John says nothing in response to the first comment, only casting Peggy a small smile and an arched eyebrow. Although he may not be quite the same sort of private person as Finch had always been, there are some things he would always rather keep to himself and his more intimate moments with people are among them.

The rest, though, gives him pause, too. He's not sure where to begin. It makes him tense, a little, to think of someone considering Finch's disappearance a sign. He can't imagine what it might mean to have lost his best friend and the man who saved his life, what life lessons he should be learning from that. There's no shame in knowing what he is and how he best performs and he can't imagine taking anything away from having lost Finch that he doesn't already know about himself.

"You were eighteen," he echoes instead of focusing on that. "How?"