diff --git a/lib/hydra/runner.rb b/lib/hydra/runner.rb
index e689a7c..f4ddbb8 100644
--- a/lib/hydra/runner.rb
+++ b/lib/hydra/runner.rb
@@ -110,33 +110,28 @@ module Hydra #:nodoc:
       rescue LoadError => ex
         return ex.to_s
       end
-      # we have to run the rspec test in a sub-process
-      # this is because rspec runs all the tests that
-      # have been required, so if we kept requiring the
-      # files they'd get run over and over
-      pipe = Hydra::Pipe.new
-      pid = SafeFork.fork do
-        pipe.identify_as_child
-        hydra_output = StringIO.new
-        Spec::Runner.options.formatters = [
-          Spec::Runner::Formatter::HydraFormatter.new(
-            Spec::Runner.options.formatter_options,
-            hydra_output
-          )
-        ]
-        Spec::Runner.options.files = [file]
-        Spec::Runner.options.run_examples
-        hydra_output.rewind
-        output = hydra_output.read.chomp
-        output = "" if output =~ /^\.*$/
-        pipe.write RSpecResult.new(:output => output)
-        pipe.close
-      end
-      pipe.identify_as_parent
-      output_message = pipe.gets
-      Process.wait pid
+      hydra_output = StringIO.new
+      Spec::Runner.options.instance_variable_set(:@formatters, [
+        Spec::Runner::Formatter::HydraFormatter.new(
+          Spec::Runner.options.formatter_options,
+          hydra_output
+        )
+      ])
+      Spec::Runner.options.instance_variable_set(
+        :@example_groups, []
+      )
+      Spec::Runner.options.instance_variable_set(
+        :@files, [file]
+      )
+      Spec::Runner.options.instance_variable_set(
+        :@files_loaded, false
+      )
+      Spec::Runner.options.run_examples
+      hydra_output.rewind
+      output = hydra_output.read.chomp
+      output = "" if output =~ /^\.*$/
 
-      return output_message.output
+      return output
     end
 
     # run all the scenarios in a cucumber feature file
diff --git a/lib/hydra/spec/hydra_formatter.rb b/lib/hydra/spec/hydra_formatter.rb
index 753d643..36bdc2f 100644
--- a/lib/hydra/spec/hydra_formatter.rb
+++ b/lib/hydra/spec/hydra_formatter.rb
@@ -3,16 +3,14 @@ require 'spec/runner/formatter/progress_bar_formatter'
 module Spec
   module Runner
     class << self
+      # stop the auto-run at_exit
       def run
         return 0
       end 
     end
-    class Options
-      attr_accessor :formatters
-      attr_accessor :files
-    end
     module Formatter
       class HydraFormatter < ProgressBarFormatter
+        # Stifle the post-test summary
         def dump_summary(duration, example, failure, pending)
         end
       end
diff --git a/lib/hydra/tasks.rb b/lib/hydra/tasks.rb
index e7af1a8..4db699e 100644
--- a/lib/hydra/tasks.rb
+++ b/lib/hydra/tasks.rb
@@ -98,7 +98,7 @@ module Hydra #:nodoc:
       desc "Hydra Tests" + (@name == :hydra ? "" : " for #{@name}")
       task @name do
         Hydra::Master.new(@opts)
-        exit(0) #bypass test on_exit output
+        #exit(0) #bypass test on_exit output
       end
     end
   end