Pause button problem :(

…does anyone know how I can create a pause button that will stop the time line in multiple clips…to explain my situation a little I have on the swf root level a number of movie clips within movie clips that target one-another to reveal an image or text…the problem is my client know wants to pause the action at any time. Is there a way to stop and play multiple clips other than breaking all the clips apart and creating one long time line?