Dialogue didn't change -- but the original staging I had in mind was pretty different:

For maximum drama, have Rabbi Spector cornered in the sanctuary, with Jake+Steven watching from the gallery above. They're in shadow, but Jake is painfully/gleefully aware that he could take a couple steps forward, come into Elias's field of vision, then let Elias get attacked in the full knowledge that this looming figure is just watching, silent and unhelpful.

Once Steven gets the body, he leaps down to the main floor, manages to stick the landing without falling over, and throws himself in front of Elias to fight off Vague Alt-Right Attacker #1 Details TBD. 

So, listen, the mental images are cool! But I was waiting to come up with a good reason why Elias would be in the sanctuary in the first place, and kinda never did.
...at this point, you might be thinking about the classic trope of "faithful Jewish protagonist physically shields Torah scrolls from attackers."

I thought about it too. (And, whoo boy, how much that sight would've messed Jake up.)

But for all Elias's problems, I can't see "thinking of Marc as less valuable and worthy of protection than his religious texts" as one of them. If Elias was brave enough to protect the scrolls, he would've been brave enough to protect Marc in the first place.

I’m really glad you posted this because I can’t stop thinking about this analysis. I mean I want to be clear I have reread this post multiple times over the last few months

The main reason Steven reveals his name (along with Jake's) in chapter 1 is to set up this bit!

It has a lot more heft when the suspense for Sam+Bucky isn't just "Elias maybe knows one Moon Knight's name?", but "Elias knows a name that is definitely a Moon Knight's, although for some reason he addressed it to one of the Knights who doesn't sound anything like Steven, also that's the name of his son's boyfriend, and his son is one of the other Moon Knights, and he's probably not supposed to know any of this, what gives??”

Nice!

(Sidenote about that: When Jake refers to "all the Captains America," he is not including John Walker. Sam and Bucky do not assume he's including John Walker. At no point does it even occur to them that Jake might be including John Walker.)

:P

I mean, I like the Dolly bit.

And I browsed a series of IRL local-news articles about children caught in natural disasters, trying to strike the right tone for the fictional headline.

But overall...meh. Couldn't really finesse "the fine details of Bucky's search techniques" into something gripping:.

Well, *I* find it gripping.

I keep saying we should get one

LOL, yes

After adding the Sam/Bucky, I didn't want to write that in a way that makes Sam feel like the Martha Jones to Steve's Rose Tyler. Especially not when they're still secondary characters -- most of their romantic development is offscreen, you as the reader are getting a general outline, I'm not lingering over it to fill in the details.

So in the end, it felt better to go with "you know what, Sam is the first Cap that Bucky's had a thing with, no matter what the rumors say."

Yeah, I agree! Sam/Bucky with past!Steve/Bucky could work with more backstory (or even with additional past!Sam/Steve), but as a background thing with no additional context? Just Sam/Bucky with no past!Steve/Bucky works better.