Angst Potential or something...
A truth field is the concept of an area that forces everyone inside to always tell the truth.
Batfamily would probably be angsty.
Jason telling Bruce and admitting to himself that he specifically started using guns to spite Bruce. He could kill with his blades just as if not more easily.
Dick saying he never fully accepted Bruce as his Father.
Damien saying he preferred working with Dick over him.
Tim referring to himself as an employee, as if they haven't been family at all.
Duke and Steph saying they don't like the fact they feel like Bruce is their dad. It feels like they're replacing their real families.
Bruce telling people how much he cares
Slight adjustmemt: Bruce gets hexed, people are compelled to tell him things they've kept from him/how they feel about him.
He's with the JL, and Hal blurts out that he lied about losing his debreif, he actually spilt takeout on it and hasn't had time to print another one. A few more slip out of other members, and they're all lightly amused, slightly embarassed, but don't expect anything bad to happen.
Bruce walks past the Outlaws on the Watchtower when they're ribbing Jason for his guns.
"Alright, alright! The real reason I use guns is—" and he's going to make a joke, no one expects a serious asnwer, but then Bruce drifts by. "To spite Bruce. The old man is so anal about the guns, it's stupid. Guns didn't kill his parents, that mugger did, he needs to get over it."
Bruce freezes. Jason claps a hand over his mouth. The room goes silent.
Jason turns, looking at Bruce, who holds up a hand. "I know guns didn't kill my parents, Jason. I'm the one that taught you how to use them. That does not mean I cannot be wary of such a powerful weapon."
Bruce leaves it there and sweeps out of the room, ignoring Jason calling his name.
"B!" Dick calls, jogging over. "Heard you got hexed, I was thinking—" he steps within the field. "That I don't know how to tell anyone I don't think of you as my father. My dad will always come first, and I can't accept you taking his place in my mind. I—"
Bruce puts distance between them, moving the field away from Dick, who goes pale. "Wait. I didn't mean that, Bruce—" Clark catches Dick's arm, gesturing for Bruce to go, and he gladly ducks away.
Damian storms right up to where Bruce has secluded himseld, trying to avoid any more truth bonbs before literally any magic user at this point arrives that can help him.
"Father, why is Richard—"
"—not Batman? He made an exemplar Batman. You, on the other hand, do not live up to Mother's tales, or Richard's example?"
Barry appears and yanks Damian back a few steps. Bruce just sighs. "Dick isn't Batman because he doesn't like what I've created. If you want to be his partner, talk to him about it."
He leaves, hating himself for the bitter tone, unable to drown out Damian demanding Barry let him go.
Bruce makes a break for the zetas, only for some members of YJ to beam onto the Watchtower as he approaches. "I can't believe he's hexed to be a truth machine. It's gotta be crazy being Batman's son."
Tim grins. Bruce thinks maybe this one won't be awful. "Yeah, it's— I feel like an employee sometimes. He acts like he loves me, but I'm only here because someone needed to be Robin."
Bruce stops dead. "Tim." Tim's eyes go wide, and he grabs Kon.
The zetas light up again, they disappear, and Bruce slowly trudges off in another direction. He doesn't want Tim to think he's chasing him home.
Bruce tries to hide in his room. He opens the door, finding Cass on his bed. "I'm worried about Bruce," she says into her phone. "He— treated me like a weapon, not a daughter, at first. Sometimes I think it would be better if you adopted me instead, Babs."
She meets his eyes, wide, horrified, and Bruce steps back, closing the door.
Bruce ends up in a vent. He's hiding, he can admit that. Zatanna messaged she's nearly here only a short while ago, so he just needs to avoid everybody until then.
"It's good Zatanna's here now, before anything else happens. Did you hear what Dick said to him?" He hears Steph's voice, and goes still. He has nowhere to go. He doesn't want to hear what she says, he's done her wrong so many times.
"Yeah, ruthless," Duke agrees. Bruce closes his eyes, they'll be right under him in 3, 2, 1... "I mean, saying that— is totally reasonable, actually. It feels like sometimes he's trying to be my dad, 'cept I don't want him to replace mine. I've already got Gnormon trying to screw me over, I don't need Bruce too."
"Heard. I don't care if my mum isn't the best in the world, having Bruce try to cram himself into a parental role ain't gonna help anything."
Bruce blows out a slow breath, hearing dead silence beneath him. "B, please tell me you're not in that vent," Steph begs.
Bruce drops down, and avoids looking either of them in the eye. "I apologise you both feel that way, I thought I had been obvious that I don't intend to be a parent to either of you. I know that isn't my place."
"Boss man," Duke tries, and Bruce walks away.
"You said Zatanna's here?"
"Heard you're having a rough one," Zatanna notes, after blurting out that her dad refused to teach Bruce magic because he stands a chance at surpassing their best magic users with his magical ancestry, not because of the reasons he was given when he was younger.
"You could say that." Zatanna mumbles a few words, then grins at him, tugging him into her side.
Bruce leans his head on her shoulder. "Can I stay with you for a while, Zee? I don't really want to go home right now."
She strokes her hand through his hair. "Sure, Brucie. I've got a few shows this week, you can be my stagehand."
She tugs him towards the zetas, plugging in a location he doesn't pay attention to. All that matters is it isn't Gotham.
"Bruce!" He turns, finding Dick in the doorway, Steph and Duke behind him. Damian, running down the hall in the distance. "Please, stay and—"
Zatanna grabs his hand, and the zeta whisks them away.