Play a specific part of a timeline

I found this topic which is really close:

Play a specific part of a timeline

I have 4 objects sitting in a circle. Similar to a compass. When I click on one of the objects, it should move in a circular path to the topmost position (north). It can go clockwise or counter-clockwise (whichever is closer) in order to get to the north position.

I was using labels and can use play("symbol_name") to start at the right time. but if I follow that command with stop(X) where X is a point on the timeline, it immediately jumps to that point instead of traveling the timeline to get there. It basically ignores the circular animation and jumps to the final destination.

I can't put stop() on the timeline as a trigger because an object may need to pass over it. For example, I want to move object 1 from point A to D (skipping B and C). If I had stop() triggers at B and C, I could never get the animation to play from A-D.

BTW the objects are grouped together as a symbol and so when I click one of the objects, I am actually rotating the parent and then rotating its children the same amount in the opposite direction.

Any suggestions? Thanks.