zoro said. "You should know that better than anyone."

"But–"

"No. You don't get it." Zoro leaned over, gently placing a hand on Chopper's shoulder. "Nobody can do everything. Not Luffy. Not me. Not you. We have to depend on each other. And we all depend on you."

"You can't make me happy by saying you depend on me, Dummy."

"But we do," Zoro said, his voice gentle. "Before you joined the crew, when Nami was sick, we couldn't do anything. No doctor meant our navigator was down. That didn't mean one less fighter, it meant we were totally screwed." Zoro shook his head at the memory. "We all could have been lost at sea. We got lucky that we found a doctor. Otherwise that would have been the end of the Straw Hats and the end of Alabasta.

"You took care of Luffy, today. You patched everybody up. We're able to go all out because we know we've got the best doctor waiting to stitch up every cut and treat every illness."

Chopper wiggled in delight again. "Jerk. That doesn't make me happy."

"It shouldn't," Zoro said, all gentleness gone from his voice. "You were stupid this time. You put everyone in danger. You did something you knew could kill you to win a fight you could walk away from. That was about your pride. What if someone had been seriously hurt? If you got yourself killed, they would have died, too. Hell, even if you hadn't died, just being unconscious or not being able to move could have meant somebody died before you could treat them. Is that how you protect your nakama?"

Chopper started crying again. Zoro was exhausted just trying to keep up with all of the emotional shifts, and he felt like a monster for making Chopper cry. Something about the little reindeer always got to him in a way nobody else but Luffy could. But as much as Zoro hated doing it, this was his duty as first mate and as Chopper's friend.

"Luffy and I can't fix broken bones. We can't cure the sick. There was nothing we could do for Nami."

When he knew that he had Chopper's full attention, that the doctor was thinking about what Zoro was saying, he continued. "Even the shitty cook knows that job is just as important as fighting. That's why he protects his hands even when he's giving it everything he's got. Because when the fight's done, he still needs to keep us all fed.

"Luffy and I are the ones who have to put our lives on the line, put everything on the line in a fight, no matter what. He's the captain. I'm the swordsman. That's our job. Not yours. But if you think we'd pick a fight rather than protect our nakama, then you don't understand what it means to be a Straw Hat pirate.

"We'll do what you can't. That means risking death, even for the smallest chance to move forward. You'll do what we can't. That means staying alive to save those we couldn't protect. Got it?"

There were stars sparkling in Chopper's eyes when Zoro finished.

Nodding vigorously, Chopper said, "Got it!"

"Good." Zoro picked the little reindeer up and swung him onto his shoulder. "Time for bed."

And if Zoro let Chopper give him directions back to the bunks, well, he didn't mind pretending to need a little help if it made Chopper feel better.

The End