FLASH AS3 - Can you help me set variables in button movie clips that I can use in the main timeline?

I have some movie clip buttons that animate on mouse over, mouse down etc.  

I would like to set a 'target' variable after each button is pressed (e.g on the last frame of the button clip) that I can then call on the main timeline for navigation.

This is not quite as simple as a function that will move the playhead with an eventlistener because I need to play several frames of button animation animation before the playhead moves on the main timeline. (i.e. an event listener function for Mousedown that simply "gotoAndPlay's frame 'x'" will not play the remaining frames of my 'down' button animation.)

1) Can I set a variable in a button movieclip like this?  
2) How can I call the variable from the main timeline?
3) How can I get the main timeline playing again after my button is finished animating?

This question is an advance on a previous question (that may help you understand my goals) that remains unanswered here:  http://www.experts-exchange.com/Software/Photos_Graphics/Web_Graphics/Macromedia_Flash/Q_23160397.html

Thanks in advance for any suggestions!
Darryl

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