Altair waits next to Desmond the entire time he's in the animus. It's sort of funny, actually. Or it would have been, if everything hadn't been so serious. The very first time he's able to use the apple to travel through time on his terms, and the first thing he sees is Desmond losing it.
So now he waits, and hopes that Desmond will come out of the animus better than when he went in. He feels helpless, because other than what he heard Desmond say earlier, he doesn't know what's going on.
"I'm telling you, Bill," Shaun says. "Something's wrong."
Altair looks up as the two of them draw close to Desmond.
"Of course something's wrong," says William. "He's bleeding, Shaun. It was just a matter of time until he started losing his grasp on reality."
Rebecca makes a little noise from where she's furiously tapping away at her computer, and when Altair looks at her, he sees the disappointed look that no one else notices.
"You could try being a little more human about it," Shaun says, and he sounds angry. "He is your son."
"Not right now," William says. "Right now he's an assassin. And he's the only one here that can get us the information we need. Anyway, I'm surprised you care so much."
"There's not a lot of us left," Shaun says.
"So?" William asks.
"We're scattered all over the world," Shaun goes on. "We know the names of people in other cells, maybe we meet a few of them. But mostly it's just hearing that someone in Egypt's been killed, or a cell in Asia's been wiped out. You curse the templars, but the whole time, you're just glad your people are still safe."
"We're fighting a war, Shaun," William snaps. "And we're losing. Of course people are going to die That's what happens in a war!"
"I KNOW!" Shaun yells.
William, Rebecca, and Altair all stare at Shaun, who turns red. Shaun never yells- he just gets more sarcastic.
"I know the templars are stronger than we are," Shaun says. "And I know we're apparently staring at the end of the world. But the assassins have come close to dying out before, but we've always come back." he jabs a finer in the general direction of Desmond and the animus. "You've seen the footage from Altair and Ezio's lives. Two of the greatest assassins the world has ever known, rebuilding the order from the ground up. And you know what the difference is between assassins then and assassins now?"
"Enlighten me," says William.
"The assassins have always been strongest when we act together," Shaun says. "I'm a historian. It's my job to notice patterns like that. We're a brotherhood. There's a reason for that. Besides-" They both look over at Desmond, who has started to move a little, as if he's about to wake. "You're kind of being a dick."
William glares at Shaun, then walks away without a word. After a few seconds, Rebecca walks over and they have a quiet conversation. Altair can tell by the set of their bodies, the way they never quite look each other in the eye, that this is just flirting. "You did good," Rebecca says quietly, and Altair turns away. He doesn't have any business listening to this.
When Desmond wakes up a few minutes later, he looks a lot more in control than he did before. "Feeling better?" Altair asks. Desmond nods, but doesn't say anything with the others nearby.
"Hey!" Rebecca says. "Desmond's back!"
"Have a nice nap while we were working?" Shaun asks, already back to his normal, in your face manner.
"Shaun!"
"What, Rebecca?"
While they're distracted, Desmond turns to Altair and says, under his breath, "He is really starting to get on my nerves."
"I don't know," Altair says. "I think he's growing on me."