DOG OF WAR
He knew Nate was smarter than him. Hardison was smarter than him by about a mile. Heck, Sophie and Parker were probably smarter than him too. But he had something that the rest of the team didn't have. He had experience dealing with the worst of humanity when lives were depending on him. He knew what to do when the price for a job gone wrong wasn't just jail time or a missed prize, but people.
He could keep his head when everyone was dying around him, and he sincerely hoped that he never had to find out if "everyone" includes his team.
I woke up one morning thinking about wolves and realized that wolf packs function as families. Everyone has a role, and if you act within the parameters of your role, the whole pack succeeds, and when that falls apart, so does the pack.
Jodi Picoult