Star Trek: Discovery | S02E06 “The Sounds of Thunder”
Cinematography by Philip Lanyon
→ Shots that utilize a split-focus diopter. A split diopter is half convex glass that attaches in front of the camera's main lens to make half the lens nearsighted. The lens can focus on a plane in the background and the diopter on a foreground. Because split focus diopters only cover half the lens, shots in which they are used are characterized by a blurred line between the two planes in focus.
a little bit of spec based on the 8x18 promo, below the cut. 🚨
buck & ravi, buck/tommy, ravi/may.
find here on ao3
[wc: 3,266]
By the time the dust settles, concrete has blockaded every exit, trapping Buck and Ravi in a pocket of near-total darkness. The groan of metal and shifting stone finally quiets, replaced by a silence so thick it feels like it’s living – breathing. The earth holds still, but tension still pulses in the walls.
They shouldn’t be in danger – not yet, anyway. Buck had asked the I.C. about the structural integrity of the wing they were heading toward. He remembers Ravi trailing just behind him, heading toward the collapsing inferno without hesitation. Brave, reckless, 118 to his core.
There wasn’t much overhead. When the floor tilted and the ceiling gave way, they were lucky. Mostly. Now, broken concrete cradles them in a jagged nest, sealing them off in a tight, stubborn bubble of air and silence.
“You okay?” Buck asks, turning toward Ravi. Sweat trickles down his temple, dragged there by the heavy weight of his turnout gear and the hot, stubborn air pressing in on them.
“Yeah, I’m good,” Ravi replies, nodding as he scans the slabbed, cracked concrete forming their impromptu shelter. It looks more like a crypt than safety, but neither of them says that out loud.
“Buckley, Panikkar, come in. What’s your status?” Gerrard’s voice crackles through the radio, sharp with command, but undercut with that quiet thread of concern Buck’s been noticing more and more lately.
“We’re trapped in the northeast corner – closest exit is the Delta side. We’re about five floors up. Seems like everything is stable, for now.” Buck glances over to Ravi again, checking that he’s still breathing, still alert, still with him. He can’t handle anyone else getting hurt. Not today. Not after everything.
“Hang tight, the 133 is incoming, we’ll get to you soon as we can.” Gerrard disappears again in the speaker, and the weight of concrete and debris that keeps them separated from the outside world brings a pang of anxiety to Buck’s chest.
He swallows it down. “All good,” he says into the radio, voice steady.
Ravi’s already leaning back against a jagged slab of gray rock, legs stretched out as he lets himself fall into a casual sort of sprawl. “Guess we just have to sit and wait.”
“Guess so.” Buck shifts where he stands, the nervous energy coiled under his skin growing tighter, sharper, now that pacing is off the table in the tiny space he can barely stand up in.
A few beats pass. Then, Ravi exhales and glances sideways at him, thumb bouncing rhythmically on his knee. “Find any other friends these days?”
Buck snorts, rolling his eyes at the no-longer-probie who’s wormed his way into his heart more than Buck expected. “I-I have friends, thank you very much.”
He just hopes Ravi doesn’t ask who. A long-distance best friend, his 15-year-old son, his sister, and an ex-boyfriend hardly make up a stellar line-up.
“How’s, uh… brolf?” Buck asks, sliding down the wall beside Ravi and crossing his long legs awkwardly in the cramped space.
Ravi laughs and Buck is surprised how much he’s missed hearing it – the shared camaraderie of the 118 always holding a special place in the warmest pocket of his heart.
“Frolf,” Ravi corrects. “Frisbee golf. Like frisbee combined with…you know what, never mind.”
“No come on,” Buck smacks Ravi’s arm gently, feeling like they’re swapping secrets at a grade-school slumber party, something he never got the chance to experience as a kid. “Tell me, man. I wanna know.”
Ravi chuckles and tightens his expression, focusing. “Okay. So, you have these discs, like frisbees, but they're weighted differently. You throw them at targets. Rules are similar to golf. Nine or eighteen holes, depending on the course. It’s marked where to start and where the target is.”
“Wow. Uh, how long have you played?”
“A few years,” Ravi replies with a fond grin, sinking more comfortably against the wall, the weight of the waiting dulling around the edges. “It’s a good way to meet people. Blow off steam after work.”
Buck nods, threading his fingers together, trying not to dig his nails into his palm. The discomfort inside his skin has been simmering for weeks. “That’s…that’s great, Rav.”
“You do any rec leagues or anything?” Ravi’s question is casual, but it lands hard, his friendly curiosity poking the shame and sadness that Buck’s been carrying. The deep pit stretching wider, growing since Bobby…
“No, I don’t,” Buck says. He tries to smile, but he knows it doesn’t quite reach his eyes. He swallows, hard, the knot rising in his throat burning on its way up.
“Didn’t you say you liked basketball?”
“No,” Buck laughs, but it’s raw, the thought of Tommy sending him reeling more than he realized it would. “Th-that was always Tommy’s thing.”
Before Ravi can get a word in, Buck feels the need to fill the quiet. “So, you think you’re gonna join us permanently on A shift?” He nudges Ravi with his shoulder, blinking back burning tears. “It’s been nice having you around.”
The way Ravi looks up at him – eyes shining – thwarts any speck of sadness lingering in Buck, even if only briefly, a piece of something shining through. It feels a little like Bobby. Watching. Smiling. Proud.
“Yeah? You mean that?” Ravi’s earnestness pierces Buck, the sting of it igniting fierce protection inside of him.
“Of course I do,” Buck replies, voice thick. He reaches into the deepest parts of his chest and tears a piece of his heart free, knowing the only way to survive is by doing it with one another. “When you stood up for the 118 – I know Bobby was proud of you. You’re part of this family too, you know.”
The words feel sturdy. True. Buck’s sure Ravi knows, should already feel the support of the team in his bones. But the look on Ravi’s face makes Buck ache, his heart fracturing the tiniest bit at the shock and surprise behind his gaze.
“That means a lot, coming from you,” Ravi tells him sincerely. He coughs, clearing his throat and clearing the air, brushing dust from his knee as he adjusts in the shadows of the collapsed room.
He shifts, then adds, quieter, “When we were in the lab… I was talking to Hen. About calling people. How do you know when to call? If it’s too early – or too late?”
Buck’s brows lift, surprised. In all the times he’s teetered close to death, dancing with it between lightning strikes and harsh flames, he’s never once had to wonder who to call. Everyone he’s ever loved was always at his side or just a radio call away.
Instead of admitting the truth – that maybe Ravi was right earlier about the whole friend thing – Buck meets the moment gently. “That’s tough. Wa-was there someone you wanted to call? That night?”
Ravi shakes his head, a small smile creeping up his cheeks that flashes but just as quickly vanishes, his eyes focused on the thread he’s got between his fingers. “We haven’t been seeing each other long, but…”
Buck can’t help the small laugh that falls free, suddenly eager for the juicy details of Ravi’s budding romance. “Come on, spill. Who is she?”
Ravi exhales, loud in the silence. But before he can answer, Gerrard’s voice crackles through again. “Buckley, Panikkar – the 133 is almost to you. Shouldn’t be long, but we need to move slow. Don’t want to upset the balance.”
“Copy that,” Buck replies, then turns back to Ravi. “Still good?”
Ravi salutes with a grin. “Sir, yes sir.”
“Okay, so – you were saying. Who’s the lucky lady?”
“May,” he exhales. “She’d give me hell if she knew I could’ve called but waited too long,” Ravi says it all so casually, it slips out before he even realizes. Then his eyes widen in panic.
He turns to Buck, breath rapidly picking up speed. “You cannot tell anyone, Buck.”
Buck plants a firm hand on Ravi’s knee, the grin growing wider across his face. If anyone is a good match for Athena’s daughter, it’s Ravi. A smart, confident, good man grown into a loyal friend.
“Your secret’s safe with me,” Buck assures him, crossing his heart with a brush of his fingers. “When did that start?”
“A few months ago.” Ravi looks down, and if Buck were a betting man he’d guess there’s a soft, warm glow climbing Ravi’s neck as he talks about her. “We got to talking at one of Bobby and Athena’s parties. Turns out we have a lot in common.”
“That’s great,” Buck can’t help the pride that’s growing more between his ribs, Bobby’s voice echoing stronger as he reflects on the same kind of conversations he had with his captain so many times. Easy, comfortable, fond. “I’m happy for you, Rav.”
“She’s pretty fantastic,” Ravi agrees, still smiling like a lovesick teenager. It falters slightly as he presses on, “I’m glad I didn’t call, then, since…you know.”
“Right,” Buck replies somberly, the shifting metal and groaning mountains of rock nothing compared to the weight Buck feels he’s been carrying for weeks. “We’re gonna make it out of here.”
“Oh, I know,” Ravi nods. “I don’t need to call her now but…I want to see her after this.”
“I’ll drive you myself,” Buck says with a smirk. Then he remembers another hurdle. “Does Athena know?”
“No,” Ravi blurts suddenly, neck snapping to face Buck as he shakes his head with more force. “And you cannot tell her.”
Buck laughs and wraps his hand around Ravi’s shoulder, giving it a sympathetic squeeze. “I won’t. I don’t want to be there when she finds out.”
Ravi pales, smile dropping from his face as he stares blankly into the darkness of the claustrophobic space. “Do you think she’s gonna kill me?”
Ravi exhales and shakes his head, gloomy stare retreating as his eyes find Buck again. “I forgot to ask – what happened with Tommy?”
Buck winces. The question isn’t unexpected. Ravi had seen Tommy at the bar, connected them and bounced like a bat out of hell, but Buck hadn’t brought it up in the weeks after.
Why would he? Advertise the way he shouted, claiming he didn’t feel anything for what they shared, leaving broken silences between him and Tommy after the fallout?
He couldn’t think about it in the time between the helicopter ride and the lab. Moments where his hope was highest – on their way to save the team – a flicker of something shared in a few soft words. Ripped away after Bobby took his last breath.
“Oh, uh. Fine.” He keeps his answer short, succinct. But he hasn’t talked to anyone but Maddie about it. His quiet confession over baked goods pushing a wave of emotion into his chest, filling it with grief and regret.
Ravi doesn’t buy it, eyes narrowing at Buck. “Come on, spill,” he says teasingly, impersonating Buck’s low rumble as he echoes his words from before. Buck smirks, brow lifting.
“He came back to my place, an-and we hooked up.” The memory sharpens in Buck’s mind as he thinks about their hands connecting, lips finding one another in a different dark room.
The spark between them was still electric, shining with an extra glimmer of longing, of making up for lost time – spent apart with breaths alone in beds on separate sides of the city.
Ravi hollers, claps his hands. “Alright, that’s what I’m talking about!”
“Shut up,” Buck laughs. “Yeah, uh, thanks for that, by the way. It ended in disaster.”
“What do you mean? What happened?” Ravi’s voice is softer now.
Buck sighs, shoulders folding inward. “He said some things I got upset by, an-and I said some things that weren’t exactly nice.” Buck admits it softly in the room that’s somehow become more of a confessional than the one he visited in church last week. “I should’ve called him.”
“Why didn’t you?”
“I don’t know,” Buck says, crossing his arms, holding himself tightly as he pushes against the discomfort of missed opportunity. He could’ve changed something. Could’ve kept Tommy if only he’d been bold enough to reach out.
He’s been clinging to blame and excuses, quietly hoping Tommy’s the one that’s brave instead.
Maybe in Buck’s effort not to cling, he’s lost his chance to have something real with Tommy. The thought pulls at his heart more than he’s willing to admit.
Buck exhales, worrying his bottom lip as he continues, spilling his vulnerable and open heart into the air. “It feels like it’s been too long, like…like he won’t believe – o-or trust me if I tell him how I feel.”
“How do you feel?”
Ravi’s question sneaks up on Buck, surprising him when the answer so easily falls from his lips. “I love him.”
Ravi’s surprise flickers fast, but the smile that follows is full. “You should tell him, Buck.”
“What if h-he doesn’t want to try again? What if he doesn’t feel the same way?”
“What if he does?” Ravi leans in, hand warm on Buck’s leg. “You just said you wished you would’ve called him before – you still have time.”
Buck feels a surge of excitement at the idea, something he’s barely familiar with anymore, the soft glow of Bobby’s heart growing a little brighter in him as he shares pieces of himself with Ravi.
A crack above them makes them both freeze. A piece of rebar shifts, clattering as air rushes in.
“Over here!” Buck shouts, voice echoing.
More movement, shifting metal and broken debris dust them in ash. Flashlights bloom in the dark. Then, the unmistakable sound of boots. “Anyone hurt?”
The voice is familiar, but Buck is filled with so much relief, he can’t place it. He staggers to his feet, brushing his hands against his turnouts, gravel falling onto the ground below. “No, we-we’re okay.”
When the figure emerges from the opening, his light shines across Buck’s eyes, and his heart races. Buck would know him anywhere, even without hearing his voice. The broad stretch of his shoulders wrapped in turnouts, jaw sharp against the beam of light that streaks across the room.
“Tommy,” Buck breathes.
“Are you sure you’re okay?” Tommy asks, closing the distance as he reaches out to Buck, eyes tracing him from head to toe. He scans for injuries and brushes his gloved hand over Buck’s arm, gripping tightly.
Buck hopes he doesn’t let go any time soon, whether he needs the support or not.
“Ye-yeah,” he says, standing still. Fearful of moving a muscle under Tommy’s gentle touch. “What are you doing here? I thought the 133 was coming.”
“We are,” someone says behind Tommy, stepping over to Ravi, offering a hand to help him up off the ground. “Kinard here pushed his way in to get to you first.”
Tommy huffs a small grunt, glaring at the guy. “Looked like you needed help with your directions. Have a little trouble finding Northeast, Conrad?”
Conrad only shrugs, clearly trying to work quickly if only to get away from Tommy. “You guys ready to go?”
“God, yes,” Ravi groans, and Buck can’t help the way his jaw drops a little over Ravi’s clear relief to get away from him.
“Hey, it wasn’t that bad,” Buck says.
“No,” Ravi assures him, “But I don’t want to be stuck somewhere – we can do this again at a restaurant. Preferably one with alcohol.”
“I know a place,” Buck says, eyes lingering on Tommy. “Yeah. Let’s get out of here.”
By the time they make it out, the sun has dipped lower in the sky, shadows stretching long across the scorched concrete. Smoke curls lazily toward dusk. The worst of the fire is contained, but triage is still buzzing nearby.
Buck gets shepherded to a cot before he can protest, an oxygen mask slipped over his face. Hen’s already there, focused and calm, penlight in hand as she leans in.
“I’m fine,” Buck mutters, the mask muffling his words. “Nothing fell on us.”
“Evan,” Tommy says from behind her, voice quiet but insistent. His arms are crossed, but the tension in his shoulders hasn’t eased since he saw Buck. “Please. Just let her check you out.”
Buck swallows hard and nods.
He’s not sure if he can say what he shared in the broken building, trapped between safety and death, secrets settled in the dark.
He’s far less sure he can live without saying it.
“Thanks for coming for me,” Buck says softly, as Hen presses her fingers to his wrist, pulse beating steady under her touch. “For us.”
“I had to make sure you were okay,” Tommy says, stepping in a little closer. His voice is lower now, meant only for Buck.
“I’m sorry I didn’t call,” Buck says suddenly, the urgent need to tell Tommy how he feels steamrolling any hope he had of coming across cool and collected. “I-I didn’t know what to say – I didn’t mean it. What I said that morning. An-and I know you were mostly helping Chim that day at the lab, but you said you were also there for me and…my sister said due to recent events –”
He’s cut off.
Not by a voice. Not by a word. But by a kiss.
His breath is stolen suddenly by Tommy’s lips it was that very first time. It feels like the pieces of himself he’s been missing have slotted into place again. The warmth spreading through him is real – steady and certain and grounding.
“I love you, Evan.” Tommy tells him when they part, their faces close together. Tommy’s fingers trace Buck’s jaw in the darkening amber of sunset. His eyes are shining under the soft light.
The world around them fades. The triage tents, scattered debris, the smoldering shell of a ruined building. It disappears. All Buck can see is Tommy.
“I love you, too.” Buck replies, heart filling again for the first time since the door slammed shut between him and Bobby.
It doesn’t erase the pain. Not even close – Bobby is still gone, that wound won’t heal for a long time – but this helps. Tommy leans in for another kiss, softer this time, as the golden hour light glows lavender at the edges.
“Ahem,” Hen coughs teasingly, blood pressure cuff in hand, expectant look across her face. “Can we wrap this up so I can make sure you’re not gonna collapse on us?”
Tommy grins and steps back, hands raised. “I wouldn’t stand in the way of that.”
“You just were,” she says pointedly, and Buck chuckles as she finishes the exam.
Most of the team is already packed up. Ravi heads over, looking lighter than he did when they first went in. When he smiles now, it sticks. That shimmer of Bobby’s legacy glows brighter still in his pride.
“All good?” He asks Hen as he approaches.
“All good,” she confirms. “Tell me if anything feels off.”
Buck nods. Hen turns to Ravi. “You too?”
Ravi mirrors him, giving a small nod, and peels off toward the engine.
Buck stands, strolling after him with Tommy at his side. “I’m off the next couple of days,” Buck says as their arms brush. “What are you doing Saturday?”
Tommy wraps an arm around Buck and tugs him closer, squeezing briefly. “That’s my line.”
“I’ll pick you up at eight.”
Tommy’s smile deepens, eyes crinkling at the corners. “Great. See you then.”
Buck opens the truck door, glancing back once more as Tommy walks away.
With my intense hate of ‘popular’ people pushing the ‘less popular’ around I would stand up for them, but I wouldn’t invite them to lunch unless I felt like I liked them.
So for some reason im at my summer home but everything except the building itself is the exact same as my winter house and my parents plus my dads two friends who know some stuff about quantum physics are there and two of my friends from america are living next door w/ their family and then a plane just CRASHES like 200 meters away and i tell my mom and then the mom of my friends from america just smiles and nods like hell yeah then a speed boat crashes into the same spot as the plane but it was p cool and my mom and her are just like “ok we’re going some place to hang out w friends” and just hop on a bus like literally hop on they just hold on to the side of it and somehow when i go back home she just appears there (even though i saw that part a while later) then some time passes and im like hOLY SHIT I SEE THE ASTEROID and look with my binoculars and just stand there thinking nicceee and the asteroid just goes out of site but then it comes back this time its going the opposite direction which is practically impossible like when the hell did it change its trajectory??? and then it leaves my view again then somehow it just passes again and its the same direction as before but iTS HUGE AND ALARMINGLY CLOSE TO EARTH but doesnt harm us or anything and also some people living on the other side of the bosphorus are partying like hell they have a really cool light show and everything plus the sky is purple for some reason and you can see the entire galaxy and the asteroid just passes a few times going left to right then right to left and so on and i try taking pics on my phone but idk how good the quality was and my dads friend sTARTS explaining that the asteroid was going a different way each time bc of something called correlation (?? im not sure that was it tho i cant remember) and i start suggesting that its bc of a wormhole and maybe its orbiting around earth but then i realize that im wrong about it orbiting bc that doesnt explain why it was going backwards as well so i just stick with the wormhole theory then the asteroid disappears for good (it only went by like 20 times but it was very fast it took like 30 secs) then we all go inside and my parents start talking about cleaning supplies and my moms like “waIT SO THIS BRAND ACTUALLY HAS NO EFFECT?!??? FUCK” and my dad just explains why its not a good brand
